Mk1 escort van rolling/running project

[freddy6868]

I have also changed the fpr for the filter king with the 85mm bowl with the high flow filter as the old one seamed to have failed. The new fpr even has a built in pressure gauge so so you can set the pressure correctly.

Well as my old MBE wasn't mappable by anyone in the south wales area i sold it on the bay. Then i went out and bought a DTA S40 that will control injection aswell as the ignition as i think i will either convert the webers to run as throttle bodies or run throttle bodies in the future.

I then had to set about making a wiring loom for the lot and after a lot of advise off a couple of mates i dived in and expanded my skill sets futher. After getting my hands on some top quality wire and all the plugs and plug boots i set about making it. Below is a picture of the loom half finished as i haven't got heat shrink thick enough to go over some of the wires so i will finish it when that arrives.

I am happy with the way things have turned out as i even went as far as making litlle lables and heat shrinking them into the loom. I also think the black and grey is a good contrast.

After looking everywhere for a cheaper solution i had to fork out for a brand news tps sensor fo fit on the webers as i am going to run the engine on a 3D map untill i run it on injection.

I then relised i will have to weld in a lambda sensor boss into the exhaust system to get it mapped so i will get that welded in some time this week. I am happy to say the quality of the one i got was better than the one in the picture too!

[freddy6868]

Wiring loom was all finished last night and i have fitted it today. Hopefully the engine will be up and running tomorrow as my mate is coming up to set up all the ecu settings and get the engine up and going.


All the wiring that goes under the dash and the relays for the ecu and fuel pump. This loom isn't so pretty but it is solid and will do the job great.

I also measured how far the end of the axle it is to the spring pan and how far it was from the diff flange to the floor. This was so i could fit the anglia axle at the same 4 degree angle as the standard escort angle. That is also the angle of the engine and box. I measured the length of the anglia axle and from what i can remember it is just over an inch shorter each side. So i tacked up the spring pans and asked my mate coidy to weld them onto the axle fully as my welder wasn't up to the job.

The spring pans all welded up so the axle is ready to be fitted up. I'll do that Thursday morning fit the axle my plated diff and one piece prop.

[Mark M]

your doing well.. keep em coming.

[freddy6868]

your doing well.. keep em coming.

Big update soon as i haven't had time to update the blog. So watch this space over the weekend.

[freddy6868]

The engine is all up and running thanks to my buttie kiwi who set the dta s40 up for me and calibrated all the sensors to get the engine up and running.

http://i1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc457/freddy6868/ef30bd0d.mp4

Well my 8.5j wheels fit in the arches with loads of room! I don't know why people say it is some impossible all the time.





I think it looks sweet as in this picture!



Had and atlernator belt off my mate ginge who works in the local motorfactors. I gave him the dimensions and he got the right one straight off the shelf! Couldn't believe my luck.

[freddy6868]

well loads has happend in the last couple of weeks. So much that i haven't had time to update my blog. So here we go.
Last minute i changed my coil pack set up and thought it would be much neater to put the coils in the head like they should be.

I also had my spare rocker cover painted in the same royal blue as my brake calipers and cibie lights.

Made up all the coolant pipes, even the ones for the heaters


before

after

Some flames from where she was started up first off

http://s1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc457/freddy6868/?action=view&current=147c3303.mp4

Out and about with my bros 205 the first time the escort had moved out of the garage under it own power



ECU all mounted in the glove box out the way


bonnet all fitted ready for the rolling road set up

All ready to be towed by the french box for mapping and carb tweeking


On the rollers

Well we got to the rollers with out a problem even thought the towing van was a pug. So mosely set about doing the first run to check all the carb settings the ignition timing ect ect. After that was done a quick power run was done to check fueling and the power output. This wasn't happening though as the carbs were leaning out.
So after the carbs were fueling better the first ral run was done to find out the power output was a low 170bhp but he said it started wheel spinning at around 100mph so the van was strapped down and the figure shot up to 188bhp. After this run the floor cought FIRE! all the wax oil had melted off the floor onto the manifold and set the escort on fire.
A couple of videos from the power runs/mapping runs

http://s1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc457/freddy6868/?action=view&current=cb17be7d.mp4

http://s1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc457/freddy6868/?action=view&current=5ebf0d0e.mp4

http://s1212.photobucket.com/albums/cc457/freddy6868/?action=view&current=b93eba34.mp4

After a few small oil leaks and some water leaks the mapping was finished and the van made 191bhp @5.5k and stayed at that power the more it was revd. I think this is because the exhaust diameter is too small as this spec of engine should smash the 200bhp mark. It also made around 205 ft/lbs of torque @ 3K!


Aswell as making the power the engine also drives lovely too it is like a normal car up to 1/4 throttle after that it just goes wild and pulls like a train.
After getting the van home i checked everything under the bay and relised that after the seroius heat the setting up had caused in the bay that a few items had started to melt!


Not to worry though as it shouldn't happen again as when on the move the airflow should give better engine bay cooling than the fans on the rollers.
All that is left to do now is tidy up everything and weld up the floors and put a new sill on it. Not long now and she'll be on the road! Now ther pressure is on though as there is only 37 days untill we leave for germany.

[SHIFTY]

Coming on great, gotta love a mk1 van

[lynx]

good work

impressed with engine conversion, the i4 dohc always seems to be wrongly underestimated conversion.

[freddy6868]

Well after a quick spin around the block i wasn't happy with the old disks and a standard set of pads so i went out and spent a couple of pennies on a set of mintex 1155's and a set of vented and grooved disks.

All fitted up

Next up was to work out why my lights didn't work but that was because the 12v+ feed to the main beam was loose so thats another task to knock off the MOT list

Then i tackled the sill along with my mate Loffty as i wasn't happy to fit the sill on my own as it's such a long pannel it has to go on perfect as it ruins the look of the car. It took us a lengthy 5 hours to tack the sill up and towards the end the gas ran out but we didn't relise at the time as you'll be able to tell by some of the welding.







There are some holes along the roof seam which had just been filled with filler and painted over before so i havd a go at welding them up and grinding them back with great sucess.


ground back and painted

a list i have written up to help me finish the van ready to go on the road, although this list gets bigger everytime i cross something off but i'm getting there

[freddy6868]

good work

impressed with engine conversion, the i4 dohc always seems to be wrongly underestimated conversion.

Yeah i have found only negative coments about the I4 (unless you own a mk5 rs2k) and alot of people don't believe the power these units put out in 'standard' form. Another common roumer is that the I4 is heavier then the weezy old pinto and after picking up a valver and a pinto i can safely say the pinto is heavier!

[freddy6868]

I also had to make up a little something for the passanger side indicator because when i took it apart some months earlier all the internals were rotten and fell apart. So i knocked this up in my break today.

[freddy6868]

Failed mot with stupid things like missing split pins locked passanger door no washers and other minor issues but shes goi g in for a retest tomorrow.

No big updates really just that i have been for a sneaky skid down the ocal industrial estate and i love the thing! It is mental and i haven't even taken it out in the rain yet :-S but you can drive it like a normal car when you need to then. A few photos of her all 'finished'

This list is now finished thanks to the help of my mate marc who is mk2 escort bonkers.


Heat proofing to protect the wiring and it's doing a great job so far too!


My bros 205 is in the garage so shes back out in all weathers for now to prep her for the hard times to and fro germany








Some sponsorship from the boys


F&M motorsport stands for fred and morse as we have built the thing from scratch








So thats it so far she rough and ready with plenty of get up and go so its all fun and games now.

[Aaron P.]

its come along way since you bought it, looks good on them wide rims but get a lower profile tyre i wreckon,

how does it handle and power etc??? i take it it eats jiuce

whats the plans on colour????

id say your well happy the bulk of the build is now over and same with your missus

[freddy6868]

Well i haven't updated the blog in ages so i'll start by telling you all about the trip to the nurburg ring.

Van all packed ready to go

Basically well all left south wales at half 3 in the morning on the 24th of may to catch the ferry in dover for 12. There was 6 of us in 4 whole and complete cars.

Somewhere in wales


Nice and noisy



Arrived at dover around half 10ish


The old escort felt right at home on the ferry as we were on the same ship as a classic car rallye, although all the other classics were looking stunning they loved the van.


This was also there too. I have never seen one before but the owner told me it was a perless gt and one of only 340 made in the 50's i think he said. A stunning looking car but shes sounded even sweeter!



Also seen this little stunner parked up in dover


So we all made it to the nurburg ring at around half 9 at night after being stuck in traffic for hours in belgium.



On the second night all these rs focus' turned up at the hotel and took up all the parking space possible. So getting the escort in and out was murder!


From there on it was just get the hoof down and get round the nurburgring as fast as possible, basically so here are the photos i found on the net of everyone doing some laps.

Morsey/dom in the starlet turbo

Marc and his mrs (they came out on the sunday)

the mrs driving the wagon






Dan in the 106 valver too


Coidy in the Civic Type R

Me hunting down mr coid


And finally me in the wagon





bail!!






And thats when the engine let go! On the limiter in second coming out of karressel leaving an oil slick that cost me 150 euros and a trip on the tow truck at a cost 180 euros cash!





I was on my third lap there but on my previous two i got round there in 9.54 and the second attempt at driving the escort in anger i went around in 9.07. My previous personal best in the 106 was 9.57 so i stuffed that even eith my inexperience of driving rwd fast. So all in all i was happy with that.

And considering two of the other boys actually crashed!
Coidy was first as he was trying to bet my time round there

If you look carfully you can see all the paint on coidys front bumper and the damage to it on the drivers side


And mark who only had 110bhp and was pushing way too hard to try and catch the big boys toys


So after the escort had been recoved off the ring and dropped back to the hotel i started stripping her doen to see how big this hole in the engine really was.

After i had removed the alternator out of the engine bay that was no longer attached to the engine! I found this lovely hole in the block/sump


Everyone also thought it would be cool to write all over the van in marker pen the entire time we were out there so something new turned up every day on her







So on the way home i had to jump in with coidy and the mrs with morsey but all the cars were in a right state!
Coidys brake pads were squeeling all the way home and he had seized a rear caliper
Morseys turbo was on its way out
Dans 106 burnt 2 gallons of oil
And marcs car had the front end cable tied and was held on by self tappers so it was like scrap heap challange
And my van still hasn't arrived home but i have been informed it will be with me next tuesday. Lol

[freddy6868]

its come along way since you bought it, looks good on them wide rims but get a lower profile tyre i wreckon,

how does it handle and power etc??? i take it it eats jiuce

whats the plans on colour????

id say your well happy the bulk of the build is now over and same with your missus

Yeah it looks great on the wide wheels! I love it and i changed the tyres as the rears were remoulds and were ditch finders so i went for some hankook road leagal slicks. They are the chickens wings fair play!

So with the coilovers the plated diff and the semi slicks it is like it's on rails! I got her round the ring in just over 9mins and i recon i could knock another 15 off that easy.

The colour will either be just a plain black or back the same colour with satin black mexico stripes.

The power is awsome if you give it a hoof full of throttle in second she will drift lovely even in the dry with the slicks so plenty of power.

I have seen a mk1 and mk2 escort in a yard and i am trying to get hold of the owner of them as i really want a car so the wagon might be for sale soon!