1980 MK 2 Escort - 4 Door

Hi everyone, been lurking around this forum for quite a while and as I got my first Escort last year thought it was time to say hello and show it off. I have been around small Fords all my life, Dad owns the orange MK1 Escort turbo that some of you might know.
 
Anyway here's mine it's a 4door MK2 Escort with a 2.0L Pinto engine. The compliance plates confirm the car is a genuine 2.0L Monza Red with Red interior build. From the codes it should be an auto but has already been converted to a 4 speed, which suits what we want to do with it. Overall the car was in good condition with just a little rust in a couple of spots in the floor. The heater bubble has already been repaired, but there was some front end damage when I got it and the motor had a terrible knock. It also blew smoke on start up so the valve stems seals were shot.
Here's how it looked when I first got it.

 

 

 
More progress piccies a little later
 
 

Great colour combo, good luck with it, looking forward to progress pics as you go.............. 

So shortly after getting the car home I began working on the front end damage. The engine had to come out to get a freshen up and the problems it had fixed.
Getting ready to lift the engine out, you can see the front end damage in these photos.
 


 
With the slam panel off, the front panel was removed by a combination of cutting the spot welds out and cutting with a grinder. The centre support for the slam panel had to be removed and as there was a poor attempt at fixing it. That was removed then there was just a little bit of tidying up to do before fitting the new panels.



 
 
 

Nice one, slowest part is unpicking all those spot welds well done. Are you welding it yourself? Look forward to more pics.....
Cheers Drew........

Great work and I'm about to undertake the same repair as my RS2000 front valance is pretty beat up. Keep the pics coming!

You're not wrong about unpicking all the spot welds, it certainly was hard work. Even the project supervisor was knackered.

 
 
Yeh, having new panels available helps. I got the front panel and slam panel through Smcka. Fitted them up and then put some small bolts in to help hold them in place while we welded it all up. I have never welded before so after a lot of practice on scrap pieces gave it a go. Pretty happy with how it turned out but I left some of the bolts in just to be sure. The car isn't going to be a resto so it doesn't have to be factory perfect.




 
The bonnet and grille went back on to make sure it was all lined up properly. The bonnet has a slight bow in it which I have tried to straighten. Its not quite right but is okay for now. A new bonnet will go on when the car gets a full respray eventually.
 

hey mate, 
 
nice job with the panel, rest of the car looks really straight.
 
keep the pics coming

WOW what a nice color, I love the color of your car because its looking very attractive, and you build the front of the car which is almost finished due to corrosion. Thanks for sharing your work. You worked great. 

With all the welding done it was time to paint. There was a little bit of distortion even with only plug welding the holes where the original spot welds were. A seem sealer was applied behind all the  panels. The front was rubbed back and a small amount of filler used prior to primering.



 
For the paint we used was an off the shelf acrylic in Monza Red. The colour match was suprisingly good and the highlights were done in an acrylic black also.


 
The original grille was damaged so I got another off ebay and sanded it back before spraying it with the same black. The car sat like this for a number of weeks so the paint would be cured properly before buffing. The grille and bumpers went on so the car looks almost complete again. 
 

 
Now it's on to the engine!!!

That's come up really well. Good work
 
Rhys

thats really neat work mate!

Looks like its come up a treat..... Nice to see you went the extra yards to do the blackouts, they don't quite look right otherwise. Bet you're hanging to get the engine back in now

The engine has actually been back in the car for a few months now.
We opened it up for an inspection, as suspected the valve stem seals were knackered so they have been replaced. The cam is showing some signs of wear (which will be sorted when we change to a lumpier cam later on) we did put in some new cam bearings. New water pump, fuel pump, timing belt, oil seals and gaskets all fitted.
The before photo.


The after photo


 
At this stage the engine is basically stock although it does now have a set of extractors and we ditched all the polution gear except for the carbin canistor. The carby is a 32/36 DGV as the original auto choke version was a bit suspect. It was on the Dyno recently and made a healthy 85bhp at the wheels.
 
 

Top job with the front end, looks good in the photos. Don't think id be brave enough to tackle that with no welding experiance.

A bit of biggish update with what's been happening to the car over the last few months. We actually drove the car down from Sydney for the SFS show at the beginning of the year. The car performed okay but we blew an exhaust gasket out so it gave me an excuse to install a set of extractors.

A nice set of Hurricane headers, ceramic coated and with a mandrel bent exhaust system fixed that problem.


The handling wasn't the best either, so we completely stripped the front end to install new shocks, springs, strut tops, etc. We discovered this cross-member. I have never seen a camber bolt kit set up on an Escort before. After  asking around we found that it was an aftermarket Kmac kit which had been installed at some stage.


Unfortunately the lower control arm bushes were so worn the camber bolts were actually bent so they had to be cut out. It also looked like the camber bolts are slightly smaller in diameter than the standard bolts so in case there was too much play we decided to make our own camber bolts.

I made several sets with the bolt hole in a different position so we can adjust the camber as needed.
 
Kmac strut tops were also installed. Along with stiffer springs, Gaz adjustable struts, a new steering rack and tie rod ends all supplied by SMCKA.


Whiteline make a nice heavy duty front sway bar and a strut tower brace so these have been intalled, almost! The strut brace won't clear the down draught carby so we will have to install that when the twin webbers go on.


Another problem we discovered was with the gearbox mount. As the car was originally an automatic, whoever did the manual conversion decided to just cut the original mount in half and just bolt it in. It was pretty dodgy so I had to remake it and weld some stronger bracing in.

 
The electrics had been messed with also. It looked like there was a large sound system installed as there were speaker cables and amp cables running everywhere. This all got redone and tidied up.

 
As the car is being converted into a weekend warrior I added in an isolator switch.

 
The interior has been stripped and a roll cage installed.




A set of race seats have gone in.


And of course some harnesses.

 
The cage and interior will get a lick of paint in the next couple of weeks, but for now the car is ready to hit Marulan  with the Small Ford Car Club at their track day. 
 
 

Great work bud.
 
Where did you get the cage from and was there much involved in fitting it?
 
Cheers
 
Matt

The cage was supplied by Bond Roll bars here in Sydney. It fit really well and wasn't too hard to install. They were very helpful giving plenty of instructions on how to install it.

I did my very first track day last weekend and had a blast. Can't wait to do more.



 

Here's what we've been up to with this over the last couple of months.
After the track day it was decided to pull the interior so the cage could be painted. All the sound deadener was scraped off the floor, it was in good condition and only needed a couple of small rust spots fixed.
 

 
The most time consuming part of painting, masking up!

 
All painted Monza Red

 
More masking and the cage is painted black.

 
The plastic chrome trim around the windows wasn't the best so it was all removed and painted. The rear got some attention too. And more masking!!!



 
I made up some alloy door trims, painted them black too and put it all back together.

Looks great 80ESKY!
The prepwork can sometimes be enough to put you off doing the painting in the first place.
 
Rhys

Looking good!

Hey mate what are your door trims made out of I'm looking at making some temporary ones for now

They're sheet aluminium, 1.5mm from memory

A couple of little changes including a set of functional bonnet vents.
 
Some GT style bonnet pins.

 
And the front looks a whole lot better now!

 

 
And the car is off to have its new driveline installed. It should look a little different in a couple of months time.

 
 
 
 
 
 

Looking great mate.  
 
Matt

When I first got the car the drivers door was a little damaged so spent the weekend fixing that before it's off the road undergoing it's driveline mods.

 
It was actually worse than this when I first got the car, but a little panel beating made it more presentable. This time it was back to bare metal and beaten a little more to get most of if straight. A small skim of filler and its ready for primer.



 
On with the Monza Red and the colour match is again surprisingly good. I'll let it cure for a couple of weeks before it gets buffed and looking like new again.
 


 
 
 

Your getting to be a pro with that masking mate! Cars looking great.
 

Excellent work, looks good!
 
I'm curious to know if you are going to try & keep the NSW rego with a full cage?
 
Cheers

That's why I went with a bolt in cage. I can take the front out and as there's no back seat can leave the back in when on the street.
 
I stay away from all the usual hang outs so as not to get hassled. Had a highway patrol car behind me recently and he didn't bat an eyelid at the car! Lucky maybe!  

I've got the same cage for my MK2.
To get the front section out I had to lay back the main hoop, which meant seat removal, back stay removal & loosen main hoop floor bolts - not a quick job plus damage to cage paintwork - so now just have rear section in car.
Your main hoop is further back than mine, so that might make it easier.
 
Cheers

 
So shortly after showing the car at the All Ford Day at Eastern Creek, I pulled the car off the road to have it's new rear end fitted. This includes some mini tubs so the original tubs were all cut out.




 
New steel tubs were fabricated and welded in with some sikaflex added to seal the seams.




 
The old diff has been pulled out and an 8 inch Borg Warner is about to go in. If anyone is interested in the standard Escort diff let me know as I'll have no need for the old one.


Just need to finalise some measurements then diff housing will be cut down. Planned wheels are 15 x 8 inch and we'll probably run a 10 inch tyre.
 

The New Year means time for an update. The new diff housing has been cut down and now installed. It has a Harrop Truetrac centre, Skyline rear calipers, a set of custom Caltracs and custom stabiliser bar.
 



 
The calipers are away being overhauled, the diff will come out for powder coating and a set of Bilstein shocks will go in on final assembly.
The wheels are 15 x 8 Weld Racing Prostars with 235/60 series Micky Thompson rubber. There's plenty of dish and the fat tyres fill the guards out nicely.



 
The original drop tank was beat up so a new alloy tank is being fabricated at the moment, which I think will fill the rear end rather nicely.
 
 

That is a very neat job with the mini tubs!
 
What power plant have you in mind?
 
Shaun

Awesome stuff.  Turning into a beast. 
 
Matt

Awesome job on the minitubs, the side stripe looks new too? Very RS1800.... nice....
Cheers Drew.....

I am very happy with how the tubs and rear end turned out.
 
I also have a turbo YB Cosworth motor waiting to put in.

Final installation of the rear end is complete including diff centre, brake callipers, traction bars, shocks, etc. (ignore the axles on the ground, they're for a different car)


 
In the photo above you will notice the hole in the boot floor. Well that's for the new drop tank we had fabricated.
The tank includes baffles to eliminate the need for an external swirl pot and lift pump. It's a lot bigger than the standard drop tank so should be good for some long distance cruising.








There's a little bit of detailing required but the car is now on it's way back home so we can begin installing the 5 speed gearbox and the new front brakes.

Thoroughly enjoying this build,fantastic work so far 80esky, If only we could all win lotto, we wouldn't have to go through all the agonising torment waiting for everyones cars to be finished.

Hi Theo, did the Nissan brakes bolt straight onto the Borgy or did you require adapters???

laurie
 did the Nissan brakes bolt straight onto the Borgy or did you require adapters???

R31 skyline/pintara come stock with a borgy, so it's a straight bolt on.

Cheers

laurie
Hi Theo, did the Nissan brakes bolt straight onto the Borgy or did you require adapters???

 
Hi Laurie, Yes straight bolt on, but because the wheel sits so close to the leafs and with their offset we ended up making them so we could position the calliper in the right spot.
 
Cheers, Alex. 

A small update where the tubs and boot were prepped and painted.



With the bigger tubs the rear legs of the cage had to be changed. The harness bar is now welded into the hoop.

The alloy drop tank is now bolted in. Really like the way that has turned out.


Running gear is now complete with the installation of the T5 gearbox.
Having the auto tunnel made life so much easier, it didn't need any further mods and there is still room around the box.
We made up some new gearbox mounts and used the original crossmember that came with the box to bolt it in.



As you can see the hole for the gear lever had to be enlarged a bit, but it all looks good with the quick shifter installed.

Measured up the tail shaft and it needs to be shortened by 2.5 inches, so that's this weeks job.
 

Perfect 👌 everything is looking amazing especially that shifter.. How long till flying, driving

Oh hell yes.

ausmk2
Perfect 👌 everything is looking amazing especially that shifter.. How long till flying, driving

Thanks.
 
I still have a long way to go before it's on the road, I'm still waiting for the motor to be picked up so it can be rebuilt.
 
Once the tailshaft is sorted out ill be starting on the front brake and pedal box conversion as well as fixing up the heater bubble as its full of rust!

Had a productive long weekend and got the new front brakes installed. Ended up being a true bolt on kit, no modifying or trimming or machining of hubs to make it all fit, bolted straight up from the start.
 


 
The wheels fit nice with perfect clearance for the caliper. Pretty happy I went with an Aussie made kit, I'd probably still be trying to fit the UK kits. This one meets all our ADR's too.
 

 
Got the tyres mounted and the stance is exactly what I was looking for. Although I will be adding an anti-dive kit and then adjust the castor.
 

 

 

Good evening Alex, where did you purchase the front brake kit from and how much it's next on my list

It's a Hoppers Stoppers kit, cost was about $1800 which includes extras like slotted rotors, powder coated calipers, braided lines.

Thanks Alex, might have to do a couple of weekends man whoring to pay for it but will definitely have a look at this set-up.
Cheers Matt

Looking great with the fronts on, coming together marvellously, won't be long till your turning that key 🔑

The Hoppers kit is THE best engineered brake kit in Aus. Zero issues with these. Had the ebay/UPC kit once and was not even close to fitting proper, let alone the quality of materials used. And then the **** fight to get it corrected . I had previously bought the Hoppers kit for MK2 Escort before I decided to try the UPC kit on the current MK2 Escort. Should've got the Hoppers kit instead of trying to get something cheaper . I did eventually and cut my losses.

Pulled the old motor out so the engine bay could be painted. Like every Escort had to tackle the rust in the heater bubble first. With spot welds removed and some gentle persuasion the damage was revealed.


 
It was a lot worse than I was expecting. There was a patch put in at some time with a couple of screws and plenty of silicone. You can just see it in the first photo. Cut all the rust out and started welding in the new pieces.
 

 
Because we had to cut out a lot more metal than we were expecting to, I've decided to get rid of the original fan and replace it with something more compact. So there won't be a heater bubble anymore.

 
Made several patches rather than trying to make it in one large piece. Turned out pretty good, a light skim of filler will have it looking perfect.
 
 
The new engine will run coil packs so this will be the perfect spot to mount them anyway.
 
 

The heater bubble delete option on the Escort has been completed.
The coil packs were mounted and a bracket was welded in so that the brake & clutch reservoirs could be mounted.





Hard brake lines will run from the reservoirs into the pedal box.





Once the pedal box and brake lines are in, the whole engine bay will get a fresh lick of paint.

That's a nice neat bit of metalwork there. What engine is going in.

Really enjoying this. Thanks for sharing your progress.

NQRS
That's a nice neat bit of metalwork there. What engine is going in.

Thanks for the comments, I have a Cosworth being built for it.

Not much better than that to fill an engine bay!!
Len

Small update, the engine is at the machine shop now. Engine bay has been painted and all the brake lines have been made so currently installing the pedal box.

That pedal box looks alright 😉. Engine bay looks great!!

Paul Dunstan
That pedal box looks alright 😉. Engine bay looks great!!

Pedal box fits great, very happy with it.

Brake lines are all in. Now to bleed it and see if we have set it up right.

Looks like its all coming along fantastically, your doing a great job
 
I noticed you ran the Falken tyres at the track, what did you think of them? I have them on my car but haven't had track day heat into them yet
 
Keep the updates coming!
 
Cheers,
Ryan

79Escort
Looks like its all coming along fantastically, your doing a great job
 
I noticed you ran the Falken tyres at the track, what did you think of them? I have them on my car but haven't had track day heat into them yet
 
Keep the updates coming!
 
Cheers,
Ryan

Yeh, the Falkens seemed pretty good. But I haven't used any others to compare them to. Used them on the MK1 at a track day with no problems either.

With the holiday period now here we've been able to get a little more work done on the car.
Started to work on the wiring loom in preparation for the ECU. A new dash has been installed, the coils packs have been mounted and the ignition module mounted in the front kick panel.










And a xmas present of sorts! With all the machining done the engine has been assembled.





So hopefully will have it home and installed over the next week or so.

The engine has now been completed with new water pump, thermostat housing, alternator and brackets added.



It now sits nicely in the engine bay. The correct clutch plate to mate the T5 box to the engine should be here tomorrow so the drive train should all be installed by Tuesday.





Then it's off to have the turbo manifold, intercooler and radiator fabricated.

.

Any updates........
 
Matt

Like all projects things are a little slow, have been delayed in getting the next lot of fab work done. But have received some more parts for the car. Got the gearbox fitted after sourcing a suitable clutch, the quick shift has been fitted too.
 

 
Got a custom plenum in from the UK, very nice bit of gear but may need further modification to fit the larger throttle body that I plan to fit.
 

Looking the goods- nice work and great finish.
len

Nice Project!
 
What Engine Management are you planning on using?
 
I will be interested to see what you do with your intercooler / radiator set-up. I ended up setting my engine back another 25mm from the factory location to allow me to run a couple of half decent sized fans, but it's still super tight in there.
 
Cheers,
 
Damion

Mk2_2dr_2L
Nice Project!
 
What Engine Management are you planning on using?
 
I will be interested to see what you do with your intercooler / radiator set-up. I ended up setting my engine back another 25mm from the factory location to allow me to run a couple of half decent sized fans, but it's still super tight in there.
 
Cheers,
 
Damion

I will be running a Holley EFI HP ECU.
 
It will be a tight squeeze and because i don't want to cut too much away to fit it, I will most likely get a custom intercooler and radiator made for it.

Is that your engine bay I seen in the April issue of Classic Ford ..nice

Not sure, haven't seen that issue yet.
There was an "in the build" story in Fast Fours Magazine a couple of months ago.

80ESKY

Mk2_2dr_2L
Nice Project!
 
What Engine Management are you planning on using?
 
I will be interested to see what you do with your intercooler / radiator set-up. I ended up setting my engine back another 25mm from the factory location to allow me to run a couple of half decent sized fans, but it's still super tight in there.
 
Cheers,
 
Damion

I will be running a Holley EFI HP ECU.
 
It will be a tight squeeze and because i don't want to cut too much away to fit it, I will most likely get a custom intercooler and radiator made for it.

Nice - they seem to be very popular with the V8 boys.
 
Yeah, it will be good to see what you come up with.
 
Cheers.

It's been a few months since I last updated this build, so he is some progress. The re-wire of the car has been commenced with a heap of extra fuses and relays added to handle the ECU and ignition systems.

 
The custom turbo manifold has been finished. You will notice that the alternator bracket has been modified so that the alternator sits lower down. This has given us extra clearance to sit the turbo and wastegate towards the front. It will also allow us to fit a 3.5 inch dump pipe.
 

 
Should be no shortage of flow with this turbo in place.


 
The next stage is to modify the inlet manifold to fit the larger throttle body. Once that's done the fabricator can get to work on the intercooler and radiator.
 

 

 

I just reread this thread, what a change from page 1 with ghia alloys.
 
Have you still got the original 2lt sitting in the shed?
 

deano
I just reread this thread, what a change from page 1 with ghia alloys.
 
Have you still got the original 2lt sitting in the shed?
 

The wheels and engine are sitting in the shed as spares for the old mans TE Cortina racecar.

Time for another update with some good progress now being made on the car. The plenum has been modified and has a 70mm throttle body neatly mounted to it. The intercooler has been finished and mounted.

 
The radiator is actually an aftermarket Mazda RX3 alloy unit which has been slightly modified by changing the mounting brackets and filler neck. 

 
As expected there is not enough room for the original water pump or a large thermo fan so an electric water pump and multiple thermos are being fitted. To also help with clearance the bottom crank pulley is being machined to remove the power steering pump belt.
 

 
These will all be powder coated black so it should all look reasonably stock from in front when finished.
 
I have also set a finish date and want to have the car ready for next years Small Ford Sunday. So hopefully progress will continue at a rapid pace...!

What a weapon you have built! Amazing

Well done, lovely 3D art.

That is looking fantastic.

Fab work all done. Finish is on target for Small Ford Sunday!

Jesus! That is incredible! Great work guys.

That is a very nice piece of engineering - well done!! Len

Cant wait to see it at SFS.  Im the treasurer for the RSOC Vic so say g'day when I grab your money on entry.
 
Cheers
 
Matt

Well the car got finished just in time for Small Ford Sunday, didn't think it was going to happen though as plenty of last minute gremlins. We didn't get any time to tune the car properly so it's first real drive was actually going into the show. Still enjoyed the weekend and had a great time, it was very nice to meet you Matt.
 
Here's some photos of the car from the day, great event and will definitely be back down for it next year.
 








 
And a group photo with some of the other Sydney boys representing at SFS.

 
 

Love it. Always good to put a face to a username! Glad you enjoyed the show and thanks for coming down.

80Esky  the car looks great, I'm sure you would have had a crowd all day.
 
(Matt I feel guilty not making it when I said I was going.
plus its only 45 min up the road and you get the Sydney crew doing the long drive down.
My excuse was I thought Sunday was going to be 'turn the key day for the first time day"' on my escort, and got prematurely excited.It didn't happen)
 
Time for 80Escy to be in March CF mag!

Hey mate do you have any pics of your overflow/catch can setup?

what?
Hey mate do you have any pics of your overflow/catch can setup?

I don't have any decent ones, ill try and get some over the weekend.

80Esky who did your fabrication, turbo manifold and intercooler?

Will MK1
80Esky who did your fabrication, turbo manifold and intercooler?

Paul Testa at Mr 2600 Racing in Wollongong did all the major fab work and built the engine.

After getting the car home from Small Ford Sunday we sorted out the last of the little issues the car had and street tuned it. Got it on the dyno last Wednesday where it made 377rwhp on 22psi. Has a lot more left in it, but the spring in the wastegate was too soft to hold any more than 22psi.
 
Overall very happy with the results, time to put more kms on it before we put the heavier wastegate spring in and add more boost.
 
Here is a video of the last power run.

Nice one. What fuel were you using? I would be interested to see a dyno plot if you have one?

Mk2_2dr_2L
Nice one. What fuel were you using? I would be interested to see a dyno plot if you have one?

Were running it on E85 from the pump.
 
Here is the dyno sheet, the blue line was 6psi wastegate pressure on the street tune.
 

Sorry for the slow response, I tend to forget about this forum these days. Thanks, I hope you are enjoying the car.
 
Damion.

It's been a while since i updated this, since Feb last year we re-tuned the car with a heavier wastegate spring and turned the boost up, car now makes 450rwhp on 30psi.
 
I have been taking the car a fair bit to roll racing, last time i took the car it had a fair bit of attention so much so a feature was done on the car.
 

 
A C4 is currently being built for it, then once that is in it will hit the track.

Interesting thread. 

What hydraulic clutch kit did you use for your t5?

Will MK1
What hydraulic clutch kit did you use for your t5?

It's a tilton one, it's a internal one that sits on the input shaft, i can't remember which one off the top of my head.

No worries thanks, I’ll have a look. Also What brand pedal box did you use?

Will MK1
No worries thanks, I’ll have a look. Also What brand pedal box did you use?

I got the pedal box from Paul Dunstan on this forum, I highly recommend them had no issues with it.

80ESKY

Will MK1
No worries thanks, I’ll have a look. Also What brand pedal box did you use?

I got the pedal box from Paul Dunstan on this forum, I highly recommend them had no issues with it.

I got one of his too but we had to mod the throttle pedal.  Have you got a pic of it installed?
 
Cheers,
 
Matt

Matt75

80ESKY

Will MK1
No worries thanks, I’ll have a look. Also What brand pedal box did you use?

I got the pedal box from Paul Dunstan on this forum, I highly recommend them had no issues with it.

I got one of his too but we had to mod the throttle pedal.  Have you got a pic of it installed?
 
Cheers,
 
Matt

We just had to bend it slightly to make sure we were getting 100% open throttle.

Thanks for the positive feedback 
I'm assuming the bending of the pedal was required regardless of the pedal box as the accelerator was untouched from the original?

Paul Dunstan
Thanks for the positive feedback 
I'm assuming the bending of the pedal was required regardless of the pedal box as the accelerator was untouched from the original?

Nothing wrong with the pedal box it self, just when we were calibrating the TPS and with the throttlebody we're using we were getting 80% throttle, so in order for it to show 100% and for the throttle blade to open all the way it needed to be bent slightly.

Thanks for the info but I’ve pm’d Paul and doesn’t make them any more, so if anyone can recommend a brand that fits and works well that would be great.
Thanks

Long time between posts.
 
Had the car out last November at the dragstrip and ran a 10.6@128mph with plenty left to go.
 
Enjoy the vid.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chI7U-LnZxk&ab_channel=MrCossie
 

 

 

into the 9's next then...

Getting closer now....
 
Knocking on the door of a 9 sec pass 
 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHT9UuGzIgI&t=4s&ab_channel=Mr2600Racing
 

Good stuff mate, that's proper rapid for a more door !
Thought about weight reduction, like strip interior out, plastic windows without cranking mechanisms , fiberglass panels etc.
With those speeds, a front spoiler would definitely help with keeping the car stable and reduce lift at 100+ mph.

martymexico
Good stuff mate, that's proper rapid for a more door !
Thought about weight reduction, like strip interior out, plastic windows without cranking mechanisms , fiberglass panels etc.
With those speeds, a front spoiler would definitely help with keeping the car stable and reduce lift at 100+ mph.

No weight reduction as this is a street car so full interior, full exhaust etc
 
I am building a TE cortina drag car however that will have fibreglass panels, lexan windows fully striped out.

That makes it more impressive being a fully loaded Escort.

A friend of mine done a TE Cortina back in the late 90s, back then there was no barra motors . He used a falcon alloy head 11 from the last xf efi and ran it on a 9kg gas bottle with an injecting mixer thing with xr8 TB, a supercharger from a diesel roller, he was running low 9s in basically a road car except the back doors were welded up and blended in.
1 thing he found out is with so much torque, the rear swing arm bushes die real quick causing him to crab down the strip. He was lining at the start line at nearly 45deg to allow for the twist in the suspension ! , so the rear will need attention if your going for big grunt. You prolly know how bad they are anyway in factory spec !
Hope you post a build thread when it happens 👍

martymexico
That makes it more impressive being a fully loaded Escort.

A friend of mine done a TE Cortina back in the late 90s, back then there was no barra motors . He used a falcon alloy head 11 from the last xf efi and ran it on a 9kg gas bottle with an injecting mixer thing with xr8 TB, a supercharger from a diesel roller, he was running low 9s in basically a road car except the back doors were welded up and blended in.
1 thing he found out is with so much torque, the rear swing arm bushes die real quick causing him to crab down the strip. He was lining at the start line at nearly 45deg to allow for the twist in the suspension ! , so the rear will need attention if your going for big grunt. You prolly know how bad they are anyway in factory spec !
Hope you post a build thread when it happens 👍

I am building a big barra engine for it, 1500+WHP, the aim and to run 7's.
 
Just got it back from fab, has a very strong 9inch rear end to handle the power and torque it will make.
 
Still have heaps to do...
 
Here's some pics.

Sorted. !!