mk1 Escort 68' 1600 GT

[avtospotter]

REUPLOAD DUE TO PICTURE PROBLEMS

Greetings, so this is my "hello, im new to the forum and this is my great wreckeage of a car I bought to play with" post/thread.


I bought the escort in may 2019 and while doing reasearch to plan the project I fell in love with the forum support on pretty much everything about the car, so now, 9 months later , I decided to share what Im doing with it. Mostly because I want to make myself something like a diary on the work progress and also to ask for help when im at some dead point and dont know what to do. Also, with time I was able to track down lots of history of the car including manny pictures of it being raced , which is hella exciting, so ill post about that too, but for this thread to be in cronological order I have to start at the start.


So here's a little bit about the car


Im located in europe and was seeking a car to build up (pretty much since childhood years). It had to be from the 80's or older, rwd, fun to work on, no need for power but light (!!); that was what I wanted. So one day at work my friend tells me about this add on our local-used-cars-online site about a yellow ford that had a smashed roof, manny missmached-colour pannels, a welded in roll cage (!) and was appereantly complete. Never before have I considered an mk1/mk2 escort since there are none around where im from and mostly because they are way too expensive for an almost-still-a-teenager, so I was looking at starlets, 86', kadett's, mantas, NSU prinz...but this one was really cheap; it honestly seemed susspicious but anyway.I went to take a look with my dad (who thought we were really just taking a look...hes reaction when he realised I had money for it on me was worth just about the same haha). I knew straight away that I was taking it with me;
the place we just entered was pretty shocking (positively, duhh), and when I asked the seller if I can check the car for rust with a screwdriver he laughed, but wasnt bothered at all; It was solid. The car was pretty much a bare shell with no front or fenders attached and I could see almost 100% of the places that usually hide rusty surpirses. We talked a deal, the price stayed but he threw in some extra parts like capri front struts and brakes...and also told me where I could find a perfect roof with all the needed pillars on it to fit directly on the car.
Also; when I was checking the car my dad and he fell in a chat and he got a picture of our thinking and a good first impression. He told us he wasnt sure of selling the car anymore because people with no knowledge or just wrong ideas came to take a look at it and he got bummed out I guess. Luckilly my dad and I are handymen and one can spot another, which convinced him that we were no tyre kicking quitters and would go on to really drive the car regularly.
After that he told us that he got the car from an Austrian guy who rolled it over on a rally stage. He came to him, brought the naked crashed shell and left with another one. The seller had manny escorts in the past so that explained how he could sell the car as "all parts included" while being from 5 different ones. For me though this was exactly what I have been dreaming off.


So, heres the add pictures and what I came to when I went for "just a look".
I like to documment alot of what I do so ill be posting stuff here regullarly, so follow if you like and if you have any advice, they are greatlly apreciated!


Cheers

[avtospotter]

I dont own a trailer but a friend of the seller was keen to deliver it to me. Good people.

[avtospotter]

First things first, we went to get the roof.
It was in the Istrian part of Croatia. When we drove up to the field the owner said "it should be somewhere there...I don't remember for sure anymore, it's been a while since we took care of this land..." Not what we excepted but it was really hillarious; somewhat sceptical about the "perfect condition" of the roof but it took no more than 5 minutes to find it and inspect it, it turned out it really was rust free somehow after being sat there for almost two years (!?)...Croatian dry weather...
We brought it home and moved the car from my grandmothers barn to my basement.

[avtospotter]

Next move was the engine, it came as a full package;

A 1.6 GT Pinto engine from a Capri. The 1600 GT came factory equiped with bigger valves, tubular exhaust manifold and a 2.0 Pinto camshaft. It also had a better weber carburator then the standard 1.6 but this one came with double 40' IDF Webers. With it came the 52" 3.75 ratio Atlas axle and propshaft, all included.

The owner wanted to use the engine and tune it, but after opening it decided to leave it as is, the reason being it was in excelent condition and he felt like it should stay stock, so it was freshened up and put back together. The car it came from had only done around 63.000km. It did take a few months before I found time to pick it up because we live around 6 hours drive appart, but he aranged a transport to Vienna, which made it waaay easier. In the meantime we talked quite often and he told me and showed me some pictures of what hes doing (I guess hes quite a car-boy ), including starting my engine for me to see how its running. it was really nice making the deal with him and we agreed to stay in contact.

So far all the people I've talked to or made deals were really nice, so, like the English say; Happy days (is this the right use?) however...thumbs up for the Ford-enthusiasts community

[avtospotter]

got the axle and prop sanblasted,...note the before/after transformation; quite satysfiying

[avtospotter]

This is very recent; spent the christmas hollidays with my grandparents in Germany and while there I got my hands on these two...

the type E gerabox; cost me 25 euro (!!!!) and a two hour drive, which was well worth it. I was sure something wasn't as it seemed but only the gearstick was missing. The gearbox itself was looking sad but only due to being stored in a barn. The oil was like new, the gears turned nicely and first had the correct ratio...could not belive it was the real thing (it was advertised just as an "ford gearbox" and the pictures were pretty bad, but there were some signs that I't could be the type E, thanks to Burtonpowers gearbox identification sheet )...Small gamble big reward.

The radiator was a bit cheaper than any other I looked at...sold as used but never actually built in anywhere, just a couple of storage marks, nothing worth a mention, so I ordered that aswell and now theres just few bits missing and i can start welding the engine bay, wich im really looking forward to


because the box was so dirty we cleaned it a bit just so we could put it in the car later when driving home, so some fun for the old boys.
This is the last not up to date post, did some work on the axle this week and some on the car today, so will be posting that up soon

cheers

[Graham]

you can space or or type inbetween the lines of pasted code for the pictures

[katana]

you can space or or type inbetween the lines of pasted code for the pictures

Ooooh - get you Mr IT Guru LOL!

r

[Graham]

Ooooh - get you Mr IT Guru LOL!

not really, it was hard enough explaining to the OP how to use the uploader

[avtospotter]

This weekend we took the little köln axle off

[avtospotter]

I brought the axle to work so I could take it apart, see what I'm gonna re-use and because I'll have to copy the spring saddles and tramp bar brackets.

I left the useable parts in an emulsion bath over night so it will eat it through the years worth of oil and dirt, should be easier to clean them tomorrow

[avtospotter]

Busy few weeks, but I managed to find some spare time at work so a little update;
finnaly took the parts out of the emulsion, which really ate through that dirt, so I prepared them for some coats of rust protector and stone chip



Some nice views while cleaning







I also noticed that I can bend the rear crossmember with my hand a bit. After some thinking I decided to strenghten it, as I do not fancy any turret kit, and to cut the rear boot part where the shocks are attached in a later model, well, there arent really any around me to come by and cut it out so, this should do it. DIY "world cup crossmember"

Heres my "strenghtening kit" of choice



Trial fitting


Welding and grinding down











Cleaning and painting















Stored away for now, gotta finnish the axle next and get some decent shocks.

[wildo105e]

Good work, Interestingly i have the same rear suspension on my escort and when i came to paint it had stress cracks in it. Great modification.

[avtospotter]

thank you Where exactly was it cracked?

[avtospotter]

Fabricated a cart for the shell today and I also bought that sweet air compressor in the back which will turn my basement into a real workshop I can finnaly start working on the body this weekend.

The messurements are metric if anyone should need that

[avtospotter]

Shes up and stripped

[avtospotter]

Had to take off two bits that we forgot last time, then me and my dad pushed the car under sun light for the first time in months



It was time to brush the bondo, paint and all other things of where I spotted some bad repairs, of course I got to find a few I didnt know jet...no surprise really. Have to think strategy now, bring the welder from work to the house and get the basement ready to start the real work on the body,..should be fun

[avtospotter]

Found some time at work today to bring out the gearbox and give it a quick wash, drain the oil and leave it to drip out overnight

[avtospotter]

Dirtyest job-cleaning this thing...well worth it in the end though

[avtospotter]

Good week - oil rings and gaskets were changed and the box is off to be painted next to my dads cylinders, which are painted with some highly resistant paint (agrocultural programme)...well done;

Now I+m waiting for the clutch release arm, bearing and a clutch slave cylinder. Next week hopefully I'l have it ready so I can weld on a bracket for the cylinder, the get the bellhousing painted aswell.





Dad taking a look at the essentials









Well deserved view

[HonkyWhiteTrash]

Nice thread and plenty going off. You've got to love a mk1 escort!

The gearbox looks like it is from a V6 engine and input shaft will be too long to mate up with a Pinto engine. You will either need to modify it (ie shorten it slightly) or you'll need to replace the shaft itself for a shorter one. I can't tell from the picture if it is the one you can shorten, or if it is completely too long and needs replacing.

There's a thread on here somewhere showing the different input shaft lengths that you should look at.

Also, the bearing carrier that goes over the input shaft is upside down - the hole that is on top in your picture should be underneath.

The carrier may also be too long when used with a pinto as it may hit the clutch fingers (once the input shaft is the correct length!)

Hope this helps.

[avtospotter]

Nice thread and plenty going off. You've got to love a mk1 escort!

The gearbox looks like it is from a V6 engine and input shaft will be too long to mate up with a Pinto engine. You will either need to modify it (ie shorten it slightly) or you'll need to replace the shaft itself for a shorter one. I can't tell from the picture if it is the one you can shorten, or if it is completely too long and needs replacing.

There's a thread on here somewhere showing the different input shaft lengths that you should look at.

Also, the bearing carrier that goes over the input shaft is upside down - the hole that is on top in your picture should be underneath.

The carrier may also be too long when used with a pinto as it may hit the clutch fingers (once the input shaft is the correct length!)

Hope this helps.

Hey Honky thanks for that! I had a quick look through google and you are right, I had no idea there were different input shafts...From the look if it its not the disel gearbox, Its the v6 as you said. These are some of the pictures I came across, If I assume correctly its the tip at the end that needs shortening? Can you approve that?
Ill have a look at it on monday and messure it, talk to some people on fb pages
anyways, much appreciated mate!

[HonkyWhiteTrash]

No problem. Just wanted to save you a headache when it comes time to fitting it all up!

Not sure how much you will need to cut off the shaft but I would wait until you get the bellhousing and clutch you are going to use to allow you to do accurate measuring.
I don't want to advise in case I advise wrong! Measure 10 times and cut once! :-)

As far as I'm aware there are LHD and RHD bellhousings to suit - the difference being which side the starter motor and clutch cable mount sits between the LHD and RHD. LHD bellhousings are hard to find in UK but they do come up on Ebay from time to time. No idea how easy they'll be to find where you are though!

I'm also not sure what the situation is with the Type E gearboxes regarding which cars they came from and I don't know if they were ever used with diesel engines. As far as I'm aware though the Type E gearbox wasn't fitted to any cars with a xflow engine (which is a petrol engine fitted to a lot of old Fords) so you can hopefully count those out of the equation.
Type 9 gearboxes are extremely similar in design (the Type 9 is based on the Type E) but there will be differences I'm sure.
Pretty sure the Type 9 and Type E gearboxes used the same bellhousing when mated to a Pinto though so the depths of the bellhousing (and therefore the depth the input shaft goes into the crank) should be the same.

[avtospotter]

No problem. Just wanted to save you a headache when it comes time to fitting it all up!

Not sure how much you will need to cut off the shaft but I would wait until you get the bellhousing and clutch you are going to use to allow you to do accurate measuring.
I don't want to advise in case I advise wrong! Measure 10 times and cut once! :-)

As far as I'm aware there are LHD and RHD bellhousings to suit - the difference being which side the starter motor and clutch cable mount sits between the LHD and RHD. LHD bellhousings are hard to find in UK but they do come up on Ebay from time to time. No idea how easy they'll be to find where you are though!

I'm also not sure what the situation is with the Type E gearboxes regarding which cars they came from and I don't know if they were ever used with diesel engines. As far as I'm aware though the Type E gearbox wasn't fitted to any cars with a xflow engine (which is a petrol engine fitted to a lot of old Fords) so you can hopefully count those out of the equation.
Type 9 gearboxes are extremely similar in design (the Type 9 is based on the Type E) but there will be differences I'm sure.
Pretty sure the Type 9 and Type E gearboxes used the same bellhousing when mated to a Pinto though so the depths of the bellhousing (and therefore the depth the input shaft goes into the crank) should be the same.

Well headache successfully saved Since last time I already had left the gearbox at the paint booth for the middle casing to be painted so here it is, out and fresh.

I've sent some questions to a couple of FB groups and it seems like I'll be able to cut off some 20mil of that tip and grind a bit of the splines and all should be fine. I am taking your last advice aswell and I'll just wait till the pieces are all by hand at once, then it's on to be finished. Glad I don't have to buy the whole shaft, would be some good monnies that I want to spend on sheet metal now as the body is waiting for it

NOTE: the bellhousing is from a granada and is here only as paint protection for the front of the box, the pinto bellhousing is tucked away, eaiting for the clutch slave cylinder

[avtospotter]

Isolated at home, shops are closed, can't buy stuff I need to work on the body...good time to have a go at tha gauges, got the original two clock cluster and one from a capri

I'll be using the gauges from the capri (they are much nicer, even the needles on the rev/speedo gauges are very pretty details) and I like the look of the original VDO's as oposed to aftermarket gauges so I'll try to make up some housings and a pod for them

[avtospotter]

a starting point...

[HonkyWhiteTrash]

Well headache successfully saved Since last time I already had left the gearbox at the paint booth for the middle casing to be painted so here it is, out and fresh.

I've sent some questions to a couple of FB groups and it seems like I'll be able to cut off some 20mil of that tip and grind a bit of the splines and all should be fine. I am taking your last advice aswell and I'll just wait till the pieces are all by hand at once, then it's on to be finished. Glad I don't have to buy the whole shaft, would be some good monnies that I want to spend on sheet metal now as the body is waiting for it

NOTE: the bellhousing is from a granada and is here only as paint protection for the front of the box, the pinto bellhousing is tucked away, eaiting for the clutch slave cylinder

I was expecting to see the seat belt around the gearbox!

[avtospotter]

Allright now, because of the current situation I'm just kind of doing bits and pieces here and there so its no real order (as I would like it though) so the bodywork is on waiting untill I can get my hands on things I need to start working...till then, little jobs


My dad cutting the hole to the right diameter


Fits like it should





Brought the front section to the shop so I can start taking it appart and making it nice and fresh again

[avtospotter]

Kept myself busy this weekend, then took it further through the week and got these gauges sorted











Love how it came out, made it work with the botom part of the Capri cluster and top from the escort to fit the hood







I'll take it apart again and paint the inside, but first I got to sort the lightning inside, indicator, warning...

Also important, in the upper picture it seems like some of the edge covers the clocks but its just that the photo isnt taken exactly above centered and the clocks themselves sit pretty deep under the glass, thats why it looks like that, will take nicer photos once its 100% done






And ofcourse the gauge panel, did that, made a model in solidworks and sent it to our shop neighbours to get it laser cut

[avtospotter]

Scraping off sound proofing and prepping the shell for sandblasting

[avtospotter]

Me and dad got busy this week/weekend; finnaly worked the input shaft out and fitted the modified V6 box to the engine, and also fully prepped the shell for sandblasting













some photos with the Fuji camera





scraped off every piece of sound/watter proofing...can't wait to weigh how much weight that saves because I wont be putting new isolation to my car (Collin Chapman, inspiration kinda )





more Fujifilm

[avtospotter]

Had a couple pieces blasted, did the bellhousing and clutchfork myself (got a little sandblaster from a friend to try it out...not that bad really)

[avtospotter]

Had the shell sandblasted finally...., not many surprises really, its as solid as it was claimed to be when I bought it.

Lots of filler and bad repairs though, but no rot other than three holes the size of a thumb










the "before" ones

[avtospotter]

This weekend: cut off the rest of the damaged wing, found some rot under there, made some repair panels and streghtenings, trial fitted the replacement wings, front panel etc. with some help of my little cousin

Its all held together with clamps. This week I'm ordering the panels I won't be able to fabricate myself.

First time I see the cars face...pretty cool

Will weld them on once I have everything test fitted and ready

[avtospotter]

This week I painted my friends civic but managed to make up some rust repair panels for the escort and some strengthening kit I made up from copying the AVO rally prep book and pictures from works cars. Still some more to go but I hope to weld the front part of the car first anyway.









Then I cleaned the edges of the half cut wing and took messurements from the other one to see if its still long enough. Luckilly it was so I can weld it back together and save me lots of trouble.





....And last week I made this slide hammer from a broken cylinder at work. I made it to straighten the rear quarters on the body but me and my friend decided to try it out on the rusted steering wheel. Worked good





Me and my friend working on the EF while our bro showed up for support and some burnouts with his e30



All in all a really fun week off of work. (the paid one at least)
Welding is next hopefully.

[avtospotter]

Back at work but still squeezing some escort work between the hours

[avtospotter]

almost done

[avtospotter]

Did the front crossmember with the radiator cut out...the homemade dimple dyes worked good

[Schobo]

Great work, love the fabrication of the panels.
I remember your car, it came originally from germany and on this website the old owner says he sold it to austria....
https://rs-competition-center.jimdof...fte-fahrzeuge/
I think it's interesting to know a bit of history of your car
Here are more photos of it
https://rs-competition-center.jimdof...im-motorsport/

[avtospotter]

Great work, love the fabrication of the panels.
I remember your car, it came originally from germany and on this website the old owner says he sold it to austria....
https://rs-competition-center.jimdof...fte-fahrzeuge/
I think it's interesting to know a bit of history of your car
Here are more photos of it
https://rs-competition-center.jimdof...im-motorsport/

Hey Schobo, danke fürs komentar

As for the history, I came about it on a facebook group and I'm already in contact with the owner Anders;
we talk and he sent me a ton of photos of the car. It's also what inspired me to bring that car back to life as opposed to doing it totally different. It's really cool to have that much history by hand and gives me motivation