mfordy

Bob Homewood (Hitech Motorsport) has heaps of experience with side draughts and is setup with a Dynapack chassis dyno. Found some extra hp for me but unfortunately made it near impossible to cold start!... Going back next week to sort out. Hitech aren't cheap dyno charge $250, lambda fitting $20 + labour but they will standby their work. Good luck sorting you're trailer queen. Must be something about them as mine is just as bad

Ha I feel your pain. Still haven't sorted mine yet either!

Aiming for 110 hp at the wheels. Not quite there yet according to the dyno for some reason Thanks. Great fun to drive when it goes

Just finished running in after engine/gearbox rebuild - lots of startup issues around new baffled sump, pickup and oil pump (and a second failed cw+p). Handed to tuner for a dyno session on friday before sunday racing so didn't get a chance to run before meet. Really hard to start cold with lots of spitting but settled down when hot. Dropped a cylinder on 2nd lap of second race. Looks like a head gasket. Got to sort out the ute before I can do much with the escort now.

Another DNF at Hamptons yesterday Car lasted practice and one race before deciding it prefers to be a trailer queen. And to make it worse my towcar broke down on the way home....Fark!!

Looking good, nothing like a bit of tripoding on turn 3 You obviously sorted out ya problem - distributor playing up? What sort of lap times did you end up with?

Bugger!.. Distributer probs again? Was the pop just a backfire thru the carbs or a mechanical breakage?

Starting to get the engine back together. Didn't really know what spec the motor was but stoked to find a well sorted head (albeit with a bent No. 2 exhaust valve) - Stage 3 spec Big valves, porting etc Added steel shaft, posts and spacers. Resurfaced cam with duplex adjustable chain/sprocket. Steel banded head gasket as evidence of a small leak between 2 and 3 when pulling apart ARP bolts/studs. A little more work to the rods and new rings. Custom oil control plate To combat the oil surge issues, I'm spending some serious $$$ getting a proper gated/baffled sump made. The old winged sump was an engineering disaster and has been confined to the bin. Also waiting on the gearbox which is getting modified for larger bearings etc. Engine went fairly well before the rebuild, so will be interesting to see how well it goes now....

Got mine from Palmside for $1095 but they've just put their prices up a bit....

The text looks good. The curves around the rear guard weren't quite right and took a bit of persuasion to fit. I got lucky with the TCA's. Enford in Christchurch (who doesn't normally have Mk2 Escort parts) had a couple sitting on the shelf.

Empty space again But I'll be back better and stronger soon.

Did you think about doing this Max? - kinda makes sense..

Pic looks pretty sharp... Capri vented disks with M16 spacer kit and good pads work great on my car. Easy to setup without mucking around with m/c and fairly cheap to setup.

Thanks Max. Best time was a 1:30.9

A more successful return to Hampton this time at the legends of Speed meet. Managed to finish all 3 races and kept most of the oil in the engine. Unfortunately it was the last round of the classic trial series so off the road again for a motor/gearbox freshen up ready for Ice Breaker meet (1st round) in July Need some more power (or more talent )

Gaz shocks. Nice... Did you buy some new halfshafts out of the UK or just second hand locally? Getting hard to find good ones now.

Rust in all the normal Mk2 spots... Good luck with the build

Are they 105speed extractors? Look good... Happy birthday by the way.

Thanks for the comment xygtho. Yeah I removed the PCV valve so is venting directly from the crankcase and rocker cover. Consensus is that the sump is not baffled well enough and getting oil surge which is bad enough to flood the rockers and out to the catchcan. Doing a leak down test over the weekend to test the bottom end as well

Not sure about the rings. No evidence of any exhaust smoke and still making reasonable power. Leak down test will identify I guess. I think oil surge and ventilation probs. Oil pressure wasn't stable around that sweeper leading onto the front straight. Will probably look at the gearbox again too as seemed to be a bit too much driveline vibration - to the point I was backing off on the front straight With that manifold, only had to lower booster by 25~30mm from memory. Will check tonight.

2 litre catch can full after 2x 15 minute sessions... Seems the crankcase is getting pressurised and basically leaking oil from every orifice including the rocker cover???. Not quite sure how to sortout/proceed at the moment. Probably a leak down test first. Anybody got any suggestions? Handling/braking was surprisingly good and I seemed to be able to brake way later than many of the late model jappers I was on the track with. Lap times weren't being recorded as only a "playday" but I think 1:30 based on cars around me. Damn it was good while it lasted.

Debut outing ending in a flood of tears oil. Fark...

Thanks M_C Thanks Shane. Really gutted I missed out on Sunday. Yeah, plumbed to rocker cover and sump

After 2 years it lives.... sort of. Was all set to race at Hampton Downs today but some last minute brake issues finished off that plan Festival of Speed in January or PCC bent sprint in February next target

Spoke to a guy yesterday that reckons you can remove/install a new tailhousing bush with the gearbox in the car. Apparently, some are split so once you remove the seal you can collapse the bearing with a screwdriver and remove with long nose pliers... It doesn't seem likely to me. Anybody heard this before?