I Need Some Help Please mk1 escort help

[Mk1 Esky Man]

Hi guys as the titile says i need a lil help im am a new member here and really have nowhere else 2 turn as im still coming 2 terms with my car so please bare with me..

ive recently purchased a 1.6ltr 1971 mk1 escort coupe with quite a fair bit of work ie suspension motor and the diff new clutch etc etc.. it is a great lil car with a fair bit of poke but still lacking in 2 main area's brakes and gearbox i dont really wish 2 swap the motor out for a 2ltr quite yet so i have 2 questions that i really need answered.

1. what is the easiest front disc brake conversion that can be done for the mach 1 and can some1 point me in the right direction as to who can perform this for me in melbourne in the s.e suburbs

2.Is there a 5 speed manual gearbox avaliable for 1.6 ltr motor or a suitable conversion?? and any idea on ratio's for winding out top end speed slightly.

like i say i am really quite new and could use any or all help provided thank in advance to anyone who can help. :

pics too come of my car soon as it in shop currently being serviced...

[R0BD0G]

volvo 4 pot conversion(front) and r31 skyline pintara LSD Disk brake 3.9:! or 4.11:1 (rear)
Type 9 sierra maybe?? or a supra celica 5 speed

[Mk1 Esky Man]

cheer's m8 thats a start atlest ur car looks like its coming along nicely!!! i have some spare's but im not sure what a lot of the stuff is although my pride and joys ar my rust free doors front guards bonnet and boot was thinkin of having them molded so i can start doing fibreglass panels

so the celica 5 spd will work? what mods need 2 be done :ie bellhousing or anything or is it a relatively straight swap??

[R0BD0G]

celica and sierra box both require a different bell housing or adaptor plate from memory

[Puzzlescort]

depending on what gearbox you go for the tunnel might need to be increased. Look for a sierra 5 speed box as these will bolt straight upto a 2 ltr pinto or Zetec which if starting from scratch could be looked into

with the brakes - how far do you want to go? the motorsport ventilated conversion is a very basic and cheap way out or get onto wilwood calipers and disc conversion from the UK. one of the main items to be looked at if installing different brakes on front & back is to look at either an adjustable pedal box or bias valve to make sure the brake balance is correct

[R0BD0G]

wilwood do escort stuff?.

[Mk1 Esky Man]

thanks puzzle im kind of in two minds with the box and motor having just bought the car. although i have just had a major setback today with my car possibly doing its oil pump in a big way luckily my mechanic is an awesome bloke and since it happened when he was driving the car he is replacing it and anything else that is nessecary for free.

its just a bastard since we finally got the cam tuned and everything within the motor running sweet the best is was gonna be for the street anyway.(rather viscious cam unknown specs though?)

so im kinda thinkin do i stick with my 1600 and see what it can really do because it is a rather brutal little motor just lacking the 5speed like i say.

or do i just go straight for the pinto 2ltr motor and box??

either way its money well spent i think just cant really decide what to do?

but yeah my main concern is the brakes i want something somewhere between street and track if possible as the car will eventually be competing in targa's and the like but i will still be driving the car a fair bit on road under normal conditions especially at the moment as the plan is to get the car clean and streetable first

money is the main issue here though (aint it always) so the cheaper the better realy but i already know nothing good comes cheap or does it??

[Puzzlescort]

if you plan to go Targa style rallying then I would go for a 2 ltr, I have spent a lot of time and money running 1600's, great little motor, but the 2 ltr just is more power, more torque, you can get the same amount of power from a nice warm 2ltr to perform more reliably than a 1600 screamer

Gear Box - quaife make straight cut close ratio gear sets for all Ford box's, dumping the standard ratio box makes a huge difference

Brakes - so many options.... the best thing about Escorts is there are so many documented brake changes, different conversions for front & back, pedal boxes, diff replacements, some cheaper than others...

Where abouts are you located?

RobDog - check out Burton Power in the UK or Palmside in NZ for heaps of good escort stuff

[Mk1 Esky Man]

im in the se suburbs puzzle why do u ask?

[Puzzlescort]

not knowing much more on your level knowledge on Escorts, sometimes it is easier just to look over escorts to see what other people are doing

[Mk1 Esky Man]

i understand any help would be great... But at the same time starting to get very annoyed with my mechanic 2 the point of just binning the whole project selling it and buying sumthin else i jst dont have the time 2 put in the effort myself but it also dont help when my mechanic is basically joyriding my car and blow's parts up on it

[SnoWhite]

Stay with it and get a new mechanic. These cars are usually worth the effort!

[Les]

Hi guys, I'm new to the forum but have played with Escorts a bit over the years, My 11yr old son currently races a Mk2, 2litre in dirt circuit racing. Very quick little car. As a teenager I drove a few Mk1's and can understand why your mechanic likes driving yours, they were / are great fun. Unless your planning long country cruising drives I wouldn't bother with the 5 speed, 4th gear is the same ratio in either box and city driving in 5th will labour your engine too much and 5th will be a waste of time in racing, these little beauties were built to run not walk. They thrive on revs.
Cheers,

[Mk1 Esky Man]

cheers guys i have recently been inspired again to continue along with the car as i have been told to get the car away from the knobwho has caused me so much grief but i have also aquired some new paint and other things dirt cheap so it has really sort of sparked me 2 get off my *** and get serious i guess its time 2 get really stuck in..

ill have some pics shortly just gotta fix the computer when i get a chance. And les although i agree with u i just really am not happy with the 4spd at all i would rather change ratio's and stick a 5 spd in i just need cheap effective options atm any other help about anything would be great thanks guys for listening to my whinging =)

[blackxrsix]

Howdy,i had a mk 1 2 door that i put in a celica 5 speed i had to put in a automatic trans tunnel it had a dellow bellhousing.I had v6 capri rotors with standard calipars just had to install spacers they worked good.Mine had 200hp and the gearbox and brakes worked fine.I had a hilux diff in it a lot stronger but i cant remember what brakes i had on the rear.cheers :

[Mk1 Esky Man]

thanks six consider it noted

[Mk1Bluey]

Hey there mate, First up yay for getting into an escort, so much fun and so cheap and easy to work with.

I have just dropped the 2 litre back in mine (with sierra now) after about ten years of it being out.
I was running a 1600 for ages due to bell housing dramas.This one is my first car so i've had her
for about 15 yrs and have put a million motors diffs and suspension thru it. I've been thru about
7 other escorts that have been driven and stripped for parts, so i hope i can help with the cheapest ways.

I will assume it doesnt have discs at all? if it does the volvo conversion is common.

First up.. Front discs, Get hold of mk2 2 litre struts,steering rack and control arms... (or just unbolt the
front cross member complete off a mk2) keep all your mk1 bolts you may need them because they are imperial.
You are done there.

You will find 2 minor issues.

a) brake lines .. the mk1 is imperial and mk2 metric threaded. they will still screw to your mk1 metal
lines but will leak under pressure. solve this with readily available adapter hoses, or have the
metal pipe on your body reflared with the nut you cut off a mk2 brake line. or just screw it
up and keep an eye on fluid levels.

b) Steering rack knuckle onto steering arm...., again imp vs metric. line the 2 flat surfaces and give a good
hammering it may be tight due to spline differences.

Five speed... Absolutely Positively the single best thing i believe you can ever change on an escort!!!
Go sierra all the way, people are still importing em over here in perth so i would be surprised if you cant
get em wherever you are cost is about 750 here now *ouch* i know but you will NEVER regret it.

4th is still 1:1 like all escort boxes but slip her into fifth and it's like going from screaming at 100km/h to idle,
my god its worth it!!

The sierra will bolt straight up to all the escort mk1 mk2 motors as all bell housings are the same.
except for early three peice boxes

You bolt your existing bell housing onto the box as generally they wont give you one with it.
. Get a single peice tailshaft tho if it still has the 2 peice. one major
and one minor drama with this

Major - You may have to cut out your gearbox tunnel from your floor like me and weld in an auto tunnel.
(its easy dont stress) cause your escort is so early and no amount of lump hammering will make it
fit into the ****y little tunnel they gave the mk1's up to 72. I used a trolley jack to get the 2 litre
bolted up ten years ago and nearly vibrated our brains out of our *****

Minor - the hole for the shifter will need to be cut longer (further back) until you can see the shifter
hole to bolt in the sierra shifter. Its a bit longer. not in length just in shifter position. and a small
modify to the handbrake lever and your done.

you use a cortina speedo cable as its a bit longer and the speedo hole is further back.

I'm considering putting all the simple do it yourself conversion mods ive done into some form of help thingy
so if you want help just let me know.

sorry bout the novel just getting some knowledge of my chest

I could go on for days SORRY :

[outback_ute]

Great stuff Mk1Bluey, thanks for sharing the info! :

[Mk1 Esky Man]

awesome info and it will be used m8's cheers again guys like i say im a bit of a newbie with this car and i dont have a whole lot of time on my hands so its very difficult to work on but hopefuly ill get it sortd soon

[Mk1 Esky Man]

yay soon 2 get my car back running then its time 4 paint n panels oh yeah woop woop

[Mk1 Esky Man]

bluey u r the man and more tips would be great and mean i anything am a noob like i have said mny a time so once again great help m8

[Mk1Bluey]

Thanks for the acknowledgment Esky Man! Happy to help out where ever I can. Hope all goes well with the little beast!!