My little Mk II Escort Coupe - Ford Forums

The MaDDeSTMaN · 09-07-2002, 06:33

I just brought my first car - a 1980 Mk II Escort.

It cost me $950, and is still registered until April 2003. The guy I brought it off has organised it so I can still drive it around until I get a RWC, then I just put the date on the RTA forms and take them in to the RTA. I did sign some papers saying how much I paid for the car, and that it is now my problem if anything goes wrong with it or there are any speeding fines issued.

It's got the 1.6L OHV engine, 4 speed manual transmission, and a semi-decent sony stereo system. It's got black lambswool seatcovers fitted, and the original steering wheel has been replaced with a smaller, sportier looking one.

I thought about removing the 1.6L and putting a 2.0L in, but I've already decided against it, at least for the next few years, as I don't have much in the way of income (roughly $1000 a month) so fuel consumption is a major issue, and the 1.6L is very fuel efficient

It needs a bit of work. I've already replaced the air and oil filters, spark plugs and engine oil. The steering has been overtightened, and so the steering is heavier then it should be and doesn't re-center like it should, so I'll be getting that fixed ASAP. The front drivers side 1/4 panel needs to be replaced, as the car was involved in a minor accident a few years ago and the panel was roughly hammered out, so it's now a little rippled. And the previous owner has sprayed yellow spray paint, which doesn't quite match the original paint job, so it's going to get re-sprayed when funds allow. The aim is to restore it to showroom condition, but with selected modifications (extractors, cam, etc.) to make it go better.

Tell you what, it sounds good and goes really well for a 1.6L 4cyl, and it's not bad at all for my first car!

king_crub · 09-07-2002, 06:41

Hey bloke congrates! nothin' wrong witha 1600 kent, ive gotta 1300, if u want u could turn it into a mexico replica i could tell u how if u want, considered it myself but i'll be gett'n payed enough to buy an EA shortly. Oh and when u consider it's not to hard to get 200-230hp from the 2L (albeit expensive) u might wanna consider that an option down the road. even if u dont like 4's its hard to beat the sound of a peomy 4, and the charm of classic poem fords, have u noticed how 'coooo-kie' the mechanics are yet... pain in the a$@ to work on though.

The MaDDeSTMaN · 09-07-2002, 17:20

I've always wanted to get myself a little Mk2 Ford Escort, something different to what most people choose (Commode doors, Flying Falcons, and so on), and relatively cheap, not only for parts and maintence, but also cheap to run. And seeing as it's my first car, I wanted something 'old fashioned' (Carby, not EFI), so I could learn and tinker with it without needing to hook it up to a computer at any stage.

Call me weird if you want

, but before I put a 2L in, I want to see just what can be squeezed out of the 1.6L - I might even turbo it if I'm feeling particularly crazy.

I agree, it is hard to beat the sound of a pommy 4, it does sound pretty good, in fact, I think it sounds better then my girlfriends EB GLi Falcon - although that does start to sound pretty good when it's given a bit of a rev. I must say, I'm suprised how loud it is - it's almost as loud as the '51 with twin exhausts that's across the road from me (and no, there are no exhaust leaks or anything, it's just a loud mother!). But it does sound like a performance 4, so it deserves the blue oval badges on it! :)

Oh yeah, I managed to outrun a V8 EL Falcon the other day from the lights - perhaps the poor guy had a problem with his diff, trans or something, because he tried to give me a run, he was revving his car so hard before the light went green that I could feel my car rocking next to his in time with his engine revs. Then the light went green, I floored it, both he and I wheelspun, and next thing I knew, I saw him in my rear vision mirror... And I don't think it was a power to weight issue either, I mean, come on, I'm only packing a 1.6 Litre 4 cylinder, and he had a 5 Litre V8, so I can only assume there was something wrong with his car.

Took me a few days to get used to some things - for example, the windscreen wipers and indicators being on the opposite side to where I'm used to. So if you see a little Yellow Escort going around a corner with the windscreen wipers going, that's probably me!

Quote:

have u noticed how 'coooo-kie' the mechanics are yet...

Nope, can't say I have, this is my first car and I have nothing to compare it to - my girlfriend doesn't like me popping the hood on her EB... I did notice that the spark plugs are not as easy to get to as you might expect, due to the exhaust headers being so close, but everything looks pretty simple, espcially compared to newer cars like the EB...

king_crub · 09-07-2002, 17:56

As far as turbo'n a 1600 i would stay away its just a hassle, they are a great motor though, and are alot lighter then the 2L, due to the 2L's cast iron OHC - ouch, the best way to sqeeze power outta it though would be installing a CAM, headwork or new head altogether- possablly import one from England it will be pricy but worth it, better still they might be easly available anyways. Daul sidedraught weber 36's or whatever its closest too, with it a manifold, extractors, 2-2.5 inch exhaust, and if you got money to burn- which you dont, buy some high compression pistons and get the little sucker kick'n around 9.5:1 maybe 10:1 (im not sure what octane lead rpl super is compared to super, u still might need fuel additive at 9.5:1?) with all that done peak power should be around (dont quote me) 150 BHP providing its been setup right. This is a very good improvment considering it will be around 60-70 BHP from the factory, and considering the weight of the motor it will have a very high power density for a car of that age. Oh yeah the block can also be taken out to around 1800cc if your really game, im not to sure what that's goner do in terms of power though.

The MaDDeSTMaN · 09-07-2002, 19:51

Most of those modifications you've mentioned are pretty much what I've got in mind. I work in Shell service stations, and so I could easily look up what octane lead RPL super is, I know for a fact that Shell Optimax has the highest octane, at least out of LRP, ULP and Optimax (ULP has the LEAST octane out of the three). I don't put that LRP stuff in my fuel tank, I put in Optimax and 'valvemaster' additive, which replaces the lead missing in ULP and Optimax. When I first got the car, the previous owner had been running it on LRP, and it had NO pickup at 60km/h in 4th gear. Now, with it running on Optimax, I have to be a lot more careful with the go pedal, because it's got HEAPS more power available.

Basically, what I want to do is ensure efficiency & reliablity are both kept as high as possible. I'm thinking a good set of extractors, a better exhaust system, a fairly mild cam and get the heads ported and tested on a flowbench, as well as something like daul sidedraught weber 36's and perhaps bump the compression up just a little, perhaps 8.5:1 or thereabouts. Oh, I might get the block bored out slightly, but I doubt I'd go as far as 1800cc. Oh, and of course, this is not in any sort of order.

My girlfriend wanted to give me a run the other night, her in her 4.0i EB GLi Falcon, and me in my 1.6L Mk II Escort... She beat me, but I did manage to get half way across the intersection before she passed me. She seemed really suprised when she told me that the whole front of my car lifted up an inch or two when I took off... Seeing as she's keeping her Falcon stock, am I dreaming, or does anybody think it'll be possible to beat her off the line (well at least to the other side of the intersection) with my escort with the modifications listed above?

Oh, and would there be any point getting a 5 speed box fitted? And if so, does anybody know of one that won't be too much hassle to fit? I'm thinking of fuel efficiency mainly, but if it gets the power to the road better as well, that's a nice added bonus.

Sierra · 09-08-2002, 07:54

Hey MaDDeSTMaN

Nice looking pine'n'lime 2 door you've got there .... ah the memories!!

With a 5 speed gearbox economy and quieter highway cruising would be the benefits.
I would go with a Sierra 5 speed box as there aren't too many modifications needed to fit one.
The bell housing bolts straight on and so does the prop shaft.
The gear lever comes out of the extension housing aprox 50 mm further back (the same position as a TD/TE Cortina) so you will need to cut some metal from the transmission tunnel for the lever to fit.
You will also need to fabricate some adaptor blocks as the rear gearbox mount also is shifted back and down from it's original position.

Cheers,

Alan.

The MaDDeSTMaN · 09-09-2002, 23:44

Quote:

With a 5 speed gearbox economy and quieter highway cruising would be the benefits.

Ok, sounds good to me, just got a few questions...

How hard is it to get a Sierra 5 speed box, and what sort of figures am I looking at to get one?

And keeping in mind that I've got the 1.6L engine, would I have to have anything done to the engine first, and I'm guessing the bell housing would be different on the 1.6L compared to the 2.0L (but hey, I could be wrong), so would it still be able to bolt straight on?

Oh, and on a un-related note, does anybody know where I can get an original tacho to fit in the dash where the tacho is supposed to be? For some reason, the person who originally brought the car chose not to have a tacho fitted?!?

Thanks for your time.

FoMoCo4eva · 09-12-2002, 00:22

hey congrats on ya purchse..i was very close to getting a escort for my first car instead of my EA (sometimes I wish i could just fang the EA round hard but im scared it will pack up...lol)

coupes are cool too!...a nice exhaust system and they sound pretty tough!

good luck

The MaDDeSTMaN · 09-12-2002, 00:37

I'm trying to work out some way now of recording a sound sample of my car, I don't think it sounds like a 1.6L - it sounds suprisingly tough for a stockie already! And that way I can have a before and after comparison ("This is what it sounded like before the extractors, cam, bigger exhaust, and so forth, and here is how it sounds now!") because I want to eventually have everything up on the web site, like on EAFalcon.com. Oh yeah, I went and got a chrome tip for the exhaust fitted yesterday, so it looks a bit better now from behind.

EA's are pretty cool too, my girlfriend has an EB II GLi, and she fangs that round very hard, people are suprised to find a woman driving it the way she drives! And her EB hasn't missed a beat! Both cars are "Built Ford tough!" :s5

Sierra · 09-12-2002, 03:48

Hey MaDDeSTMaN

Not sure how hard it is to get a sierra box now. It was about 5 years ago when I bought one but I was in a lucky position at the time and was able to get one imported from England at nearly half the price of what importers were asking locally.
At that stage the going price was between $1000 & $1200, I've got no idea what the price would be now .... maybe less as there would be more Sierras in wrecking yards now.

I've only played around with 2 litre Escorts, but to the best of my knowledge the 1.6 & 2.0 shared the same gearbox/bell housing.
The Ford workshop manuals show no distinction between the 2 engines when refering to the gearbox.

Probably best to try the Escort speciallist wreckers around Melbourne .... although there aren't as many around now as what there used to be.
You could also try Quickco Motorsport in Adelaide, I've bought some hard to find stuff from them in the past.

As for a tacho .... not all Escorts had the tacho in the dash binnacle, it depended on the model.
The "RS" had it's own unique binnacle, the "Ghia" and the "Rally Pak" had tacho's fitted to them, the Ghia normally had white needles while the Rally Pak normally yellow needles.
You shouldn't have to much trouble picking up a dash with a tacho though.

Hope this helps,

Alan.