Mk 2 Escort V8
Discussion
A couple of PHers have asked me to post some details of my Escort when it was raised on another thread, so here goes.
In 2004 I sold my '39 Ford Coupe to concentrate on finishing my Mk 2 Zodiac that I've had since 1978
, initially with a straight six/column change, then a V6 Essex/manual, and in its latest incarnation with a Ford 302ci V8, C4 autobox, 9” Ford axle and pro-street style. But I wanted something fun to drive while I (supposedly) was getting on with the Zodiac.
The Escort belonged to Pete, a mate of mine and, unlike me, a wizard in all matters automotive. He'd originally planned to rally it: Pinto, turreted, 5-linked etc, but concluded the shell was just too good to throw into trees so went down the V8 route, as the weight of the Rover engine is similar to a Pinto. He spent a couple of years building it but hadn't used it very much as he was busy on trivialities like house renovation and extension, marriage, kids etc. So after a bit of nagging I bought it off him in 2004
.
It's a '77 shell that's been seam welded and firewalled, has new front wings and outer sills, slam panel, front valance and rear arches - the usual Escort tinworm spots - but fortunately the chassis is in excellent condition. It's got a Mexico front spoiler, an RS2000 boot spoiler and a fibreglass bonnet. The suspension is Bilstein with turreted rears, Escort M16 front and Fiesta rear discs/callipers and the rack's an RS2000 unit. Compomotive ML 7x15 rims with 195.50 15 Toyo Proxes The shell's now finished in Ford Radiant Red.
It's got an alloy fuel tank, battery carrier, spare wheel post etc in the boot. The interior is stripped out and fairly basic: Aley full roll cage, Sparco seats, Willans 3” harnesses, Rover and VDO instrumentation, RS1600 pedal box, servo, battery cut out and Omex Rev limiter/shift system.
The engine's an early P6 unit that's been rebuilt with +20 thou bore, SD1 heads, a Real Steel 214 cam, Edelbrock intake manifold and carb, Mallory DP distributor, high pressure oil pump and an adapted Prepfab exhaust system. It's also got an alloy rad and electric fan. The gear box is a clunky Rover 5-speeder. It originally had a trick twin Weber 38DGAS carb set up with a Pete-designed plenum but I found it bogged down on launch too much so swapped them for the Edelbrock.
At about 180-190 bhp it's not especially fast by today's standards but has a nice torque spread compared to a Pinto and sounds lovely. It's noisy, uncomfortable and stinks of oil and petrol, but you quickly forget the shortcomings with a quick blast over the North York Moors
.
I've toyed with the idea of selling it over the last year or two but haven't got round to it; a trip out and I just want to keep it as it's such hoot. However, I've decided it needs to go next year along with the Zodiac (which I'll realistically never get round to finishing; the 'unfinished project' that I suspect a number of Phers are familiar with). I can then justify another project car; perhaps another Yank – Fairlane, Galaxie or Falcon possibly.
I know it's not a patch on some of the other stunning cars on the forum, but I hope I've entertained you guys a little. So on to some pics....
The '39 on wedding duty (302ci, V8, pro-street)
The Zodiac long-term project (as seen on C4's 'Time Team' last year)
The Escort with it's trick Weber twin carb set up and 7x13s
And as it is now (really need to get that quarter bumper aligned)
In 2004 I sold my '39 Ford Coupe to concentrate on finishing my Mk 2 Zodiac that I've had since 1978
, initially with a straight six/column change, then a V6 Essex/manual, and in its latest incarnation with a Ford 302ci V8, C4 autobox, 9” Ford axle and pro-street style. But I wanted something fun to drive while I (supposedly) was getting on with the Zodiac. The Escort belonged to Pete, a mate of mine and, unlike me, a wizard in all matters automotive. He'd originally planned to rally it: Pinto, turreted, 5-linked etc, but concluded the shell was just too good to throw into trees so went down the V8 route, as the weight of the Rover engine is similar to a Pinto. He spent a couple of years building it but hadn't used it very much as he was busy on trivialities like house renovation and extension, marriage, kids etc. So after a bit of nagging I bought it off him in 2004
. It's a '77 shell that's been seam welded and firewalled, has new front wings and outer sills, slam panel, front valance and rear arches - the usual Escort tinworm spots - but fortunately the chassis is in excellent condition. It's got a Mexico front spoiler, an RS2000 boot spoiler and a fibreglass bonnet. The suspension is Bilstein with turreted rears, Escort M16 front and Fiesta rear discs/callipers and the rack's an RS2000 unit. Compomotive ML 7x15 rims with 195.50 15 Toyo Proxes The shell's now finished in Ford Radiant Red.
It's got an alloy fuel tank, battery carrier, spare wheel post etc in the boot. The interior is stripped out and fairly basic: Aley full roll cage, Sparco seats, Willans 3” harnesses, Rover and VDO instrumentation, RS1600 pedal box, servo, battery cut out and Omex Rev limiter/shift system.
The engine's an early P6 unit that's been rebuilt with +20 thou bore, SD1 heads, a Real Steel 214 cam, Edelbrock intake manifold and carb, Mallory DP distributor, high pressure oil pump and an adapted Prepfab exhaust system. It's also got an alloy rad and electric fan. The gear box is a clunky Rover 5-speeder. It originally had a trick twin Weber 38DGAS carb set up with a Pete-designed plenum but I found it bogged down on launch too much so swapped them for the Edelbrock.
At about 180-190 bhp it's not especially fast by today's standards but has a nice torque spread compared to a Pinto and sounds lovely. It's noisy, uncomfortable and stinks of oil and petrol, but you quickly forget the shortcomings with a quick blast over the North York Moors
. I've toyed with the idea of selling it over the last year or two but haven't got round to it; a trip out and I just want to keep it as it's such hoot. However, I've decided it needs to go next year along with the Zodiac (which I'll realistically never get round to finishing; the 'unfinished project' that I suspect a number of Phers are familiar with). I can then justify another project car; perhaps another Yank – Fairlane, Galaxie or Falcon possibly.
I know it's not a patch on some of the other stunning cars on the forum, but I hope I've entertained you guys a little. So on to some pics....
The '39 on wedding duty (302ci, V8, pro-street)
The Zodiac long-term project (as seen on C4's 'Time Team' last year)
The Escort with it's trick Weber twin carb set up and 7x13s
And as it is now (really need to get that quarter bumper aligned
)
Love the Escort, got to say though prefered it on the 7x13's
Love the Zodiac too, is there much left to do ?, looks like a tasty project for someone
Thread has struck a cord with me as i'm currently building (or non-building) a V8 Escort myself but it's a MK4 Gartac type shell with a 3.9 Rover, dont know if it'll ever see the road TBH
Love the Zodiac too, is there much left to do ?, looks like a tasty project for someone
Thread has struck a cord with me as i'm currently building (or non-building) a V8 Escort myself but it's a MK4 Gartac type shell with a 3.9 Rover, dont know if it'll ever see the road TBH
LordGrover said:
LordGrover said:
s m said:
Excellent
I bet that is fun - I had a few Escorts in the 80s and ISTR they were fairly quick even with only 150bhp.
I learnt a lot about rwd in those
Only 150BHP? I bet that is fun - I had a few Escorts in the 80s and ISTR they were fairly quick even with only 150bhp.
I learnt a lot about rwd in those
That was a lot back then in a car that weighed so little, <900kgs?.Standard ones with 110 bhp got to 60 in about 8.5 -> 9 and topped out at 108-ish.
190bhp (with a V8 soundtrack) would be entertaining
Markgenesis said:
Love the Escort, got to say though prefered it on the 7x13's
Love the Zodiac too, is there much left to do ?, looks like a tasty project for someone
Thread has struck a cord with me as i'm currently building (or non-building) a V8 Escort myself but it's a MK4 Gartac type shell with a 3.9 Rover, dont know if it'll ever see the road TBH
Most of the hard, knuckle-skinning work has been done on the Zodiac. It needs the brakes plumbing in, a propshaft, re-wiring and obviously painting and an interior re-trim.Love the Zodiac too, is there much left to do ?, looks like a tasty project for someone
Thread has struck a cord with me as i'm currently building (or non-building) a V8 Escort myself but it's a MK4 Gartac type shell with a 3.9 Rover, dont know if it'll ever see the road TBH
Your Gartrac Mk 4 looks really good. A pal of mine had an original Mk 3 version when we lived in Wiltshire and it just looked so good, even though it wasn't on the road (can you see the common thread here
).Evo said:
I've ne'er really been into Fords, not for any reason but that is indeed the dogs danglies.
Rover V8, two TVR's so we know that will sound awesome, have you sleeved or done anything to the exhaust, I'm guessing no cats needed?
Any chance of a video of it running
Thanks Evo. The exhaust system simply consists of a collector and a 2" pipe into a straight through, re-packable Prepfab steel exhaust box. Surprisingly it's not too noisy and makes the most of that V8 burble Rover V8, two TVR's so we know that will sound awesome, have you sleeved or done anything to the exhaust, I'm guessing no cats needed?
Any chance of a video of it running
Evo said:
I've ne'er really been into Fords, not for any reason but that is indeed the dogs danglies.
Rover V8, two TVR's so we know that will sound awesome, have you sleeved or done anything to the exhaust, I'm guessing no cats needed?
Any chance of a video of it running
This is the only vid of the car I've got, and it dates back to the old carb set up. Sorry for the brevity of the clip and rubbish mobile phone quality Rover V8, two TVR's so we know that will sound awesome, have you sleeved or done anything to the exhaust, I'm guessing no cats needed?
Any chance of a video of it running
Hope the link works...http://youtu.be/zckYvbVT0G8
Escort3500 said:
Evo said:
I've ne'er really been into Fords, not for any reason but that is indeed the dogs danglies.
Rover V8, two TVR's so we know that will sound awesome, have you sleeved or done anything to the exhaust, I'm guessing no cats needed?
Any chance of a video of it running
This is the only vid of the car I've got, and it dates back to the old carb set up. Sorry for the brevity of the clip and rubbish mobile phone quality Rover V8, two TVR's so we know that will sound awesome, have you sleeved or done anything to the exhaust, I'm guessing no cats needed?
Any chance of a video of it running
Hope the link works...http://youtu.be/zckYvbVT0G8
Megaflow said:
More info one the '39 required!
I bought it from Paul Gibbs at Wisbech Engineering in 1996. It's an all steel shell that was pro-streeted by a guy in Surrey (I think) in the late 80s/early 90s, appearing in Custom Car magazine at the time. It ran a 289 Ford with Edelbrock ali heads, a Comp Cams camshaft, a C4 ' box, Wisbech Engineering front suspension and a 9" Ford back axle with adjustable coil overs. The rims were Cragar Bob Glidden 4x15 front and 14x15 rears with Mickey Thompson Sportsman Pro tyres. It was painted in a Ford colour (can't remember the name but I believe it was used on some of the Cosworths) and had nicely done 'ghost' flames.I loved that car; it had a spot-on stance and always brought a smile to my face when I was out in it. Attracted a lot of attention too
even though it was occasionally mistaken for a modded Beetle I sold it to Terry down Norwich way in 2004 and it's been completely rebuilt and repainted in a metallic orange, and still turns up at rod runs.
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