Baxter

Yeah they are very close, but I don't think they are a safe fit.

Yep that's true (I though it was '91 though?), but you need a justice of the peace to sign a statutory declaration saying the mods were done before 1991. I'm guessing since that's so long ago now you'd need some kind of proof for the JP, eg photos with awful '80s haircuts, or old registration papers with a larger engine capacity listed, etc... Technically my Mark 1 Esky doesn't need certification for it's 1600, disks, etc. I stll have the original declaration sitting at home - though I never actually needed to get a JP to sign it...

Make sure you have your guards painted or clear-coated after they are rolled, as it actually cracks your paint and will rust otherwise...

Yeah sure certification should be a requirement for modified cars. But having to fork out engineer's rates to have someone OK a well known and proven modification as a 1600 in a 1300 is simply over the top. WOF guys should be able to OK modifications that use factory or approved parts.

No. Not quite. The splines slot into the clutch plate's boss, hence this hole will be the exactly correct size for your gearbox's input shaft. However, the hole in the end of the crank has a bronz bearing called the spigot bearing. The non-splined tip of your input shaft slides into this bearing. And yes I think the auto does have a different sized spigot. It will run with this hole to big - but, yes, it will wear out quicker than normal. Though it's not like an Escort box is the harest or deaest thing to replace. And having said bear in mind that there are many such conversions been done that have lasted for ever. It probably wouldn't be too hard or expensive to fix this problem properly - you may well simply be able to swap the auto spigot bearing with a manual one...

It might beat it out, but it'll take ages and more than likely make a hole in the sump. If you have a welder and want to avoid taking it in and out again, a wee trick that sometimes works is to weld a wee tag on and try and pull/hammer it out. Best bet though is to get a 1600 sump of a mk2 esky, there should be heaps about and cheap enough.

The Warehouse sells something called Supreme Sheen, it works very well (though ofcourse fades like other products). Though it's cheap enought to just keep reapplying...

Anyway, as I said, contary to your advice, welding a diff will make your car difficult-to-undriveable in what most people call normal driving (ie anywhere but on a race track or in a straight line). And for the record welded is pretty crap on the track as well compared to a real limited slip...

Um, no. You'll certainly notice a welded diff driving normally - like not being able to do U-turns! A mate had a welded dif in his PP RX7 and it was a total bitch to drive anywhere but on the track.

Yeah the Serria 5-speed fits in the tunnel with a couple of bashes in the right places. and now for a bit of history In fact I believe the original factory rally sport manual reccomended this as the official modification to fit the ZF 5-speed in!

I'm told an old Accord dizzy can be very easily adapted - ie the toothed wheel from the Escort dizzy can be easly pressed on to the Accord's shaft by a machine shop. Take an Esky dizzy into a japanese car wreckers and see what looks right. And let us know what fits...

A bit of car history: No, not all mk2 RS2000s have the droop-snoot front. Ford Australia made ones with normal flat front (and I think so did South Africa as well). I don't know if they were all badged as 'RS's, but certainly many were - I'm pretty sure the RS ones were all 2 doors, but they also made 4 door 2-litre Eskys as well... I don't know about mk2s, but all 'export' market mk1 Escorts have stronger bodies than the UK market - very similar to the GT/RS body (type 49 shell). Both drop-snoots and flat front 2-drs were homologated for racing as RS2000s. All RS2000s in NZ are special imports, and there is a mix of UK, Austrilian, and home-made replica ones about... On topic: I haven't done it myself, but have considered it many times - there's heaps of sites with lots of detailed conversion info, try google (particularly the UK version http://www.google.co.uk). Some people are now fitting the injected Serria motor, which I imagine would be great in an Esky. The 5-speed is a cheap enough box and just as easy to fit as the Cortina 4-speed, and it will make for a heaps better end product.