Mk2 Zetec 2 Door - now with makeover

I'm sure most of you will recognise this as Whooligan's old car. I bought it almost a year ago now and am finally getting around to starting a thread about it.
 
When I bought it, it was as is in the first photo, with standard brakes and suspension and an internally stock Zetec. I got straight on to gutting the underside of the car and put some Capri coilover struts and alloy hubs in the front with single leafs and Bilstein shocks in the rear.
 
As far as brakes go, I've gone down the twin Wilwood master cylinder pedal box route with vented and slotted rotors + Wilwood 4 pot calipers. I've left the drums in the rear for the time being, and am looking in to options there.
 
Also installed a quick rack for sh!ts and giggles.
 
The Zetec will stay internally standard for the time being also, it won't break any speed records but it should be a bit of fun at least.
 
Anyway, it's only a couple of weeks away from being on the road now, currently getting brake pipes and stainless hoses made up, so I should have the car back on Wednesday, then will go in for a mod plate for the engine conversion and rego after that.
 
I haven't really gotten a great deal of work done on it considering it's nearly been a year, but I have little free time these days between work and gigs/touring, but I'm sure I'm not the only one!
 
Here are some random pictures. Ignore the 4x4 spec ride height, haven't set any of the suspension up yet.
 

 

 

 

 

 

Hi Josh,
 
Looking good, should be a bit of fun too!
 
Cheers.

about time this happened, 
 
looks awesome on the 8's with the 175/50's, has it got a 5 speed. If not ull realise why i ask when you first drive it...
will look good once you drop it and get those fronts out a bit wider.
 
zetec is begging for a sneaky little turbo on that exhaust side, that'll liven it up a touch.

love it agreed a snail will help this be alot more fun...
 
 

About time u started a thread!
Looks mint man will hav to bring it down to my workshop wen its done and take me for a strap in it!

About time Juiceman!
Looking good.

awsome look. more pictures required
 
cheers

Nice :) The colour and decals really suit it. Can I ask which inserts you used for the capri struts?

Thanks gents. Yeah there is plenty of room for a little snail, I've got no immediate plans for engine mods so it could always be on the cards at some stage.
The decals were one of the first things to come off the car actually, they had a few bubbles in them.
Inserts are Gaz. I've got no idea how it's going to steer really, just will have to wait and see. The springs might not be firm enough, but they're cheap enough to replace if I don't like them!

Thanks to some super dodgy welding on the sump, I'll be pulling the motor out in the next couple of days to have a crack repaired.
Pretty disappointing because I was about a week or two out from rego, but sh!t happens.

Should buy my turbo and put it on... Ill go bigger lol

I've had a chance to pull the motor out and there's quite a lot of work to be done, not only with the sump. I've decided I will most likely replace the sump altogether as it's basically a piece of junk to put it simply. It's been cut and shut that many times that I can't bring myself to cut and shut it again to repair it.
 
The water rail will probably also be replaced, it's not the greatest.
 
I'm taking to the inside of the intake manifold runners with a die grinder, because they are some of the worst put together things I've seen in my life. Pigeon sh!t welds everywhere, they would flow horribly.
It's also an excuse to clean up the throttle body, it's covered in pigeon sh!t welds too.
 
The big kick in the guts is the gearbox is fairly shagged, the input shaft has about 2mm of play in all directions and the gears all need replacing. So I'm doing an unexpected 5spd conversion.
 
These things happen when buying an unfinished project. I can't complain though, because I was only weeks away from rego, and if I didn't have to pull the motor out I would've been putting the car on the road with a dodgy gearbox and it could've let go at any time, leaving me stranded. My mother always told me things happen for a reason, hahaha.

Great looking car

Nice ride in the middle of the same project, looking for engineer for the mods now any one know one in Sydney west?

hi mate 
what inlet manifold are you using

I am using a set of twin Jenvey throttle bodies.
 
http://www.jenvey.co.uk/home/throttle-body-kits/jenvey-dynamics/ford-zetec-tbp45-throttle-body-kit-ckfd03
 
Chris

I forgot this thread existed!
 
Many things have happened since the last time I posted updates, most of them have not been Escort related. Bought a house, got married and all that stuff so the car has taken a back seat for a couple of years.
Have attached a few photo's of what has been done in the last couple of months since I started working on it again (free time is still hard to find though).

Hi Juiceman,
 
That car looks awesome, what size wheels and tyres are those? Did you have to modify the guards at all? they look pretty standard. What a beauty
 
Rod

Hey mate
 
Thanks! The wheels are 15x8 and tyres are 195/50. It all fits with the guards rolled flat. I do need to put some shims on the front swaybar, as it stands the wheels don't turn very far before hitting the front of the guards but once they're centred it shouldn't be problem.
 
I was told many times I'm stupid for trying to fit 15x8s under standard guards but it does work. As for being stupid, I can't really deny that 

Do you think 15x7 would prevent the rolling guards flat and prevent hitting guard when turning. I am looking to get rid of my 13s cos am sick of looking for decent rubbers. Plus would like to upgrade the brakes. Am in a pickle dont know what to do. Plus i cant roll the guards as the car is already nicely sprayed.
 
Rod

I know what you mean about tyres for 13s!
 
Not sure on the 15x7s, I don't know what offset they come in, but they will be much less aggressive than the 8s.

15x7 ET12 should fit nicely with 195/50s.  I'll let you know in a few weeks when I've fitted mine.

Please do so as i need to make a decision asap.
 
Thanks
 
Rodney

Cholaso
Please do so as i need to make a decision asap.

If it's of any help in the short term, I carefully measured the space between the face of my hubs and the inside edge of the wheel lips, then did all sorts of calculations on a spreadsheet to check whether 7" wide ET12 offset wheels and 195/50 tyres would fit without the need for rolling the wheel arches.  I calculated about 4mm of clearance to the tyre's outside edge, which sits further out than the tread block (meaning more clearance in practice), so I figured that would be sufficient.  Just to be sure, I also went to see a car with the exact same wheel offset and tyre size, and indeed they fit just fine.  I was quite happy to then plonk down my hard earned cash on the nice shiny new wheels.

Thats fantastic research. Really appreciated. Theoretically they are same size as 13inch 205s. The offset is key though

Flighter show us some piccies would like to see for myself. If u dont mind

No tyres yet (soon though) and only be able to fit to the rear at this time, as my front suspension is out, but I measured the clearances as being equal front and rear, so it will give you an idea.

Took a little longer than expected, but tyres will be put on on Saturday, so stay tuned; I'll see if I can get a photo or two up that shows the amount of clearance.

Here's an update for Cholaso. Despite my axle being out of alignment (see the thread on 'axle offset' for more info), the 195/50R15 tyres on 15x7 ET+12 wheels fit under standard Mk2 arches. I'd have even more clearance if my axle was properly positioned, but that's something I'll address later, and maybe even fit 205/50s on the rear while I'm at it, as there will defininitely be enough space for those once that's done. Photos are a bit meaningless seeing one side is 20mm further out than the other, so that's why I haven't posted any.

Haven't had an update for a long time, because there's been nothing to update. There has been some progress lately though.
 
Pulled the ECU, igniters and wiring out in favour of a Haltech PS1000 and LS coilpacks. This will all be going in shortly (a couple of weeks once it all arrives)
The engine bay pic below is exactly where it's at right now. The exposed wiring will be tidied up, it's stripped at the moment so it can be tidied up and anything not being used will be binned.
 
Also noticed the cam angle sensor wasn't being used previously so that'll all be sorted out too, obviously.
 
I'm hoping to have it running and tuned within a month, and hoping to have it on the road soon afterwards.

Updates! Haltech & LS coils are in, wiring loom is almost finished, just needs a final tidy up before being hooked up.
 
 
...but the most exciting part is the dash.

It's been a long time between updates. It's been on the road for a few months now but I haven't been doing much driving. Anyway here's some photo's of how it is currently.
 
I think the whole thing has come up pretty well. There are a few more things to sort, as there always will be haha.
 
(Ignore the strut top position, I threw it together like that and has since had a wheel alignment!)

That looks really neat and I bet it goes well.
How did you go with engineering the Zetec?

Hey mate sorry for the late reply, don't get on a computer very often these days! It does go quite well for what it is, always plenty of room for improvement.
I haven't got it engineered yet, but I don't expect any issues. The conversion itself was done by a previous owner and that part of it was done very well and uses the standard g/box and engine crossmembers.
 
The body of the car is at the tail end of receiving somewhat of a freshen up so I'll post some more pics once it's finished and when I get a chance, then I think I will leave it alone for a while and just enjoy driving while the weather is good.

I got the car back last night after it being away for a makeover of sorts.
 
Colour is Guards Red (Porsche colour)
Wheels are 13 x 7
 
Couldn't be happier if I tried. Now I just need to set up the front end properly and get to driving.
 
WARNING: It is *very* red.

Looks great Juiceman!

Wow, that sure does pop in that colour! Looks fantastic though. You must be bloody happy with that.

Thanks lads, words can't describe how stoked I am. It's the first time I've gone for a colour change with a car and I was really nervous about it because quite frankly I loved it in Wedgewood Blue as it was before...but I do love a nice red MK2.

looks fantastic mate

You sure that's the same car????
 
Shaun

Looks awesome.