MrKnifeys MK2 Escort Project Thread

Lopéz · 31 Oct 2018 at 18:00

MrKnifey said:
I was all set for a Pinto and 8v Noise on Twin 45/48 etc.. Problem is sink money into one and get 150hp.. 180hp needs more £££ again.. I would like 200+ hp

I had a 2.0 Pinto on a single 48 on my Sierra. Really enjoyed that car.

edelweiss800 · 31 Oct 2018 at 18:11

I’ve got a 1978 mk2 escort ghia with 30 k original miles that I’ve spent farrrrr toooo much money on
Got all the usual bits 40s ,nxg diff,single piece prop,type e box,arp bolts throughout,gaz gold coilovers gaz rears,power steering conversion,headlight conversion .....the list goes on and on and on,up to about 14k atm that’s without the purchase of it,I know I’ll never part with it so it’s a car for life or until it rots away[/QUOTE]

MrKnifey · 31 Oct 2018 at 20:59

Todays task once I had finished my booked in work was to remove the Glass, Bonnet, Boot and Wings..

Glass was nice and simple as I simply cut the old seals away as im replacing them. Bonnet and Boot consisted of 4 bolts in each.. So again nice and simple.

The wings were the time consuming job, as they are original Ford wings and never been off I wanted to save them, this is time consuming and quite a horrible process, plus once Id removed the passenger side wing I had found it had been patched so I wont even be using it now. Anyways some pictures:

Drilling Spot Welds

Wing Removed

Behind the Wing

A Pillar which needs replacing

The Shell as it sits now

Hopefully ill be able to get it down to the Media Blasters next week then the repairing process can begin.. Unfortunately this is where updates wont be thick and fast anymore as its all slow work, but please bare with me

vanpeebles · 31 Oct 2018 at 21:25

Great progress

I have a mini and an MGB, I'm a world champion at drilling out spot welds.

JRS · 31 Oct 2018 at 22:10

Shell doesn't look too horrendous for a Mk2. Seen plenty with worse rust than that! Look forward to the next update

Yaayuh! · 1 Nov 2018 at 08:33

JRS said:
Shell doesn't look too horrendous for a Mk2. Seen plenty with worse rust than that! Look forward to the next update

That's what I was thinking, it doesn't actually look all that bad considering.

Maundie · 1 Nov 2018 at 10:10

For such an old car that looks remarkably good, I would love to do something like this and if I ever won a considerable sum I would rent a garage and restore old motors (ala Wheeler Dealers) for the love of it rather than try to make money.

Subbed to this as I am really interested how this turns out. Good luck mate and keep us posted.

Molesy79 · 1 Nov 2018 at 10:20

Lovely Thread and a good solid looking car to start from. My mechanics were working on a White Mk1 Estate and that had a turbo'd S2000 engine. Was completely bonkers!!

Dr Who · 1 Nov 2018 at 12:36

If it was me and I was NOT keeping it standard then I would fit a Fiesta ST 1600 Ecoboost engine.

Dis86 · 1 Nov 2018 at 12:55

Dr Who said:
If it was me and I was NOT keeping it standard then I would fit a Fiesta ST 1600 Ecoboost engine.

Why, so it can catch fire?

MrKnifey · 1 Nov 2018 at 14:53

All that hassle to fit an Eco Boost.. no thanks..

Telecaster · 1 Nov 2018 at 16:04

I think the law with Mk1s and 2s is that if you go down the blown route then it has to be a YB

N/A then Zetec is acceptable, or a Duratec would be ace, personally I'd keep it old school and stick with Pinto or a mental XF.

Mal X · 1 Nov 2018 at 17:16

MrKnifey said:
All that hassle to fit an Eco Boost.. no thanks..

yea you've deffo got to fit something mental in it or it just wont be fun at all, there's a cheap 2016 type R engine on Ebay

Lopéz · 1 Nov 2018 at 17:41

Mal X said:
yea you've deffo got to fit something mental in it or it just wont be fun at all

Have you ever driven a Mk2 Escort? Comments like that would tend to indicate you haven't.

Dogbreath · 1 Nov 2018 at 17:55

JRS said:
Shell doesn't look too horrendous for a Mk2. Seen plenty with worse rust than that! Look forward to the next update

It's immaculate for a Mk2 Escort, they delivered them from the factory with more rust than that.

Mal X · 1 Nov 2018 at 18:36

Lopéz said:
Have you ever driven a Mk2 Escort? Comments like that would tend to indicate you haven't.

no i had Cortinas, many of them.

Frozennova · 1 Nov 2018 at 18:48

Dr Who said:
If it was me and I was NOT keeping it standard then I would fit a Fiesta ST 1600 Ecoboost engine.

That is going to be a severe ballache. It's either going to require loads of butchery making sure any of the CANBUS modules the factory ECU uses are present/mapped out , big money of one of the few standalone ECUs that can currently run a GDI engine or converting it to port injection and throwing away most of what makes the FiST engine good in the first place

JBeck · 1 Nov 2018 at 20:13

The shell is extremely good and it's great to see you doing things properly and not bodging for a quick fix. Interested to see which way you go on the engine front, I know what I'd do but you're not me

Keep up the good work.

JBeck · 1 Nov 2018 at 20:14

Mal X said:
no i had Cortinas, many of them.

Heavier than the Escort but still capable of an entertaining drive.

MrKnifey · 1 Nov 2018 at 20:18

JRS said:
Shell doesn't look too horrendous for a Mk2. Seen plenty with worse rust than that! Look forward to the next update

No, I am happy with it to be honest.. Its mental to think I paid £8k to rip apart something, but in the grand scheme of things it will be worth it..

Pulled all of the clips, brackets and everything removable off the shell today, its going for full blasting and then coating with 2k primer at some point next week.

In the mean time im going to get my welder working spot on and try decide on a spit..

Totally bare shell