Mr Jimbo - MK1 Escort - 2.0 Pinto

[mrjimbo]

My car is a 1973 Mk1 that i have built up from what can only be described as being in very poor condition when i got hold of it. It has been totally stripped and rebuilt. It is 6 linked at the rear with AVO coilovers and at the front it has Capri front struts converted to adjustable platform with AVO inserts. The engine is a 2lt Pinto with a Vulcan BV head and Piper A8 cam, the crank has been lightened, balanced and knife edged and i'm using Cossie rods with Accralite forged pistons and 45 DCOE's and an Ashley 4-2-1 manifold and 21/2" twin box exhaust system. The clutch is an AP 4 paddle plate and HD cover. The gearbox is a Type 9 5 speed with a Quaife SC/CR gear set. The interior is stripped out with a pair of Corbeau Forza's and the usual gauges and a Lifeline electronic plumbed in fire extinquisher. Wheels are 6" RS alloys with 185/60x13 Yokohama AOO32R's with Willwood 4 pot callipers at the front and Capri 9" drums at the rear. The car is fully road legal and i also use it for Sprinting, running in class C7 (Modified Production 1400cc-2000cc) it's currently producing 171 bhp.

[Retromotorsport]

Re: Mr Jimbo - MK1 Escort - 2.0 Pinto

Good to see another Mk1 out there Jim, and i'll catch up with you in the new year, should be at a few rounds with Terry and hopefully some others

Oh and Steve is having trouble sourcing the front brackets for those starters so he is looking at another type , same power(more than Brise) for less cost.

[Kevmk2]

Re: Mr Jimbo - MK1 Escort - 2.0 Pinto

Nice looking mk1 mate

[Clint]

Re: Mr Jimbo - MK1 Escort - 2.0 Pinto

Great car Jimbo, the preparation is a credit to you, I was very impressed with the wiring as for the engine being with a couple of HP from when it was fresh

[FOSSIE]

Re: Mr Jimbo - MK1 Escort - 2.0 Pinto

Please may we have some more pictures, mr Pope? popcorn: Engine, axle etc .

Speaking of which, what have you got in the way of LSD, 1/2 shafts etc? I remember discussing the CWP setup with you ages ago, but i don't recall what the outcome was

Anyway, good to see another mk1 out there, keep it up

Have you considered throwing it at a special stage yet Jimbo? It's almost Histerical spec, (you'd have to drop the wilwoods, and swap the type 9 for a Rocket 'box) and the 2L classes are really competitive

cheers
Tom

[tim]

Re: Mr Jimbo - MK1 Escort - 2.0 Pinto



when u guna post pics of the mk2 jim

[mrjimbo]

Re: Mr Jimbo - MK1 Escort - 2.0 Pinto

As requested by Mr Foster , I've ditched the slipper springs since these pictures were taken

[mrjimbo]

Re: Mr Jimbo - MK1 Escort - 2.0 Pinto

Silverstone / Curborough

Last season was my first full season of Sprinting and quite a successful one it was too. I won class C7 Modified Production in the Guildford Tyres Championship and Best Novice in the same championship, i also cme 2nd in C7 in the Practical Performance Car Speed Championship and finish up 4th overall in that championship, so this season is going to be a bit of a challenge, can I improve ? it remains to be seen but one thing's certain, I'll do my best.
This season i will again be competeing in the Practical Perfomance Car Speed Championship and the ACSMC (Guildford Tyres Sprint Championship) and as the season progresses i will be posting the ocasional 'Progress Report' as to how things are going.
This seasons first round took place on the Stowe Circuit at Silverstone on 25th March so not too far to travel for the first round. The forcast for the day was not encouraging, rain was forcast in the afternoon. The entry was a little dissapointing as there were only 3 entries in C7, myself, Peter Ellens in a Renault A110 and a newcomber to Sprinting Mankee Cheng in a Peugeot 205GTi.
With scrutineering out of the way we all waited for practice to start. This was going to be new territory for me as i was using slicks for the first time and i wasn't quite sure what to expect. Waiting at the start i was behind Peter Ellans Renault A110 and i saw him start, he was away very quickly and was soon out of sight. As the lights turned Green it too was away but what greeted me at the second corner was not what i expected at all ! severe understeer, cold tyres i thought but no, after 2 laps the tyres were hot but i was still understeering big time. I got back to the paddock and was checking the tyres over when Mankee Cheng came back in sounding very sick indeed, he was to take no further part in proceedings today, his engine had blown. On checking the times for practice i found i had done a 105.06sec and Peter Ellens had done a 106.29sec and Mankee had done a 123.89sec after blowing his engine. After making a few changes i went down to the start and waited for the first of the 2 timed runs. Again i was behind Peter Ellens Renault and again he made a good start. The lights turned Green and i was away again but still the understeer was hampering me, i could enter a corner where i wanted to but i was exiting them in a completely different line than i intended so i was loosing time into the next corner so it was having a knock on effect from one corner to the next but i still managed a 104.01sec compared to Peters 104.37sec.
During the lunch break i made a couple of changes and decided to try and be a little more tidy through the corners and see if i can make a bit of time that way but it was not to be, it was my slowest run of the day at 104.87sec while Peter returned a 103.81sec beating me into 2nd place in C7 by 0.2sec.
Well done Peter and to all the MSA and BARC staff and Marshalls for a well organised and run meeting and getting everything done before the rains came.
The next few days were spentchecking all the suspesion and running gear and making alterations and modifications, the whole front end has been off and stripped and refitted and the rear end has all been re-aligned along with all the front suspension geometry in prperation for a trip to Curborough for a 1/2 day testing on Friday. This had been organised by a friend of mine, Steve Miles who competes in the British Sprint Championship in a Van Dieman RF96mm05 in which he finished 12th last season.
Again the weather forcast was not looking good, heavy showers and possible thunder in the afternoon so the fact that i arrived at Curborough to be greeted by glorious sunshine and a bit of a breeze, lets hope it stays this way i thought. Everybody who was due to be there turned up in plenty of time to set up thier equipment etc ready for the 2.00pm start.
2.00 came and we all ventured out on to the track for a couple of gentle laps to re-aquaint ourselves with the track and back in to check tyre temps etc, had i cured the understeer problem, we'll soon find out.
I went out and did a couple of gentle laps just to get the feel of things and was pleasantly suprised, IT STEERS !! back to the temporary paddock by the start line ( theres only 7 cars here today) to check tyre pressures and temps. The aim today is to get the handling and balance right as there's nobody here to times and at Curborough the start is in a different place to the finish line which makes it difficult as you can't see the finish line from the start line.
As the afternoon progressed we all went out on to the track pretty much as we pleased (only one at a time of course) but all in a pretty much relaxed atmosphere which makes a change from race day as everything is quite hectic then, the at 3.15 Rain and lots of it but only for a couple of minutes but enough to make the track more than a little damp. This curtailed proceedings for a short time as everyone was using slicks and it was only a shower so the kettle came into play instead. After 20min or so people started to go back out on track again and there was quite a bit of sideways action for the next 20min or so. After a quick play with the rear damper settings i ventured out again, the rain had been heavier at the far end of the circuit as the hairpin was still really wet but the rest of the track was now almost completely dry again, time for some sideways action me thinks and what a pleasant suprise, the rear end is now quite predictable and much more driveable than before. So, for the next 30min or so each time i returned to the paddock i rejoined the queue to go back on track straight away. We were now getting towards the end of our track time and everyone was doing a few last alterations and going for thier last few runs, it would have been interesting to have had a clock on some of them.
5.00 came all to soon and it was time to pack everything away and load the cars up for the journey home but although it was only 3hrs it was 3hrs well spent learning what the car will do and what it won't do, how tyre pressures and temps affect it, practiceing starts etc even more useful as i will be competeing there on 6th May.
So a big thanks to Steve Miles and the members of Nottingham Sports Car Club and the owners of Curborough Sprint Circuit

www.moleracing.com

[Dave]

Re: Mr Jimbo - MK1 Escort - 2.0 Pinto

Nice read Jimbo

[Graham]

Re: Mr Jimbo - MK1 Escort - 2.0 Pinto

nice one jim,

re slicks,
its often overlooked that slicks usually need vey different geometry and spring rates etc to road tyres, maybe a bit of testing is in order

[tim]

Re: Mr Jimbo - MK1 Escort - 2.0 Pinto

nice read jimbo u got ur calender for the rest of the year

[Sharon]

Re: Mr Jimbo - MK1 Escort - 2.0 Pinto

Silverstone / Curborough

Last season was my first full season of Sprinting and quite a successful one it was too. I won class C7 Modified Production in the Guildford Tyres Championship and Best Novice in the same championship, i also cme 2nd in C7 in the Practical Performance Car Speed Championship and finish up 4th overall in that championship, so this season is going to be a bit of a challenge, can I improve ? it remains to be seen but one thing's certain, I'll do my best.

Well done Jimmy what a nice result

Looking forward to reading your reports of this season

[david_white]

Re: Mr Jimbo - MK1 Escort - 2.0 Pinto

A few pics from Lydden yesterday.

Andy Pipe and myself went down to lend a hand as Jimbo was sprinting.
He did pretty well i thought, its only his second time there and his times got better by around a second on every run Note the shiny new 7" revos and new tyres

[david_white]

Re: Mr Jimbo - MK1 Escort - 2.0 Pinto

...and some dodgy digital action shots;





one of, if not The, quickest cars of the day, a Nicholson McClaren Gould plus a nice TVR Tuscan racer that caught my eye





What a great day out, even though it was 32 deg and my neck is now somewhat burnt

[redracer]

Re: Mr Jimbo - MK1 Escort - 2.0 Pinto

A few nice shots there That white Mk2 looks tasty