Same, I used to watch as many UK shows as I could in the 80s shows like Minder, Cats Eyes , The Professionals , The Sweeney, Vandervalk ( he drove a Mk4 Cortina convertible) ,etc etc . Sorry the pic doesn't nudge a braincell just yet..

Gee Marty you've given me a couple of shows to look up. Never heard of Cats Eyes , must be of a nocturnal nature?
There were a heap more I never really got into like The Avengers and The Saint etc
Body and Doyle, call signs 37 and 45 respectively. Their radio handsets looked more electric shavers (probably were and just mocked up for the show).
Lewis Collins who played Body passed away in LA about 8 years ago. I was devastated cause I always hoped (even minus Gordon Jackson, died 1990) they might do a new series. Probably best not and let the good memories live on!

reviving an old thread, I was in the garage yesterday and needed some instant gratification as you do, and decided i was sick of looking at the tatty OEM steering wheel the van came with and why not upgrade it so it feels like some progress was being made.
I had a 3 spoke wheel and Sass boss  which came from Len I think, but my column must be different as the boss was too tight to fit on.
The Saas  BK16 boss was a 75-82 by the sounds, and not for the 1970- 75 which I must have, despite being a 77?
I guess there no reason to expect any Escort has what it should have by now component wise, but it would be nice to score a win once in a while just the same.

Hi guys, just reading this thread with interest. I have a 1970 Mk1 Escort Coupe with 2ltr struts and 14mm metric rack ends. The issue I have is that there is only about 4 turns of thread each side connecting to the tie rod ends. Everywhere I look I hear that the Mk1 and Mk2 racks are the same and I am yet to confirm if my rack is a Mk1 or Mk2 rack. Can I get longer rack ends or do I need to fit extenders (not my preferred option).
Thanks, Mic

4 thread, that's not enough... Should be at least 6 !! Really tho there should be about 1in of threads going in the tie rod end as minimum, and your car has had an alignment. There are different brands of rod end and some have longer threads .
Things like lowering, an anti dive kit with alter the swaybar angle which takes threads up to get straight, but not that much..
Has the XM been redrilled to locate the lower arms outwards.. There's plenty of things to look at. I'd be measuring the length of the steering rack without rod ends first, then we can check with ours if it's the same/close. Are the struts bent , is the car bent ??

I'll take some measurements this weekend and report back. Photo below of how much is going into the tie rod end. The struts are not bent, and not sure if the XM has been redrilled but will have a close look. This is from a thread I found on another forum from a while ago when looking into this:
MKI rack is shorter than a MKII.
I've fitted up hubs that have had MKII Arms on Cars with MKI Racks and found there's not a lot of thread engagement in stock steering rod ends, so some care is needed. I also found that there is a lot more noticeable bump steer with this arrangement.
Everyone I have spoken to about this say Mk1 and Mk2 racks are the same dimensions, except of course for the metric vs imperial track rod ends, and the Mk1 rack having 15 teeth and the Mk2 rack having 25 teeth, perhaps not?? 
Can anyone confirm the length of a Mk1 and Mk2 track rod end? Just looked and found some Mk2 TRE's for sale on Ebay that are 240mm long. I'll measure mine and see how they compare.