awesome repairs! would never know it had been touched, well done.

Thanks - it aint perfect but it will have to do.

Knowing what I know the other side should be better although the repair section I have is pretty average but a lot better than the original area!

OK, have removed the Pinto from the engine stand in preparation for it's journey East. That meant the Zetec now has a home out of the trailer.

Mounted the Focus manifold which will enable me to run the OEM ECU etc (necessary for engineering in SA) and have it all fit into the engine bay. The width from engine CL to the outside of the manifold is around 330mm which should be fine. In comparrison the Mondeo unit added some 30mm to this dimension and would not fit in beside the strut tower [V]

Another concern was the room to clear the RHS engine mount as the manifold drops down into this area. Thankfully it appears there will be sufficient room to utilise WCXM style mounts as the original Xmember mounts will foul the manifold. This does not allow the use of the original style "rubber" Pinto style mounts.

I have also removed the sump in preparation to modify it to suit the RWD application. I intend to follow the Dunnel unit wiich basically removes the entire lower section leaving the mounting flange and approx 40mm of side wall. This is the sealed with flat plate on the from leading to a manufactured bowl at the rear (see pic below). I will also need to include a new oil dipstick.

Exhaust side.



Inlet side with Focus manifold installed.



Sump removed - oil pickup will need to be modified.



Should be enough clearance to use WCXM style custom mounts.



Dunnel sump - modified OEM unit.

OK - removed original manual box mounts to see how much is needed to fit the Celica unit. Gee, aint that fun - definately a job for when it was upside down!!![V]

Well, as expected - it doesn't fit although it's not too far away. Need to make a decision on whether too

• Move the whole lot forward
• get the shorter shifter mount which will centre the shifter
• move the tunnel opening.

My preferred option would be to get a shifter that allows me to use the original opening in the original location. Moving the engine forward may create problems with my tail shaft insertion into the rear of the box as I already have one that suits this alignment. Ultimately I may need to move the Zetec forward slightly to create enough room to fit the water rail etc.

Time will tell!

Now where's that big mallet.....[:u]

Talk to Mark re the shifter Paul[;^)]

Paul,

Looks like yours is the 21 inch shifter position, (gearbox is 22inch long so you can work out which one you want from there) I use the 20.5, you only need a small cut out in the tunnel and it suits my driving position. There are options for an 18 and 19inch shifter position too.

I think it's a 20.5 and a 19 will put it right in the middle. If I cannot find the right offset I'll mod the tunnel.

Anyone have a 19inch offset shifter to suit a Celica steel case they don't need?

OK, time for an update....

I've obtained another transmission tunnel section so I can get on with the gearbox install. I have also grabbed some "A" pillar sections to repair some small sections against the pillar drip rails either side. I have also borrowed an original pedal box adapted to running dual masters and a bias bar which I intend to copy. All thanks to Matt

As the panel work took a back seat for a few weeks I have turned to the rear disc set-up. I've decided to go with R31 rear callipers and Audi 90 rear discs. I chanced across this set-up whilst researching on the net but for the life of me I cannot find the page again [:(!]

All it requires is a simple straight adapter bracket attaching the calliper to the housing flange. The axle flange requires the diameter to be reduced by about 10mm to allow the rotor hat to slip over. The Audi disc is already suited to the 4x108 PCD of the escort axle.

Below are some images of the callipers and the original R31 bracket.





Playing around with the original bracket it appears that bolting this to the housing (in the same way it's used on the R31 diff) the offset required to suit either the Audi or R31 rotor (both approx 60mm) looks close although fitting and checking with the actual rotor is required. The only difference being that the R31 rotor has the wrong PCD (although can be ordered blank) and is a larger diameter (260mm to 245mm). My preference is the Audi rotor as in the future it can be replaced with zero mods required and I think it's a more balanced set-up with the 2.8i front rotors (247mm).

Below is the calliper bolted to the Escort housing (sorry but the pics are from my phone [:I]) The PCD of the R31 housing is bigger than the escort and will need to be re-driled if the offset etc is suitable. If the R31 disc is used then I see this as a possible straight forward converion. The Audi discs require a custom mount.





The rotors are $60ea so I'll order them and start matching it all up

hey paul,
you really hacked my car up hey, good to see its gonna get used though.
looks to be coming along well, wish i could say the same for mine.
let me know wen your done with my pedal box,

cheers
Matt

OK, a little more progress.

After a surprisingly small amount of "massaging" the Celica box is up and under. Also had to cut a section of the tunnel away to clear the shifter.




I will now trim and remove the original boot retainer from the tunnel and install the new section to centralise the shifter entrance. It appears the new shifter location is only 20mm back from original so the centre consol mounts should not need relocating.



Here is a shot of the (ugly) original Dellow mount that came with the car. Although it would be a simple task to just bolt it through the floor I'm looking at other alternatives to make it look more like a factory install rather than a slap together conversion.




I still may need to move the whole assembly forward a fraction depending on my bulk head clearance for the water rail but I'm optomistic that it should be OK (if initial measurements are correct). Plus I don't want to have to install the diff to check the drive shaft inserts far enough into the box if I move forward. In the current location it should be OK as it came out of the other car like this.....well that's the theory anyway