mexs four door mk2 escort.

[mexicotait]

well i have been on this site for a few years now and in that time i have been looking for a mk2 escort to make into a road/night rally car. With my budget it has taken quite a while and i originally wanted a two door.

but after reading a thread on here by welshdiffsniffer and his gorgous four door i eventually realised that this was all i was going to be able to afford. so after some careful searching i eventually found an absolute bargain.

pics. i know you all like pics.






more pics to follow along with some more info.

luke

[NRspeed]

Wow looks excellent condition. has someone already made repairs on it inside paint is fresh. You got the right grill also better than the oval ford one. whos is the blue one in the background?
I regret seeing a gold four door ghia complete in the scrappy 10-12year ago and cutting the auto tunnel and rear qrtr out of it only had 37k on the clock.

[mexicotait]

yeh it failed an mot about a year ago and the owner paid for it to have new full floor pan and new inner and outer wings put on then a full respray. its a really mint strong car which is why i bought it. i have loads more info and pics but just trying to find the time to get them up.

so basically bonnet off and 1600 out then 1300 in and bonnet back on all in about three hours. working on this car is just so enjoyable the previous owner is a good friend and is cutting me a very good deal so alot of the parts are new or as good as








so much more to do still

[mexicotait]

this was the picture i most wanted to take
we managed to get the engine in and plumbed in pretty easily however the water pump was kaput.

swapped for another one with a new gasket and filled with fluid all ready for starting and....................................................................the battery was dead. so swapped for another battery and one turn of the key a little splutter then vroom off it went. not bad for a car an engine that hasnt been ran in about ten years.

let it run and warm its self up and all was well. only problem we were having is it struggling to pick up which think it is down to the standard carb. but have a webber to go on eventually when isort a manifold for it.




also i was given a strutbrace which we managed to unseize and painted up and looks rather good i think.

well happy i am

luke

[bazpro88]

looks a nice motor. wouldnt mind another 4dr myself now. did u go to the meet at aliweld in ryton earlier this week?
was some fantastic old fords there.

[mexicotait]

no sadly i wanted to but im at uni in york so i dont get much time on the car atm.

its getting moved down to my new garage next weekend though so all should be good and i should be able to get some more progress on it.

[stone4dr]

Nice car , Be great to see you out on the lanes in her , What events you planning ?

[mexicotait]

oh god havent even thought that far ahead needs to be on the road first. then ill decide always wanted to do the shaw which is a good rally for us based around northumberland but it didnt run this year so we will have to see.

more updates to follow as a lot of progress has been made.

[mexicotait]

another update got the struts on and all the steering and then built the brakes up

bled up and are getting better but the previous owner has put an extension on the rod that attaches the brake pedal to the cylinder apparently which makes the brake pedal really high anyone have any ideas how to rectify this ?

more pics for ya

[mexicotait]

done a lot more on the car over the past while.

basically didnt need much more doing just loads of fiddly little jobs like bleeding brakes again (still has a rubbish pedal feel)

fitted sport clocks into it and finally got the temperature gauge working.

then took it for an mot and it passed cleanly

then gave it a bit of a tune up still cant get the standard carb working so that will have to come off nd be replaced by a twinchoke. all i need is a manifold if anyone has one?

enjoy the pics

[mexicotait]

right....

havent done much to it just little fiddly jobs tbh but nice getting things sorted.

firstly had to remove all the chrome trims and moldings round the windows as they look awful to me. easily removed and the resulst looks like this.





then got on with sorting the rear out towbar was taken off looked terrible






and the chrome bumper was taken off and all chrome removed which took ages before etch priming and then a few coats of satin black.


much better.


also had to mark up and drill my fibre glass quarter bumpers. i was a bit worried about these but i got them cheap so thought i might aswell try and fit them they are actually really good quality and im really impressed. have to sort the earths for the indicators and the long bumper bolts then spray them black.


also started putting my sump guard together took a bit of time finding the right bolts to get it together but got sorted in the end.



just waiting on my u bolts coming so i can fit the lowering block kit and then its onto sorting the interior.


oh and my coil overs on the front are really hard to adjust due to them rusting up im managing to free them off but how can i stop them from rusting up again?

[mexicotait]

and to add to that have started my shopping list. if any one can help out please get in touch.

i need to source a bolt in roll cage.

decent set of bucket seats and some 3 inch four point harness.

and need a another set of wheels to put some knobblies on.

i have also started to put together a 1600 together which might get swapped into it at somepoint.

[bazpro88]

dont know if you want them or not but i got 3 mk2 escort 13inch steel wheels in pretty good condition. u can have them if u want as they are just in the garage doing nowt. same style as mexico steels.

[northeee]

Hi car looks great
how did you take the chrome off your bumper as i need to do this with my door handles.
keep up the good work

[dangerousdave]

I have a full bolt in rollcentre cage in the shed with doorbars £180 but your a bit far and not sure what the crack is with posting it as theres loads of bits and obviously bulky!

[Adam B]

generally send through parcels2go for about a tenner, just class it as a small box

the delivery drivers dont really care what they collect / deliver

[mexicotait]

sounds good dave ill pm you.

[mexicotait]

Hi car looks great
how did you take the chrome off your bumper as i need to do this with my door handles.
keep up the good work

to get the chrome of i just used really rough wet and dry paper and the worked down to finer and finer grades took ages but is really worth it.

then use good quality etc primer then i sprayed it with satin black did two coats have rubbed it down then did another final coat to make sure it was well sealed. takes forever but as said is worth it im going to do my handles when i can feel my fingers again.

[northeee]

i take it you had a dust mask on for this as chrome dust is nasty stuff for the lungs coff coff

[mexicotait]

i had a dust mask and goggles on aswell im paranoid about getting anything in my eyes. i have heard that chrome dust is really bad for you what makes it so dangerous?

[jon jkd]

Nice motor mate looks well clean whats the story with the blue 1?

[mexicotait]

cheers jon funnily enough i just posted on your thread.


the blue one belongs to the same person that owns this one and is actually the one that i went to look at originally but he wanted too much money. it is a completely original shell and has never been welded however it has been resprayed inside and out. annoyingly the owner isnt the one to get thing sorted so it will sit there as a shell for a long time probably
as my red one would have if i hadnt of pestered him to sell it to me.

hope youve got some more updates coming.

[Ratters]

looks a nice motor

[mexicotait]

well smallish update.

painted up my q bumpers just waiting on a set of bolts turning up and then they can be put on properly alsi have to drill and tap the indicator mounts.

then i decided to fit my spotlights again and have another go at getting them working.



me and my dad spent all day going through everything with no luck and have worked out that down to bad connections and low quality wire being used to wire them in by the previous owner i decided to rip it all out and start again.

but still even if they dont work it still looks good!!





i then tried to get my coilovers freed off as they werent exactly adjustable then got fed up with trying to do it on the car so off they came.

and now after a day of aggro they are sorted and ready to be put back on

thats a job for later.

luke

[exboyracer]

Cover the threads on your coilovers with coppaslip so they don't rust again

Nice project BTW, keep up the good work!

[jon jkd]

Nice 1,looks sorted mate,cant beat an escort wiv 2 up 2 downkeep up the gd work

[mexicotait]

yeh will only have two on for road events but the set of four came with the car so they might aswell go on.

cheers for the comments

[mexicotait]

hey guys i have one of these seats off my brother to go in but need another one to match



let me kknow if you know of any
cheers luke

[NRspeed]

Nice project. You got the group 1 RS alloys there I see, deeper webs are stronger.

[mexicotait]

you say that but i only have one.rest are just lazer alloys

[mexicotait]

right not updated for a while but...............

sourced a twin choke carb and manifold but need the gasket block that fits inbetween the manifold and the carb
and can i use my existing thottle linkage on that carb or do i need another ?
has anyone got any idea how to change the carb from an auto to manual choke ?

bought a rear spoiler from my brother got that fitted today and bled the breaks up properly

need to buy some new pads but not sure what to get

i have spaced m16 calipers on vented discs whats the best pads to get for fast road/ road rallying ?


been looking at how to fit my bucket seats as well just need to get some side mounts which will be ordered on monday

then still need to source a cage aswell but that can wait.
getting there.......



cheers luke

[bazpro88]

i think the linkage might be slightly different on a twin choke carb. i had a problem when i did something similar a few year ago.
cant remember if i modifed the standard one or got a proper one.

[jon jkd]

I used mintex 1144 pads,wiv my princess 4 pots,on my last roadrally car,didnt giv me no trouble al night long,but cost bout £50.

[mexicotait]

Nice project. You got the group 1 RS alloys there I see, deeper webs are stronger.

i have got three group 1 rs alloys would love to get another one to match if anyone has any cheers.

[jordycharlieboz]

Grrrr you destroyed a full chrome bumper. I cant find a set anywhere, you poms have it too good if your willing to just destroy one to paint it black =(... =P

[mexicotait]

yeh maybe but you have the weather and the lack of rust.

[jordycharlieboz]

Ha, what weather would that be? If you think its nice and sunny here all the time, not in the state of Victoria. I got flooded in the other week =P.
Lack of rust is good =) I found my MkII in a place called Dubo. Basically it doesn't rain there, only have lil bits of surface rust =)
Anyways neat lookin' esky. p.s Im still crying over the bumper... jokes

[mexicotait]

i have another one in the garage that is nice how many stamps will it cost to australia ?

[jordycharlieboz]

Probably a few too many. The thought has crossed by mind to import a set, but I have other things I need to be spending my money on atm.
Done anything else to her? new pics?
Cheers

[mexicotait]

yeh update coming soon but calble for the camera has gone missing but theyll be up soon

seats are now in and fitted and new carb is nearly set up

be on the road in a couple of weeks