Aye, looked into a mk4 escort estate to play with (again) few years back, could fit st170 discs with mondeo st calipers to stay 4 stud, would have been a nice project, but life gets in the way sometimes.
Hell! the view from underneath really shows how huge the bay is now. I have massive garage envy! Lovely space to work in!
Tunnel and bulkhead now fully welded up inside and out Engine/box/steering/pedals has all been in and out a couple times to check everything clears, which thankfully after loads of welding, it all still clears and fits. Downpipe is now on version 4(!) where it has been split into 2 sections with a V-Band to make for easier removal/fitting. Very happy with how it has all turned out, just need to go back in and buzz back / tidy up some of the welds before i can nail it all in some epoxy primer. While the engine is still in though I'm going to build up the remainder of my exhaust so i can weld hangers/brackets etc to the inside of the tunnel. Going to be doing a bit of surgery to this dashboard next to get it to fit around the cage and around the bulkhead! Any tips on how to do this neatly? feel like i've only got one shot at it!
Chop those dash air vents out and it will slip beautifully around the cage I reckon Daz, How do you think the dash and tunnel will interact, looks a bit portly in the centre, don't think you'll be able to get an 8 track player fitted.
I reckon it should be ok but time will tell! I will hack up the dash as much as it needs, hoping the glovebox can stay put too to provide a home for the ECU (and maybe a relocated 8 track player ).
Haha, massage bead covers with slots for the harnesses I have actually been thinking of how I could maybe get a heater system in it, mainly so i dont need to fork out £££££ on a heated front screen! Obviously can't fit the OEM heater box in there now, wonder if one of these little fellas with some homemade ducting to the relevant vents would be up to the task? https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/32206532...Lcy9R35FPEsEaAmw8TsiVFVtkzkBc8qBoCO0IQAvD_BwE
Looks similar to early landy or early mini/ mini van, used a morris minor one in all the turbo minis I built, as bulkhead had a 3" box in it. Could fabricate a box with a mini matrix and a slim rad fan maybe, ducted to wherever, slotted tube under screen to demist.
Dashboard is now in, started mocking up switch panels and stuff too Cheap nylon gearknob off ebay and a new CV boot i found in the boot of a BMW E39 in the scrappy, grabbed it thinking it could work as a gearstick gaitor, fits like a glove around a mk2 escort bolt on alloy plate thing! welded up the rear washer jet hole Got rest of my exhaust tacked up, 3 inch all the way from turbo back, with a backbox/silencer, side exit to drivers side, hanging off two E36 polybush gearbox mounts, mounted in the X and Y planes to keep full system stable, all clears the propshaft nicely Have strengthened and notched the sill for the tailpipe to exit through, just need to clean back the welds a bit more Next up is the boot floor, too complicated to make up in one piece so made it out of individual sections, fits nice and tight to the box section frame so will weld underneath too once car is on the spit rear axle setup on and off multiple times to check clearance etc during fabrication Front brakes are now finished and mounted up, quick spec - Renault Megane 225 4 pot brembos - 300mm focus st170 disc (could have went bigger disc but i may run 16s in future, 300mm is plenty) - custom carriers and spigot rings machined by Richard @ North East Brakes - hub is cut from porsche 924 front disc, pressed in some 14.3 spline studs to match rears Very happy with the setup and now the brakes are fully sorted other than running lines etc! "drift lock" ... Last peice of fab work before i strip it down for the spit is extending the front turrets, main reasons i want to do this is to extend the damper travel and to open up more options for different top mounts, with the extra track width as well my struts sit at more of an angle, so the extended turrets can compensate for this to ensure the spherical bearing in the top mount has an easier life. Made up some rough cardboard templates, and ordered up some 2mm plate Need to offer up the bonnet to check how much i can extend them by, I've got two bonnets here and they are both pretty knackared, just got to work with what i've got. Im happy to cut away some of the underside of the bonnet if need be as it weighs a tonne, plenty of engine clearance to the bonnet too for a strut brace, more on that later! Anyway... Here she stands Also... Fresh 12 month ticket for the daily too, failed on a bottom ball joint but a quick lunchbreak fix and it was through, happy days!
Thanks Sam! All my exhaust stuff is from EveryExhaustPart on eBay, they have a website outside of ebay too - https://everyexhaustpart.com/cart/ Yeah, the discs came free with front knuckles i bought too, simple and cheap! Cheers! very happy with the brake setup, Richard @ North East Brakes is brilliant, old skool engineer type working from his little home workshop.
