down2earth

I needed to update the Taxation class on one of my vehicles last month being that is was also built October 1973...What I did was to first speak to the DVLA, the lady said to take your paperwork to the Post Office and they will be able to deal with it there. However when I did this they were not able to deal with it and told me I need to send the V5c back to the DVLA ! I contacted the DVLA again by phone and spoke to a chap there, when he asked for the Reg the chap said " I can see why they couldn't process the paperwork as you need to let us know the build date and have a recognised Ford club or the manufacturer confirm this in writing to us"...I assumed when this was done and the records were updated this is when I could get the free road tax. But what I did was to go to another local Post office with the same paperwork and try again...This time with success!! All I did was to give the guy there the V5c - He scanned it and said "It looks like I can change it to Historic on screen here (which he did), just write Historic in box 7 on the V5c then sign and date section 8 and give it to me to send back to the DVLA"... 2 minutes later I walked out with 12 months free tax...No build date letter required !!! I guess the previous P/O staff (and the Dvla chap) weren't as clued up as this guy...It was around a week and a half later when an updated V5c came through the door with the Taxation class now stating 'Historic.

PM sent

Admin - Appreciate an update myself, check with posse as I paid last may !

bespokelooms.co.uk are in Faversham Kent could be worth a shout !

Would appreciate an update myself from admin - paid subscription back in may at the CF show hopefully the boss will remember just got forgotten I suppose !

Hello Ian , i'm good thanks - this is a better reply must have had a any how hope your well too. Maybe see you at some meets this year have a chat then

Tut, tut Timmy Hello Karl - nice to see you are still checking out the forum Hi Jo

Hello Kev Hello Daz Hello Karl has this interest in your cracking escort made you think about putting some info and pics up for the rest of us ? The basic 'Lowdown' on the car a 1969 Mk1 Escort: 1. Wheels - Staggered RFX 9x16r 5x13f 2. Tyres - 245/50/16 and 135/80/13 3. Engine - Rover V8 3.5cc chass. mounted 4. G/Box - 4 speed manual change 5. Chassis - Box section throughout 6. Frt Brakes/Sus - All Mk4 Cortina inc IFS 7. Rear End/Sus - CE Ladder Bars. Panhard + Jag Coilovers 8. Axle - Narrowed Atlas 3.09 Diff on Drums 9. Body - All steel with removable front end, Strecthed and worked arches - tubbed rear, Re formed bulkheads + tunnel 10. Interior - Carbon door cards, pair of old bucket seats, all glass, rover dash, roof wiper, inertia belts, small switch panel, RS st.wheel, under floor brake/clutch cylinders, wash pump & bottle nsf, manual h/brake osf 11. Gay bonnet vent, xlarge rad + twin fans, boot area for the fuel & battery thats about it really... If you have a Mk1 escort for reference measure from the tarmac up to the bonnet at the front panel and see what you get mine shows around 500mm on the bonnet edge I think and 60mm clearance between lower front panel/chass rail to the tarmac with the current set up might have some pics I could email somewhere... PRAISE THE LOWERED

You are right mate about it being built would of been around '88 to '89 from past records Yeah thats right its been Channeled well you try and keep the suspension geometry relatively as it was but make up a chassis and drop the body over it to achieve the stance you want kinda. Then make the floor which is now higher up or you can drop the floor in between chassis to make a bit more room still. Other things are needed elsewhere ofcourse but you get the car low and the underside is all tucked up and the few other restrictions you just have to put up with It's very deceptive because its looks and is so low but you can drive it with not to much agro depending on road surface conditions and it does not ground out most of the time ! it does not like small high ramps but the longer ramps is not a prob generally you just got to look out for potholes and the like. The lowest point is the exhaust which is at 50mm clearance to the tarmac car unladen and it has 546mm tall 21.5" front tyres 135/80/13s and the rear being 245/50/16 its more about the stance with this car than being a race car. Agree it does look but I think most cars look good lowered.

Hello Kev Hello Daz

Not sure how old the advert is but try looking on http://www.jbradburn.co.uk click on the PARTS section and you will find it mentions a "Ford Zephyr engine rebuilt and race prepared with Raymond Mays head and triple Webers, dyno tested" and also "Various Ford Zephyr 6 cylinder parts incl complete engines" - so could all be for sale ! Might be worth giving them a call, and if no luck you never know they may have a contact with ref to finding you that Raymond Mays alloy head For Ref a cy.Head sold for 3k+ with the carbs ref classiccarsforsale (scroll parts - currently page 34), deep pockets defo needed !

Ebay Item number: 140662042822

Of interest it shows these prices below from the 105Speed site ; Small Pinto Stainless Steel 4 into 1 Exhaust manifold MkII £260+VAT Large Pinto Stainless Steel 4 into 1 Exhaust manifold £275+VAT Escort Saloon Stainless Steel 2" Exhaust System Pinto £275+VAT Escort Saloon Stainless Steel 2.25" Exhaust System Pinto £285+VAT And here http://www.jreracingproducts.com do a 'full race' Stainless manifold for the Pinto + they do ex.systems too but there stuff is pricey in comparison with 105Speed so you would expect better performance I would of thought depending on your engine spec ofcourse as it mentions them being Dyno proven ! You will find many other Good S.Steel Exhaust builders out there like Haywood & scott, Tony law, RS Fabrications etc to name a few but usually budget dictate things in the end. Lovely they are on the eye and ear though so if you can afford to go S.Steel get it done fella from where ever and it will normally come with a long guarantee

Maybe 13.0 lol, but seriously that looks like an awesome engine if the figures are genuine! well over the magical 100bhp per litre!! In fact 112 per litre!!! The rubber 1700 we built for my old car did 92 per liter, i was pretty happy with that. Id be over the moon if we could achieve 100 with the new motor. joe Defo an awesome Crossflow if all the numbers stack up

Crossflow making some good numbers over on PH thats for sale 192bhp 1700 X-Flow with 147ft-lb under Motorsport/Motorsport Parts like to see what times that would do in your Mk1 Mr Little

Hopefully one more

Another possible option to try 'nfauto.co.uk' When clicking on the A-Z of products scroll down to 'I' and look for 'Inline radiator filler neck'

A few months back a mint one went for £79.99 you might be able to see the Ad still, item number 270694060999

I would defo go again been several times and really enjoyed the event usually lots there for all petrol heads young and old great atmosphere... Used to be able to find discount tickets in the papers or look for a discount code on the net and there's always ebay you could probably find some ticket's for a better deal

Hi Sam. Not sure if you have resolved things either from a pedal spring or wearing/bedding the brakes in on r/test ?...If its still binding on the fronts or all round and you still have the same symptom even with the new m/c's have you confirmed that the rod's and m/c's are returning correctly by pulling back the rubber boots & looking at the rods after pressing and releasing the pedal to see if the retaining washer/snap rings are not askew or jamming in the m/c's and that the rods are not bent or misaligned, also what size/bore are the m/c's front & back ? The other thing it seems you've had a lot of trouble with is the bias adjustment/pedal issues which got me thinking is this all to do with the complete pedal box itself in that it is not designed for the mk1 escort and is infact a mk2 escort type, so I wonder is it a genuine modified mk1 type & if not the adjustment/pedals could be set up differently causing problems with the ratio or was this in when you got it and was ok with other brakes on ? (I see Gartrac have a sale on mk2 pedal boxs but not for the mk1 which is typical if it was needed) You could always remove some of the braking system corner by corner and with your pedal box out rig up a bench test to confirm each brake unit is operating correctly and that the bias adjustment is not seizing etc which should determine if the hub/bearing/disc fitment or the caliper spacing/mounting has an alignment issue on the car etc. One other thing how are you bleeding out the brakes do you pressure bleed or is it a mechanical bleed using new fluid Dot 3,4 or 5.1 ?... I take it theres no problems bleeding ie does the pedal come back up if your pumping to bleed and that you have no air bubbles when you lock off each corner ?...It is also possible after applying pressure on/off on the pedal several times a slight vacum has become present in the system somewhere and could limit how the return spring in the m/c comes to its rest just another thought you could look into if the problem continues...

There is a service where you can hire an Arch roller i think on ebay item number 320704737514. You could try and contact the seller for more info or even have the work done for you, thats if Restos cant fit you in

Whats the history of the master cylinder sambo ie is this new ? This could be sticking ! Interested to see what occurs when you fit every thing back and then re test with the brake pedal spring mod ?

Escort heel panels ! Have a look on http://www.classictrim.co.uk Then click on the following ; Escort mk1 Trim section (Look 12 pics down on the right hand side) Many other parts to browse at on that site, not just for the escort

OSF teamwork a good result