allways wanted 1 of these & a few months ago i brought back 1 of my old escort rs's & a rolling cosworth shell & thought what the heck lets have a go lol.

was planning on building a rough mk4 pinto's track weapon but things have changed & its all goin old school mk3 & cosworth powerd! (as they do)

right i have loadsssssssss of pics of this car & its now oin 2 take me about 2 hrs 2 try & get em in teh right order so here we go...............

the donor saff


the donor rs before....




raped of all the goodies & rdy 2 the big chop up


my plan was not 2 cut the whole floor out like most but mount the front & rear beds into the escort shell:

bed offerd up in standard escort bay



bed hits the part of escort chassis




roll bar mounts lined up onto chassis rails thou


bed hanging on legs (wheel/bed need to go further back but chassis in way)


cut the old front panel out of way to get in there & inspect


chassis getting in the way is no longer a problem! lol



measure up & tacked a jig in holding bed where it wants 2 be


wheels jiged in central in arch



new chassis rail to mount bed to


trimmed up to meet chassis at bulkhead



layed in position in bay



drilled 4 tubeing for bed mounts


tubed


welded in at bulkhead



new bed mounts jiged in at front & old rotten crossmember off



new beefy crossmember in



antirollbar bolted onto chassis


wheel alinement after


welding/tieing new chassis into old chassis




upside down it goes



rear beam offerd up & wheel well removed



rear chassis rails cut out


looks like im getting there now (not lol) rear chassis crossmember removed



rear spring mount cup removed


& re-inforced up nice & thick


rear subframed all jigged up & on




thick rear subframe mounting plates


makeing mountings









rear axle bolted onto new mounting




old rear chassis crossmember removed


new daddy 1


drilled, nuts welded on underside & offerd up


all bolts on ok


welded in


new thick rear inner sills & base/floor plate inbetween


back to do abit more on front from underside as still looks like this from inner arch!!!!!


here we go:






done & now the drivers side







both sides all done



cut front chassis back & capped end off (not sure on this yet)


car back over


back into the bay to tidy up/ cap in lower innerwings


gotta love carboard templates, they fit so nice lol


plates cut & welded in flush



as u can see i have smoothed over the front innerwing section where the rollbar used to bolt in as this is no longer needed

brought a rollover jog to make life easier


other lower innerwing done


next: rear shock mountings
before:


dureing (moved back & top section changed for sierra):


after:



rear shock mounted


change of plan & rollbar has been scrapped & replaced with new compression strut kit


front end all bolted up & inplace



car back on all 4 wheels now rwd



mock up with a dead pinto




mk3 escort bonnet fitted (this is where things/plans changed)


brought rs500 colller for my cossie & tryed it in the front Mmmmmm.....


next time i opend the bonnet this was in place (200 block cosowrth)




off comes the front end rdy for the mk3 to replace it



off to london to collect a donor car


alternator turns up with new belts so now fitted



stripped the mk3:



moved bulkhead dash mountings & now mk3 dash bolts in allround



made new steering set up & kept original sierra coloum relase joint


was close 2 clutch pedal so modded this with a resess



now car is rolling & steering

gearbox was next thing 2 turn up



few pics of how car sits



few more bits turned up:

t5 prop


2wd manifold (as engine is/was 4wd set up)


s/s downpipe


chipped ecu (montune e006 any 1 have any info???)



2wd engine loom


throttle cable & grp a coil



2wd fuel rail & new ford oil filter



battery tray was tatty on unerside so out it comes


new 1 trimmed up & welded in



ground down & primed


new tray fitted on the top (looks like its never ben touched)


next thing is the tunnel/floors

before:


passenger side inner sill off (rot)


rear floors out




pics have been crappy due to being phone pics but got new digi cam 2day & took a few

all floors out


new drivers side innersill on


new passengers innersill fitted


found this random pic of my mate who's been giveing me a hand (good old boy)


pic of front crossmember/chassis to show how its been done (this all being smoothed in)


went to classic ford show at weekend & found myself a new front end (2 wings, scutlle panel & complete front panel)




also sent a mate to pick this up for me from jano at oddkid creations


& brought myself a set of these last nite


thats as far as ive got, plan is to get tunnel trimmed up & in, 4x new floor pans fitted along with 2x new sills & the weld front end panels on then start paneling up the rear & do abit more as plenty more 2 do.

 

Fair shout

 

Very nice, you make it look easy...ish. interesting way of doing it.

 

nice work fella can't wait to see it finished

 

certainly 1 to follow, good work, I wouldn't have a clue where to start

 

Brian

 

looks good mate have to pop over and have a look when im about

 

oh i did buy this mk3 aswell the other day as it was local & scrap money, throwing it over a mates yard just incase i need any clips/screw for the rebuild


need 2 crack on as havnt done anything in past 3 weeks as work keep sending me away & this weekend went 2 santapod, maybe this weekend will see the tunnel & maybe floors in (se what the mrs says 1st lol)

oh & before any1 asks yes this will be a sleeper, orderd brand new front & rear lights & new "ORANGE" indicators & new "L" bumpers today & car is goin white inside.out & underside

enjoy

 

yer mate, im about most nites & weekends, this is what i brought that tunnel for but decided not 2 use it in the end

 

i need to pop over to see it mk3'd.

 

have you not needed to modify the front strut tops/inner wings atall,im starting this conversion soon aswell so any measurements and pointers would be greatly appreciated,mine will be 4wd though

 

no ive brought a full set of gaz coilovers

coilovers will fit straight into the escort inerwings, the legs that are on it are just bodged up old escort/siera legs to set everythin up but could be used if wanted. (sierra cups to big for escort innerwings)

its a case of get the grinder out & trim away slowly till things fit nice & then get everything squared up.

if u measure up the front & rear beds & try tack everything solid/square in place then it makes life easier as u only have 2 line up 1 solid square unit instad of it flopping about everywhere giveing u a headache!

where u based?

 

i live in luton mate,is there not a lot of positive camber on the front then using the escort inner wings,so do you reckon if i just tack weld the rear arms to the rear beam to hold them square that will make things easier,the trouble with the front is im going 4wd so the front crossmember is ally so will have to figure out making some brackets to hold that in place

 

yer this is what i done, ive opted for adjustable front compression struts & will go for adjustable tca's so i can move the front wheels just about anywhere i want

 

top work

 

fair enough i might go for a similar setup at somepoint,would it be best to jig up the rear arms and rear beam while they are still on the sierra so that they have got weight on them at least that way they will be in an easier location to line them up the rear wheels in the rear arches,how did you get the rear shock mounts in location did you make up some little jigs for those aswell,this is all very much appreciated mate sorry for the questions but your pics are the best detailed and pretty much exactly the same as the way im going to do mine aswell

 

lots of work,will be awesome when its done matey, leaving it like a base model? or series 1? also what colour are ya thinking

 

Love the updated pics, made proper progress!

 

white

will look like a mint 1.3 l mk3 escort (& will be badged as 1), only mods from exterior will be 3" exhaust, lowerd on 15inch wheels with 45 profile tyres (cant fit any smaller cos of brakes).

i have 15inch steels fitted at but might go for comp's or rs500 rims but these will be the last thing i buy/do

interior will be rs1600i cos its comfy & doesnt look too differnt to a standard interior to the untrained eye (but every1 knows what recaros are)

 

i thought the 1 cyril sneer is building was impressive the way he has gone about it,but im equally impressed at the way this 1 is being done proving theres more than 1 wauy to skin a cat.very impressive!

 

thats a great project you got on the go there mate i have beening thinking about doing something like this for a while now. i don't know whether to do a mk4 esc cabriolet or mk5 cabriolet with escort cosworth bumpers , skirts and arches

 

will be keeping an eye on this one!! cant wait to see it all finished

 

yes & unlike most i have tired to post as many pics as possible to show how its been done to help or inspire others.

& will keep posting pics up, better pics now i have a digi cam again lol

there is a few ways of cutting corners on doin it this way if u wanted & allthou it might drive right it would never look right, ive tried to keep it looking original bodywork wise, under the bay & under the car

 

Hi
Excellent project, I got my 4x4 Sierra last Tuesday and the Bonus I already had. My plan was to drive them together fast enough to make the conversion, welding the remains together. Your way may however be better. Good luck.

 

cool project and a great read, well done mate

 

Looks great mate

 

Looks good, cant wait to see it moving under its own power

 

Brilliant work

 

awesome work mate! Very impressive how you do the conversion Different way as mine, but also top job! keep it going

 

i think the way your doin it looks easier that just chopping the whole floor out,i think you will inspire alot of people.i might even be tempted.

 

yes as i spke 2 a chap who cut & shut the floor pan & he said its a nightmare job & it has taken him months just fabricating brackets to fit wiper motor etc.......

this way u keep all original escort innerwings which i think look better & no nasty weling across bulkhead etc........

but........... be warned this is still allot of hard work!

 

I don't belive it. Your doing the same as i'm working on.

Didn't want to go down the "fit a sierra floor" route either. Not cut into the rear chassis though just removed the part the link bar goes onto and the cross member part.

Looks good

 

very impressed. if i hadn't just spent all my money on a saff cos i would have been tempted to rwd my mk6 escort after reading this top work can't wait to see it finished.

good luck,
Phil

 

looks good now there is more pics keep it up mate

 

exellent work!!

 

Fantastic project

 

Awesome project, will be watching this closely!

 

stunning

 

rob ive just look at this 2 and thought the same as you .

 

Top work mate im well impressed with this project.I will be keeping an eye on this.