nicklm

I got some mk1 door seals from palmside a couple years back and I'm not super stoked as the doors don't close easily without a good slam.. 

Question, am I supposed to re-set the door latch or something like that? I've tried lightly hitting the seam back that the rubber sits on but that didn't really work.. Cheers

Been a while...

The car has been sitting in the garage for the last 2 years or something not doing much. I have been slowly hoarding away parts and with our first baby on the way decided it's time to get motivated and do some stuff with it..

I got these wheels from another member up North ages ago, they're supposed to be from a formula ford or something. I've had them stripped, powder coated and fitted up with 175/60 A539. 

I had bought a set of MK1 struts converted to coilover ages ago but as my car already had a MK2 front end and I had a spare set of MK2 struts I sold the MK1 struts and Chris from suspension tech in Pukekohe built up my MK2 struts. 

This is the finished result of new wheels plus struts.. (this was taken a couple years ago pre coilover)

and now..

I'm super stoked on how the car is coming along.. I've been planning this in my head for the last 10 years almost! The next step is go for a WOF, hopefully it will pass at the local shop out here in Waipara but I'm not overly optimistic with the lack of cert for coilovers. 

This is awesome! Great use of laminated posts for the legs can't wait to see this done

X 2 votes for Halswell New World, most of the New Worlds around have really good craft beer selection, the one on Peer St which isn' too far off your route have an awesome selection too, rouge ales etc

People seem to be asking high $$$ for average escorts / shells these days, like that one mentioned above that's rusty as F it's been on tradme for ages and the price has never been lowered.. I went into kiwi auto spares way back in maybe 03 / 04 for a rear quarter window for my MK1 and they had maybe 15 + shells all stacked up in there, all mk1's and all in various conditions etc. I dunno if they still have them all or if they even sell their shells but I'm sure there are piles of them about, maybe worth calling and asking, worse thing they can do is say no.. Have you tried calling Palmside in Hoonhay, they must be the masters by now of finding escorts to build into epic rally cars.

My 2 cents would be for an average to tidyish shell you would be paying $1500 - $2000 anything over that it better be mint, otherwise you're being ripped off.. But like I said, just my opinion, 

Good hunting 

Crazy story, it's a shame there are so many fuck wits out there in the world that you don't even feel comfortable driving your own car down the bloody street... I think the recommendation of installing a GPS is the best advice I've read in a while..

I always remember that lol show way back in the day where the cops used to park a boy racer GTX in south auckland and wait for it to be stolen, they had it set up with GPS and cameras etc they always found it and often caught out a few chop shops too..

Guess it's good proof that GPS work well.. 

The 175/60R13's are definitely available.  I've got a customer running them on a mini-sprint stock car.  I believe they are rated up to 6" rims as well.

Yeah I keep thinking if I end up going for 50s I'll end up with massive tyre to guard gap if I don't have the car sitting on the ground.. Having the car super low would be cool, but dunno if it would be practical / easy to achieve in chch with our roads

You should be able to buy 175/50R13 Yokohama A539's for around $140-$170 each including fitting.  As far as I can tell, they're are in stock.

I didn't get a chance to look into the Nankang's.

A539s are definitely my preferred choice, I noticed on the yokohama website they are also available in 175/60 so may also look into that but at this stage 175/50 would be the go.. Thanks for the advice

Talk to rich at Premium Tyres, Dyers road, he runs a MK2 escort sport and knows what works and what doesn't

I'll get in touch with him, cheers 

175/50R13 have a maximum spec of 6" wide wheels.  There is no reason for the tyre shop to say it's not an option unless they just don't want to do it.

It's unlikely anyone will have them in stock, but they will be able to source them for you and will only take overnight/two days to get them there.  I also don't know who to recommend as the tyre shop I deal with in Christchurch is a commercial store so they generally don't deal with this sort of thing.

Yokohama and Nankang definitely do them, and I have no doubt there are a few other brands available in NZ.

Cheers, yeah have been looking through the yokohama website and will try some places soon

Hey trying to figure out what's the go... I have some 13x6 wheels for the escort and will need new tyres soon, the wheels are in getting painted. All the cool kids seem to go with 175/50R13 but the only shop I spoke with said that's deffinitely a no go, too small etc etc.  I have 185/60 on my 7 inch hotwires at the mo but would like something smaller..   

Does anyone know any tyre shops or GCs in chch that would fit a 175/50 to my wheels or even have the tyres in stock? Or should I be looking for a different size all together?

I know nothing about tyres..

Cheers, Nick 

No I gave them to Billy but I will see him tomorrow or if you want his number just let me know

Yeah that would be great if you could get that to me thanks, I have asked him a question on his auction anyway so I'll keep an eye on that too.. 

Oh and is that you selling those black formula ford rims on trade me? I'm quite keen on them if it is you.. 

Working very actively on it want to take the car to Nats and track day but also need a new clutch now as well . New cam being made and should be ready and in Auckland mid week all going to plan. What seem like nothing to much at the drags is turning out to be a big deal.Its getting time to sell this one and start the next project

 

Super keen to see what this engine can do around Hampton it used to do 130:50 on the old set up but it hasn't managed to run long enough to get a new time on this set up

I can understand why you would wanna sell it, but it would be a shame if you did.. This is one of my favorite sports, and when everything falls into place will prob be one of the better set up ones too.. I cant wait to see what your new motor can do either!

But I'm not the best person to listen too, I've owned the same escort for way to long now   

Oh and if your looking for some cool German projects a good mate has a pretty sweet E30 Touring 

I live in Waipara just north of chch if your passing through here, there are some pretty epic landscapes around here.. 

Sucks to read about your engine, hope it gets sussed soon... At least that broken end will make a sweet paper weight!

I agree that pplates are pretty stupid, if it were me and they came with the car I would aim for a nice round figure say $500, at the end of the day whatever you sell them for you're gonna be better off that amount than you were before..

Whats the cost involved to re-register a car if you sold the Pplates off it with a regular rego number? You should include that in your sale price 

Should be able to come to this one

YES! This just happened! 

Been a while no updates and little progress but I have done some things to the escort.. Finished rust prepping the floor and tidying that area up, so a couple weekends ago I fitted the new carpet I bought of trademe.. Pretty stoked on the finished result, it's tidied the interior up so much.. 

I've also replaced the door and boot rubbers but that isn't very exciting so I wont put up photos of that. So this weeks mission is a WOF, be pretty keen to have this road worthy over the holidays so fingers crossed there's no majors there.. 

This thread is sweet! Good luck getting it going again.. My 1600 is running a similar spec to what your aiming for with 1300 pistons balanced bottom end and twin 40s and a big cam.. It's a great wee motor and I'm stoked your saving this one. Makes a cool thread too so go hard

Quick update... My floor is now RUST FREE!!! Big thanks to MrMk1 aka Josh for being a good sort and doing all the hard work over the weekend.. Now to continue putting it back together and getting it back on the road...

Some crappy phone photos just cos..

On another note, the front coilovers are going to take me a while longer than expected to get in the car due to a lack of the $$$, does anybody have a cheap pair of lowering springs for an escort they don't need anymore? Pref in the chch area. Because reverse rake is shit.. 

Cheers Nick 

It's looking great! 

In more exciting news I have been collecting parts over the past couple of months mainly from forum members so am pretty stoked to get through this interior stuff and onto some more exciting things.. 

Front coilovers, cheers Jessie 

An autosport seat, cheers Mike

Winning at under seal removal (now hopefully I will never have to do it again)