Paul Alex's character building, pain-in-the-ar5e, bufty money pit

[PaulAlex]

Got the radiator back today, and good news is that it fits with a fair bit more room than we had previously...





And one showing just how much room I have in my garage (!) and a better view of the WRC vents



More at the weekend I hope.

Cheers,

Paul

[david_white]

Very nice, not far off now

[smiffy1972]

Getting there mate


Good to see the old girl home

[PaulAlex]

Good to see the old girl home

You're not wrong there mate.......I think tomorrow could be the day

[PaulAlex]

Today was the day!!! Despite needing a couple of emergency trips to the local motor factors, Lee, Cossie Matt and I have managed to breath life into the car again

In fact, pretty much everything went to plan for once! No flat battery, no earth problems, no leaks, no misfire, no (big) issue connecting the laptop to the ECU, no running out of fuel, no problem fitting the new fans - it just behaved beautifully today We didn't even have any complaints from the neighbours - although that's probably because it sounds so sweet

We then spent the rest of the day bolting little bits and pieces to it - like the fire extinguisher hoses, rear tow strap, cut-off decals, wiper arms, grommets etc

Nothing really that different from previous pictures, although we did come across some carbon headlight shrouds that we dismissed for some reason a couple of years ago. Today they seem to make sense, so I think these will get fitted properly next weekend..



Next week it needs a bloody good hoover, headlights fitted once I've bought a new inner shroud, a spanner check, an ally blank to replace the fan switch that we temporarily fitted today, a little cable-tying and the wiring loom run down the inner wings to the front panel. After that lot it should be time to fill it up and use........

More soon,

Paul.

[smiffy1972]

Great progress today boys

Sorry for not being able to get down this weekend to lend a hand

[PaulAlex]

Great progress today boys

Sorry for not being able to get down this weekend to lend a hand

No worries mate - one good day on it over the long weekend and it should be ready for a quick spruce-up before dragging it down to Lydden Hill on May 5th.

Cheers,

Paul

[Toymex]

Well done Paul ,glad you have nearly finished ,I can't wait to see it go ,I might have to come to Lydden to see you and Matt having a play

[filipvdv]

so you know angelo from andes motorsport by looking at the banner. Very nice guy, i bought a rear panel from him a while ago.

love the work, very high quality

[PaulAlex]

so you know angelo from andes motorsport by looking at the banner. Very nice guy, i bought a rear panel from him a while ago.

love the work, very high quality

Yes, I met Angelo and the team at Andes Motorsport last season. They are a REALLY top preparation company , and know how to run cars at events too I can't wait to get back over there and join them on an event again soon.

Cheers,

Paul.

[PaulAlex]

More progress this weekend, although the poxy weather on Sunday stopped us doing more

Not much to see in the pics, but we did have both front wings off to drill holes for the wiring loom to pass through. It also made it very easy to make decent earth points and cable tie the loom up under the inner wing before refitting the wings. We then had a bit of a fight with the carbon headlight bulbs, but we won in the end

It looks like the new carbon bumpers could be on 3-4 week delivery, so we've lashed-up some old fibreglass ones temporarily...



We decided we didn't like the number plate on the the bonnet like last time, so it's back where the "Mk1" version had it - which I think sets off the enlarged front vents well.....(they're about twice the height of usual ones).

This next shot is just because I think the engine looks very at home now



Then because I was bored on Sunday I did another £50 on tastynuts.com on ally bolts for the wings, plus titanium ones for the radiator and bonnet hinges.........I must find a cheaper hobby!!!

More soon - it should be drivable next week

Paul.

[4parajon]

Good stuff Paul, let me know wont you if you find a cheaper hobby lol

[david_white]

Looks lovely Paul, and changing the bolts just shows attention to detail

[PaulAlex]

Well guys, after being invited to join a group of "demo" Escort drivers at the BHP Performance Show at Lydden Hill, we pulled our fingers out and got the car pretty much ready in time for the show yesterday.

As always seems to be the case, we were still working on the car at around 9pm the day before - and needed a 3:30am start yesterday - but it was all worthwhile I think. Finally joining an event alongside Matt Downer's lovely machine (only after about 3 years of hoping to do so!), we helped complete a decent selection of road, track and rally Escorts on display. It was also a great excuse to meet some new likeminded people, and other TS forumers that fought their way in through the traffic.......

The track action was never going to be about setting lap times (soft suspension and even softer tyres!), but it was a great opportunity to get the car really hot and make sure that the recent rebuild and developments had gone to plan.

The first couple of sessions were OK, although I didn't feel the engine was puling as strongly as expected. This was quickly diagnosed as being an oversensitive flat-shift system being triggered by resonance/vibration in the gear-lever, and once disconnected the car was transformed The next track session was much more fun with me being able to slide the car around and change the cars attitude much more with my right foot, although the final session that we gate-crashed with another group was a waste of time as they were all braking WAY too early for the corners

So, the car is now back home in need of a decent clean (plus more tyres ), and we have a small list of changes that we now want to do:

Either re-configure / desensitise the Geartronics flat-shift system, or replace with SBD's yet-to-be released flat-shift system run via the MBE engine ECU.
Change gearbox tail-section for the"flange" option - similar to Paul C's car shown elsewhere on TS

And that's about it!

I haven't seen many pics yet, but here are a couple I took myself:

The "finished" article:



Doing out bit for Fostek:



No spanners needed for once! Just a notepad and allen key



Hopefully we'll get some actions shots up soon....

Cheers,

Paul.

[Toymex]

I didn't manage to get down but I heard you and Matt were flying ,the most entertaining there by all accounts ,well done on rebuilding it better than ever ,just hope to read some event reports now with what I am sure will be good results

[PaulAlex]

A few pics from yesterday......

[Joe-Tait]

Awesome Paul

[FOSSIE]

Fantastic mate

Need videos though.

[PaulAlex]

I'm afraid I haven't got any videos of it yet

I had a few people say it looked and sounded good, but to be honest its fairly muffled with the crash helmet. I even suggested that someone else drive it so I could see what it was like, but they declined......

Just in case any clips to surface, I'll put on record now that I was driving it like a rallycar - so no neat / fast lines from me

Cheers,

Paul.

[mexicotait]

Well done chap

[Paul C]

Love the new banner pic !!

[105Ian]

Looking epic in the new banner pic

[Dan]

about time we got some proper pictures cracking car

[waynemk2]

Nice to see her back out again, as always, looking very nice.

[doughman]

This popped up on my twitter feed the other day

[philipmax]

Some escort !

[PaulAlex]

Sorry for no updates lads, but I've been busy

(perhaps understatement of century there!)

Anyway, I think she's turned over a new leave for 2015, as I dragged it out of the garage on the past couple of weekends and she's behaving perfectly. The first weekend I fired it up and just checked everything was doing what I should. Then, last weekend, I've fitted the Renault washer jets into the new bonnet ready for an MOT.

The trailer has had a major service last week too - so the plan is to have the Escort (and trailer) sat "on the button" ready for an event during April.

Am also looking at a couple of Grp4Fabrications upgrades in the same timeframe.

Pics soon,

Paul.

[filipvdv]

i love this car, top quality, have a picture of it hanging on my garage wall

[PaulAlex]

How times fly when you're having fun!?

The car is generally behaving itself, and now has a valid MOT. The only upgrades recently have been the fitment of a single wiper kit, and two new personalised Motordrive seats have been purchased to replace the perfectly good ones that were in there - but were past the "5 year old" rule that the MSA stipulates.

As I cant help myself trying to make improvements, I bought new ally seat mounts that have some nice machining on them - but of course they're not a straight swap so the car needs to go back to its spiritual home at Gary's to have the seat rails modified! All being well, this will happen in the next week or so, at which point i'll get fresh pics up....

Cheers,

Paul.

[mexicotait]

Let me know if you want to part with your old alloy seat mounts paul

Im just after a set

[PaulAlex]

Hello,

I'm afraid the old seats, belts and mounts have gone to a new home already.

If anyone is interested, I'll probably be selling the following soon:

GEMS tubular crossmember with Retro motorsport strengthening
Tarmac-spec tension struts and brackets
Gp4 Fabrications heavy duty adjustable Track Control Arms
Quaife heavy duty, quick ratio steering rack
Gp4 Fabrications rose jointed track rod end kit
Tarmac-spec roll bar and drop mounts
Next generation two-way adjustable top mounts
Gp4 Fabrications 15" strut bodies

Effectively I'll be selling the entire front suspension minus the dampers, or including the tarmac dampers if the price is right. Ideally I'd like to sell the whole setup as a set, although may consider offers on individual components if I have no interest in the whole lot.

Cheers,

Paul

[105Ian]

You going for the full Gucci group 4 fabrication front suspension set up now Paul ?

[PaulAlex]

I'm considering it Ian (have been for years tbh ) but as always it's never that straightforward. I run an excellent Alcon brake kit on the car and the suspension kit comes with a choice of brackets for AP callipers - so it'll be yet another upgrade that doesn't just bolt on lol

In the meantime, I've had a box of bits arrive this week so will hopefully have the next improvement here after the long weekend next week....

Cheers,

Paul.

[PaulAlex]

Hello,

I'm afraid the old seats, belts and mounts have gone to a new home already.

If anyone is interested, I'll probably be selling the following soon:

GEMS tubular crossmember with Retro motorsport strengthening
Tarmac-spec tension struts and brackets
Gp4 Fabrications heavy duty adjustable Track Control Arms
Quaife heavy duty, quick ratio steering rack
Gp4 Fabrications rose jointed track rod end kit
Tarmac-spec roll bar and drop mounts
Next generation two-way adjustable top mounts
Gp4 Fabrications 15" strut bodies

Effectively I'll be selling the entire front suspension minus the dampers, or including the tarmac dampers if the price is right. Ideally I'd like to sell the whole setup as a set, although may consider offers on individual components if I have no interest in the whole lot.

Cheers,

Paul

I forgot to add, the Grp4 ally front hubs with Grp4 wheels studs will also be available if I upgrade....

cheers,

Paul

[Paul C]

Looking forward to the upgrades Paul. This is a stunning car, i might be interested in some of the bits if you end up splitting them.

[cr500dom]

Hi Paul,

Just a thought.
If you are going for a full damper upgrade on the car (proflex / reiger etc) to go with the WRC front end. and your thoughts were to sell the front end minus dampers, then sell your existing dampers as a whole kit ?

If you were prepared to split them then I`d possibly be interested in the rears for my Kadett if that makes sense ?

(So you could sell the entire front end including dampers, sell the rears to me and fit your choice of ubertrick dampers all round ?)
If that's of interest, then drop me some details either on here or FB
Cheers
Dom

[PaulAlex]

After what I've spent on the Escort over the past 4-5 weeks I think I'd be shot if I ordered Reigers now

It looks like I won't have parts required to keep me busy this weekend so no updates for a bit I'm afraid..... I'll maybe just wash and polish a years worth of dust off of her. Can't believe it's that long since Lydden

Cheers,

Paul.

[Moisty]

Learn how to dodge bullets and get the reigers

[PaulAlex]

I still don't have the new harnesses yet (long story) but the new seats are fitted now. I know I was properly cheesed off to be forced to spend so much on replacing perfectly good seats and belts, but the new ones are certainly a step forward. Lighter, more comfortable and safer.......and maybe a bit more Gucci too



Another view. Ignore the squint logos, this is down to a shaky hand on landscape mode and not dodgy stitching



I'm hoping we'll have more upgrades soon.

Cheers,

Paul.

[PaulAlex]

Well, it fair to say that since the car behaved itself and allowed us to fit the new seats without too much hassle, its been fighting back!

My next upgrade was a single wiper kit from Gp4 Fabrications. The reasoning behind this was that it means I get to use a brand new motor instead of a 40-year old one, plus there's no linkage to break, plus its another little weight saved. Everything fits beautifully, but I still have a slight wiring problem to cure the lack of wiper parking....

Next up, another piece of proper Gucci carbon fibre from Paul at Carbon Nuts. You'd imagine that it couldn't be that difficult to fit a Mk2 pod to a mk2 bonnet, but rest assured my car played hard-ball on this one!! My (obviously too deep) spotlights meant that the pod mounting kit didn't work, and left the rear of the lights fouling the bonnet. Having already spent a lot of time/effort measuring and drilling the 64 holes that the pod needs, its fair to say that the stress levels were up, and lots of swearing and toys were thrown out of the pram. Having gone away and drank beer for a day or two, some new springs and bolts were ordered and, together with a central stay (not shown on picture), its now given up and fits

Picture of the pod and single wiper conversion:



The next upgrade is one that I've been promising myself for a year or two now - as I've always thought there was something not quite right about the steering/suspension setup. As you'll all know there are 101 suspension options for the Escort, but after a lot of investigation I narrowed it down to a "RIX" setup or a Gp4 Fabrications "Modular WRC" kit. To cut a long story short, the Gp4 Fabrications kit trumps the RIX setup in a couple of key areas, so I dived-in at the deep end and bought this lot:



As always with my car, it wasn't a straightforward bolt-on-in-a-day job, but we beat her into submission again and the front end now looks like this



I still have to fit the front anti-roll bar, lengthen my steering column by 10mm, and need to tweak the Tension struts so that we can get more castor dialled into it - but its already looking like a good step forward The kit is beautifully manufactured, looks stronger than the traditional Bilstein setup, uses bigger bearings, and also has nice features such a pre-made shims to adjust camber angles and a revised scrub radius.

I have to complete the front end over the next week or two, then have one more upgrade on order as an early birthday present myself. At that point, I'm locking my wallet away and going to get the car dirty!!

More soon,

Paul