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M_C's '69 Escort Coupe


M_C

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Finally got myself a ManToy for the garage. Picked up a project off Trademe  Quickly worked out that Project is spelt with a Capital P...

Discussion //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/31528-m-cs-69-escort-v6-coupe/

She had been in parts in the guys garage for 5 years, and the guy before that for another 5 years! Best intentions not to let that happen again. Old 3litre Essex V6 and 4 speed manual, hilux diff and disk brakes all round. 

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Kids approve...

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Traditional boot full of bits.

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No brakes sign for the transporter. Arrived in one piece!

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Now how does that engine go back together?

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I figure brakes are kind of important so sold on the vented Capri dia 245 disks and M16 calipers that came with her to help fund some dia 283 Brembo's and RX7 4 pots for the front. Bit of a size difference to the original brakes on the right.

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Better make sure the calpiers will do what they should.

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Note the “enthusiastic” cage welding. And no papers and main hoop too small for new rules. Will do a few track days once the car is running then have to pull the cage out and start from scratch. Douh. May be able to do some club days with the cage as it is? Surely its safer with a rough cage than none at all? Well it was known before buying the car so just add it to the to do list...

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Slowly catching up on the build progress.

More bits bolted onto the motor and ready for first start. Red bucket is because she wet herself with a problematic water hose. Awkward angle, old hard hose and miss-shaped water pump outlet ganged up on me. New hose and hey presto no leaks. Well, until the rebuild water pump decided it wanted to leak from the shaft seal. A new water pump is cheap insurance.

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And she is alive!

Very happy for first time rebuilding an engine. As Mr Clarkson says "How hard can it be?"

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Who can spot the mistake?

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Had a bit of a saga trying to bleed up the brakes. The skyline callipers that came with the car on the rear disks have no provision for cable handbrakes. I figure it would be easier to run a hydraulic handbrake, but got the plumbing wrong going in the out and out the in of the handbrake cylinder. Made it a bit hard to bleed. Then when I did get it a bit firm pullng the handbrake up pushed the foot brake. Hm, that can't be right. Got the fittings swapped around without dropping too much brake fluid through the car. Then re-bled the brakes from scratch perfecting my technique and wearing out the third peddle pushing helper... Stop the weary expression on my brother. I think his legs wore out a few minutes before this.

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Still not very firm despite putting over a litre of fluid through it and now its leaking out the master cylinder. Finally worked out the reverse pressure from the handbrake popped a seal between the reservoir and the master cylinder. Easier to fix than I thought after pulling apart on old master cylinder to see how it works, just push it hard back in. Phew. Onto the forth brake pushing helper with another complete bleed and still not much of a firm peddle! Getting frustrated now. Maybe it’s the brake booster? Started the engine and hey presto the peddle is not bad. Need to get them tested now.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Getting ready for basic wiring to for some track days. Found a shagged thread on the starter solenoid. Tracked down a die nut to clean it up, but not enough meat left in the thread to withstand any torque. Darn. Time for a new solenoid.

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Very exciting day! Front wheels on the ground for the first time in quite a while!

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Followed closly by getting her on her feet! Still getting used to how much lower she looks when not up on axle stands.

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Rolled her outside to get a proper look. Needs more lowness. But first just want to get her running. Keep getting the hard word from a mate who is the appointed Mission Creep Control. Good idea to seperate critical to run items from nice to have items as I want to drive her, not play in garage for the next few years. Critical = Brakes working and engine running. Nice to have = swapping 4 speed for 5, lowering etc. Plenty of time for tuning and modifying once we know how she goes.

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Picking the car up from a mate's machine shop after having the seat mounts welded in. Thirsty work.

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Pushing the car solo up the imperceptible incline outside my garage was a bit of an effort! Didn't help I was in a major rush... Only just managed to get it clear of the trailer so I could get out. After I got home and kids to bed spent 45 minutes getting the alignment closer than my first rough guess. Rolls much easier now! Proper alignment to come.

On advise from a scrutineer I made 3mm plates contoured to the inner sill and tunnel and 3mm box section between them to mount seat. The theory being this will give more side impact resistance and stop seat pull out of floor if I have a biggie. Thoughts?

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Wiring is Done!

(Well enough to get to a track day anyway.) Big Thanks to Rob & Andre.

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Quite proud of my little dash I made. It got a big green start button too! Its a "4 foot finish" as I only had basic tools in the garage and was in a rush to get to my auto electrician so I can drive the car. Had good fun laying it out making sure it was reachable when strapped in, visible etc.

Looked at the birds nest wiring that came with the car. Numerous additions and changes. Hmmmmm. Best to rip it all out and start again as some of it looked pretty suspect! Only basic wiring so far for track days. So stop lights, ignition, fuel pump, charging and radiator fans.

Car came with a banged up fan for the engine crank that didn't look like it was going to do much and an uninstalled electrical fan. Off to pick a part for a electrical push fan and put both in the nose ahead of the radiator. I figure the V6 is create a bit of heat sitting under the bonnet! Both fans are just manually switched so far.

Anyone know what lights I need legally to get her re-complied for the road?

edit -Question may be a bit dense so here's a bit more info.

On a 1969 vehicle, do I need:

Hazard lights?

Side/running lights?

Reversing light/s?

I assume I need:

Headlights, dip & high beam.

Stop lights.

Indicators.

Rear number plate light?

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First drive! And it all works! How hard can it be?

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Some tentative testing of brakes and shaky video holder. I think the handbag was worried I might end up in the neighbours... Next up alignment, tune and brake test before a proper run. Sounds easy when went you say it that fast.

Oh and the second WTF section of the car.

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And now for WTF #2.

Seller’s description was “Needs a bit of attention under the rear guards.”

Well he was not kidding… Beautiful job on the bubble arches looking from the outside. You would think the inside would be sorted first before going to all that trouble?

Looks OK from the inside.

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But the original arch has been cut back, then very roughly welded together leaving a nice jagged edge ready to slice the unsuspecting tire. I measured the travel to the bump stop hoping I really didn’t have to go there. But a good 40mm of interference with the tire at the top of the suspension travel spells bad news for the tire. With free inclusion of bodge job riveted plates.

Here is some of the tire killing material I cut out after much swearing, blood, sweat but not tears, that was just the grit in my eyes. Neighbors loved me for running the compressor and angle grinders for a few hours…

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“Dad, Mummy wants to know if you have finished making all that bloody noise and are going to come in and look after us before she goes crazy.” (Note the innocuous looking little arc of steel on the floor. It really did not want to come off the car!)

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“Not before I quench a thirst.”

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Special boot cooling ducts.

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Does my ass look big in this green?

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Alignment day! Yay all the wheel going the same way!

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Still loving my front brakes

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Also love the side pipes, but hate how the cans scrape on the driveway at the new house. Be a shame to take out such a good sounding S/S exhaust but look like I have to before lowness can be acheived.

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  • 3 weeks later...

The Brakes Work!

After picking her up from being aligned I bribed a workshop with some beers to put her on their rolling road. Excellent news to find good stopping power. No idea on balance of front to rear except front has more. The comment “that’ll stop her alright” made me a happy camper. Sorry guys for the donut when trying to get her out of the rollers…

Just so its not a picture-less update here is family play time installing the 5 point harness.

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Being very happy my engine whispering skills had progressed from Zero to Engine Start after a rebuild I am no where near guru status and figured before spanking her on the track I had better make sure the timing was right and she wasn’t going to lean out and/or blow up on me during some enthusiastic driving.

So asked around to find someone good with oldschool machinery. A friend of mine has a mint Serria Cosworth and highly recommended Paul who runs Marua Automotive. -166 Marua Rd, 579 3315. Amongst other things he had been Clark Proctor’s mechanic for many years during Targa so knows how to fix fast cars. He did a great job. It was quite cool looking through his Ferrari glass spark plug at the explosions in the combustion chamber. Paul is pretty keen to work on more oldschool and race car stuff rather than to soulless plastic modern cars. I put a shout for him in the trusted workshop section as highly recommended.

Car now idles beautifully. Sounds So Cool!

Of course I had to take her for a quick spin around some private roads and came back with a Huge smile on my dial! Gets tail happy pretty easily… Bring on the Track Day!

Now just lots of detail work. Things like swapping the plastic cable tie holding the fuel line by the extractors for a metal P clip, secure the fuel tank properly…

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  • 1 month later...

After a long time out of the garage with life choices getting in the way I finally made it back. Moving house, working overseas bla bla bla...

Some progress

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Bonnet is now on with extra big cut out to fit engine and alternator.

Nice BIG garage! Critical requirement for new house...

Better shot of seat rails.

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Incontinence pad under the car. Hey, she's 42 years old and this is Old School...

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Happy to get the grill back on with some cool plastic clips.

Another of the minor challenges.

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A test drive around the work carpark revealed fuel painting the outside of the car on hard left hand turns. Probably should sort that out... Some munter had a go at the fuel cap with this result. First off I will try to straighten it out and get a cap to replace the existing one to see it I can get a better seal. Hopefully easier than trying to source the oddball fuel filler.

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