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As you may know, Escorts are few and far between over here in North America. So, when a rally friend posted his project for sale I jumped on it. I'd been eager to get my hands on a RWD rally car for a while...never thought it would be an Escort though!
I've spent the past few weeks pouring over the car, making lists, and figuring out where to take the project. As with any hand-me-down project car, there are things I'm excited about, and things I'm not so happy with. But overall, this car has all the right bits and should be a lot of fun when it's complete. I'll document the progress here.
First off, the basics...
1971 Escort, imported as a standard street car from the UK, and then work commenced by the previous owner to install the cage and modifications to install the YB Turbo. It came with a lot of shiny nice bits...AP tarmac brake kit, fuel cell, Bilstein coilovers, 5-link rear setup, Tilton pedal box, T5, YB Motor, couple sets of wheels... On the flip side, it has been cut up a bit for the fuel cell and they decided to chop the bulkhead to move the motor back. Great for balance, not so much for aesthetics :P
The first big task after buying it was, of course, getting it home. And when the seller is 4500km clear on the other side of Canada in the middle of winter, this was a bit of a logistics hurdle. Instead of flying back home from the final Canadian Rally Championship event (where I am the TV Producer), we rented a uHaul and drove it back. Four days later, and it was tucked away in my garage!
Loading up in Ontario
Heading across the Prairies
Home in the garage with its new friend, my housemate's VW Beetle Salzburg replica. In good company!
I'll post more as we go along...this week we've already made some big changes so I'll get the story caught up soon!
Ernie leads the way, 4500km across Canada
I've spent the past few weeks pouring over the car, making lists, and figuring out where to take the project. As with any hand-me-down project car, there are things I'm excited about, and things I'm not so happy with. But overall, this car has all the right bits and should be a lot of fun when it's complete. I'll document the progress here.
First off, the basics...
1971 Escort, imported as a standard street car from the UK, and then work commenced by the previous owner to install the cage and modifications to install the YB Turbo. It came with a lot of shiny nice bits...AP tarmac brake kit, fuel cell, Bilstein coilovers, 5-link rear setup, Tilton pedal box, T5, YB Motor, couple sets of wheels... On the flip side, it has been cut up a bit for the fuel cell and they decided to chop the bulkhead to move the motor back. Great for balance, not so much for aesthetics :P
The first big task after buying it was, of course, getting it home. And when the seller is 4500km clear on the other side of Canada in the middle of winter, this was a bit of a logistics hurdle. Instead of flying back home from the final Canadian Rally Championship event (where I am the TV Producer), we rented a uHaul and drove it back. Four days later, and it was tucked away in my garage!
Loading up in Ontario
Heading across the Prairies
Home in the garage with its new friend, my housemate's VW Beetle Salzburg replica. In good company!
I'll post more as we go along...this week we've already made some big changes so I'll get the story caught up soon!
Ernie leads the way, 4500km across Canada
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