Mk2 Escort Rally Car for the road (all costs recorded)

[Niponeoff]

turbospud said:

i would be for ditching the quaife gearbox if your going to be using it on the road a lot,
even with a bit of track use its a horrible option

Aye, but its going to be a pneumatic paddle shift system.

I have another car with an uprated gearbox and I was told to fit straight gears 1 to 4, but that would be terrible in a road car with a radio, AC etc. However a rally car with a cage, is ok in my book!

The road orientation for this car will consist of rubber bushes, a bit of strategic sound deadening (to reduce not eliminate) retain the opening windows, steering wheel functions, maybe a wee bit of carpet and some more road orientated seats and things like the sprung clutch. If i do get fed up of the noise, quaife do a helical gear set for these.

I wont be driving the kids to school in it, but it will do the odd track day, sunday morning hoon and a few ford meets/shows.

[Niponeoff]

The CWP is 3.444.

Ratios are:

2.24
1.694
1.333
1.15
1
0.89


This works out as:



I don't think that is too bad, I have thought about getting the engine in and running before fully stripping so i can get the ratios right as a paper exercise might not tell the full story, especially with engine characteristics and me being a complete novice.

But remember, it might be used on the road, but its not going to used for daily shopping trips.

I have thought about this type of car and my regret for sellng the equally as impractical westfield and I decided this would be suitable replacement, which is arguably more practical.

[Niponeoff]

Pneumatic shifter.

Quaife kindly sent me the drawing for the gearbox setup with the actuator. Most of the quaife drawings are commercially available it seems so there is no confidentiality with this. MME use a bearing/rod arrangement which will probably be better so i can retain the use of the shifter if required.

Anyway, i managed to buy the gearbox actuator bracket from ebay for 25 quid. This will give me the same centreline.

I put it all into CAD and everything should fit with a 32/50 actuator set at 25/25 (RS 721-3644), using 8mm rod end. The quaife bracket uses a 6mm x 35mm pin so will need an 6/10 bush for that.

It looks like item 4 is a special arm for the actuator setup and uses an M14 threaded socket. This isn't threaded in my box. So i'll need to make a suitable pin - but that's doable.

[Niponeoff]

RC1807 said:

Yikes, I just did a quick tally to stop myself from getting carried away with thoughts on a Mk 2 RS 2000
You're currently in for GBP 56k and change, with a YB for sale.

Oof.

Aye, I'll update the first post with the full tally. I always read project threads and no one ever puts cost. I'll also list the vendors so others can source similar parts. If I make mistakes along the way others can hopefully make a saving.

There's one or two other bits not itemised which I'll list, for instance I bought a blue stripe because I saw a car I liked with one, which is the exact width of a broadstripe. Why pay £50 when its available for £15.

I also bought compomotive hub caps but the wheels are revolution! Previous owner gave me wrong info!

One other point to keep in mind is for me, time is worth more than money. I'm away for months and home for a couple of weeks so I don't always have the luxury of measuring, waiting or trying first. Otherwise I'll never get ought done!

Edit:

I just came across this for sale:

https://m.facebook.com/groups/ClassicFordsForSale/...

I think mine is a significantly higher spec too. A 2.0 millington non RS escort was up for 52k recently which needed work and a non RS millington escorts built by a reputable builder will be 100k plus.

If I can do a good job, there will be some value in it at least.

Edited by Niponeoff on Friday 31st March 22:17

[Niponeoff]

Skyedriver said:

Interesting, I see the Millington comes with 4 Ramair socks on the inlets. I'm no expert but am learning fast as I'm trying to sort out filtering on a V6 at the moment and I read that the socks are a severe restriction on flow and can get sucked onto the inlet almost blocking flow.

Correct. Just consider them as storage solutions. They won't feature on the day it turns a wheel.

[Niponeoff]

drakart said:

I wondered who'd bought that engine! Well done. The noise when you lift off will be immense!!

I've got a 2.0 Duratec with a dog box in mine. LHD and winged seats mean that its nearly impossible to see at junctions etc and its 110 decibels inside at almost any speed, so I wear a headset. 270bhp is enough for the Bilsteins, but I'm tempted to spend some money on tarmac Reigers.

Originally it had a straight cut quaife H pattern and an underpowered Zetec, so I suffer with upgraditis like you! Thankfully my shell is immaculate.

Good luck with the rest of the build, I'll be watching with interest.

Yep, some reigers would be great if the budget can stretch. I'm not sure what springs I'll run in the front now as the cossie boat anchor and all its ancillaries will be replaced with something significantly lighter!

[Niponeoff]

sheepdip said:

braddo said:

Niponeoff said:

Does seem a bit low, but i'm relying on the information from the previous owner. it is still on the weber L8 though.

A 205 block 2wd engine is around 8k on ebay, all dependent on condition and spec of course. People seem to still like the original webers too.

205 block, 4wd head and 2wd manifold are supposed to be the best combination, outside of alloy and YBD blocks of course.



On the milly its an electronic distributor, running off the back of the oil pump.

Good luck with the sale. That's a neat looking solution for the dizzy

That Millington looks very much like the ones used in the Formula Classic. I had one and that was pulling 260 bhp at about 6k rpm - the rollers only went to 260 so guess it would have been close 280-300 at 8k. I removed the original dizzy and fitted a trigger wheel and 3D set-up. Still used the twin 50s.

Where did you get the dizzy trigger wheel from? Did you go coil on plug? Was thinking of fitting a crank trigger wheel but I don't have timing gear to set it up.

Edited by Niponeoff on Thursday 6th April 16:40

[Niponeoff]

Just bought this e46 M3 actuator so i can have DBW. This will negate the need for a throttle blip and give me better TC strategies. So I think I might keep the webers as they atomise better at high rpm being further down the inlet tract and directly in the air stream. The TPS is also attached to the throttle actuator so also solves another problem. I think a TPS on the pedalbox will be quite simple.

Bit of a saving over the aftermarket ones and the BMW actuator can be repaired.

Jenvey have been very helpful, so will keep their quote on the backburner for now. May still go for bodies, will be prefer a bit of input from Millingtons but they wont reply.

[Niponeoff]

sheepdip said:

Niponeoff said:

Where did you get the dizzy trigger wheel from? Did you go coil on plug? Was thinking of fitting a crank trigger wheel but I don't have timing gear to set it up.

Edited by Niponeoff on Thursday 6th April 16:40

Trigger wheel off the net from I think someone like trigger wheels .com! Used a wasted spark set up with a coil pack. Timing up is simple. What is odd the series one Millington does not use vernier cam pullies, I had to add my own marks when changing the cam belt and also it uses a 6 bolt crank not a 9 like a cossie but I never had a problem. I did get a call once from an Irish chap who had one in his MK1 rally car and the flywheel broke loose!

So you run the trigger wheel off the crank? Sounded like you ran it off the dizzy in your first post?

Did you need to block off the dizzy drive from the oil pump. I know it's a pace as I've been in contact for an oil temp sensor but they said I need to make one.

I'm home in 3 weeks so hopefully get a fair bit done, just got to balance escort time with family time. But handy if I know exactly what I can do before I get there.

[Niponeoff]

Gearbox actuator installed. Turned out pretty good in the end. I inserted a half inch bar and drilled it M8, fitted a grub screw down which interferes with two 3mm ball bearings, so it's right in the gearstick location.

[Niponeoff]

One YB cosworth for sale.

[Niponeoff]

944 Man said:

Caddyshack said:

The millington needs throttle bodies imo, the carbs will always be full of flat spots and running rich.

I don't know: choke them down and get them set up on a rolling road by someone who really knows what they are doing with side draughts. All you need is a time machine...

Might be better overall, but carbs have great fuel atomisation at full chat and well setup should run pretty good.

DBW throttle will go in this location. First mock-up, but should go in once I get all the necessary clearances. Might be able to pickup the top bolt in the engine mount too.

[Niponeoff]

Might need to go up slightly when I fit the oil supply.

[Niponeoff]

Car is now completely stripped, ready for re-dipping. First stage will be paint removal and back for repairs, before final e-coat.

Will be dry built before then though and new loom trial fitted.

Everything came off fairly easily, just one bolt in the cross member needed a bit of heat to remove.

My old boy was over visiting so I put him to work stripping the fuel system

[Niponeoff]

Just looking at my trigger wheel setup.

I've seen the sensor fitted at 3 o'clock on another S1, so that will do as I have those bolt holes. (Not my engine, just the example, though think I will use 2 bolt holes:



Anyone got an idea of which tooth I remove? I don't suppose it matters too much, as I can set it up in the ECU, but I'm sure there is a preference or window where it's best/recommended?





My trigger wheel will be a bit bigger I think, once I get home again to measure up.

[Niponeoff]

dhdev said:

Niponeoff said:

Car is now completely stripped, ready for re-dipping. First stage will be paint removal and back for repairs, before final e-coat.

Will be dry built before then though and new loom trial fitted.

This looks like a great project and I'm sure the end result will be a fantastic bit of kit.
Interested to know what the process is for dipping a shell that has a cage already fitted, as I've got an ongoing project at the moment that I'll need to get re-dipped because the previous owner had stored the shell poorly and it's covered in surface rust. Do you need to ensure that all the cage tubes are sealed to prevent acid ingress, or do you need to do the opposite and provide suitable drainage points in each tube? When e-coating, do all captive nuts/threaded mounts need a bolt inserting or do you clean the threads post dipping with a tap?

Edited by dhdev on Wednesday 24th May 14:34

The reason I'm getting it dipped is because it was done previously, but not e coated, so the rusty is in the seams where primer couldn't be applied.

The other problem was acid leeching out, probably from the cage onto the floor. I think the acid pooled in the corner boxes as each cage corner is rotted out, I'll see the full extent when it comes back.

Drainage is critical, they require a 6-8,mm hole in each end of the tube for the cage. I'll also be adding it to various liquid traps around the car, can always weld them back up or bung with a grommet.

It's actually in pretty good shape.







I did wonder about the threads as I'm planning to use lots of captive nuts where possible. Hopefully be such a thin coating like plating so will just coat the threads, but I'll find out.

Edited by Niponeoff on Wednesday 24th May 19:11

[Niponeoff]

Car went for paint removal and acid dip:

[Niponeoff]

Some unexpected rust, but at least I know about it. Another problem is the floorplan is virtually completely sealed with the drain holes welded up, so they couldn't get rid of the acid after the dip. Not enough drainage in the cage either.

Exposed a few areas such as rear tail skin, heater bowl, various patches and C pillar to roof joint.

Cage corner boxes I knew about and getting end was butchered for the intercooler etc.

I think my plan will be to cut out the rust, weld a few bits on, but not all of it. Open up any cavities (sills, rails etc) so no chance of boiling in the acid. This will give me the best of both, total Immersion and e coating both sides of any cavity and 100% drainage, them I'll do the final welding and close them up and apply anti corrosion backfill.







You can see where the drain plugs have been welded, these will need cutting before reprocessing.

[Niponeoff]

Might need some help with this bit:



Corner boxes will be cut out before re-e-coating then finished after.



Plus a ton of holes to copper spoon, should keep me busy. I also need to cut off and reweld the gearbox actuator clearance. I want a removable lid so I can access it without removing the gearbox and convert to stick if I want to.