PeterMEscort

Re: "add some Yank muscle" Sorry. All production V8's sold by Ford Australia were Australian manufactured V8's and had many upgrades and improvements over the US manufactured counterpart. In 1968/69 Ford Australia bought the patterns and tooling from Ford USA to manufacture the castings and forgings for the 351 cu inch V8 to be fitted to the XY Falcon. Soon after Ford Australia started manufacturing the 302 cu inch V8 which I understand Ford USA did not manufacture at that time. This was based on the 351 however had a shorter stroke than the 351. In 1972/73 Ford Australia bought worn out patterns and tooling from Ford USA. Ford Australia then added further improvements to the worn out tooling by adding gussets and strengthening into the castings. The engines produced were heavier and stiffer than the predecessors. In 1979/80 as part of the XD Falcon project (Similar shape car to the European Granada) Ford Australia designed and manufactured the pillar block engine block which was even stiffer than the previous. Also from memory Ford USA only offered the 2V cylinder head where Ford Australia offered the 2V and also developed and manufactured the 4V head. The Australian Ford V8 engines have long been highly sort after by enthusiasts from all over the world, including the USA.

Fact: George W Bush was re-elected in 2004 by less than 31% of all eligible voters in the United States of America. Hardly a democratic country.

Of course they have choice! They need to stand up within their own countries and fight for what they believe in and resolve their own issues within their own countries, rather than running away and playing victim and expect handouts from other counties. Plenty of evidences that it is Merkel working under the Shadow World Government who is openly promoting the mass immigration to dissolve forever the individual cultures of individual countries. Please do your own research if you doubt that. Mass immigration does not work except for world government and large corporations. Cross border trading does not work except for world government and large corporations.

I always thought the British loved the Americans and saw them as the savor's of the "free world" during Britain's darkest hours in 1940 when Winston bit off more than he could chew. Don't forget you've still got the 99 year lend lease agreements with the American's which still have another 21 years to run.

Dunno.....the second word doesn't have four letters. When I flew Spits in the RAF in 1940 we had more planes than that. Has the RAF shrunk?

"How do you explain that to young children now "1970s Dad wasn't your friend but a slightly remote authority figure who earned the money, had a mostly separate social life to the family, and gave out physical punishment." " Dad always had the slightly remote authority, but only when mum wasn't in the same room at the same time. ......And if you were are smart arse at school you copped the cane from the teacher vertically down across the finger tips of your out stretched hand. And if you were a smart arse at the teacher holding the cane, at the time of the caning, he would then again cane you across the finger tips of your out stretched hand, then return vertically up to also get the finger nails. Unfortunately on one occassion the cane snapped on the up stroke. Mr Halsworth was very cranky that day.....

That tv's were originally black and white, and we had shows that were both entertaining and interesting. Including shows like "On The Buses", "Hogan's Hero's", "Steptoe And Son", "The Two Ronnies", "Love Thy Neighbour", "Gilligan's Island", "Get Smart", "The Professionals" and lot's of Australian home brewed shows. These days tv is a waste of electricity. Seemingly all mind bending violent American rubbish.

"Actually most cars over here are still manual transmission." Doubt if anyone could sell a new car over here in the penal colonies with manual transmission. Most appear to be minimum 5 or 6 speed auto's.

Post something today's kids wouldn't understand.... That their parents do actually have authority over them (.....well some of the time).

Australian citizens are protected by one of the best Constitution's in the world. It is one of the few things that can protect us on the slippery slide down the path to socialism and totalitarian control. Unfortunately very few Australian's have ever heard of the Commonwealth Constitution. And even fewer have any idea of what is in it, and how it protects us, and our families every day. And even fewer have the intestinal fortitude to stand up and challenge the unlawful laws being contrived unlawfully every day by our elected representatives, and the courts, in whom we as little people are educated and conditioned to obey, and trust, and fear.

"Sometimes in Summer here there are water restrictions it becomes illegal to wash your car at home."  Sorry. But this particular state government "law" is infact unlawful under Commonwealth law here in Australia. The Commonwealth of Australia Constitution Act 1901 clearly states (loosely) no government can abridge the use of the supply of water for any reason.

Re the orange Mk2 above ^^^^^^ What happened to the rear door handles?? Weight saving??

Ford Australia did a wonderful job with the long list of technical and structural improvements and vehicle options they chose to implement on the Australian built Mk2 Escort, compared to the Euro models.

No plastic in my engine bay......

I have noticed there is a very strong old skool Ford interest group which appears large centred around Essex. Is there a reason for this? Is it only old skool Fords, or all makes and models of older cars?

"I have stray dogs that always seem to find me. " That must be the ferrelhormones you leave behind at every light post......

I wonder if they are "bolt on's"?

The crankcase breather/oil separator is just that. It is a breather. The only reliable vacuum for the booster is at the inlet manifold.

Sorry I can't focus an ANYTHING anymore. But that photo has killed my interest in RS3100's forever. Highly recommend repairs as below to achieve a silky smooth result:

Definitely the Elle McPherson tv ad from 1982 where she was discovered. She was 17. I was 19. Hopefully we will grow old together.

The John Goss Specials were well known, however weren't considered highly collectible in the day. Most probably because we had such a huge number of very affordable completely Australian designed and built V8 performance cars available. Most V8's when only a few years old were literally dime a dozen and seen everywhere. You could buy one for not much more than the remaining registration cost was worth. If it was unregistered it was basically give away value. Often the price of the petrol in the petrol tank was worth more than the car itself. Just about every teenage boy had one even as a first car. Today it is very different. Special models can be very expensive, especially if they have a good following and had a race car driver who was/is recognisable. If the race car driver has since died the price escalates even more. Also comes back to condition, condition, condition. These days it is not uncommon to hear of restoration prices of well over AUD$100,000 just for the bodyshell panel and paint ONLY (no mechanicals). Any car from the '60's, '70's and '80's is worth a lot of money, even as a rusty bare bodyshell wreck without any parts, or hinged panels etc as long as the body chassis number and compliance plates are intact. Someone will very happily build a show car out of it. So is very difficult to place an exact value on the John Goss Specials. Really comes back to condition and how much money (ie desperate) the purchaser is willing to pay.

mmmm.....the start of a new relationship. The old relationship will not be happy. And there will be hell to pay.

The way the governments, the banks, and the greedy developers are playing the game, metropolitan areas in Australia, especially in Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane, are some of the most expensive to buy and maintain (ie taxes) in the world. Many people acknowledge the younger generations will never be able to afford a home because of the rapidly increasing property prices. Since the early 1990's wages and incomes have been continually falling in real terms relative to continual increases in the cost of living. Increases in wages are non existent. Rural areas and farm land is much cheaper but that is because the governments and large powerful companies collude to put farmers out of business in preference for cheap imported food from third world nations which is then sold to the public at Australian prices, so as to increase their own profits, and power, over the Australian people. Governments offer no support to resolve the problem, only a lip service.

........forget about the crappy escort.... I am interested in the HK/HT (?) Monaro sitting next to the escort. (first photo on right hand side) Hi powered V8's in Escorts was a popular mod in the 1970's and '80's Downunder. It was seen as the logical choice to make the humble Escort get going a bit better. Something Ford Australia should have done. They would have sold many more cars! Welcome to OSF from the other side of "The Ditch".