Dubai Mk1 Duratec

[M11rf]

Getting this car finished is like watching paint dry.....
















I'll get my coat

Colour looks great

[dobuy]

Getting this car finished is like watching paint dry.....

LOL, so I am boring you then, must try harder, must try harder, must try harder, must try harder,

[M11rf]

I meant, its taking a long time.......................... ahhhhh... forget it

[dobuy]

OK, well a wee update, finally got all the paint finished on the shell and panels


Reasonably happy with the finish, a quick lick with the buffer will remove any minor defects






Bonnet, boot and doors painted as well


Quick lick of black on the various supension parts and engine mounts




As well as giving the axle a coat


As I was heading up to the UK on a trip, I just happened to be lurking on eBay and picked up a nice Vauxhall Corsa C Power Steering column, so £70 later


Along with another eBay purchase, the controller for £38

So all in the guts of a Power Steering set-up for £120
Got to work on the column, after spending a stupid amount of time trying to surgically remove the lock, I ended up chopping away the upper outer tube.


The plan was to weld the end of the Escort column onto the cut end of the tube, however after a bit more head scratching, decided to cut the alloy boss down


Then tapped four M6x12mm deep threads into the alloy and made a metal plate from 5mm steel, which I will weld the old MK1 Escort tube stub to.


Mounted the unit up with a temporary mount to get the positioning right and work out the lengths I need to chop off the old column


Probably need to rotate it slightly to lift the electric motor up a few cm's


This is what is left of the MK1 Escort column, these will be welded to the Corsa electric unit to match the old MK1 dimensions


Finally off the rotisserie and will be on its wheels soon

[Graham]

wow thats a great transformation

[exboyracer]

Now that looks Fantastic

[jpblue]

looks great. a happy day for sure. keep it up.
JP

[dangerousdave]

Looks fantastic neil considering that you have done it all with your own hands

Wee update was a slight understatement bet you cant wait to get it all bolted back together now

[PIG]

stunning mate,these old orange mk1's are getting comon now lol

[Hoogi]

What a transformation a lick of paint makes...........that looks mint.

[MK1_Oz]

truly outstanding

[Sonus]

Bet you can't wait to start to assembly

[RICK06]

awesome as usual Neil. I wish I was that far along.

[dobuy]

Thanks for the comments, the painting process was a bit of a mare, as it was so hot while I was doing the priming, but the top coat went on really nicely. As always with these things I learned a hell of a lot, primarily that I will never paint a full car again, as it is a huge amount of work. Still really glad I did it myself at least once..
Really looking forward to building it up, once I get the shell cut and polished.

stunning mate,these old orange mk1's are getting comon now lol

Yeah well, what can you do, at least mine is the only orange one that I know of for a few thousand kilometres.

[M11rf]

Not long now mate...

[FrEdOoOo]

Looks Fantastic!!!!

Good work m8

[Luke]

Fantastic my friend what did you use to roll the rear arches and how did you decide where to start getting rid of the big lip they come with?

[dobuy]

Fantastic my friend what did you use to roll the rear arches and how did you decide where to start getting rid of the big lip they come with?

The arches aren't rolled, I thought about doing that, but decided to just cut the big flanges back to a smallish lip, of around 10mm.

[hillclimber16v]

Respect for the hard work!!

I thougt opels where rusty but the Fords can be proud competitors
in the welding corner!!!

On the other hand there is so mutch availeble to get the job done and even
inprove, thats where the opels are left behind.

Ivan

[MK1_Oz]

...but decided to just cut the big flanges back to a smallish lip, of around 10mm.

What did you use to do this trimming?

[dobuy]

What did you use to do this trimming?

a thin cutting disc and a flapwheel

[MK1_Oz]

Flap wheels.....know them well.......still have the scar!!!!!!!

[dobuy]

OK, another wee update
So the chopped bottom part of the MK1's steering column is slotted into the UJ of the Corsa rack , then welded up


Likewise the top part of the MK1's column with the spline for the steering wheel is welded to the Corsa column
Here is my patented paralleling device, the difference in thickness of the shafts is compensated for by wrapping a few turns of masking tape around the thinner column part, then spot welded using the cut out in the tube, knocked the tube off and welded all round the join


Finally the outer top sleeve from the MK1's column is welded to the plate


Finally got round to finishing off the engine, here the dry sump is fully assembled with baffle plates




Internal pump, is a nice tight fit with the other internals


Modified Cam chain tensioner


Original oil pump sprocket and chain used


New bucket's installed, pre shimmed for me by my mate Mick


Camshafts use original sprockets and a Diamond coated washer from Cosworth to grip, lighter than Verniers and cheaper


Being timed up, always a fiddly operation




But the cams are pretty close to the slots on the back of the cams being parallel when dialled in


Ready for installation


And so it is


off to work, more to follow later......

[Pikey15]

That's looking fantastic, you must be well happy with it

[M11rf]

When it's finished....... what are you going to do?
You will be really bored!

[dobuy]

When it's finished....... what are you going to do?
You will be really bored!

Ahh my mate Gareth has a couple of Escorts he wants to do, but has no time, so he is willing to take on an apprentice...

[Retromotorsport]

Ahh my mate Gareth has a couple of Escorts he wants to do, but has no time, so he is willing to take on an apprentice...

Are you nicking my job !!!

[dobuy]

I said apprentice, not Jedi Knight

[Retromotorsport]

Oh shush..you've done a cracking job on this one

[dobuy]

Oh shush..you've done a cracking job on this one

Thanks for that, but the reality is that it probably takes me at least 5 times as long to complete stuff compared with the pro's, I am blessed with the ability to take my time, if I priced out my time, this car would have cost a small fortune.

Anyway a few more pics from the update

Minor problem, have to figure out a way to fit my oil pressure sensor to the top of the spin on adapter, guess I need some kind of flexy 1/8 nptf adapter to clear the starter motor. Any suggestions please




Dashboard painted black


Got the car polished up with the loan of one of Khalid Bin Haider's lads from Performance Motors, makes a big difference, now it is all shiny. Big thanks to Khalid






Engine fitted


Hydraulic reservoirs


Not sure if that brake pedal is too close to the GRP4 throttle pedal


Still need to crank the gear stick over towards the driver a bit


Using standard MX5 slave cylinder on the gearbox, all seems to work OK

[MK1_Oz]

...it probably takes me at least 5 times as long to complete stuff compared with the pro's...

It's takes me 5 times as long to complete stuff compared to you!!!!!!!!!!!

[Graham]

Minor problem, have to figure out a way to fit my oil pressure sensor to the top of the spin on adapter, guess I need some kind of flexy 1/8 nptf adapter to clear the starter motor. Any suggestions please

attach the sender to a braided hose and use a banjo fitting to attach the other end of the hose to the engine??????????

[dobuy]

Sounds like a good idea, but can you get 1/8 nptf banjo bolts or would I have to cut a new thread into the plate
Also can you get braided nptf female hose ends? I have been Googling a fair bit, nut can't seem to find any

[wildman]

"Not sure if that brake pedal is too close to the GRP4 throttle pedal"
yea it is ,mine was exactly tha same as that ,i just welded a bit more on the shaft of throttle pedal so it could be moved over a bit more, think i used a 3/8 bolt shank

[Graham]

Sounds like a good idea, but can you get 1/8 nptf banjo bolts or would I have to cut a new thread into the plate
Also can you get braided nptf female hose ends? I have been Googling a fair bit, nut can't seem to find any

another possibility is a 90 male/female degree elbow a gas fitting perhaps

[katluke]

A lot of very good info on this thread

[PIG]

stunner bud,you've done a cracking job on this car imo.take my hat off to you fella

[Cossie_Phil]

Its come a long way since page 1 Looks absolutely awsome now...great work I have really enjoyed folllowing your build

[dobuy]

Thanks for the comments lads, much apreciated.

another possibility is a 90 male/female degree elbow a gas fitting perhaps

Yep Graham, that was my thought as well, Think Auto sell them, but my only concern is that the sender which is quite big, might vibrate too much on the elbow, whereas a flexi would avoid that
Have emailed ThinkAuto see if they come up with something

[64sam]

this build is getting better and better.

earls might have the kind of hose fitting you are after?