SR20 Mk2 Escort

The thought had crossed my mind tbh but quickly dismissed due to the added complexity compared to the gains, if any. It would be a big chunk of work to get right and the sort of job that could lead to lots of small annoying problems. I would like to fit a NA S14 tb at some point to help a bit.


Update....

I fitted some Tomie Pon Cams the other night.. These are pretty mild in terms of duration but pretty good in terms of lift. This should keep the broad power band I am getting from the turbo but allow much more flow. They also maintain the VVT which is a big bonus over the straight cam SRs.

Compared to the OEM S14 ones:

OEM Inlet 240 degree / 9.2mm Lift
Poncam inlet 256 degree / 11.5mm Lift

OEM Exhaust 240 / 9.2mm Lift
Poncam Exhaust 256 degree / 11.5mm Lift

Took it out for a quick drive and it has made it awesome! The noise of the engine is quite different now, Nice and aggressive 

I left everything else the same as it was before (0.8 Bar) and did a back to back.. With the cams fitted there was a big miss fire between 3000-4500 (like a fuel cut) but after that it was fantastic. This can be seen in the graph with the midrange but after 4500 it runs great, with an increase in peak power of around 40+ HP!!



Boost comes in at the same point (maybe even a bit earlier) and with the misfire removed I reckon it will have similar, if not better midrange than the S14 cams. Win Win.

Before doing any more mapping I am awaiting delivery of the 555cc injectors which are now late  As soon as they are here I can get them fitted and get it mapped. Looking at boost controllers aswell now as the MBC is causing a few spikes I would like to get rid of. Thinking of the Gizzmo IBC-R

 

Hello mate, I got them through a chap from SXOC on facebook Very easy to install. I am still using std valvetrain but the springs are supposed to be on their limit with the 11.5mm lift. It seems very good though!

Matsuri

The car was great.. I really like the way the engine revs and performs now.. Much more charachter and it even sounds much better now (much more of a screamer). I did the full day on Sat until I ran out of tyres. Car was good all day although by the end of it one of the front dampers had died.

Only got a few pics..











That was last event of the year so it will get used as a road toy for a bit then a plan formed for the new year rebuild/freshen up

 

I think I did a combination of triming the lever a bit and angling the whole thing to the side which worked. It was while ago and I have since removed it .

 

--2014 Review--
Part i​

2014 has been a mixed year for the car but overall it has performed really well and I still love driving it. Here is a little review over the year, showing the events and a summary of the jobs that have been carried out on the car.


January------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The year started with the car pretty much how it finished 2013. The idea was to use it as much as possible and have a proper go at competing.



Snetterton Practice day..

A burst clutch slave cylinder and a visit into the tyre wall bent the shell pretty bad. The chassis rails were twisted and the inner wings mangled. We pulled it out enough on the day to get a few more runs in but it was in a sorry state!



February--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Inspection of the damage revealed that the chassis rail was twisted and rotten. This meant big surgery was needed..



I spent much of this month sourcing parts and panels and spending money!

March----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The front end was all stripped and all the damaged areas chopped off (see page 18)



During the rest of the month lots of fabrication and repair work happened to get the front end all back together. The front end was made bolt on at the same time.

April-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I finished all the front end fabrication. During the re-fit, the engine was given a Cosworth head gasket and a Pulsar exhaust cam.



May-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The aim was RDC round 2 on the 11th and 12th May. I rushed and rushed to get the car back together. At this stage, I converted the rear to discs (using 106GTI bits) see page 19.



Lydden Hill – RDC Round 2

First time back in the car after the crash. The car was literally fresh out of the garage and straight out on track. It was my first time at Lydden and despite minimal practice did alright.





Results:
-1st Place
-Biggest entry award


June-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


Evo turbos

As a little side line project, I started thinking about using a TD05 turbo from an Evo on the SR. It seemed that not many people had actually done it but on paper looked like it would work perfectly. It smashes T28s and is more like a 2871/3071 in sizes but with a really neat twin scroll housing.

I sourced a cheap turbo of eBay and began tinkering on a scrap engine. I was in no particular rush to get this done so it was merely a fun, side line project.





Santa pod - RDC Round 3

Between round 2 and 3, I carried out a few changes: First was to fit a fresh 3.89 CWP as the old one was worn out pretty bad. Second I removed the VVT and fitted a Pulsar inlet cam to see what it was like (see power graph further down). I loaded the car up with tools and drove the car to the event and gave it a full day of abuse. The turbo pretty much fell off the manifold meaning hardly any boost until 5000rpm+ but the car was still awesome.

Result:
-1st place

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

--2014 Review--
Part ii​

July----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Evo turbo fitting

To fix the boost issues from Pod, I thought I should use this as an opportunity to get the Evo setup finished. After lots of fiddly fabrication (see page 22-23) it was all fitted, just in time to try out at Castle Combe.




Castle Combe RS day – Drift display

First time out with the Evo 6 turbo fitted (std boost) and the car was awesome and coped well with the massive abuse it took in the heat. Got some god 115-120mph entries in over Avon rise which in my opinion is the ballsy corner in the whole of England to drift properly…

Throughout the rest of the summer I frequently used it to get to work and go for some back lane blasting



August--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Silverstone Ford Fair – Drift display

Car went really well. 5th gear clutch kick entries at around 130mph into Brooklands was the highlight. Here is the vid of one of them…..

Birmingham wheels – RDC Round 3

I do enjoy a good oval so had some good fun here. The track layout was very unforgiving so meant a few wall rubs to try and nail the correct line. The car didn’t come off too bad considering. I managed to crack the manifold pretty bad when I caught the downpipe on the trailer whilst reversing.



Result:
-2nd Place – I got into the final but couldn’t run as a coolant hose split so had to forfeit

September-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

SAS antil lag

Following Birmingham wheels, I whipped the manifold off to repair it. At this point I started tinkering with the SAS style anti lag so thought that I would add the hardware now so that in future I can make lots of pops and bangs.



Rolling road test

At this stage it was basically a std S14 engine + Evo 6 Turbo +Pulsar Cams, all on a std map! I was keen to see what sort of power this was producing. Midrange felt rubbish but I loved the way it pulled all the way to the limiter.. Something a T28 S14sr doesnt really do.



273Bhp at 6576rpm
235 ft-lb at 5262rpm

Playing with cams + Turbine housings

Following the rolling road, I started playing with cams and VVT again. I stripped and cleaned another VVT sprocket and re-fitted the S14 inlet cam. At the same time I swapped over the turbine housing from 10.5t to 9t. To play with the tune, I installed a ECUmaster DET3 piggyback and wideband and had a play. This allowed much more mid range but if I am honest, the character that the engine had with the pulsar cams (revvy) was sorely missed.



October-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Pembrey GP – RDC round 4

Very fast, nicely flowing track. Had some good battles and the car was really good.



Result:
-1st Place

Poncams

After Pembrey, I did lots of road miles, playing with the DET3 and the mapping. At this point, a set of Poncams came up for a good price on facebook so I snapped them up. These were fitted as well as the larger 10.5t turbine housing again. The aim was to have the top end character I loved with the pulsar cams but still have a bit of midrange.
I wasn’t disappointed.. The Evo turbo came alive with the lumpier cams with full boost around 3000rpm but pulling hard all the way to the limiter. The graph below compares the 3 different versions I have tested (Pulsar+10.5t, S14 VVT+9t and Poncams +10.5T).



Anglesey – Matsuri

Matsuri was a nice chilled out event, I went up a few days before and with the wife and daughter . We rented a little cottage by the track and made a mini holiday out of it. This was so good and it made it much more enjoyable than normal drift events………



The driving was really cool. I used it as a test of the car to focus on what I liked, didn’t like and how I thought it could be improved. As a result I absolutely abused it! The car went well until I ran out of tyres. Only damage seemed to be a blown front damper, but tbh they have had 2 years of jumping over stuff so I can’t really complain.



How it finished the year……





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Next year…..

The car is in storage now until early next year when I get chance to work on it again (I am building something else over the winter). Half the work will just be boring re-conditioning of parts (and replacing all the dead rose joints) and the other half will be spent on developing the car. Future plans include:

-more work on the tune (still need to fit the 555 injectors and up boost)
-Revised suspension arms (to try out some new products I am developing)
-Develop drivetrain (look at axle upgrades)
-Improve bodywork (it’s pretty crinkled and crusty on the outside now.. Could be time for a fresh new look)


Thanks for reading

 

Cheers for the comments guys!

Cheers. I didn't have enough time to have a proper play unfortunatly before the weather got rubbish. Next year when the weather is better and I have a bit more time I will be doing some proper fiddling with the map.

The problem is that pretty much all OEM ecus cut fuel at zero throttle on overun above a certain RPM meaning you get a few pops and bangs as it burns the leftover mixture then nothing. The DET3 will be able to get round this, so when I fit the bigger injectors next year I will be playing with the amount of fuel on the overun to get it all working sweet I also need to weld in a thermocouple boss into the manifold so I can set it up without melting it too much!