Mk2 escort Rally car

[John_MK5]

Had a post on here years ago for this car and have got back at it again recently so just gonna fire some pics up and show progress as it goes along.

It’s probably one of the most abused and badly treated escorts in the country and in recent months it has been more expensive and less enjoyable than escorts of the other variety.

The car itself has been in the family for about 30 years now, belonged to my late uncle who passed in 1996 and everyone has had a rattle in it since.

It has been badly abused over the years and the budget was never really there to fix it properly. To be honest the budget still isn’t there but the interest is so fixing and tidying as I go along.

It lay in my granny’s garage untouched for the last 13 years so I towed it down to my own garage, sump was leaking so empty of oil and radiator and water pump was rotten. Thew some oil into it and stuck the booster pack onto it and fired up no problems.

A brief spec -
2.0 pinto on 48s, rc1 cam, springs etc
Ap paddle clutch
Quaife type 9 box
Atlas axle (52”)
Bilstein coilovers
Ap forestry calipers
Tension struts
Quick rack

Good historic spec and ideal to build onwards with.
Shell is very rough, good where they are usually rotten but bad where damage and other issues have gone unrepaired

 

[pablo]

subbed for this one

 

[cormac81]

Now we are talking!

 

[John_MK5]

First job was to sort fuel lines and the cracked sump. It’s wasn’t running 2 minutes until fuel was running everywhere. To be expected with 20+ year old fuel hose. Just replaced with standard nylon covered fuel hose. New jubilee clips, two new fuel pumps and cleaned out the filter king.

The sump is a genuine rs2000 alloy sump. I was going to bin it and just buy one until I seen how much they make, so it got a good clean up and welded up. Fitted new gasket and hex head bolts.

 

[southsky sunrise]

Weaker mister. All I got outa my grannies was a bag of cutlery and two china plates.... seriously but I do love a mk2 in any quise

 

[John_MK5]

Weaker mister. All I got outa my grannies was a bag of cutlery and two china plates.... seriously but I do love a mk2 in any quise

Haha to be fair she’s delighted that it’s getting used again. To be fair the majority of the family are but its like everything else, life moves on and people’s prioritys change. I’m trying to get a bit of fun out of it now before baby number two appears and life is over

another problem I faced was that the doors were stone rotten, half decent original ones make about £400 a door and that wasn’t on the cards so I cut the shi.te bits out and welded a bit in. Fixed up a few bits on the door posts and I’m left withthe roughest but best closing mk2 escort doors in the country

where the foot of the cage bolts on the drivers side was stinking also as the master cylinders had been leaking and started to eat the metal. Cut this out and set a plate in. I could have bought the original panel but it needs to be cut about anyway and has to be skidded down the floor so I just made it near enough the shape. Safe and strong so I don’t overly care how it looks for now as the front floors and tunnel will be changed at the end of next year.

Purists look away now. You have been warned

 

[southsky sunrise]

Damm all wrong with that. Someday il get round to starting my gsi nova rally car.... worst about it my kids have all grown up and flown the coup

 

[FM155]

How do you find it compared to the mx5 handling wise John? Any time I drove escorts with any power it was just a challenge trying to keep them pointing anywhere near straight. They are super light though which is good because mx5s really aren't.

 

[zafturbo]

Best car ever made .period .!

How do you find it compared to the mx5 handling wise John? Any time I drove escorts with any power it was just a challenge trying to keep them pointing anywhere near straight. They are super light though which is good because mx5s really aren't.

Escorts and straight do not belong in the same sentence lol.

 

[John_MK5]

How do you find it compared to the mx5 handling wise John? Any time I drove escorts with any power it was just a challenge trying to keep them pointing anywhere near straight. They are super light though which is good because mx5s really aren't.

Its definately a steep learning curve for sure. 8” wide soft compounds and non power steering quick rack is definately a work out. Especially with my driving style lol

 

[gav525]

That brilliant to have and great that you're keeping it going. Look great fun!

 

[FM155]

Aye they are deffo a work out with a good bit of camber and a quick rack. Corsa lecky column would be the job for it. Pinto's aren't light either lol. Itll be good craic once you get dialled in and get it sorted out a bit.

 

[southsky sunrise]

These are both side by side in the garages below the house pictured probably never to see the light of day. Mk2’s an AVO car and Mk1,s a Mexico....

 

[John_MK5]

Over the years the calipers had seen plenty of abuse and when the car was parked one of the calipers was lent to a rally man. No one ever looked about it until 3 years later then I ended up running the country to get it back. I’m still convinced I got the scrap caliper back and the other car has my good one. It was one of them things to just chalk down as a life lesson and get on with it.

The calipers to replace are £800+vat each so I decided to fix them up as best I could. I got 2
repair kits from Race and Rally in Carryduff and all the brake fluid. Couldn’t recommend them enough for service and delivery.

all the bleed nipples were ruined and the caliper I got back had a standard brake union screwed in with a nut welded on top to close it off.

in the end I drilled them out and fitted a m10x1 shallow bleed nipple.

all fitted up and bled but was still having issues with front brakes sticking on so then it was onto the pedal box.

 

[sc_evo]

Hello John.

 

[John_MK5]

Hello John.

Hello Seamus.

 

[dh1079]

Great thread look forward to updates

 

[John_MK5]

Once the front calipers were sorted I fitted a new handbrake as the old cylinder was seized and was just a cut up original one. On the targa cars I always fit compbrake as there at a good price and I always get a good deal from Klint the owner. Decided on a horizontal type in black just to try and stay with the older historic style. Small plate welded to the tunnel to cover the previous mountings and plumbed in with an-3 fittings.

I then took the pedal box out as the brakes were still binding badly although everything else was replaced and repaired.
Once the box was out I found the bushes badly worn, the pedal box was badly cracked, and the cylinders were past the point of no return.
I could have just ordered a replacement but it was £450+ from Gartrac so I repaired it.
Fitted new master cylinders, fitted a new bush kit, plated the back side of the brake pedal and unseized the balance bar. Repaired and like new for around £130 including a new bias adjuster cable.

And due to being off work I got a few barriers to keep the daughter in line of sight when “babysitting”

 

[John_MK5]

Pedal box all repaired, refitted and seemed to be working ok. Took the valve cover off and gave it a quick coat of paint to tidy it up and some Autoglym clean all to wash 30 years of dirt and flaky paint off. Don’t know if It made things any better or just highlighted how scabby the whole thing is.

Back together and out a quick run and with a bit of heat the exhaust was blowing badly so fitted new manifold gaskets and made a loom with two plugs for the fuel pumps and ran separate switches incase a pump ever goes down.

Had ordered a new top hose and radiator, all meant to be suitable for a pinto. All wrong so cut the top outlet off the radiator and welded it back on the right way. Handy enough to do but just more faffing.

 

[carmad.]

i didn’t realise there was a rally parts shop in carryduff

 

[John_MK5]

i didn’t realise there was a rally parts shop in carryduff

Race and Rally. Good service and good pricing. Huge range of stuff not listed on the website and now AP stockists.

 

[John_MK5]

At this stage I was just working away fixing up bits that were broken or badly repaired. My father made the front spoiler for the car when it first appeared on the scene so it was only right to get him to tidy it up again. He thought he done a better job on the name on the spoiler but I prefer the sticker.

Picked up a set of two gates minilites off eBay and got some tyres sorted out.

Quick lick of fast cut plus gave it a bit of a shine for the first time in 13+ years and gave me a bit of a boost.

 

[John_MK5]

Entry in for Rallysport association and the most of the work done. Took my cousin with me who was called after my late uncle and got using his old race suit.

 

[John_MK5]

The day out was short lived however as on leaving the start line full tilt we lost all forward motion

On the bright side there was plenty of good pictures taken and a few videos on Facebook which I’ll try to link or embed if possible.

 

[John_MK5]