yoeddynz

Just looking back at old times and i'm wondering where my little escort is now?

I sold it to a young fella in Methven back in 2006. where is it now- anyone seen it. I wish i hadnt sold it but always the way eh.

Anyway- i'm coming back to NZ for good next year and want another old car as soon as i'm back- and my old scort would be wicked!

Escorts here in blighty are fucking expensive!!!

yeah- rotors are bloody cheap here;

Our 1st rx7..mint series 3 in original black £600!

our 2nd rx7 - series 3 £150

our 3rd rx7 - series 2 £110- i used that one for chevette build

then we bought a mint series 3 from scrap yard 8 miles away. £200 they said it wouldnt start...i changed the 10 year old petrol and the fuel pump and winner!

Rx3 - I paid £750 !

You can always get a really nice first gen for under £1000

And a really good FD - all original but with rebuilt engine/new turbos - owned by a bloke in our club sat for ages before got £2600 !

Rotarys just dont have the same following here.

alex

Heres the interior when i first went to view it..

and rust...

I just had to buy it!!!

After getting it all together and back on the road I added up all costs inc purchase price and it turned out to be a very very cheap original Rx3- I'm so happy i bought it and went through with the resto!

alex

Cheers

RR forum has some bloody wicked cars on it! I hope the supercharged Kaddett gets finished but it looks like he has lost his mojo

I'm happy just driving mine for now. I'll wait a bit till its warmer then do some suspension mods.

alex

Hello all- I aint posted up on here for ages. But its christmas and tellys crap so I thought I'd post up some pictures of my rx3...

I bought this last christmas- the fella i got it off has had it stored away over 20 years in a concrete farm shed. I'm the second owner. It was last driven 1985. It still had original plastc covers on sunvisors and over rear cards Every thing was in place and original. I still have the original 10 A but I wanted it more usable for long trips so I plonked a 12A and 5 speed out of a series 3.

It took me 5 good months of most nights after work and most weekends to cut out all the rust and weld in new steel, rebuild all the suspension and brakes and paint it.

It is by no means a perfect show car but its solid and I love it! I use it a lot- rain, mud or shine and its one of only two in the uk I know of that are used frequently.

Next things on the 'to do list' are fit new adjustable front inserts and rear dampers. And put a bigger muffler on the back so i can remove centre one. keeps catching bloody speed humps.

Rather than rewrite up all the posts heres a link ya can go to ...

http://www.exile-rotorsport.com/viewtopic.php?t=1090

alex

Whoops- I forgot the rules about posting on ya link. I removed it all and left a dot. ignore it!!

Anyway..

WOW!! cool car and i'm glad to see it aint gonna be butchered, then covered in glue and driven through Repco's car accessory area.

There is a cosmo sitting in a blokes lockup down in Newbury- about 40 miles south of where i live. I wish i could get it off him but he knows what its worth. bugger.

here it is...

alex

I've got one and I lived in CH CH but my chevette is 12,000 miles away!

That is a fine looking car- are there many wagons about because when I get back I wouldnt mind one!

Surely a gemini 1600 motor would fit in easily...? or are they hard to get?

well i thought i have not posted up here since leaving NZ last year...so heres the latest car...

my liitle brown chevette has been built up over last winter here in Blighty.

Its a standard 12A and box outta a rusty £120 series 2 Rx7. Had it on a rolling road and its putting out exactly 115BHP which is about right for one of these 12a's. Its fun and not tooooo thirsty. Surprises lots of cars at the lights and has alot of people trying to guess the engine note when i turn up at shows

I have been using it over summer here and its getting lots of interest as not so many people here into rotors...which is great because they are bloody cheap to buy and play with...except petrol but isnt it getting more expensive there in NZ too?

hers a link as Im a crap typer and dont want to write it all again!!!

Some of you will know this car already from chevettes.com and retro-rides.com

http://www.chevettes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11982

Please bear with me on late replys as I dont always get near the nerd net!

I hope ya like it- i love it!

alex (in cold grey rainy bloody england-looking forwards to coming home)

Triumph is my latest here in england. Escort I just sold recently before leaving NZ and I miss it dearly(sniff)

Filling void with this....

http://www.chevettes.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=11982

alex

Thanks man.

I think a standard chevette hatch weighs 855 kg and my old rx7 weighed in at 1150 or so so I looking forwards to the difference.

I think i'll go the harder way and raise the tunnel to get it back further otherwise if I do it the easier way I'll always be thinking it could be a lot better handling.

Cheers for offering help- i'm always learning....

every days a school day.

Just sorting out buying a chevette hatch in england- an old mans special in beige!

Perfect.

alex

Hey defcon- thanks very much for link, excellent site- just the sort of info i need!!!

It looks like all the ones pictured have been mounted fairly far forwards and they just bash the shit outta the start of the tunnel to give a little clearnce on bell housing.

This means keeping the standard sump position (pan at front), not having to raise tunnel and having engine mounted off seperate crossmember.

I think i'd rather try spin the sump around (pan at back), raising tunnel, and have motor mounted further back over stock crossmember resulting in better weight distribution...

But then the gear stick might be too far back...

apparently very very early RX7's had the sump pan at the back- i've been told...is this true?

hello all- I'm going back to England in two weeks and will be craving to do another project.

What I'm wondering is I know that a few chevettes have had rotors dropped into them and I'm hoping to find someone here on this forum who has done this fit or has good info on it.

I most interested in whether the trans tunnel needs hacking about and also if the sumps on 12A's or 13B's clears the crossmember?

The reason for project is because I really like chevettes (had two) and rotarys (had an old 7') so why not mix them?

Plus I dont think this particular mix has been done in the UK.

Any info will be really appreciated!

cheers

alex

Thanks for photo- I've definatley got the mounts on my axle but not sure about where it mounts to body. I've got an old chevette rear sway bar- i'll try that in.

but will my car have mounts for it ? I'll have a look but cant remember spotting anything obvious when i was doing the bushes.

My car has the swaybar mounts on the top of axle but can't see any mounting points on car.

where does it mount to car and does a mk 2 one fit a mk!?

If so- anyone got one kicking about they might wanna sell?

alex

I'm 31 and have full no claims bonus. Whatever I pay it wont be like what people pay in Britain...my girlfriend pays £800($2400) to insure her bedford truck!

If your young you pay shit loads over there! insurance is compulsory so its a cornered market....Bastards.

So what do you guys pay for your escorts, cortinas etc full comp and at what age?

If you dont mind me asking that is- I just wanna get a general idea so I will know if I'm getting robbed.

alex

Better insure my new car before I put it into someones flash bimmer.

Can anyone point me to some good insurers who might have special deals for classics?

When I was doing my apprenticeship as a fitter turner i spent 3 months in the blacksmith shop helping to make springs- I used to make up U bolts and if I remember correctly it was just high tensile bar- nothing flash or exotic.

Drove car tonight with new bushes and steering sorted out- wow- loads better. When i flick the steering wheel the car actually moves- it doesnt have a meeting and discuss what todays movements should be then pass a vote...

And road moise hasn't increased much either

theres about 8-10 mm showing on bolts- which would leave a couple of mms with another leaf on- is that not enough and why?

where can i get fluffy dice for it then?

I bought the full set except the swaybar mounts at front for $210 from Chamberlain suspension in Ch Ch.

I'm doing front ones this morning- I've just discovered that my mate I bought car off had fit mk2 struts without swapping to mk2 rack...so the mk1 tierod ends are too small and the tapers were not even close to fitting!. The ends were being held in place by the nuts and the rubber boots were squashed up tight(hence no rattles).

Bloody hell- no wonder the car was wandering in the straight ahead!!!

Really glad I had grabbed the rack from the mk2 doner car!

yeah- had some prelude seats in my chevette. built somes frames up and didn't really bother to go for light weight tubing- just good 'ol 3mm thick 25 sq RHS. weighed them when last out and shit- they were 21KG each!!!

Had a subaru pickup in england which i put RX7 seats in.. (man- did I get a bargin RX7 over there but that another story) ..I propped up the backs with plywood

I fit all the bushes in the back this afternoon- all came out and went in ok

I'll fit the front ones tomorrow morning but keep the old ones in case like alfaholic says they'll make my teeth chatter.

I'll get the KYBs. Checked the stock dampers today and they felt ok but not a lot of compression dampening. And theres enough thread left on U bolts to fit another leaf.

If i fit another leaf the ride height will go up right?

well I had a quick look and the escort rails seem to be mounted evenly down each side of the seat at the same height both sides- which is how the recaros rails are mounted- so as long as they are about the same width then it shouldn't be too much hassle...

...he says

I'm putting new bushes allround on the escort then I wanna fit new shocks. trouble is I dont know how uprated to go? I may in the future put an extra leaf in the back so I'm looking at some KYB's which are supposedly 35% uprated. Would that be too much dampening? they are gas filled and about $75 each.

who has experiance with fitting new shocks to eskys out there and what works on a near standard car?

and whats the rating of standard front mk2 springs. How much should I go to without making it ride like a skateboard?

I just want it to feel a bit tighter and roll a little less, with at the most an inch drop.

cheers for any advice

alex