4x4cossie

hi im thinking of putting my saf engine box and loom into a mkII escort i have found but was just wondering what needs to be done to make the shell strong enough to take the power and how much it would cost. and who could do the work at short notice for e reasonable price. i havent bought the shell yet but have seen a mint one for around a 1000. any help will be gratefully received. been my dream for about ten years

John Doe

If your running it on the standard size wheels and suspension you dont need to strengthen the car at all... you will need a larger tunnel for the T5 if you use it

dave cos4x4

iTrader: (5)

4x4cossie


doing this conversion myself and trying to get prices together too.

i'm doing a project thread on here,have a look what i have bought and you will need similar items just to handle the cossie power.

prices are starting from Ł2500-Ł5500 just for fitting parts that i have bought.

this is not full group 4 spec either.

you won't get this work done just by anyone,needs to get someone that has done all this before etc....

hope you find someone cheaper than me,lol.

John Doe

As Dave has said , "you will need similar items just to handle the cossie power. " Handle as in putting the power down.

There is many an Escort out there with Cossies under the bonnets running leaf springs etc Clint Gaskin had 426 bhp running through his otherwise standard Mk1 , allthough we did link it later.

As the grip levels rise, the stresses on the shell means it need beefing up. But again, with standard size rubber and grip levels the wheels still spin up at the same power that the old x-flow or pinto would spin them, and a spinning wheel wont stress nothing but your wallet.

The list of things you can do to an escort is rather large.

One thing i will say though is dont go out and buy an LSD or uprated shafts for the English (Timken) axle, Get a Salisbury Atlas from the start, the English will break if you get grip and the atlas wont. Talk to Tom at Fostek Eng http://www.fostek.co.uk/ he'll sort you out with an axle.

Like i said though.. the list is endless for the mods that can be done, you can go from standard (just with tunnel mods) to something like this ...




Allthough that one has an NA cossie in it (and is high for the trailer, Ride height is 45mm under the chassis rails)

or this 3.2 twin turbo V6



just an idea of what can go inside the car , this is a Mk1 Cossie Turbo...

dave cos4x4

iTrader: (5)

how good is the inside.

JonnyBravo

Markb_s1

listen to retromotorsport

that's what I did and don't regret it one bit

John Doe

Thanks, and i do wonder what your having fitted for Ł5,500

John Doe

The underside of the Mk1 above

John Doe

And this is the mk2 NA YB car at ride height of 45 mm under the chassis rails/ front x-member. At full bounce (chassis rails on the floor) with those 11x15 wheels and 22" tyres the chassis still has clearence above the axle. A standard chassis would have hit the axle inches before that .



Like i said, you can have them pretty much standard or go wild

carlo

iTrader: (4)

retromotorsport top work

richard_syko

ditto

arkley

Love this stuff you got any more mate

dave cos4x4

iTrader: (5)

So do i.

i will pm you and ask a quote from you.

John Doe

Yeah a few ... but this isnt the place for them, those pics where just to show how far you can go and how far away from the typical " Group4" cars. The mods on the cars above still fall within the Gp4 regs 'cept the engines which would put them in Gp5 when the old Group 1-11 regs where current.

But getting back to the question , this car was running around for ages before it was linked , the only mods it had when the pics where taken was a tunnel for the T5 and an Atlas axle .

http://www.turbosport.co.uk/showthread.php?t=89478

The car was Dyno'ed at 426 BHP... was fast, but wheelspin was the norm in 3rd gear ... on a Brunters thrash day it was sideways at 100 odd mph ..
With better suspension and more grip that sideways would be converted to even more acceleration.

Also , as i'm not allowed to advertise here (other companies are out there and the pics above were for illustration purposes only) .. heres another company that is breaking the Gp4 Rally Car mould for trackday/racecars .

http://www.wealdenracing.co.uk/

Johns site is having a re-vamp at the moment but pop back and have a look at Craig Rainer's car (yellow mk2)

4x4cossie

thanks for all the info guys. im still unsure wether i want to go through with it yet. i was bidding for a rolling shell on ebay but lost it with 8 secs to go. wasnt happy. the car if i ever decide to do it will run my stage 1 rwd cossie engine and it will be for road use and it would run on my cossie lsd so would i need major stregthning? or could it be ok with a small roll cage and strut braces? max bhp it will run is approx 280-300. dont want to wipe out my finances on it really i have about Ł7000 to spend. and with that i have to buy the shell and get the engine fitted. tryin to find a shell with the large tunnel already fitted or an auto. hopefully to make it cheaper

John Doe

Ermmm ...

You do know the the rear ends of Escorts are totally different from Sierras.. ie the Sierra LSD wont fit into an Live axle ... well you could i supose by casting a whole new center section.. but the Atlas would be cheaper.

Or are you talking about fitting the whole cossie rear beam under the Escort ???

pig

mr retro is the MAN at this work,if i do another mk1/2 i will be inlisting his services guys

Markb_s1

listen to the pig


as i've said before and will continue to say...


my car was done by Gary (retromotorsport) and i have no regrets.. not even one.
apparently it will "drive itself"

dave cos4x4

iTrader: (5)

it may be cheaper buying one all done than building one up.

Charlie Chalk

iTrader: (1)

I just made sex wee