Yeah it's been a long journey, I think I started it in 2018 , right before the world went mad!
You know I'm not running the everyday Mex or rs stripes, I'm going to be a trendsetter and start another craze.. wheels I've ordered are machined rim and hoping for silver spokes but will still accept black but I'll paint them..

Found the original swaybar with mounts and also found a 22mm bar which is better with Pinto weight , there's a wcxm going to be used, this one came from MST as an old lightly used/copy I got for £45 .

I could be doing another anodise run cause some things don't match now like the U bolts for the diff since mk1 Borg Warner are thinner than English axle so I'll need MK2 U's and plates or use Capri ones since I don't need the shocker post .
Also going in is Capri struts I've had hanging on the wall for ever , these will need a full rebuild and derust treatment before they get any closer to the car. Strut tops are Cortina MK2 roller tops.


I'll check for struts being straight or at least equal straight before I do the mods like gussets , lower the platform and maybe shorten the tube if I use different inserts.
Boot is fitted, seems to fit well except it's sitting back a little which will be adjusted in time


I also fitted the headlight bowls but instead of just using pk screws I used up more rivnuts and stainless m4 Allen bolts .
My plan with the immediate diff drama is don't have any MK2 Escort diffs left so I'm going to pinch one from my bubble arch mk1 and swap it with a Capri housing/axles which I was going to do anyway.

That boot lid Marty.
 
On my current build, the boot lid is sitting around 10mm above the body between the hinges, ie across the rear window. As you follow it to the rear of the car, it comes more into the same plane as the body.
I know a pic would show it but the car is up with the tuner atm.
 
Its a fiberglass unit and I don't think I can really do much to modify it. 
Is there any way of lowering/adjusting the hinges?
I have not taken the rubber out (it is a new item), to see how much influence it is having.

There is a couple of ways to go adjusting the lid down , if you still have the torsion rods the best way once the lid is removed is unbolt the hinge assy on the inside above the arch and be ready for it to fling. Once that's out you can oval out the 2x holes upwards, yes upwards, somehow this lowers the hinge , or just the rearmost one which is the adjusting one , I still need to do this with mine and also file the boot mount holes more to bring it closer to the back window /scuttle.
If that don't work you can simply cut the hinge arm and cut a piece out, best done nearest the bootlid

Had a big remember moment yesterday, since the mk1 has twin cam front arches I need to modify the swaybar mounts to pull the struts/wheels further forward , this also gives better turn in , Ackerman effect plus the wheels will look silly in the original position .
Here is where I'm at so far but I did Tig weld the plates back on and clean the mounts up. The swaybar bush mount is now 25mm forward. Later I'll prolly make a anti dive kit.


Deano, if your wheels seem to sit back in the arch you'll need to do this or buy a adjustable sway bar..

thanks Marty, I'll try not to forget that might need doing.
I think I might be ok though, if anything the fronts where getting caught on the guards  at the front, not the rear.
It was when the inner arch lip was beated back was shaped back in, It tightened up the whole hook opening.
Was ok once reprofiled, and better still when the engine went in.
(Old pic.)
 
 

 
BTW, have you got that link for the bargain door rubber seal, might help some guys out
 
 

I think when your van comes down from Ford Ranger ride height the fronts will swing rearward as the swaybar becomes horizontaler , sort of like when looking at a clock and the big hand is at 7, to being at 9 it's end length is longer , not by much but maybe 20-30mm depends on how low your going..

Here's the get you out of trouble for seal. What's in the box is 2x 5mtr rolls for $25 or less if you've got a discount,
Yeah it's Trammu but it all comes from chinee . I measured it against some UK stuff and the tramu stuff squashes just as good
https://share.temu.com/Ym90e2iYxSA

A bit of time spent dismantling the Capri struts the danger way without spring clamps . There wasn't much tension and a vice grip clamped to the insert also helps stop parts fanging across the yard, I done it with a milk crate in the shoot zone so things wouldn't escape.
Once the legs were pulled apart of hubs and inserts of which one was still original oil type, I put them in the grit blaster to clean them up, next was to sand a few spots and clean any oil sludge off . Checked for straight and are spot on, 1 strut is from a 7/70 Capri or escort twin cam and the other is 6/71 , not that it matters any ad from my experience all Capri have the same strut legs but anyways I'll be adding the gussets to toughen up the stub to the tube maybe tomorrow but won't do anything else till I work out what inserts I'll be using since Escort/Capri ones have gone way pricey I'm looking at Toyota MR2 or Celica, maybe even RX7 , will see what pops up. As for towers I have Cortina ones but a bearing in 1 is missing, I think I remember bashing it out as it had seized some 30+yrs ago , of anyone can track new bearings down I'd be happy . In the meantime I've ordered a set of corolla towers or RAV 4 ones to either modify to fit escort or cut apart for the bearings which I don't want to do . I have fitted Toyota strut tops in another escort and is quite easy to do so when they arrive I'll decide which way I'll go..

And this is the Capri 1600 diff housing going into a mk1 escort so I can tax it's diff for the project, if only going to be holding the car off the ground to roll about

A bit more work on the struts today to add lower gussets which should virtually stop any bending from now on . They were cut from 4mm strap.

Next was add some welding to stitch them to the struts .


After that I cut the weld that holds the spring platform on and removed them, linnished the welds back flat and cleaned up the tubes . They are packed away till I decide on inserts from a Toyota or Mazda. Thinking of Toyota as that's the towers I've ordered so they'll connect well.

Right, here one for anoraks, I will be installing the factory lower stainless plate/trims cause the car came with them, it'll stay with them. I spent half a day tapping out a few dents etc to straighten them up then I sanded with 600 ,1000, 1500, 2000 all with a DA sander , next was polish and that came up pretty good.
Since I've been building, repairing Escort for close to 35yrs and I have never seen those stainless plates with a red stripe, they are virtually always black . Maybe cause the car is a special corporate model ?? So my thinking is to keep a bit of corporate in the build and keep the red stripe in the stainless sill strip .
I can hear the internets saying don't fit them, they cause rust. they will cause rust after 50yrs so it's not a worry. I fitted a set to my blue van just to break up the lines a bit.

Try fitting coils on to a GQ patrol with standard spring compressors. I had luckily wrapped a big blanket around them, as they snapped halfway through the process. Still scared the bejesus out of me.
Finally tracked down some real heavy duty items which I have since used on the Escorts and Capris etc. Overkill, but I don't lose body parts.
 
Marty can you show a pic or two of the 'factory lower stainless plate/trims' you are mentioning. The only stainless things on these rust buckets is the gutter trims etc?

Marty.
I got a heap of tab washers punched out a few years back for when I was building the Capri.
I have some left, so let me know if you need a couple