Mk1 escort van rolling/running project

[freddy6868]

good progress so far.
looks a major job there

Yeah its a bigger project than i thought!
More uPdates.

Well i've done some work on the escort yesterday and that was to install the bias pedal box and tidy up the hid wiring. It also involved doing something i hate doing and that is drilling holes in my cars. I ran all the front lines installed the pedal box and and bolted up all the ballest boxes for the hid units in the wheel arches. I done this as i want the van to look period and un-modern from the outside and have modern twist on the inside ;-P.





I fitted up a strut to see if my 13x7 inch capri wheels will fit and it looks good!








The holes i had to drill in the shell :-S


My in car bias adjuster




The new briaded lines to replace the old flexy pipes.

[freddy6868]

Well the engine is all in one peice now with the rs2k cams and a new timing kit which includes timing chain,tensioner runner, hydraulic tensioner and all the seals to seal the front covers.
I have finished machining the engine mounts now just need to make four holes in the mounting plates get them welded together. Then it is just a case of finding some 45/50mm tube to fit the engine mounting plates to the part that bolts to the wcxm.


then once the engine is mounted i can figure out if i have cut the right amount out of the sump so it can then be welded up too.


I have also got carried away on ebay recently as i have bought a NOS lucus sealed beam reversing lamp for something like £6 posted! With no more than a couple of scratches on the back of it.


Another ebay bargin was these Cibie Super Oscars from the 80's! At £18 posted how could i say no. So i have cleaned them up today and the chrome work is in decent nick but the lamps are mint. the backs need a good strip back and a good paint and they will be like new. I bought some brackets off ebay with smaller lamps too (£2.99 +P&P bargin again!) so i will be going with the 2 up 2 down set up like the rally cars do.
left one is all polished up




the list now stands at
make a hydraulic clutch boss
fit the engine and blox
make the engine mounts
custom exhaust manifold (Tony Law jobbie)
inlet manifold for the webbers made by the bogg bros
fit the rad and wire up the fan
plumb up the water system
rebuild the front callipers
get the ignition mapped
I want all this done by the 17th of September too as i want to make rally day at castle coombe

[freddy6868]

the list now stands at:-
make a hydraulic clutch boss. F%&* it going to buy a retro ford one
fit the engine and box. Fitted although the engine has to come out again 14/08/11
make the engine mounts. Mounts completed! Just got to paint them 17/08/11
custom exhaust manifold (Tony Law jobbie). Booked in for the 12/09/11
rebuild the front callipers front calipers. Stripped to bare metal, painted and built up with a new seal kit 16/08/11
fit the rad and wire up the fan
Finish the sump mods
plumb up the water system
find a DOHC sierra starter
get the ignition mapped
inlet manifold for the webbers made by the bogg bros
Well on Sunday thanks to Curl, his old man and a couple of toilet roll tubes??? The engine mounts were made in-situ on the van and tack welded the best we could.


They have been all tig welded up now! and i will get them painted soon. When that is done i will mount the engine, mod the sump finally and then measure up for inlet so i can get the bogg bros to make one up.
I rebuilt the calipers last week. Pulled them all to pieces shot blasted all the rust off them painted them up nice and built them up all with new seals. When i seen the pistons i thought they were shot but luckly they cleaned up lovely and the build up nice.

[freddy6868]

Well the engine and box have been fitted and the engine mounts are spot on although the gearbox mount needs to be moved 10mm towards the drivers side as the person who drilled the holes for the original 5 speed mount drilled them ****ed. I have cut up the sump to the correct size and need to find some sheet metal to fill the big hole i cut into it.

Mounts completed



Mounts fitted





No jacks or engine cranes here!





Prop checked to make sure it went into the box far enough which as far as i'm concerned it does, so happy days!



The engine angle in the bay which is just over 4 degs which i thought was pretty level with a 5 speed on the arse of it. I was worried about the carbs not working at this angle but i have been reassured by someone in the know thwy will work fine!



Finally it's on her wheels for the first time in 7 months ( i think it's been that long any way) on her new coil overs too :-)

That was all fridays progress along with a load of measurements that had to be taken to make sure everything was going to work out fine.

Sundays progress was to pull it all back out attach the flywheel clutch and bell housing to the box and check if my hydraulic clutch set up from retro ford needed to be spaced or not. Which i'm happy to report is a straight bolt on jobbie! meaning all i need to do is drill two holes for the hydraulic lines in the bell housing and get it all painted up. Being done this week.

[mike77cos]

Proper progress there mate

[freddy6868]

Proper progress there mate

It is fair play i'm really cracking on although it is all too little too late as i have missed the show season.

With only 18 days untill the exhaust is being fitted i am pushing my luck to get it all finished by the 12th.

Another little update any way.

Tried the starter on the type 9 bellhousing and as you said it bolted straight up! Thats worry one over with. I also might have a fwd 2l escort one in the shed so i hope that will fit as the twink starter i have borrowed.

I also milled out and blended back the ribs in the sump that were in the way of the starter si it should bolt to the bell housing with out them being in the way.
Modded side

Original Side

Starter roughly where it is going to sit

The flywheel is in being lightened and all the uneven casting removed from the back and the bell housing is in for a lick of gloss black.
All i need to do now is make up a little plate to fill the hole in the little sump pan and the engine and box can go back in.
That is after i get all my brake and clutch fittings from rally design as i need to pipe up the slave cylinder for the clutch.

[freddy6868]

Well i'm really happy with how things have advanced in the last week as i have turned around all the parts need to refit the engine and box for the final time may i add.
Bellhousing degreased drilled and painted up


All my brake/clutch lines and my slave cylinder all apart from one fitting!


Sump mods from A-B

Cardboard before metal, measure twice cut once



Welded up

painted up


Side milled out off the sump to clear the starter motor




Yet another set of cibie super oscars :-)


Flywheel all lightened!

[freddy6868]

Oil pump chain all connected up

Sump bellhousing and starter all fitted to make sure it all fitted which i'm happy to report it does.


Starter checked to make sure it will mesh the flywheel properly, which it does although the flywheel is very close to the bellhousing!

All the front braided lines are now fitted and the new callipers all i need now is some new brake pads and a fitting kit


The engine is now in the bay for the final time but i couldn't fit the gearbox as the hydraulic clutch needs to be spaced out as i messed up the measurements when i checked the fit of it.

[freddy6868]

Well it has been a while since i wrote something on the blog and that is because not a huge amount has happened as i have relised the project as a whole can not be finished by THIS monday. But it has resided to a new home and that would be my mates garage over the weekend so i can do a little work on it. I have to seal up the inlets and exhaust ports in the head to slop shite getting in there and fit my new oil cooler set up alnog with my custom made titaniun oil cooler fitting tube thing :-P

The old one on the bottom clearly wasn't long enough or big enough in diameter to take the cooler. So i knocked this up out of some titainium bar that had lost its tracablity and was due to be thrown out.







On a final note the the engine and box never even need to come out again!
The list of things to do now stands at
Get the inlet made (with bogg bros now)
Get the manifold made (12-15/16th septemeber at tony law)
Fit and finish up thw wiring, ecu too
Mount coil pack and get leads
Mount rad and wire up the fan
Order up some water hoses and fit them
Bleed brakes and clutch up
Fit prop and quick shift
Fit fuel lines, webbers and the fuel pump
Get the bloody thing mapped and when it's up and running i'll buy it a road going prezzie of a nice tight plated diff.

[south west restorations]

good progress there m8 keep up the good work..

[freddy6868]

Inletmanifold completed by bogg bros and is in the post
manifold completed and fitted by tony law
Fit and finish up thw wiring, ecu too (this week 15/16th)
Mount coil pack and get leads (this week 15/16th)
Mount rad and wire up the fan (this week 15/16th)
Order up some water hoses and fit them
Bleed brakes and clutch up (clutch will be bled up this week 15/16th)
Fit prop and quick shift (easy, 15/16th)
Fit fuel lines, webbers and the fuel pump ( see what time i have left for the fuel lines)
Get the bloody thing mapped and when it's up and running i'll buy it a road going prezzie of a nice tight plated diff.

Well after an epic 700mile journey to leeds and back, forgeting my wallet, sleeping in a van two nights and getting a parking ticket coupled with the generator blowing mine and the mrs phone chargers and having no cig lighter for the sat nav i have an exhaust manifold fitted and a big grin on my face.

A couple of pictures of the manifold tony law made. And what a peice of art it is! You should see the way they make these pipes. Pretty much with a bucket full of sand and a heating element. I love the way that the front pipe goes straight back and the others curve out more and more to keep them the same length for when they meet.

[freddy6868]

Well i haven't said about this but i had a clearence issue with the 2.0l scorpio starter motor as the starter solinoid was on top of the starter which fould the engine mount and x member badly! So i ordered the 2.3 scorpio auto starter motor which originaly mounts on the drivers side. So when it is mounted on the passanger side the solinoid faces down missing the engine mount although it is very close to the lower part of the x member. Although everything about this conversion is tight everywhere which makes it a great challange.


Well my passanges is going to have hot feet as this is the exhaust to footwell clearence!

Some more shots of the mani as i'm so happy with it!

All reinforced where they come out of the engine!

Quick shift fitted, note the 4 speed gear knob fits and the original surround will fit too so it will look nice and stock. Which is the look i'm going for untill you open the bonnet.

Scorpio alternator set up trial fitted although i might go for the rs2k set up as i can fit that on the exhaust side alot lower too.

[freddy6868]

Fuel line run from the fuel pump to the engine bay all ready for when i get round to mounting the fpr.





I'm going to hide the fpr and the ecu under the carbs to try and keep the bay looking fresh and tidy.

Rear brake lines all run through the car and i just need to conect the rear brake lines up.



Exhausts all fitted up and welded up nice





One piece prop all fitted up nice and snug in the tunnel

[freddy6868]

Well i haven't updated my blog in a while but things are moving on great. I have re-wired the lights to work the HID kit with the help of my mate fatty who is a abit of a jack of all trades. Basically the main problem was i had tidied the earths all up into one and the lights, horn and other functions didn't work correctly. After that was sorted i set about getting the engine to turn over on the key which was quickly done by using a haynes manual of all things. All this was done on Saturday night and a few of the boys popped down to have a nose and it looked like this sunday morning when i got up to work on the escort with a nice hangover, ***e was the hangover cure by the way.

I done a little shopping for some leads to fit my vauxhaul coil pack and ones that were the right depth for the cylinder head. I done this by sitting in halfrauds on the floor by the ignition leads and pulling them out of the box one by one untill i came up with these.

i also think that is a good place to mount the new coil any coments on that idea guys?
Two holes made with a hole saw and them joined together by abit of filing gave me a nice size shaped hole in the front pannel to run the oil cooler pipes through.

Oil cooler all in place and just need mounts made up to hold it in place

FPR all fitted and plumbed into the carbs finally ready to rock
I hid it under the carbs so when the air filters are fitted it will be hiden. The ecu will live there too just further back in the bay


Trial fitted the rad although it needs some slight modding to get it to fit perfect



well after i couldn't really do any more on the engine conversion i got bored and decided to find out if my hunch was right and if so how bad were things under there.
I'll let the pictures do the talking


classy a full repair panel over the rotten arch lip

2/3 sills on the rear of the arch

Repair panel removed but the tack welds and filler remain

All the filler and most of the sport welds removed

All in all i was right that the sills and archs had been cowboyed in the past but it doesn't really bother me as i kind of worked it out after you had to really slam the doors shut and the tell tail signs of water pockets between the panels. I have also picked up a cracking welder/a welder for parts and a gas bottle for a tenner! so i will be tackling with a little nit of help my mate loffty who has just restored his mini.

[south west restorations]

lots of work done there m8
some mods cracking how u have fitted that engine.to a mk1 van a bet it will go some eh...
keep up the good work.