OK, I have decided it is time to get moving on the escort, I'll post some pics up soon, but I'm going to be moving ahead in some pretty major ways and you guys may be able to help with advice.
Budget is going to be about 7k give or take over the first 3 months.
So the story of the car so far:
Nice straight body, crap paint, rough engine bay, 2 litre standard motor running very well, but possible leak from rear main seal. Car has been a great runner over the last few years, driven about a week per month.
I have installed the type 9 5 speed with a nice little adapter bracket, and also the R1 carby conversion. I have installed bucket seats but these probably wont pass engineering due to being from a 4 door car (no quick lever to roll forwards folded down).
 
So. The plan goes:
15" superlites
Legal bucket seats
Engineering
Full bushing kit installed, possible suspension upgrades
Paint (quoted 5k for a same colour 2 pack respray over the top of existing acrylic, sand back on roof and bonnet. Engine bay tidied up).
Camshaft and head work, dyno tuning. (Engine will be out of car for the respray so the engine work can be done then.)
Interior (roof lining, door cards, carpet)
 
 
I suppose the questions I have for people with the experience are:
 
Will the plan end up with a worthy car, it wont be show spec, but good enough for me and the missus, and turn some heads (of course it does already out on the road, lot of thumbs up from other drivers :) ). 
 
Have I missed anything/am I doing this in the right order?
 
Will the 5 speed, seats, wheels and carby setup pass engineering? Consider that the 5 speed and seat brackets have been made properly.
 
How much roughly for a complete tidy up of the interior, considering I have a sunroof too?
 
Cheers for the help, I'll try get pics up soon and update as we go.

AS for the buckets, you should be able to get away with them if you lose the seats and belts from the rear  of the car. Plate over any openings and get a mod plate fitted so the car is  a two seater. You`ll need to get it inspected for this.
 

You'll struggle with the carby passing the roadie due to the emission laws for post '76 cars but then you'd be very unlucky to get pinged for it once it's on the road.
 
I made sure I got my roadie before doing any mods and then did everything once I had it rego'd.
 
Are you looking at Club Reg or full Reg?
 
Cheers,
 
Matt
 
 

Not too keen on going for the 2 seater option, but probably looking for modern sport seats that are nice and comfy (Do you know anything that is an easy fit from a 2 door car?)
 
And it will be going for full registration, probably driving every second or third week.
 
 

The problem with the escort is they are so narrow and fitting a decent modern seat between the tunnel and sill so that the shoulder area doesn't hit the door without being taller than standard is difficult or hitting each other in the middle.
Don't order seats of the internet until you tried a pair in the car

Robmk2
 
Have I missed anything/am I doing this in the right order?
 
Will the 5 speed, seats, wheels and carby setup pass engineering? Consider that the 5 speed and seat brackets have been made properly.
 

My advice is to speak to the engineer BEFORE you go about changing things if you want it to be engineered.
 
On the interior side of things, buckets seats are so cheap now. I have these SAAS seats in mine and they fit well. Only drawback I guess is that the backs are a bit high and restrict rear vision.
http://www.supercheapauto.com.au/online-store/products/SAAS-Dual-Recline-Sports-Seat.aspx?pid=271516#Cross
 
Cheers Craig.