I've owned this a good while now, so I may as well do a thread on it as it's had a fair bit done to it, and still has plenty more planned for it

A couple of years ago I was realising that I really needed an Estate car for doing my photoshoots. I considered all the usual off the shelf typical modern options but nothing really inspired me, I just couldn't get any enthusiasm up for them.
So thinking of what I really wanted I narrowed it down to either a Mk4 Escort or Sierra Estate.
I already had a Mk3 Escort project so that ruled out one of them, and I figured a Mk4 would be easier to find anyway. The Sierra idea was killed off for the time being as I realised it would be a lot more uneconomical and cost me a lot more as I'd probably end up putting something with a Cosworth badge on the rocker cover under the bonnet

A 5dr for practicality was decided upon, and Mercury grey was the colour I had my mind set on, and bloody hell was finding one difficult!
Various wanted ads, scouring eBay, Autotrader, small ads etc for 3 months eventaully found me an ideal candidate.
Being sold by a small time trader in London for a few hundred quid, I didn't waste a minute and got the overnight bus down to meet a bemused seller at 9am in Wimbeldon

Money exchanged and I was smoking my way back up north with the 1.4's valve stem seals being replaced high on the agenda

I can't seem to find any pix of it as it was originally on the skinny steels, but here's an early one with just RST rims as its only mod:


Next came an RST bonnet, mirrors, pressed plates (and Fast Ford sticker!):


And a mint 90 spec interior was bought late one night in Bolton on my way back from a London trip!


Diamond Tints sorted me out next:


It also has been used as a tripod in it's working life:


The CVH was fine, but I constantly had it in my mind that more power could be had for the same sub 30MPG economy. So the next job was a trip to Sitech Racing for a 2.0 Zetec conversion
An S2 RST tank and full fueling setup was installed, as were the LSD gearbox and brakes.


Needless to say I enjoyed the hike in power


Still running on standard suspension it was a bloody handful, as the standard gear is so soft it can barely cope with a 60 BHP 1.3 let alone more than double that
I'm often hanging out the estate doing car to car action photos so the soft suspension was ideal in theory but in practice it was lethal
So now it runs a spax setup, which is actually fairly smooth!


Bringing us up to date is the latest and best mod, a full Weber Alpha Gold Turnkey kit. A proper plug and play throttle bodies and ECU kit that has utterly transformed the car. Weber say it should be 165BHP but it feels much quicker! It's kept up with a brand new Astra VXR and just managed to pull away from a Focus ST that was 3 up
It's a whole lot of fun now (a bit too much if you ask the local Traffics actually ).

Out with the old:


In with the new:












More to come soon.....

 

looks well mate....

 

how hard was the wireing to do when you first put the engine in?

 

To be honest quite a headache!
What I bought with the engine was a previously converted (bodged!) 1.6 Escort loom that had been then running a 2.0 in a MK5 Escort.
The condition of the loom was a bit ropey and as a result it never drove quite as well as it felt it should have as I'm sure it had internal breaks.
I even stripped a loom out another car to start a fresh but it turned out to be so different and complicated that I just bought the throttle bodies!

The Weber conversion totally transformed it, and as much as I would reccomend it to everyone I know it is still pricey.
To be brutally honest if I was doing a Zetec conversion and working on a tight budget I would go straight for one of Weber's plug and play stand alone ECU & loom kit which retains the original inlet manifold.
Its about Ł300, ready mapped for whatever version of Zetec you have....... and well worth it if it means you don't have to deal with shonky old Ford looms!

 

and sounds the tits on full chat

 

love the throttle bodys and the cars its in!wiring in the zetec is easy if ya got a haynes book of bullshit
but the inlets are so restrictive terrible design

 

It's not exactly subtle!

Yeah, we eventually got it going, but that loom was faulty. The timing seemed to be a bit random as it was flat one minute and a rocket the next!
Also the ICV was tempremental and every replacement I tried was incompatible for some reason!

You're not wrong about the restrictive inlet, the transformation with the TBs shows that so clearly

 

good project adrian

 

Love the estate, very rare these days
Are you using Sitech instead of storage

 

know wht ya mean,some reason u take the engine out the other car running perfect,stick it in yours and it never runs right,lol

 

there is something oddly cool about this estate, the bark off it is music to my ears and it can bloody well shift as i witnessed my mates s2 on its back bumper lol

 

How much do you want for the oldwiring loom mate ?

 

Not sure if I've even still got it...... will check for you

Hehe, it did give the S2 a good run for it's money! He had me in fourth though!
A rematch without 300kg of mobile photo studio on board is needed....

 

If seen it in the new FastFord..! great engine mod mate!!
Keep the pics coming

 

lol a shit ma self when a seen it take off off the roundabout down the bypass, and that was loaded as you say so it would be even quicker off the mark empty!

 

you found that loom yet mate ?

 

looks nice and does it still do 30MPG?

 

If I've got it it'll be in my lockup..... which is in another town from where I live! Will check when I get the chance.

If I drive like a girl
Usually high teens to low 20s though!

 

well done

 

TB fitting guide in the last fast Ford featuring Ninja Si

 

cool car

 

Nice project!

 

ade thats nutz have you had the car dyno'd yet will be intresting what power it is pumping out.
would mine a set of tb's on the old mondy have you got any vid's of the beast running

 

Weber say that it's meant to be 165BHP, but I think that's maybe a bit conservative...... 180BHP tops probably. It did pull away from an ST in top gear after all!

Going to collect it from Sitech Racing tomorrow, will do some vids soon...

 

cool stuff, reminds me of my Mk3 fezzy zetec

 

Really nice project and so practical for your work

 

Looks awesome!

Would love to see some videos, to hear the sound of the TB's.

 

It's a bloody racket, but I love it!
Just home from a shoot and an hour's drive..... my ears are ringing

Will do some vids soon...

 

nice car fella, i had one of mk 4s, but its in the scrap yard in the sky now tho mine didnt look as good as urs tho, i will ave 2 find sum pics

 

ade why dont you get some filter socks for the tb's to keep the noise down a bit

 

Here's a video.......

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H8zGM8PiUHM

 

i want it in my Ka sounds awesome!

 

Actually sounds quite muted in that video Just done with a phone, and the windows are up!
Can't hear the pops and bangs on the overrun either but gives an idea of how loud the induction is!

 

That makes me want to buy a fiesta and put the 2ltr zetec in and put it on throttle bodys.

 

sounds awesome

 

Awesome sound! I miss the sound of mine!

 

how much do the TBs stick out the head? could you do some measuring for me! by the looks of the pics theyd fit in a Ka, just!

 

I'll do that soon

 

Adrain had the car down when doing the photo shoot for my 3 door the car sounds the dog dangelsand goes like fucktop slpr mate keep the mods coming matetop car and top guythis car is alot bettr in person

 

Thats going well!!!