Escort Sigma 1600 Race Car

[Roadsport]

Re: Escort Sigma 1600 Race Car

To think of it I believe the 10w60 made approx 30 + psi on hot idle

[Roadsport]

Re: Escort Sigma 1600 Race Car

Waiting again. This time for the cylinder head and the bottom end bits.

Meanwhile: base black

[Roadsport]

Re: Escort Sigma 1600 Race Car

Still waiting for the bits to get the engine back together. Meanwhile I painted the rear axle. I'll let it cure for a good 36 hours befora assembling and installing it.

Oblicatory pictures.






While I had my spray gun out I sprayd the valve cover too. It turned out a real nice. Piano like finish. Earlier I had a go at making this a "dry sump" valve cover but it turned out this cover (really) is magnesium and deffo not weldable with TIG. Nice for a everyday engine from the end of the 90's it weights virtually nothing.

[exboyracer]

Re: Escort Sigma 1600 Race Car

[RWD fords rule]

Re: Escort Sigma 1600 Race Car

To think of it I believe the 10w60 made approx 30 + psi on hot idle

I would run a little extra big end clearance then, even .00025" or .006mm extra will help, can be done by polishing the journals

Nice work, the axle case even looks like you could lift it with one hand

[david_white]

Re: Escort Sigma 1600 Race Car

Cracking work, love that finish on the cam cover

[Roadsport]

Re: Escort Sigma 1600 Race Car

I would run a little extra big end clearance then, even .00025" or .006mm extra will help, can be done by polishing the journals

Nice work, the axle case even looks like you could lift it with one hand

One can easily lift the casing with one hand. The crank journals wil be polished prior to assembly. Maybe that'll do the trick. Other than that when I order new shells they come from the Formula ford outlet. They are the largest of the many sizes the factoty uses in the std engines so the clearance should be bigger than on std engines but then again the Formula Fords run on 5w30 not 10w60 like I did. Lets see how the shells look after this season.

[Roadsport]

Re: Escort Sigma 1600 Race Car

Cracking work, love that finish on the cam cover

Thanks Dave it turned out real nice but I promise it won't be like that for long. I bet the high gloss black will scar if you look at it wrong. Other than that the paint should be quite tough. And the thing I value the most it can take solvents. I tend to clean averything with brake cleaner which tends to disolve inferior paints.

[Roadsport]

Re: Escort Sigma 1600 Race Car

Assembled and installed the English today. Didn't have enough time to do the brakes only mocked up the other side to make a new brake hose next week.

Few pointless bling pics






Still need to squeese in the redline Heavy shock proof gear oil. I think I'll utilize compressed air this time. Its so thick its hard to get out of the bottle
Pressing the bottles with bare hands is quite a task if the rear ends volume is over 2 litres...

Think I need to paint the car...


The calipers are threaded now for easy removal. Just two bolts without counter nuts and off comes the calipers. No need to remove the adapter bit.

[RWD fords rule]

Re: Escort Sigma 1600 Race Car

when I order new shells they come from the Formula ford outlet. They are the largest of the many sizes the factoty uses in the std engines so the clearance should be bigger than on std engines but then again the Formula Fords run on 5w30 not 10w60 like I did.

You hit the nail on the head there, the thinner the oil the smaller the clearances you need to run and visa versa, 5w30 must be like water when fully warmed up! lol

[Roadsport]

Re: Escort Sigma 1600 Race Car

Brakes and brake lines sorted. All oiled up and back on her feet

It took 1.5 litres of oil with the larger pan. Almost double the std ammount an LSD english would take

[Roadsport]

Re: Escort Sigma 1600 Race Car

Finally some progress. I've had some very hard time with my part supplier but now I've received most of the parts needed.
I've started the bottom end assembly. The head is still at the machine shop and I'n seriously running out of time.
Saw this video some time ago and gave it a shot as I was installing the pistons today. I've always hated installing pistons with the punching method so I was very keen to see if this gentler method would be any good. I've managed to snap a ring and score the bore twice. And it always makes me a bit nervous to tap in the pistons. This method was great.

Have you tried ? Or is this yesterdays news?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PbbPXuwDYfE

[RWD fords rule]

Re: Escort Sigma 1600 Race Car

Yes that is an easy method never used one but it makes perfect sense the shallower the taper angle of the sleeve the better and also using one that the pistons will just about slip into to compress the rings a little more ideally than the bore, I would prefer installing the pistons with the crank facing straight upwards but not a lot of difference

Also never ever fit new rings by winding them on by hand, they can easily bend out of shape, if the ring does not sit 100% flat on the ring land then it will leak, best to use a proper ring expander as it will never damage/twist rings

[Roadsport]

Re: Escort Sigma 1600 Race Car

That same rotating method works fine with a standard ring compresser too.

Oh, thats news to me about the new rings. I've always istalled the rings by hand. With a low compression height pistons its fairly easy.

[RWD fords rule]

Re: Escort Sigma 1600 Race Car

It is also very easy to twist rings, take some of your old rings and place them on a deal flat surface, if they are not sitting perfectly flat then they are bent, it is more of a problem with heavy rings and low top ring height but I would only ever use a ring expander like this and never twist on rings:




Video of the same ring expander I have, super easy to use, skip forward to 45 seconds in by clicking here: http://youtu.be/UNCiVXxxPQ4?t=45s

I bought a cheap one on ebay and tweaked it to make it more precise with little effort, I think tools like this are way worth using

http://www.ebay.co.uk/sch/i.html?_odkw=ring+expander+piston&_osacat=0&_from=R40&_trksid=p2045573.m570.l1313.TR0.TRC0&_nkw=piston+ring+expander&_sacat=0