Rear crossmember

[Adythewindow]

Oh F.....oooey! Any ideas for a replacement rear crossmember (Mk1 Escort)?????? Lovely weather, not too much traffic, nasty banging noise from underneath, and it wasn't the kids. Any help gratefully accepted.

[Adythewindow]

Yipppeee! Sorted.......with a little ingenuity and lots of grinding. I now have no rear crossmember, just two seperate shock mounts. Now maybe the wife and kids will be happy??!!!

[whackman]

im glad you got your prob sorted...the thought of your poor kids under the car holding your shocks in position
while you and the missus are enjoying the sunnyday drive makes me feel a bit queezy....i think you should
bul them an ice lolly....!

[Adythewindow]

You should have heard them when I wanted some new knee sliders for the bike!!!!!!

[techsec]

So how have you actually secured the top of the shock absorbers?

[whackman]

titanium screws in their foreheads.....nasty!!
to answer tecsec ..the shock tops are mounted to the rear child seats !!!!!!

[Adythewindow]

The shock tops are now secured by my own redesign of the Mk1 Escort mounts (early type pre cross member) welded to the original plate for the cross member. Basically a u shaped mount (ex 50 x50 box)cut and ground to shape. Shame this forum doesn`t support pics.

[techsec]

Sounds similar to how Jago did the later cross member on their chassis.
That was a L section welded across from one chassis rail to the other with additional plate welded at the top shock mount point to form a U profile.

Quite a few owners ground down the centre section of the L to allow the axle to travel a bit more upwards.
So in effect the middle was a flat piece which sat against the underside of the floor.

[Adythewindow]

Thanks for the info. It would seem that there are 101 ways to skin a cat after all.

[IanA]

I used the double angle welded together method on my 1600 4speed a year ago. Lots of angle grinder work to keep it clear of the axle amd allow a straight run for the handbrake cable. Must say I prefer the full bridge across the chassis rather than individual mounts each side. I also remember drilling it ready for exhaust brackets just in case I wanted a full length system in future.
Cheers
Ian