icked up my escort as my first car when i was 15. Being a Ghia it was essentially a 4Door sport with added chrome and lush interior. It needed a small amount of work for a wof like front indicators, rust repairs etc, but the running gear was in good nick. It had a 1600 X-flow backed by a close ratio 4speed gearbox and followed by a 3.54 diff. All in all a lush package for a young fella to ticker with.
 

 

 

 

 
J-W-G

After buying the escort and driving it round till i finished school the world of BDA escorts and Zakspeed cars really began to get my attention.
I had big ideas of 6 linked and fully adjustable suspension, large diff and trans tunnels and stripped interior. This coupled with me joining the army has lead to the escort sitting lifeless for the past year and a half while ive gathered parts.
 
1) Diff conversion
 
I chose a Ford Courier/B1600 diff from a 78 model gave it a test fit and all seems well. The spring saddles are near identical and it ends up being 20mm larger Escort being 1350mm and Courier/B1600 being 1370mm.
 

 

 

 
I then proceeded to take the diff apart to inspect it and was pleasantly surprised to find it has huge grease packed semi floating hubs
 

 

 
I then had to get the big 6 stud face machined down to accommodate my sierra cosworth rear disks with my Laser TX3 rear calipers.
Next up was the 4.1 LSD diff head from a later model courier with the 2600cc G6 engine.
It required some mods to fit... well maybe just a kiss to the housing with the angle grinder.
 

 

 
Time then came to put it back together 
 

 

 
Grease her up.
 

 

 
Wack her back together then done
 

 
Its nice and tight and diff head turns freely and as it should.
 
J-W-G

2) Brakes
 
After much surfing the net and alot of luck i managed to source some austin princess calipers with some new stainless pistons which i had to fit along with a spacer kit to take the KE Laser TX3 Turbo disks i plan on running as its a bolt on swap.
 

 

 
Oh and mitch also got these welded to my capri struts 
 

 
I then got these bits
 

 
Just waiting out on adjustable dampers and roller bearing top mounts 
 
J-W-G
 

3) New engine
 
I settled on the engine conversion i wanted to do start of last year after being in awe of Low n Slow's FE3T escort since seeing it on the tarmac at the 2011 nats. Accept i really wanted the dooort sound of ITB's or carbs...
 

 
Next was to find a gearbox to suit.
Mx5 to the rescue, i found a really cheap rebuilt box with not even a drop of oil. I then had to get a Courier/B2000 box to change the bellhousing to suit the FE3. Also going to change the gearset over to the smooth case to remedy some fitting problems with the escort tunnel.
 

 
With decent carbs these days demanding top dollar i went with a set of silvertop itb's to hang off the side of the head.
 

 
Next was to assemble a mix n match of mazda bits to make a hybrid BP/B6/FE3 Crank angle sensor. It runs the BP/B6 cas body with the FE3 guts and top cap.
 

 
In my giddy excitism i promptly put every thing together to test bolt holes etc
 

 
After doing some research on the engine i found Kia had used it in their first gen sportage. I liked the look of the cam cover so had a go at making my own BDA inspired cam cover.
 

 
All im waiting on now is for a Courier/B2000 FE Flywheel, engine mounts, sump + pick up, spigot bearing and new clutch
 
J-W-G
 

4) Future Plans
 
My plans for her for this year/coming years is to give her a fresh new coat of the factory creme colour, polished chrome and factory interior followed promptly by a lush set of wheels.
 
Next is to fit the engine and gearbox followed with the fuel and management system 
 
Followed by refreshing the front end with new adjustable TCA's, anti dive kit and urethane bushes all round.
 
Oh and looooow
 

 
LUSH
 
J-W-G

5) Suspension
 
I managed to pick up a full set of brand new Gaz adjustable dampers for the front and rear and managed to treat myself to a new set of coilovers which suited way better to my needs.
 

 
This was the front set up before welding. Specs are 220lb springs, followed with keeper springs and adapted Cusco Evo strut camber plates.
 

 
Struts after welding. Vern had to machine out the spring tops to accept the Gaz inserts, then lathe up some spacers to take the camber plates. Further the camber plates had the be redrilled to the Escort "small hole" PCD of 95mm.
 

 
After a small bit of massaging the bolt holes i got the strut tops in followed by...
 

 
The TX3 Turbo rotors were a bolt on fit and take up the whole pad of the Princess calipers which is bloody great, also the rotors are a **** ton cheaper then Capri vented ones at $50 for two.
 
The rear ended up looking like this...
 

 
The spring plates needed a quick weld up and redrill to accept the larger Courier/B1600 U-Bolts.
 

 
Plans from now.
 
Right now the car is nearly rolling. I just need a set of wheel studs to get it on some wheels so i can move it outside to do some work on it while having a beer and getting a tan. Just waiting on a shipment from the UK with some flash new parts for the front end. For the rear just waiting for the new year to get the leafs reset for a 2inch drop, sand blast and powdercoat (Suggestions?).
 
Stay tuned for what ive been doing to the engine, its getting there but its got some cool stuff to do with itb manifolds and a lush stainless octopus hanging off the side...
 
J-W-G

6) Engine
 
Doort...
 

 

 

 
Everything bolts up nicely and without hassle! The exhaust was originally off an AE86 race car, its a stainless 4-2-1 design with 45mm primaries, 50mm secondaries with a 2.5inch outlet. Only thing i had to get done was the 4AGE flange cut off and a new stainless FE3 flange welded on.
The itb manifold is a cut and shut job done by Vern, he had to build up the weld to meet the itb flange i got cut as the original FE3 manifold was never totally round. Ihave some VR4 injectors from KPR that sould do the trick and just need to be mounted. I then decided id do some porting on the intake to smooth out the welds and casting marks. Still a way to go as i now have to sand it by hand as my dremel piece isn't long enough.
 

 
Plans for 2015 for the engine is to do a full rebuild on it and sort out ignition and management. Im thinking a Link G4+ Atom or a megasquirt (give me pros and cons of both in discussion) and a ford edis module for the spark.
 
http://oldschool.co....rfection/page-6
 
CHUR BRO'S
 
J-W-G

Goodness
 

Look whats in the bay
 

 
Pretty stoked to finally get this thing fitted, its snug as hell but looks good.
 

 
X-Flow out
 

 
Gearbox lines up with the hole, will need to cut the original mounts out of the tunnel to get it to fit but looks like it will be tight. Might have to change the tail housing to one from the courier box as its flatter.
 

 
Ready to go...
 

 
Cheers to Chris aka Low N Slow for the mounts, wiring and Link, and the adjustable cam gears. Will further fit the gearbox and clean up the engine bay more when im back home, things are looking up!

Oh hi there...