Scortedvan

Just been told about these by an old friend, adjustable double width brackets. Has anyone ever come across these before, and would peoples thoughts be on them?

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/292340163680

@notenoughtime - this is exactly what I was thinking 😅 I was also looking over the compression strut kits but I wasnt sure if that was overkill for the type of use I intend the car for - perhaps not?

@BaileyMex - thanks , much appreciated. Its literally just the way the front wheels sit that I need to sort and then aesthetically, I'll be content! Love your car too by the way, it sits exactly the way I want mine too.

Ha,thanks for the response! Interestingly you have the complete opposite of an issue to me which makes me think there is a difference between the kits we have? I don't suppose you have any pics of the ARB brackets you were sent do you? 

Yeah I get the impression they arent highly regarded as the best kit out there unfortunately. I must say the finish on the bar and brackets wasnt great but in terms of actually bolting up, it was tooo bad... Ive just been on the phone to MST and they did say the exact same thing!

@dt36 Yeah I did wonder whether I could get the bar modified to pull the wheel forward again, I just don't recall anyone having to do that so I wondered if I am missing something else. 

@Miniliteman In fairness the front wheels are turned right slightly. The ARB and brackets were purchased new from Rally Design as a Twin Cam kit - is there a robust way of identifying? 

Thanks both for you advice so far!

Kind Regards

Joe

Hi All,

Sorry for yet another question! I bought some new wheels for the escort and I've put them on, I'm really pleased overall but the front geometry is bugging me. I had to lower the front a touch to get it looking right and as its now about 0 degrees castor. Not only that but in my opinion the wheels don't sit right in the front arches. I do already have a twin cam ARB and appropriate mounts from Rally Designs fitted. The castor angle presently is neutral...

So my questions are, does anyone else think the front wheels sit incorrectly as per the picture, and does anyone have any suggestions to correct it? 

Thanks in advance for your help!

 

Brilliant, thanks for the info! I will look at the Autotecnica ones now! 

Kind Regards

Joe

Yeah mine still works incredibly well believe it or not, hence why I would like to retain the function - knowing I've fitted something that prevents it working would annoy the hell out of me, enough to just keep using the Springalex wheel! Good cal on getting it scanned, I had no idea they were difficult to find.

Hi All,

I hope you are all well! Just a quick one, I purchased an OMP Corsica steering wheel for the escort the other day to replace my Springalex one (its too deep for me really). I need to get a boss, but looking online, I cant see if they have the notch in back for the indicator self cancel bush to align in, most only show pictures from the front.

I really want to retain the self cancel as it the sort of thing that irritates me when it doesnt work, so does anyone have any advice for a boss that would suit?

Thanks in advance for any suggestions you have - also if anyone has one for sale let me know!

Kind Regards

Joe

Hi All,

Just a heads up- it looks like the first adapters have now been made and are being trialed now by MotorSportTools, both -8 and -10. All the information is on a turbosport thread,

http://www.turbosport.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1588441&page=2

19 hours ago, DpG Venom said:

I will be keeping an eye on this progress Joe as my car is the same. I have no roof lining and no sound deadening either so 1 of the many things on my list of improvements will be sound deadening, new carpet and eventually a roof cloth! 

Car looking great as always Joe! 

Ill let you know what happens when I drive i properly, Im not expecting it to be silent by any means but it should help. Already just reversing back into the garage it seems a little quieter, and not as much resonance as before.

Its actually quite a nice job to do ive found, as I mentioned surprisingly expensive but if you take your time you can get a decent finish. 

Thought Id update this thread with some small changes I've made to the car recently! The good news is that its still driving really well, and I'm completely happy with the engine conversion. It feels incredibly reliable, regardless how long its stood still, you can turn the key and its running within a revolution. I've completed about 200 miles so far which granted isn't a lot, but also I've not had anything to snag either, so I just need to start doing some slightly longer journeys. 

So firstly the Hi Spec brakes went on fine, I got some 247mm drilled and vented discs to suit and some braided lines and they are great. To be honest, actual braking performance if measured might only be fractionally better than the M16s, but the fact they are so light, and having the vented discs just inspires a bit more confidence. They also look much better behind the wheels in my opinion. I also got the rear Gaz adjustables on, they feel fine but to be honest the old ones didn't feel bad, these were just shinier

So with needing to increase the distances I'm doing in mind, one thing that has grated on me is the noise in the cabin. Its deafening, and after a while driving, just a bit unpleasant. Mainly due to the fact there is no sound deadening or insulation/carpet of any type in the cabin. I have wanted to rectify this for 8 years, but its always been a non essential job that I put off. So now everything else is pretty much done I thought Id have a go. 

I bought some DynaMat sheet, and some foam insulation, along with a very good quality backed felt carpet. The DynaMat is brilliant but insanely expensive so i used it sparingly, the principle being that as long as a piece goes centrally over a panel it will stop the majority of the vibrations and thus noise. The passenger and drivers side floors were done, and then the foam insulation adhered over the top. I then put strips across the top, and sides of the tunnel. 

Finally I cut the carpet and did the transmission tunnel first, allowing an inch either side spare. The the floor sections overlapped this inch and gave a nice join from the floor section to the tunnel. Im actually really pleased with the finish, its not perfect but with the trims and seats back in, you really dont see the imperfections. Im yet to try driving it... but fingers crossed it will have helped!

Hi there, 

Sorry no I personally never progressed this. I got as far as designing the adapter and getting it drawn up, but I couldn't fulfill the minimum order quantity. I've attached the drawing below if its any use to you, it will thread into the tank and gives a -10 end (better too big than too small and can always be adapted down).

The good news though, is that MotorSport Tools contacted me via TurboSport on the other thread open for this. And they are actually going to be making and stocking this very thing by the end of the year (or so they say...) :

http://www.turbosport.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1588441&page=2

Hmm yeah thats a fair point, looking at them side by side they are perhaps a bit plain. 

Hi All,

Just a quick one as I know a few of you are going down the St170 engine conversion route. Theres a guy over on Turbosport that is looking to produce BDA style cam covers for this engine, both with and without VVT. I think hes looking for interest to see whether its worth pursuing but I thought it might be of interest to you. They look ok in concept... 

http://www.turbosport.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1823593

Kind Regards

Well I thought Id update this thread as opposed to creating another one. After getting the car setup in October 2020, I managed to do maybe 150 miles or so and it was great. Really good fun with the additional power, and so much easier to get out and use, just flick the key and it starts perfectly and ticks over without missing a beat in seconds regardless of how cold or hot it is. 

Since the weather turned its been sat in the garage and Ive been left wondering what to do next  😅 I did have very dark thoughts involving a turbo and our wedding fund but I fought that off pretty quickly fortunately!

Instead I decided to go around and change a couple of bits that have been on the car since I bought it, and Ive always wanted to upgrade. Firstly the rear shocks. They were fine and didn't look very old, but weren't branded that I could see, and I kept seeing Gaz Adjustable rear shocks for pretty good money. So I bought a set and fitted them. Of course I cant drive the car yet to see what difference they make but Im sure they will be fine.

Secondly brakes. Again its not something that has ever given me a problem necessarily, but I am using m16 calipers with solid discs and crap pads.. so I at least wanted to go vented and put some better pads in now I have access to more power. And then browsing ebay I came across a set of Billet 4 HiSpec calipers, with 3 sets of pads (x2 Mintex 1144s which are the pads I wanted and 1x 'scuffed' EBC Greenstuff) which I won for £260. These calipers are pretty good by the looks of it. They have larger option 44mm pistons and most importantly have the piston dust seals, which a lot of aftermarket calipers dont. Im certainly not expecting touring car brake performance asy I cant fit discs bigger than 245mm with 13" wheels, but after some maths  - x4 44mm pistons against x2 54mm pistons will give an increased piston area of around 33% and coupled with some better pads and vented discs it should be perfectly fine. Time will tell if I need to change the master cylinder size with the increase in piston area, truth be told I dont now whats fitted currently, im guessing 0.625 but I think I will get the calipers fitted and then see how it feels first. Ill make a start on all that at the weekend fingers crossed!

Hi All,

After a Mk1 escort fuel level sender (for saloon) if anyone has one? 

Kind Regards

Joe

Hi All,

As above, if anyone has a sender please let me know! Even better if it has a fuel return connection, I *think* some did as standard?

Kind Regards

Joe

HI All,

After as above, Im after the mount which the ball of the rear view mirror pushes into. So if anyone has one please let me know. I don't mind buying the mount and mirror if you want to sell them as a pair,

Kind Regards

Joe

As promised, power graph and also a dyno video! Also although the car did produce a max of 180hp, it was dialled back to 177 for smoothness. Ive just had the first drive and its much fun

Well, this is basically the final update to this thread! The car has within the last hour completed a setup and dyno session. It arrived with ProTuner on Friday, and they were brilliant. As promised they went through a lot of prechecks before even considering starting it, including cam timing checks, compression test, induction leaks, fuel pressure checks. This was all fine, and they proceeded to map it. This included an additional day so they could properly setup cold start.

Right at the beginning of this thread i explained i wasnt chasing numbers, simply reliability, and that is still the case. However its nice to see what it is capable of... which is (drumroll please)180hp! More than enough.. and i have been told with 97-99ron fuel and a slight tweak to exhaust cam timing it would rise, however that would be unnecessary in my opinion.

The spec in summary is - Standard st170 engine and standard engine timing (with Vvt obviously ), 45mm hayabusa throttle bodies and 300cc injectors, DANST custom inlet manifold, HPE Exhaust manifold and system, me221 engine management, 1800zetec flywheel modified for pinto clutch.

So all thats left is to collect the car, and wait for some dry weather to see how it feels. Massive thanks to everyone for their help through this thread, lots of answered questions and hopefully this will help others doing something similar. Its crazy to look all the way back to the first page where this was nothing more than a lazy idea. I will share the power graph when i get it, supposedly its a very nice curve though👍
 

Cheers all!

Hello mate! Sorry i only just noticed this, i see youve found the number now 👍

Mines all good, im just trying to make sure i have all the bases covered before mapping on October 2nd, I hate when my cars go on rollers! Im very paranoid about  about noise effetcing the crank signal as the way loom routes, it takes the cable quite close to the coil pack so I've been shielding that as best i can.

Also took the chance to fit a few suspension parts and collect some spares. I really want to get the setup over and done with though!

Thanks all for the input, food for thought. I have to agree though, being as I have no issues with the brakes fitted... and seeing as this will still just be a sedately driven road car.... then I think as Katana suggests I’ll try some different pad compounds, just for piece of mind :) I can always address this once Ive used it a bit.

Thanks for the advice all!

Hi all,

Sorry to ask yet more questions! I am currently adressing one or two things on my car whilst waiting for mapping, and im now looking at the brakes. I have 9”drums on the rear which ive rebuilt and will be stying as they are, and solid 240mm discs with m16 calipers on the front. I also have 13”x 5.5 wheels which i want to keep on really. Im also using a pedal box with no servo. 

With the pinto engine fitted ~140bhp, i didn't have any issues with brakes, but I would like to increase the performance (Or get your opinions on wether its necessary) due to the fact the car now has an st170 engine. 

In terms of usage, i wont be going near any tracks with the car, and to be honest I really dont drive particularly hard in at all.

Does anyone have any suggestions for sensible front brake upgrades, though aesthetically pleasing stuff like AP upgrades are well over what i need! I looked at the 4 pot princess calipers and vented discs which i though might fit the bill, not sure if this would be adviseable or if anyone can suggest a supplier, or an alternative?

Thanks again for any help you can offer,

kind regards

Joe

21 minutes ago, Mash said:

I've been moving the breather pipe on my cam cover, stealing the idea from you ☺️. but I was thinking about putting the new connector on the opposite side away from the splash plate, any thoughts?

Thats great, im pleased to hear the thread has given someone an idea! I have seen people fit the breather connection on the exhaust side of the cover but you will get a surprising amount of oil flicked through it without a splash plate, which is fine but should be considered 👍