Miltz

Hi guys,

I'm in the process of planning a 4x4 conversion for my MK1 Escort so thought I'd start a build thread despite work not progressing too fast on it at the moment. Although I have the MK1 Escort I don't have a donor car for the chassis, I have started a thread on the Technical help Q & A board (that way anyone else planning on or in the process of a similar build can easily find the info they may need) that asks a few questions regarding what to look for in a donor car that I hope gets a few responses. I'd appreciate it if anyone in the know could have a look at that thread and reply with advice that may help me or other builders, link below.

https://passionford.com/forum/techni...onversion.html

As for my MK1 Escort, it's a 1973, Australian spec 1300XL that I've had since 2000 when I bought it from it's elderly original owner. It was mechanically and structurally perfect and very well cared for but the paint had faded and the interior had seen better days.

After a small accident in heavy fog it was taken off the road for a few months and had new wings & round headlights fitted, the chrome work redone and a respray in it's original red pepper colour scheme. The brown interior was swapped out for black soon after and a set of MK1 RS2000 4 spokes were added and it served as a daily driver in that trim for a few years.

I then bought a mid 90's Corolla for daily duties and started building it up to Group 4 spec with the front suspension and steering supplied by Gartrac and the RS2000 4 spokes swapped out for a set of Minilites to fit the Group 4 hubs. Soon after another small accident damaged the right front wing and it was again taken off the road with the intention being to finish building the car up to Group 4 spec but that never happened, I bought a Ducati and spent the next few years throwing every spare cent I had at it until I ran out of parts to upgrade before doing the same with a house.

The Group 4 parts have since been stripped from it and sold to a friend with another red pepper MK1 sporting round headlights, only his has a 300kW Nissan SR20DET under the bonnet and is making much better use of the parts than I ever did. The interior is gone, some sold and some stored away, all exterior trim and hanging panels are off and packaged up with just the engine and driveline waiting to be removed when I get a chance. Once that's out I'll get to work on bracing up the shell and removing the floor ready for a donor chassis.

In the meantime, here's some pictures of it when it served as my daily driver, I'll up date this thread as I go but don't expect too much just now.

whizzisat114

iTrader: (2)

Gorgeous looking car

Good luck with the conversion

packman

If thats as good as it looks it would be a shame to cut it up ....

Miltz

Thanks for the comments guys,

Unfortunately accident damage and the better part of the last 10 years sitting in sheds, on driveways and back lawns haven't treated it well and it doesn't resemble it's former self. The shell is still mostly rust free with only the floor and behind the C pillars showing any signs of rot, and now that I've turned my attention back to it I want to make it the best it can be and I can't think of anything better than having an original Escort built to the specs of the last competition Escort built.

Glenn_

iTrader: (1)

That looks lovely and looks to good to chop up.

andy escos

iTrader: (1)

wow i love cutting & grinding but i could not bring my self to cutting that car up it looks way to good
Good luck with the conversion though & keep us all posted .

vinge87

chop chop

r.s.2000 ginger

That looks way to good to cut and chop.

kaisersolsay

iTrader: (2)

Good luck mate. Drop Graham C a note, he'll save you a lot of hassle.

Miltz

Hi Andy,

Well done with your build, I've been following it closely and love your work! The pictures from the original conversion have been a great help and if you have any more I'd love to see them, probably best if they're posted in the Technical help Q & A thread I also have which is linked in my first post to keep this thread for my build and to help others with their projects. Also if you have any info regarding what car to use as a donor I'd love to hear, all the questions regarding that are in the other thread too. Best of luck with your car and I'll keep you posted with my work.

graham c

iTrader: (5)

get it cut up i,ve done this

Miltz

Hi all,

Progress has been made today, most of the car is stripped with only the diff, pedal box & brake booster, brake & fuel lines, fuel tank, right hand tail lights, handbrake assembly and left hand door to come off it now. I'm hoping to get all that removed in the next few weeks so I can send if off to be sand blasted and have any rusted panels I intend on keeping replaced before bringing it home.

The interior along with the hanging panels was stripped a while back but I didn't manage to get the left door off as I didn't have the space to open it up enough to allow access to the pins where it sits in the shed. I was hoping to get it off today while it was out of the shed but a storm blew in before I got a chance to get to it and had to put it away again. We did manage to get the engine, driveline and everything else in the front end out before the weather got too bad so not exactly an unproductive few hours in the morning.

Here's a few pics of where we got to today, as you can see the body is no longer what it was in the pics from my first post.

whizzisat114

iTrader: (2)

Looking good

katluke

I couldnt bring myself to cut that up Here is a link to another site where they are making a mk2 into 4x4 http://www.turbosport.co.uk/showthre...2-escort-again hth

Mark V8

iTrader: (2)

Too nice to chop up

Miltz

Thanks for the link katluke!

v man

there was a cossie powered 4x4 mk1 escort in ireland

a guy in england bought it and sent it to a1 rally sport for some work

did some on it my self

but imo i would keep it rwd mate much more fun

andy escos

iTrader: (1)

great progress so far if you need any inspiration have a look at mine that i done about 15 years ago .

Miltz

Hi v man,

If you've got any pics of the build I'd love to see them!

And as for going 4x4, with the power output I'm looking for in the long term and the cars use (unlimited hill climb racing) RWD although fun probably won't work too well.....

Miltz

G'day Andy,

I've been following your rebuild from the start, it was one of the main reasons I'm going the 4x4 route, great work! If you've got any more pics from your original build feel free to post them over on the Technical help Q & A thread I have, I'm sure there's plenty of people who would find them useful, myself included.

https://passionford.com/forum/techni...onversion.html

Miltz

Hi all,

I got a little bit of work done on the car this morning, the fuel tank is now out which let me get the right had tail lights out and remove the rear bumper, the rear is also up on stands and the rear wheels off ready to get the brake and fuel lines out as well as the diff. I'm hoping to get to that in the next few days, as well as getting the pedal box/brake booster out and all the other parts either stored in the car or still loosely attached in readiness for it to be sent off to the panel shop for stripping.







Also, if anyone has any advise on what chassis to use (it's been established a 4x4 model is best) please have a read through this thread and post a reply if you think you can help me out. Also anyone who's currently working on a similar conversions feel free to share any tips, tricks, photos or build threads.

https://passionford.com/forum/techni...onversion.html

Miltz

Ended up finding a few more spare minutes this afternoon so ducked back into the shed and pulled the brake booster out, I think this will be it for today but hoping to get a some more work done over the weekend or early next week.

ossie cossie

OMG what a shame to cut it up. I know from personal experience how rare a good shell is to get, even here in Australia.

ossie cossie

What 4X4 floorpan are you going too use.

Miltz

That I'm not sure of, I'm not too fussed what car the floorpan comes from as long as it shares the mounting points of an Escort RS Cosworth, I'd be happy with an early XR4x4 provided the shell is in good condition. If you know much about them I have a thread in Technical help Q & A pages you could have a look at and maybe share some advice.

https://passionford.com/forum/techni...onversion.html

ossie cossie

Its not going to be cheep to scource one of them in OZ. personally i would go with a 4X4 floorpan from a readily availible car here in OZ and then parts are a breeze to scource. If it were me i would graft a, dare i say it? Subaru STi or WRX floorpan, onto the escort, i have seen somewhere a thread that someone is doing this, will try and find it for you.
But if your mind is set on a ford 4X4 floorpan then try looking at trade me in new Zealand lots of interesting bits over there.

William MK2 Cosworth

very nice indeed!! good luck with the conversion

Miltz

I'm pretty set on the Ford floorpan as I intend on building it up to Escort WRC spec. I know of all the costs involved in getting a donor car over to Aus but as I'm still not sure what one I'll be using haven't looked too far into it other than getting a rough idea of what different models sell for.

I hadn't actually thought of looking in NZ for a donor car, will check into it and see what's around and what shipping from there would set me back, thanks for the tip.

Miltz

Managed to get this diff out this arvo, time and weather was against me getting much more done so the suspension and everything else attached to the underside will have to wait for another day.

Miltz

Got a bit more done today, the leaf springs are out, the engine bay has had all parts that remained removed along with all fasteners from the front end and wheel arches. The brake and fuel lines have also been removed along with all fasteners on the underside. The rear shocks and subframe are still in place however, the bolts up the top are pretty tight so I'm letting some WD40 soak into them which will hopefully loosen them up and let me get them out in the next day or 2 without too much trouble.

Once again, if anyone has any advice on the best shell to use (remembering I'm planning on building it to Escort WRC spec) or build hints in general please have a look at my other thread in the Technical help Q & A pages and share what you know.

https://passionford.com/forum/techni...onversion.html

katluke

Here is a link to another Mk1 with a sierra floor and running gear etc with a Mondeo V6 engine.
http://www.turbosport.co.uk/showthre...k1-MONSCORT-V6 Hth

bigryrs

iTrader: (10)

Thats a hell of a clean shell there! good luck with the project!!

ossie cossie

Miltz there was a2 door sierra on ebay Australia the other day That would of been a good shell to have the floor out of. it went for $2000 i think. Keep an eye on there, I also knew of a 2wd sapphire shell here in WA that was bieing stripped, i will try and find out if it is still around.
Tony.

Miltz

Hi Tony,

I've been away for a couple of weeks so have only just seen this post and didn't see the Sierra on ebay. Was it a 4wd or 2wd? It's a shame the Sapphire wasn't a 4x4, that would have been ideal! I'd prefer a stripped donor car if possible to save me from having to sell off the parts people may want and dumping the rest.

If you hear of anything else coming up for sale, preferably a 4x4, I would appreciate it if you could let me know, finding anything without an RS Cosworth badge and commanding big money isn't easy here!

There was a XR4x4Ti on carsales for a while with the 2.3 turbo I4 and although it was advertised as a Sierra I'd say it was a Merkur from North America as I didn't think the UK spec XR4x4s came with anything other than a V6. They were asking over $10,000 which was far more than I'd want to spend on a donor car and was concerned about using a shell that had possibly been converted from LHD to RHD.

Miltz

Got a bit more work done today, got the last of the under dash parts out including the wiper assembly and also what was left of the hand brake. There was a few other small parts that came off the shell too, mainly small electrical components from the boot and rear end.

Now it's a matter of cleaning out the cabin and boot space and removing all bolts and fasteners from the shell which I'll wait until I have a full day free to do, will also need to get some storage boxes and zip lock bags to keep track of everything in case I need them when it comes time to put the car back together.

Once that's done it's off to the panel shop for stripping and replacement of any panels that aren't up to scratch, my main concerns are the rear scuttle which has a bit of rust coming though and the outer sills which have been repaired in front of the rear arches previously and may not be in the best condition to be matched up to the new floor or have steel bubble arches fitted.

Also, if anyone has experience with a similar build or has done a WRC conversion to a Sierra/Sapphire/Escort RS Cosworth please have a read of my other thread as I'm still after advice on what is the best shell to use as a donor. I think it's been settled that I'll need a 4x4 of some description but given I want to build it up to WRC spec I'll need something that has suitable mounting points etc.

https://passionford.com/forum/techni...onversion.html

Miltz

Sorry for the lack of posts lately, I've been pretty busy with work over the past month or so.

I've finally got the shell completely stripped all all fixings etc, aside from the left hand door which I can't get off where it's sitting at the moment and packed up all the parts that had been piling up in the cabin and boot.

I'm currently looking into panel shops for the next stage of work which will be removing all paint, sealer and filler then replacing any panels that are rusted etc.

graham c

iTrader: (5)

cool now get the grinder out

Miltz

Won't be long now, I'm starting to hunt around for Escort RS Cosworths to use as a donor, I'm after a bare shell, rolling chassis (shell with brakes, steering and suspension) or a rolling chassis with engine and driveline but nothing else. I've been in contact with a few companies in the UK and there's a few options about.

First priority is to get a new shed built that will give me a lot more room to work on it, the plan is to have that built while the MK1 shell is off getting sand blasted and having any panel work done.

graham c

iTrader: (5)

i no were their is a shell soon for sale but its over hear

Miltz

Thanks for the heads up Graham. Do you know roughly what I'd expect to pay for it? I need to look into how I'd go about shipping a shell back to Aus, obviously if it's not on it's wheels it's going to be a lot harder to move around hence why I'm I'm also looking for rolling chassis. I'm not too fussed about getting one with an engine & driveline but if one came up at a good price it would be hard to knock back.