Some of you may recognise the car from when it had its previous engine.... http://www.driftworks.com/forum/drift-car-projects-builds/68855-20v-4age-mk2-escort-16.html I summary, rebuilt it all with the 4Age with everything ready to go... On the first fire up there was alot of smoke and this coming out of the radiator... This was traced down to a crack in the block due to the engine getting frozen when it was layed up during the big freeze. The plan was to rebuild the 4age using a spare block that I had in the shed. It was when pricing up all the various bits, and looking at other cheap ways of going faster, a rusty S14a popped up, just round the corner on Ebay.. An email later and I was off to pick it up for the bargain price of £450 I haven't seen to many SR'd escorts in this country so thought it could be a good little project. I will deffo miss the noise of the little 4Age... It wasn't the most powerfull thing in the world but it is the closest I will ever come to owning a car that sounds like it has a BDA in it! The 4Age will be rebuilt and end up in a Mk1.. I am sure there are some purists that would like me to die for putting a Nissan engine in a Ford and not having a Pinto or Cossy in there but TBH, I don't care what name is on the rocker cover if it gives me the performance I would like for a cost I can afford... Onto the real work.... First thing to do was rip the Toyota lump out and check the Nissan lump in the hole..... All fitted much better than expected really. Clearance around the Turbo was quite snug and the clearance for the Rad and Intercooler looked like it might be tight but to be honest, I was quite happy.. Next was to rip it out again and make a start on the mounts.......... Cheers
The 4Age mounts I made were Chassis mounts. All that was required was to move them forwards a couple of inches along the chassis rails, then weld them back on... The mountings to the block were made by modifying the Nissan mounts and pressing in a Grp4 Escort bush.... I bouaght a FMIC from Ebay and modified the front panel so that it would be as far forwards as possible without being visible when the grille etc was all assembled... To get the Nissan hydraulic clutch to work with the Escort Cable pedal box required a mounting plate to be fabricated onto the bulkhead and the clutch pedal modifying to take the Nissan clevis... Now the engine bay was pretty much sorted, I primed and painted it again... Fresh....
The mounts on the block... You can see in this one the small boss on the block that needs linishing to clear the steering column.. The engine bay again... And here is what it looks like all fitted. At this stage, I started on the cooling and boost pipes.. Boost pipes all pretty much done, wiring pretty much done... I made the wiring loom using the S14 bits and the smae style of fuse box and relay setup as I used on the Toyota engine (From a motorbike). It still uses the NATS2 imobiliser and uses the escort dial cluster (With the Nissan bits maccled in) Here is the inside coming together.. The gearstick area of the tunnel was chopped about a bit And I knocked up a new shifter.. More to follow...... Cheers
The clearance that the fans will slide into... (The rad is a BMW item, as on the Toyota setup. Also, I finally finished and fitted the rear ARB (See previous thread)... The sump sits neatly in between the front ARB and the rack. I will probably mod this in a future evolution but at the moment it fits perfectly.. Shiney new single piece prop thanks to Dav Mac propshafts... More wires everywhere ready for first startup.... It fired up first time Out of the garage under it's own steam... A quick nip up and down the road at 7psi and it felt pretty good. The only jobs that remained were MOT style jobs ready to get it back on the road... Front end back on.. Note the Nissan dials in the Escort setup... Ready for MOT... And with the modified bulkhead resting on.. (This will end up as a cover for the ignitor etc and keep it all looking neat) Since these pictures it has gained an MOT... Yay..... Blown up..... Nooooo and now is fully working again! Just a few more jobs to do before it gets out on track: -Fit 044 -Fit Fans -Make up 3" system -Turn boost up a bit When these little jobs are sorted I will get some more pictures and some videos.. Cheers
Cheers... Even with 7psi and a missfire it was fairly mental (On 175/55 13s) With a bit more power it should be mint....
That is very cool!! Changed a bit since i last saw it outside your house! How long has it been since you decided to do the project? Was it as quick and easy as it seems on this thread? lol
Haha just a bit! It was about 3 full days of graft to get it all fabricated.. an evening after work to paint, an evening (and late night) to make the wiring and a day to get it MOT ready Since then it has been evenings of tinkering to sort all the little jobs!
Bloody hell, thats quite quick lol most people would take months building a car like this. Looking forward to the vids!
Yep, the difference between 7 and 14psi is ridiculous. I'd just run slicks in that size, piece of piss to get hold of. *An 044 is massive overkill too, I'd run a 225 Walbro, keep fuel temp down.
I like your version of playing with cars. A lot. I was thinking of doing this myself, but thought na, a zetec will be so much easier, but now I'm not sure... Well played.
This build is pure class,the attention to detail in engine bay is great Well done to you,fantastic looking car mate
Was only talking the other day to a mate how i'd love to see a mk1/2 escort with a sr lump in it and hay presto a great looking mk2 with one in and working top top work bud love it. Did you have any issues with prop or anything?