Newbie intro (plus current project - classic RS2000)
Discussion
OK, joined up this week after plenty of lurking in the background, and subsequently made time to put my project car up...
I’ve owned a number of cars in my time, from Triumphs, performance Escorts, Golf GTI’s, BMW’s, Calibra, etc, etc. My first love is classic cars though, all of them catch my eye, but have a particular fondness for old Fords (GT 40, Escorts, Cortina Lotus, etc) and another soft spot for old 911’s and VW Campers.
I’ve owned my current Escort MK2 RS2000 since Winter 2002 and enjoyed a number of years maintaining and driving her.
It’s quite common for these cars to be modified and I wanted to do this sympathetically yet still maintain a stock looking car. I had a vision of a car that could perform on the road, was reliable in long road trips, comfy, fast, could handle, and capable of performing in the occasional trackday. A big ask for an old Ford, perhaps, and all who have owned these will know the comfort/performance compromise is very hard without trade off.
Back in summer 2007 I gave my old Pinto (the RS2000 stock engine) to Steve at Vulcan Engineering who built me a smashing 2.2 stroked beastie - full race head, high compression, Weber 48’s, forged pistons, HT1 cam kit, match port inlet manifold, AP clutch kit, Tony Law manifold (4-2-1) and steel lightened flywheel (double dowelled). Here’s a picture of her in the bay:
She was dyno’d at HT Racing, run in and tuned and power delivery measured at 197bhp with 163lb/ft of torque… Judging by these figures a lot of care and attention was put into the build with particular focus on valve train issues to gain full lift. Not bad for an 8v, but the Pinto is renowned for being very tunable and was the base for the later Cosworth.
Running gear is a Type 9 5 speed (from the Ford Sierra) with Tran X gearset (nice short first). For road comfort the CWP is currently a 3.9 and for sideways action, control and to get the power down a Tran X plate type LSD is housed in the English axle. Halfshafts are 2 piece Quaife items meaning hard launches with slicks aren’t a problem.
Suspension and handling comes courtesy of a Panhard Rod (to keep the live axle fixed in one place, Gaz front and rear adjustable dampers, single leaf springs, performance polybushed and lowered approx 2” all round.
She also has an Escort ‘Twin Cam’ anti roll bar at the front, quickrack (steering) and a Double Width ARB Kit to help hold the suspension together under hard braking and cornering.
The interior is stock bar 2 x period gauges, battery cut out switch, a comfy Corbeau drivers bucket seat with 3 point retractable harness and a 6 point bolt in roll cage (with proper welded shell strengthening points)
All other seats are the standard Recaro items trimmed in leather. She has the original carpet, heater, original door cards, steel panels and sound proofing which does add weight, however, the bonnet is a fibreglass item.
Enjoy…
I’ve owned a number of cars in my time, from Triumphs, performance Escorts, Golf GTI’s, BMW’s, Calibra, etc, etc. My first love is classic cars though, all of them catch my eye, but have a particular fondness for old Fords (GT 40, Escorts, Cortina Lotus, etc) and another soft spot for old 911’s and VW Campers.
I’ve owned my current Escort MK2 RS2000 since Winter 2002 and enjoyed a number of years maintaining and driving her.
It’s quite common for these cars to be modified and I wanted to do this sympathetically yet still maintain a stock looking car. I had a vision of a car that could perform on the road, was reliable in long road trips, comfy, fast, could handle, and capable of performing in the occasional trackday. A big ask for an old Ford, perhaps, and all who have owned these will know the comfort/performance compromise is very hard without trade off.
Back in summer 2007 I gave my old Pinto (the RS2000 stock engine) to Steve at Vulcan Engineering who built me a smashing 2.2 stroked beastie - full race head, high compression, Weber 48’s, forged pistons, HT1 cam kit, match port inlet manifold, AP clutch kit, Tony Law manifold (4-2-1) and steel lightened flywheel (double dowelled). Here’s a picture of her in the bay:
She was dyno’d at HT Racing, run in and tuned and power delivery measured at 197bhp with 163lb/ft of torque… Judging by these figures a lot of care and attention was put into the build with particular focus on valve train issues to gain full lift. Not bad for an 8v, but the Pinto is renowned for being very tunable and was the base for the later Cosworth.
Running gear is a Type 9 5 speed (from the Ford Sierra) with Tran X gearset (nice short first). For road comfort the CWP is currently a 3.9 and for sideways action, control and to get the power down a Tran X plate type LSD is housed in the English axle. Halfshafts are 2 piece Quaife items meaning hard launches with slicks aren’t a problem.
Suspension and handling comes courtesy of a Panhard Rod (to keep the live axle fixed in one place, Gaz front and rear adjustable dampers, single leaf springs, performance polybushed and lowered approx 2” all round.
She also has an Escort ‘Twin Cam’ anti roll bar at the front, quickrack (steering) and a Double Width ARB Kit to help hold the suspension together under hard braking and cornering.
The interior is stock bar 2 x period gauges, battery cut out switch, a comfy Corbeau drivers bucket seat with 3 point retractable harness and a 6 point bolt in roll cage (with proper welded shell strengthening points)
All other seats are the standard Recaro items trimmed in leather. She has the original carpet, heater, original door cards, steel panels and sound proofing which does add weight, however, the bonnet is a fibreglass item.
Enjoy…
Edited by Mk2Ed on Friday 22 July 20:56
soad said:
Loving the engine bay, although all of the car looks really good!
No passenger seat?
I sometimes take the seat out for access and one of the pictures was a run to Santa Pod to test acceleration where I put 2 slick shod wheels in the passenger area. Ordinarily though the standard Recaro will be in place... ;-)No passenger seat?
Sadly the way prices are at the moment there's no way in hell it's going to happen any time soon!
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