Mk1 RS2000 Tarmac & Road Rally car

[para144]

I thought it was the right time to post some photos of my car as I'm doing the Jersey Rally and most cars have some damage! This way I can post 'before & after' pics.

Its a 1973 Mk1 RS2000, I've owned about 9 years and I use it for Tarmac stage rallies, Welsh road rallies, weekend road use and an the odd trackday.

Its has to meet road rally regs so it still has back seats & carpets etc. It also can only run carbs with 2 chokes for 4 cylinders so I use 'Split 48's' rather than twin carbs. These are twin 48 Dellortos machined in half to leave 2 chokes, these provide better torque than a single standar 48 etc.

Its prepped similar to 'Motoring News Championship' spec and just needs the advertising covered up for road rallies. I have used it for historic events but its got the wrong brakes & gearbox now.

Basic Spec:

2 litre Pinto with BVH, split 48's.
Quaife 5 speed SC CRB.
Baby fully floating Atlas.
Front Bilstiens 2 1/4 coil overs (190 lb)
Turreted rear, CD6 sprengs, tramp bars & panard rod.
AP front brakes & discs, rear sierra calipers. All Mintex pads.
13" wheels, Dunlop & Kumho cut slicks (where regs allow).
Yokohama 21R's for road rallies and events with a 'road rally class'.

[andypipe]

Very nice

[FOSSIE]

Nice looking car, that.

I'm more jealous of the fact you appear to live on the edge of your own "test track" though! We don't get roads like that up here

Any chance of some pictures under the back end, please?

cheers
Tom

[para144]

Nice looking car, that.

I'm more jealous of the fact you appear to live on the edge of your own test track though! We don't get roads like that up here

Any chance of some pictures under the back end, please?

cheers
Tom

Thanks, its not as mint as it looks in the photos. Re 'the test track', yep miles & miles of deserted lanes, mountain roads, hairpins. Most of them you can see a long way to check its safe to 'push on'. Just gotta watch out for sheep & wild mountain ponies.I'll take a few pics of the back end set-up ASAP

[Retromotorsport]

Sod it... i'm moving to Wales

Does look a bit nice that car and test track

[sillymonkey]

like that like the test track

[para144]

Got a finish in the Jersey Rally, we came 38th overall from 80 starters. Excellent rally on closed roads.The diff broke on the 1st stage and sounded like a Stuka dive bomber, we pushed on but expected it to fail completely on the next stage or road section. It was so loud that I could hardly hear the pace notes through the intercom. Communication was impossible on the road section with the helmets off, anyway it lasted all 36 stages!

[Retromotorsport]

Well done and a good picture too... bit of tyre smoke... you was trying then

[MO1]

well done ! i bet your ears are still ringing? what a rally! well worth the boat trip! cheers car 56

[waynemk2]

Nice mk1 that, notice the Petwise stickers on it, is it Anthony????

[para144]

Nice mk1 that, notice the Petwise stickers on it, is it Anthony????

Its one of the 3 'Petwise' cars, Anthony's is a yellow Mk2 & Daves is the blue mk2. have a look at www.pronetrally.co.uk

[para144]

well done ! i bet your ears are still ringing? what a rally! well worth the boat trip! cheers car 56

Cheers, we had a great time. Where did you finish in the end?You are right about ringing ears, click on the link below and have a look at a short video of us on a hairpin. As the car drives away you can hear the diff SCREAM
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkNpaSLh4iY

[steveo_mex]

very nice motor there mate

always good to see another mk1 being used in the right way

[para144]

Nice looking car, that.

I'm more jealous of the fact you appear to live on the edge of your own "test track" though! We don't get roads like that up here

Any chance of some pictures under the back end, please?

cheers
Tom

Sorry for the delay in posting pics, the axle has been off the car since Jersey to sort the diff out. Still no idea why a new Atlas crown wheel and pinion would last less than 40 miles (30 road & 2 stage miles). More photos to follow but found these for now. FF baby atlas, 309 discs, sierra brakes, panard rod & anti tramp bars.

[para144]

Some more pics of my 'test track'. 1 minute from my house, generally deserted, you can see other cars coming for miles so safe for 'testing', plenty of twisty bits too. Just watch out for sheep!







Move to Wales, you know it makes sense! Great stage rallies, the best road rallies, loads of Escort & rally preparation companies & parts suppliers, fantastic driving roads, cheap housing & of course sheep!

[diffed]

Well all sorted again then mike

good news lots of hairpins to test the diff this year

will e/mail them pics soon

[tim]

where the test track mate,not epynt is it ?

[para144]

where the test track mate,not epynt is it ?

No, its Gelligaer common about 25 miles North of Cardiff but there are loads of places like this around here.

There are normally at least 2 road rallies that run through here every year.

Well all sorted again then mike

good news lots of hairpins to test the diff this year

will e/mail them pics soon

Does that mean there will be loads of hairpins this year & I'll need the practice?

[tim]

very nice,view and roads like that that make me want 2 move 2 wales

[diffed]

Thats it i'm moving to wales

photo's sent

[para144]

Cheers Diffed

[para144]

I finished fitting the axle last weekend, when I went to take the car out of the garage I noticed the throttle pedal felt 'loose'. Next thing I knew SNAP, it had sheared off at the pedal box. The car was only put on and off a trailer after the last rally so it must have been on the brink of snapping during the rally . Think I was lucky to get a finish there.



The one below is the new Group 4 pedal from West Wales Rally Spares, it appear to be much better quality than the Peter Lloyd one that snapped. It even already has an extended foot pedal, saves me welding on a longer one like did on the old pedal

[para144]

Just had confirmation of our entry for the 'Tour of Epynt' rally on the 4th March. Broke 2 half shafts last year on stage 12 but have the Atlas (now sorted) this year.

Just means something else will break!

[para144]

Tour of Epynt result:

3rd in class & 48th over all.

Cant really say it was a good days rallying. The weather was terrible with 7 cars sliding off on 1 stage alone. The final stage was cancelled for safety reasons.

I was on the wrong tyres & had a few big 'moments' where my whole life flashed before me pray: .

Gave up waiting for our class award as the arguing about the 6 excluded cars went on for ages. We were soaked, the car was soaked & the service crew were soaked

The car is still in one piece & today I stripped the gearbox off as the bellhousing to box bolts had come loose on the event (one completely missing). I'm going to uprate the clutch from an AP race clutch to a paddle clutch while I'm at it.

[para144]

Havent ordered any photos yet but you can see how wet it was here

[tim]

so what fuel were u using lol

[para144]

so what fuel were u using lol

Tesco 99 ron with Millers CVL. Legal with the FIA but its a bit unclear if its legal with the MSA hence the general confusion with all the competitors .

Well done MSA

[para144]

Decided to uprate the clutch from the AP motorsport organic type to an AP sprung paddle type. Not cheap but I've been worried about the old one failing on an event.

Also got an heavy duty gearbox mount as the back of the box moves around alot. The original mount is about 35 years old & I can feel the box shifting during heavy cornering etc.

Both items ordered from West Wales Rally Spares & arrived the next day.

Next rally - Tour of Caerwent on the 25th March

[kal]

very nice m8, love your test track

[para144]

We have been seeded at 54 for the Tour of Caerwent, there are some very quick cars behind me so I'll be in my mirrors to make sure I dont hold anyone up .

We got a good result on this one last year, we were helped by light rain for some of the stages which gave more trouble to the big power cars. As long as we dont the downpour that we had at Epynt a couple of weeks ago!

New paddle clutch in, car is spanner checked & ready to go. It feels odd being ready a week early, bound to break something now

[Paul C]

Good Luck

I've done Caerwent a few years ago. What an amazing place it is. I only managed 2 stages as i found a curb hidden away in the grass! That was in my mini though.

I would like to get an entry on the summer one coming up, to see if i can finish this time in my escort.

Hope you get another good result.

Paul

[para144]

Lots of car trouble during the rally.....

FIA cutout switch started to fail on stage one (lost over 6 mins).
Ripped a 3 inch gash in a tyre side wall stage 4 (3 mins).
Loose starter motor - thanks to the marshals for the bump start.
Steering rack moving about, cracked mount I think.
Clutch pedal sticking down (suspect debris from paddle clutch contaminating input shaft splines - batch fault apparently).
Failed starter motor - same marshals pushed us again!

After all that, we got a finish (near the back) 40th overall but 3rd in class after a string of retirements .

[para144]

Time to sort out my TCA's, I've had some adjustable ones from PLR but the ball joints are shot (again!). I've bought some similar to the Gartrac ones that have 'rose joints' and replaceable pins can be changed when damaged etc. They came from a guy in West Wales & and generally look more heavy duty than the PLR ones.

[jpblue]

Very nice Mk1. Pity about those little anoying gremlins but you seem to have done better than your ranking on the event. Well done.
Can you advise where you got the spherical bearinged TCA's from. Are they a common modification over here?
Cheers,

Justin P

[para144]

Very nice Mk1. Pity about those little anoying gremlins but you seem to have done better than your ranking on the event. Well done.
Can you advise where you got the spherical bearinged TCA's from. Are they a common modification over here?
Cheers,

Justin P

I think Gartrac do them but these came from a guy who makes them in West Wales. I'm not sure if its a common modification but it looks like a more robust system than standard ball joints & you can order spare pins on their own in case you bend one. I'll pm you his phone number

[narx]

Wow looking good,
was wondering, what are the advantages of having the TCA?

able to adjust track width?

[para144]

Wow looking good,
was wondering, what are the advantages of having the TCA?

able to adjust track width?

Allows to to set more negative camber. It used to be done in the old days by drilling new holes in the cross member but this method is a more acurate way of doing it.

[narx]

Allows to to set more negative camber. It used to be done in the old days by drilling new holes in the cross member but this method is a more acurate way of doing it.

How much stock camber can set on the stock escort?

How about camber kit? that wont help?

[para144]

Been ages since I posted anything about the car, Been rebuilding the house so now in a frantic effort to get the car finished for the Jersey rally. The engines gearbox been out to have a big tunnel, I replaced the knackered steeting rack & TCA's.
The biggest job was put off for nearly 10 years, I've finally got around to ditching the crap 35 year old loom (which was in bad condition anyway) & rewired the whole car from scratch..........
Here are some pics of the centre console:
I made all the holes & painted the console in primer & then satin black.


All the basic components fitted here, I decided to fit a hazard light system as the original loom didnt have one. Comes in handy if you have problems during a stage & need to warn cars behind you.


Part way through wiring the console, the 2 fuel pumps have separate relays & fuses. all the lights except side lights run of relays & individual fuses (all pop out types). Every relay & fuse can be reached by the navigator while seated. Every connection has been crimped & soldered, the wiring is modern light weight stuff with a minimum of 16.5A rating.

complete (less some relays)


starting to plumb in the loom


It's taken days & days so far, it's cost a fortune in components & I spent many hours doing diagrams etc but it should work better, be more reliable & the lights should be nice & bright. my brain hurts!

[Dan]

well done on the wiring its something that needs doing on my car, im not looking forward to it tho, i had the dipped beam go a while back so i used the live feed for the spotlights (which arnt connected but has new wiring and relays) the difference in brightness is quite amazing.

good luck with the rally and keep at it, tis a lovely looking car