Best MK1 Escort suspension set up??

[1sttimezetec]

yep i'm personally sticking with 13" rims on my own car gooooooo on stick a pick or 10 up ;P

[BIG-G]

As requested





















pics from all over the last few years lol

[gorilla1q]

Nice motor mate

[exboyracer]

There's normally a lot more smoke than that

[BIG-G]

There's normally a lot more smoke than that

Still more powerfull than yours when it was puffin billy lol

[evodave]

As requested





















pics from all over the last few years lol

Very nice !!

Whats the front calipers from ? Where did you get brackets to mount them from & what discs did you use ?

What did you use on the rear ?

I like the top mounts, where did you get those from ? They look very similar to what we have on our 205.

Cheers,
David

[BIG-G]

the front calipers are from a porsche boxster and the disc are forrest spec escort the rears are cosworth 4wd calipers on puma discs and the top mounts are from a rice rocket

[Retromotorsport]

Can i ask wheel rim width and tyre size and make... as all these mods mean nothing if you f**k up the wheels tyres

[dazzle]

Can i ask wheel rim width and tyre size and make... as all these mods mean nothing if you f**k up the wheels tyres

Was this aimed at me Gary??

[evodave]

the front calipers are from a porsche boxster and the disc are forrest spec escort the rears are cosworth 4wd calipers on puma discs and the top mounts are from a rice rocket

Very good....where did you get the caliper mounting brackets from or did you have them made ?

Cheers,
David

[BIG-G]

Made them myself as not to hard. Just square bar
As for wheels and tyres if its aimed at me there 7j with 185 x 60 x 13s

[dazzle]

Bringing this back to the top, where's the best place to buy springs from??
I guess by 'best' I probably mean 'cheapest'!!
And what length springs do people use?
There seems to be so many to choose from but how do you decide, is it the stance of your car that decides it or down to clearance??

Many thanks

[73mexicoboy]

I got some -1 170lbs from rally design for around £40.

[BIG-G]

8" x 325lb on mine

[dazzle]

8" x 325lb on mine

I guess you use 8" free length because you run your car so low Big G?

[dazzle]

I got some -1 170lbs from rally design for around £40.

Thanks bud but I guess you're running standard front shocks?
I'm looking for 2 1/4" coilover springs

[trig]

For a pinto mk2 road/track day car I would say 220-260lb springs at 8or10 inch rally design are cheap but most places are about the sam to be fair...

[dazzle]

For a pinto mk2 road/track day car I would say 220-260lb springs at 8or10 inch rally design are cheap but most places are about the sam to be fair...

That's pretty much the sizes I was thinking about!! Will go for the 10.5" free length springs I think

[Graham]

For a pinto mk2 road/track day car I would say 220-260lb springs at 8or10 inch rally design are cheap but most places are about the sam to be fair...

dunno about length, but trigs advise on poundage is about on the money in my view, your probably not running enough tyre to warrant going stiffer, plus it will shake you teeth out on the road!

[dazzle]

dunno about length, but trigs advise on poundage is about on the money in my view, your probably not running enough tyre to warrant going stiffer, plus it will shake you teeth out on the road!

I think you're right Graham as I had 190's on my MK2 and that felt great to me so was thinking about the 220 mark just to tighten it up a little

[Clint]

Standard ARB 275-300lb and 8 inch with a pinto on the road is nice little camber and castor (use standard but modified arb mounts is enough)

8 inch is more so in the future you can push a wheel and tyre nearer the strut FYI a stand 2.8i capri spring is 9 inch mounted and the coilover spring sits about 1 inch up.

[dazzle]

Okay guys, bringing this back up from hibernation!
It was me that started this thread and it's now me that needs some more answers

Kermit is alive and well and being used for track days at the moment. I think I'm surprising some bigger faster cars





But I'd like to revisit the front end discussion as I know I'm diving in coming into the corners under hard braking and also on the sharper corners, the back end is spinning up easily as I'm unloading the rear tires.

I checked my springs and it seems I had bought some Rally Design 10.5 x 225lbs (Can't for the life of me remember if I bought Bilstein or GAZ fronts but they were 300/70's)
I've got a double width kit and I believe a Twink ARB?
It has Gartrac top mounts.

I'm thinking about a Tension strut system as I don't want to make body modifications at this point!
But which kit should I go for? Are they all much the same and just go for the cheapest to ship to Canada?

Any other thoughts on this? Maybe 300lb springs?

Many thanks,

[Graham]

if you up the front springs to 300, it would dive as much and will definatly help with rear traction out the corners.

are you going to fit an accusump or similar? the RS sump isnt great if you starter cornering hard on track

[dazzle]

if you up the front springs to 300, it would dive as much and will definatly help with rear traction out the corners.

You mean 'wouldn't dive as much'?

are you going to fit an accusump or similar? the RS sump isnt great if you starter cornering hard on track

That's a good point, hadn't really thought about that much?
Would accusump be your suggestion? I'm looking at fitting a remote filter so is that something I can plumb in at the same time?

[Graham]

You mean 'wouldn't dive as much'?



[COLOR="#0000CD"]That's a good point, hadn't really thought about that much?
Would accusump be your suggestion? I'm looking at fitting a remote filter so is that something I can plumb in at the same time?[/COLOan R]

yes i mean wouldnt, re sump my personal preference would be for a gated sump with two big wings such as g19 doug was doing, which would tackle the problem rather than the symptom, but accsump will do the job just fine

[Alan G]

Great to see this Mk1 in action!

Cheapest is not always the best solution especially when it comes to suspension components. Poor quality material, rose joints etc. could put you in the crash barrier when on the track if they fail.

Have you tried ringing Torsten at GRP4 Fabrications for the tension strut kit? I know he ships all over the world and may well have a distributor closer to Canada?

I'd echo Graham's suggestion bu upping the spring poundage to 300lbs up front. I run 300lbs in my mk2 track car and find she handles very well.

[dazzle]

Great to see this Mk1 in action!

I agree!

Cheapest is not always the best solution especially when it comes to suspension components. Poor quality material, rose joints etc. could put you in the crash barrier when on the track if they fail.

That is very true and hence my reason for asking that question

Have you tried ringing Torsten at GRP4 Fabrications for the tension strut kit? I know he ships all over the world and may well have a distributor closer to Canada?

I haven't but I have seen his kit and it does look nice. Maybe I'll reach out to him to see if he has a closer distributor but I wouldn't have thought so as there's not the need out here!

I'd echo Graham's suggestion bu upping the spring poundage to 300lbs up front. I run 300lbs in my mk2 track car and find she handles very well.

I think this will be my next move

[dazzle]

So gents, even though this was a question thread, I thought I would give you a bit of feedback
I have now purchased some 300lb springs to fit to my front end.
I did a lot of Internet searching and I feel there was quite a lot of positive experiences and reviews from people going to Tension Struts so that's what I've done
I went with GRP4 kit and hopefully I'll be fitting it next week sometime.

The thing is now, what settings do I start with for Camber/Castor and Toe?
I've read a quite a few posts and got some ideas but seeing as this will all be new, advice would be appreciated

I'm running bilstein short coilovers on the front with adjustable top mounts as well as adjustable TCA's. So, with the Tension Strut kit as well, I have a lot of adjustability at my disposal.
I'm interested in peoples views on which adjustment to use for the castor to then see how that affects the others?

[Colr6]

In order 1.5.....3.0 .....0

[dazzle]

In order 1.5.....3.0 .....0

Hi Col
From what I've been reading, those were the figures I roughly had in my head
I'll need to look at the TCA's and see whether to gain the camber from them or the adjustable top mounts?

[Colr6]

its easier to do on TCA, just be careful on the amount you extend the track in relation to the thread left on rack arms.

[dazzle]

its easier to do on TCA, just be careful on the amount you extend the track in relation to the thread left on rack arms.

Yeh, that was one of my concerns.
I think when I get it set up I'll just check everything for range of movement and try to use the top mounts to make sure everything else isn't on the limits.
I have a feeling I'm already close to those settings apart from castor. I'll leave the TCA's as they are probably and play about with everything else

[iceman.bb]

Hey BIG-G where did you get these flanges & mounting bells?
Kermit is absolutely stunning
Cheers

[Matt75]

Hey BIG-G where did you get these flanges & mounting bells?
Kermit is absolutely stunning
Cheers

I run similar calipers to these and had these calipers made