Hey guys, after much trepidation, here is my 1977 Mk2 Escort!
 

 
A bit of history: I bought this car many moons ago when I was 19. It wasn't my first escort as I went through a few of them at such an age ]. It was originally a 1600 auto, which I quickly ripped out and got some pros to drop in a 1600gt engine I sourced and a type 9 5 speed. I then did extractors and exhaust, lowered 1600 suspension (which was rubbish anyway).
 
I managed to make a lot of silly mistakes when I was young, including selling off my lovely 1600gt engine cos I spun a big end bearing. Maybe it was those downchange lockups??  Who knows! I aimed to put a pinto in it but that gave way to the purchase of an injected 2ltr mk2 from Adelaide, which I then crashed promptly (twice, but only once uninsured) and basically all I managed to get in before my departure for a total of 7 or so years in Germany and Austria was a standard 1600 and the wrong weber carby - a 32/32 off a peugeot! A few other mistakes that only an impatient and undisciplined 20 year old can make included painting the vinyl ceiling with black vinyl spray but not doing the pillars, cutting holes into my lovely and rare 2dr door cards for speakers, accepting an exchange brake booster with a yoke that was too short and other such mumbo jumbo.
 
Coming back and promising myself not to take shortcuts (ok, apart from pulling the wheel studs through the other day...), I've since;
 
stripped and fitted 2ltr struts with lowered king springs (2nd hand) and adjustable gaz shocks all round (new)

 
totally rebuilt the front end brakes (std) including new discs, caliper pistons, goodridge braided brake lines, re-sleeved master cylinder and mintex pads

 
new adjustable lower control arms (burtons), tie rod ends and super pro bushes throughout, after I found this doozy, amongst others - yes my steering wheel did have a *slight* amount of play 

I've also fitted a mk2 tacho dash and a momo steering wheel. 
 
In the ignition department I got a whole electronic distributor unit from Accuspark in the UK, along with their coil and leads. 
  
As for the carby, I tracked down a 32/36, stripped it, got it acid dipped and machine faced top and bottom and got it re-jetted just yesterday. 

The 13x5.5 minilights and yokohama a539s are also a very recent addition. The previous bathhurst globes were warped, cracked, leaking and the rears had a different offset to the fronts.
 
All in all I am very proud of what I have achieved in the last few months. It has really turned the car from a bloody dangerous run about into a very enjoyable, yet underpowered, machine. 
  
As with any good project, the fun never ends - my mechanic told me that the engine compression is totally rooted. down to 80 on cyl number 2 and varyingly bad elsewhere!!surprise surprise 
 
So the outlook for the future is:
 

• Get the right brake booster
• Fit 13/16" wheel cylinders in the rear and new decent (any ideas?) brake shoes
• LED dash lamps so I can see the bloody thing at night
• Track down a mk2 2 door window winding mechanism (drivers side)
• Fit new foam and vinyl-coated door cards I have made up
• Build a pinto with FR32 cam and sierra injection or throttle bodies
• Fit the collection of good panels I've collected (passenger door, front fenders, floor pans)
• Get my good mate to spray it for me - lime green or bright orange.
• Redo the interior carpeting, finish off blackening the vinyl and fit some other seats

 
 
 

Car looks very neat as is.

Shaun

Great looking car.  Haven't seen it around unfortunately.  Dont see many in that colour either.
 
I have some spare brand new brake shoes which seem to work well - messed up the Burtons order and got two pairs by mistake.  Work well enough up at Barbagallo without dramas.  $25 the pair
 
 

Beautiful looking car mate... I hear you on the lack of GO though haha
 
Hope to see it around!!
 
Cheers
 
Michael
http://www.classic-ford.org/cfp/tm.aspx?m=47518

Good to see the car actually exists!
 
SMCKA I think has the proper 2ltr wheel cylinders at a good price otherwise eBay UK.
 
You want these LED Bulbs for your dash.
 
Cheers,
 
Matt

2 litre wheel cylinders are actually the 3/4 bore size.  1600's were 11/16 and 1300 MK2's had 13/16.
 
Seriously, you will hardly (if at all) notice any difference in the different bore sizes on a road car.  The 13/16 size will probably make it worse if anything

Here are some 19mm or 3/4 cylinders on UK eBay for not much at all. 
 
I was quoted well over $100 a few yeras ago for these in Oz!  I have also heard that Cortina ones will fit with a little fiddling but haven't used them.
 
Cheers
 
Matt
 
 

A little update on the humble build!
 
Here's a comparo of my old studs to my new studs. These are the fronts. Ended up with pretty much same length all round (ca. 45mm).

Scary, isn't it?
 
All done with a bit of elbow grease and these bits:

 
As I mentioned elsewhere, pick studs with a knurl around 0.5mm bigger to your old ones and they should pull through nice and tight!
 
The almost finished result - 

 
Nice n shiny. Lots of new shiny things going on my car recently. makes me happy 
 
As I was doing these, discovered the rear left axle was pissing out fluid past the wheel bearing. So out came the bearing, found a very friendly mechanic in Balcatta showed me how to press bearings and let me do it in his workshop for nix.
 
Popped the axle back in, replaced the wheel cylinders with the 13/16 bore size units (P10034) and new brake shoes ex UK (thanks Avon!) plus shiny new springs and retainers (brake shoe fitting kit - ebay UK, cheap as chips). Here it is:
 

 
Woohoo. More shiny bits.
 
Can definitely recommend the 13/16 bore. Can feel the slight extra bias go to the back. In my opinion the car pulls up in a more composed manner and doesnt nose dive as much as before. Only a benefit :)
 
Quick question for those who have played with brake shoes. I knocked the adjusters back as I was fitting the brakes - so the drums went on without a drama. For the first drive they obviously did not adjust themselves  - left me with more pedal travel before the brakes actually engage. After pulling up the handbrake (whilst stationery ), I pumped the brake pedal a few times and the pedal did come back up a bit, reducing my pedal travel again).
 
Can anyone shed light on how to properly deal with adjusters? Any tips or pointers? Ive got no idea.
 
Cheers
 
 

the_cheese

• Get my good mate to spray it for me - lime green or bright orange.

Great choices - my two favourites for MkIIs in fact, but I suggest green if only because mine is orange, and you won't want the same.  Also, when the time comes to sell, my boy wants a green one, so you'll have a buyer waiting!

Thanks for the words of encouragement Flighter. Yes, I am tending towards the lime green at the moment. Regarding your boy - im pretty staunch on keeping this machine mate, but who knows, you may catch me in a weak moment in my softer years!