starter motor, drivers or passenger side?

2l have theirs on the passenger side.
 
You can use a Cortina starter in an Escort but as they are a bit longer it is very fiddly to get it in.
 
Hope that helped.
 
Matt 

NO

All escort mk2 and pinto'ed td, te and tf cortinas that i have seen have all had a Boshe type starter on the passenger side. Cortina starters had a longer body on them which makes it impossible to get the starter into position in a mk2 escort without having to either jack up that side of the engine and remove the engine mount - or have the starter bolted up already when inserting the engine in the bay.
Only pinto bellhousing i know of with a drivers side starter is the aftermarket Burtons alloy double sided one - and you need the english rs fork and bracket to suit as the aussie ones do not evidently fit

My old TD wagon had the starter on the drivers side, was a borgwarner auto but as far as im aware the c3 auto and manual boxes had the starter on the passenger side