Frosty

You gota love these guys, they miss the point every time. They always like spending other peoples money. LOL Increased crank speeds also affect the alternator and power steer pump as well if fitted. Run an race spec Escort years ago that went well past 8K and had an issue with the water flow and it fried alternators regularly. What I ended up doing was using a smaller crank pulley, it solved both problems at the same time. I just did the percentage change calculations and found one the right size (about 30% in my case), a bit of machining to make a custom 2 piece crank pulley. No more over heating on long runs and no more fried alternators. Only complication was the loss of the factory timing marks.

Give my brother Neil Marshall a bell on 0274466255, he's been building homologated cages for club, rally and drift cars for years. I could give you some of the jizz but I'm not as up to date as him and things changed a heap at Christmas. Material certs and photographic evidence of the welds and bends is part of it. Log books, Car club membership and sanctioned meetings are also a requirement for a cert. MSNZ scrutineers don't need to know the specs for homologation they only need to know it's homoligated, not the same thing and from memory the homoligation standard and design of the cage can change depending on the classes you want to run in as there is different racing bodies for drags, traction, drift, rally, club. WAY more to it than some black pipes stuck in a car.

The top hats are different but the struts and springs are the same, no biggie to swap them over even if I have to scrounge some 82 hats and spring mounts for the top, it's the hub end and overall length I'm worried about especially on the drum rear. I can take some measurements if that will help. Even with the stuffed shocks and springs the car car stops very well so if I can retain the factory hub and brakes that would be good. it's one less job to do. Like I said in my original post the AE80 and 82 shells are the same, so I'm not worried about the body side of the job, it's the other end of the strut that gives me cause for concern. Looking into a 4A-F carb engine conversion with a 7A-FE block inserted at a latter stage, close to 4A-GE power but with a factory carb and emissions control bolt in and no need for a computer, so if there are any changes in the hubs and lower arms that need to be done now's the time to sort it all out.

Um I have checked and while the AE82 and AE92 are quite different to look at they do use common bits in the suspension at least, brakes, engines and gearboxes to. If you check you will find that the AE80 is the odd ball and the AE82 and 92 use the same struts and springs. Check the King and Monroe catalogues you will see for your self.

Looking at replacing the the very tired and soft springs and shocks in my AE80. At first glance it looks like the AE80's run different struts and springs to the AE82 and 92, but the AE82 runs the same shell as the AE80. Can someone confirm weather or not the whole strut and spring assembly can be swapped over? Or do I also have to change the hubs and arms? The main reason I ask is because the AE82 and AE92 setups are as common as mud and cheap to replace while it is difficult to even get a parts listing to suit the AE80. Thanks for any help you may be able to offer.

Flat head, ported. OK. 1300 HC pistons. OK. Big cam? Can be issues with valve clearance to piston top, long duration means the valve is still open when the piston is at the top of the stroke. Also be aware if you are running double valve springs they can fully compress resulting in cam and follower damage or bent pushrods, Any more than a A2 or similar lift and this becomes an issue, have seen it with A2 cam as well but only when larger valves have been installed. If you are running all standard bits then sweet as long as you haven't skimmed the block, tried and tested by many before. If you plan on running high lift or long duration cams be very careful and check everything twice, not so easy get the $ ready. Low and midrange dead spots are mostly tuning, a bit of carb tinkering and conversion to pointless dissy sorts most of it out. Top end flat, fuel supply or to small carb or jets, low spark intensity or can also be valve float if running single valve springs. Dave Visard is the man with these pushrod English engines I highly recommend getting his book. With his book I managed 160hp in my MK 1 race car on avgas and 150 on pump gas (the old leaded stuff), Could have had more but it would have used 2 or 3 engines a season, at this tune they lasted a season of racing. Diff ratios depend on what you intend on using the car for. Road use 3.5 or 3.7 some track use 3.7, 3.9. Maybe 4.1? all track use depends on the track and the top speeds you can achive. I ran 4.3 at Taupo old track, could have run lower but they very very very hard to find and they are prone to losing crown wheel teeth, 100e Prefect from memory so where designed with 16hp and not 160 in mind. 4.1 at Manfield or 3.9 on a cold day. Cold air = more hp + better top speed. 4.3 for hill climbs.

Sounds like 1 of 2 possible problems. Pump stuffed. Wrong pump fitted. And a very distant 3rd place goes to. Faulty solenoid on rack, this is a known problem with this model. (stuck in one mode or the other doesn't change back and forth). One other option just jumped into my head. At some stage someone has replaced the 2.8 rack guts with a 2.0 spec guts? Long shot/hail Mary, some of those Aussies are almost our equals when it comes to dodgy repairs.

Before you go spending mega bucks on a rebuilt head/ valve springs. Check, Compression, dry wet method, will tell you if the valves and rings are OK. Fuel pressure at load, may be the fuel pump not keeping up. Dwell angle, will give you a much clearer picture of the condition of the points and condenser. Main shaft wear in dissy and mechanical advance. Float level, I think others have talked about this. Coil and leads, Nice blue spark (yellow = poor spark) and leads should test at near 0 ohms for solid core and under 17,000 ohms for resistive core, don't mix the two. Air jets in carb, minor blockage can create a major issue as the revs go up. Valve clearance, must check as seat erosion can make this zero or less. In the OHC Ford engines this alone stops them from revving. If you have a poor idle with no other obvious problems this is the most likely suspect, Then run fuel additive or Kero (20mL per 20lt approx) in the fuel to slow the erosion. All these can effect mid and high end performance such as it is in a Minx. I say this because I owned a 1965 Minx that had over 300,000 miles on the original engine and it still went to 80+ mph without a splutter, read here valve springs unlikely to be the problem unless it has had a major overheat in it's history. Like most pre crossflow English engines of this era redline is around 5500rpm so don't expect to much more. Even the Rapier versions with the twin valve springs, dual carbs and a cam only had a 6200rpm redline.

As you say welding the holes is a no no on stressed cast front hubs. This method has been used on the rear axles for years as in most cases they are billet so that's the back sorted with a disc conversion from a Sierra Sapphire or Cosworth, If you want to keep it on 13" wheels you might have to use something else though. (Mitsi Gallant)? The MK4 Zephyr/Zodiac conversion works on the front but the offset means you can only run solid rotors which means you get the 5 stud but no real improvement in breaking. Another option is to get billet hubs made up to suit the Falcon vented or other suitable vented rotor offset turned down to the same diameter as the original rotors and the 5 stud PCD patten with 4 pot Austin Princess calipers (same bolt up and reach as the Escort strut) with alloy spacers between the two halves to make it suit the thicker vented rotor, I've used this option my self years ago for a MK1 Escort running a Supercharged 3.0 V6 and it's not as expensive as you might imagine. Some one on this site must know a good fitter that can spin you up some hubs, shave down the rotors and cut some spacers for the calipers. The beauty of this method is that it looks stock as you can still use the stock Escort caliper mounts, dust shield and Early Zephyr/Zodiac steels to keep it on 13" Wheels with hubcaps. Should be certified however. The Princess calipers are still available as NOS from England or try Iona Motors in New Plymouth. This conversion is has been used so much there that high temp pads are available if you want to go racing and need longer life pads. I hope this helps.

The 5 speed and the 4 speed are both called T5. The 4 speed has all the bearings in the gearbox housing. The 5 speed has an extended lay shaft that protrudes into the bellhousing with the bearing mounted in the back of the bellhousing, this is why they are weaker. The 4 speed is 1:1 top but there are gear sets available with 1:1 3rd and 1:115 or 1:125 available. It is how ever easyer to just bump up your diff ratiio. they have a lowish 1st so on the V8 a 3.25 to 2.75 ratio still gives you a usable street car, as long as you havn't got a monster cam that gives no horsepower under 4000 RPM. If you have a monster cam stick with a auto and high stall converter as even a Top Loader would be a pain. Hollenger do a nice 5 or 6 speed sequencial shift for arround $4k to suit big HP 351's or 302's. The T5 4speed was used from XD to XF in the 3.3, 4.1 and 5.0(302) models. The ones in the 3.3's are the best as they have done the least work.

Had a T5 4 speed behind a 351 Windsor in a XA wagon years ago. It was a much better box than the Top Loader! (I can hear the groans now from the Top Loader fans as I write this) The T5 has much faster shifts and is way cheaper to service. If you want a 5 speed think again they are weak as, they had problems with them behind the 3.3 Crosflow. The "5.0 Turbo Mustang box" is a bigger box and a lot harder and expensive to find. (Std 5.0's used the T5) Put a T5 single rail 4 speed and a 3.25 9" and you will be set for 150MPH at 7500RPM. The XA wagon I owned did 13.5 sec 400 meter times with a open 3.5 ratio and put out 350+ hp at the wheels. I did Bearings every 20,000km's and burnouts with a gearbox cooler. (A Top Loader will be the same) All I used was a trans cooler and a low pressure fuel pump to circulate the gearbox oil. If you really wanta 5 speed try a W58 Toyota, they are even better than the 5.0 Mustang Turbo box and 1/2 the price to buy and fix + you can get one in NZ. If you use the T5 4 speed you can use the drive shaft, cross member and speedo cable form the auto and the gear stick WILL come up in the same place as the auto floor change as long as it is a falcon and isn't a cortina 6cyl or escort rocket box. (yes they are the same gear boxes just with different tail housings and linkages)

I can conferm. L series to C52 or W55,56,57. Here is a useless piece of information. If you look at the gearbox side of the bell housing you will find a letter cast into or stamped into the casting on the right hand side just below the second bolt hole. L for L series R for R series T for T series G for G series M for M series etc etc. Not all have it but I have 5 models and only the Y series is not marked. Hope this helps you out. P.S. Only applies to C52 and W55,56,57 bell housings.