The plan for this car was always to convert it to RWD or 4WD at some point so I've been looking into it. Out with the tape meausre and heres what I've found so far;
Mark 3 Escort Dimentions
Sapphire Cosworth Dimentions
But heres where it gets interesting
Subaru Impreza Classic dimentions
and even more interesting is we have a 1995 Subaru Impreza STI in the barn doing nothing. Rather tempting.
Heres some more figures I've noticed;
Wheel Base
MK3 Escort__________Sapphire Cosworth___________Subaru Impreza
_2400mm _______________2608mm___________________2520mm
_______________________+208mm__________________ +120mm
Front Track
MK3 Escort __________Sapphire Cosworth__________Subaru Impreza
_1422mm _______________1452mm___________________1460mm
________________________+30mm ___________________+38mm
Rear Track
MK3 Escort___________Sapphire Cosworth__________Subaru Impreza
_1440mm________________1468mm__________________145 0mm
________________________+28mm___________________+1 0mm
The Subaru stuff actually looks a better size to start with. Its a pretty straight forward looking floor pan also. I've yet to measure the strut hight etc to make sure I won't have the front stuts coming through the bonnet level but so far it's looking promising.
I also havent measured the dimentions of the engine as its quite a big old brute but id it fits in the boot of a MK1 Fiesta it should be fine.