Mk2 Escort Group 4 Rally Car

[rallyreturn]

Man up and lift it out on your own !!

Its always a problem lifting engines from the back of cars, if you can get enough mates, a couple of ropes or strops around it and lots of grunting it will come out
Always nervous about damaging rear bumper when doing this sort of thing

My neighbour got home from work just as I was trying to get it out by myself and as he is also a rally nut he willingly gave me a hand and it was no bother with the 2 of us.

As for the bumper.. that's what the blanket was for.....!!!

 

[normspanners]

That is the problem with the pintos so flipkin heavy, and thats without the head n cam!! deffo need strut brace when yumpin pinto power.

 

[Wallace]

Can anybody help me to find a 2.0L pinto engine for rebuilding..

Not something I thought I would hear, difficulty finding a Pinto engine!

 

[normspanners]

PS You can get a 'warrior' twin cam head for it and still use it historic I believe.

 

[rallyreturn]

PS You can get a 'warrior' twin cam head for it and still use it historic I believe.

Would be nice but it's about £5-£6K for the head..

http://www.connaughtengines.co.uk/warrior.asp

 

[hillman]

You can get alloy 8v heads from Burtons and CNC heads. a bit lighter.

 

[hillman]

Just thought, I've seen alloy blocks advertised somewhere too. That'd be an interesting project.

 

[normspanners]

Mind you I did several years servicing with group 1's doing british championship and we were nearly always in the top 15 if not the top ten with 160 hp, standard discs and calipers and drum brakes at the rear with standard position shocks.
won Group one three times. Says a lot for the old girls, heavy or not.
last picture is from Kershope Forest at 5.30 a.m. with car No. 62 Louise Aitken (as she was known in 1981) and co-driver Ellen Morgan they were competing in a Ford Escort RS 2000, finishing 19th overall and winning the Ladies award

 

[rallyreturn]

Having visited the Wyedean Rally service park Yesterday I felt motivated today to make a start on fitting the gearbox crossmember brackets.
First task was to fit the WCXM, mounts and engine block. Then the new bellhousing and gearbox.





As you can see the brackets need major modification to fit to this tunnel and I also need to work out the height that the gearbox sits inside the tunnel.
ANY ADVICE APPRECIATED..!!!

 

[brightspark]

[nice job i would have thought keep the gearbox bellhousing and engine as level as possible. the gearstick mounting will govern some of the height that is just below the tunnel

 

[normspanners]

I keep the box as high as poss, with the gear change lever I normally make a little turret on top of the tunnel for the knuckle of the gearchange to go into . With the gearbox x member I usually widen the Xmember to bridge the exhaust tunnel then mount XM to the floor just strengthen the floor up a little with a 5mm plate welded on either side tack two nuts to the plates for the mounting bolts.
ps have you checked the sump guard to xmember clearance yet ?

 

[rallyreturn]

I keep the box as high as poss, with the gear change lever I normally make a little turret on top of the tunnel for the knuckle of the gearchange to go into . With the gearbox x member I usually widen the Xmember to bridge the exhaust tunnel then mount XM to the floor just strengthen the floor up a little with a 5mm plate welded on either side tack two nuts to the plates for the mounting bolts.
ps have you checked the sump guard to xmember clearance yet ?

Thanks for the info,

haven't checked the clearance yet but will get round to it after I've sorted the crossmember out.

Do you know which side the long and short pinto engine mount should be fitted as there is a mixed contradiction on the web. As you can see from the photos I have the long one on the passenger side but the gearbox doesn't sit perfectly in the middle of the prop tunnel.

Is this what you mean about the knuckle height

 

[brightspark]

just looked at mine and the short engine mount is on the passenger side and the gearbox is virtualy up to the tunnel height with a bit of clearance for movement yours looks a little high

 

[normspanners]

I think it is how you have it, coz if I remember correctly the casting mounts on the block are longer on the offside/drivers side so that is the side that the shorter mount goes, but you dont have the mounting bolts in the xmember so if it is not exactly at 90 deg to the chassis rails that will put the tail of the gear box to one side or the other, another way to adjust it is when the xmember is guaranteed 90 to the chassis is to push the rubbers through the WCXM a little ie forward or back on one side or both to 'tune' the exact position of the tail shaft without straining the GBXM if ya catch my drift.
Yes that is exactly what I was talking about re the quick shift Gear lever knuckle the only thing re the gearbox height is the dia of the prop shaft the old group fours where one piece and about 4.5" dia and are more likely to rub on the tunnel on full bump, but the latter 2 piece small 50mm ish ones are less likely

 

[rallyreturn]

just looked at mine and the short engine mount is on the passenger side and the gearbox is virtualy up to the tunnel height with a bit of clearance for movement yours looks a little high

I'm going to swap over the mounts just to see what changes because it's 50/50 on which way others have fitted them. I can adjust the tailhousing height as it's held up with a strap.

 

[rallyreturn]

I think it is how you have it, coz if I remember correctly the casting mounts on the block are longer on the offside/drivers side so that is the side that the shorter mount goes, but you dont have the mounting bolts in the xmember so if it is not exactly at 90 deg to the chassis rails that will put the tail of the gear box to one side or the other, another way to adjust it is when the xmember is guaranteed 90 to the chassis is to push the rubbers through the WCXM a little ie forward or back on one side or both to 'tune' the exact position of the tail shaft without straining the GBXM if ya catch my drift.
Yes that is exactly what I was talking about re the quick shift Gear lever knuckle the only thing re the gearbox height is the dia of the prop shaft the old group fours where one piece and about 4.5" dia and are more likely to rub on the tunnel on full bump, but the latter 2 piece small 50mm ish ones are less likely

The crossmember bolts are fitted but the chassis tubes I've welded in are the threaded type. I might use the bolt and nylock nut method though for better security.

 

[normspanners]

I might use the bolt and nylock nut method though for better security.

not only more secure but also if the bolt shears it is no problem. Looking at the photos again it maybe an optical illusion but the block looks twisted ie not parallel to the chassis rails, to me the rear looks closer to the nearside rail. and now I look at your photos it confirms the casting lugs ARE longer on the offside.

 

[rallyreturn]

I swapped over the engine mounts today and the shorter mount doesn't work on the passenger side, the engine sits further back towards the bulkhead.





I swapped it back to the long mount on the left and then modified the gearbox crossmember so that it would fit the large gearbox tunnel.

 

[BrokenBiker]

reading this thread makes me want another ford. No where to store one though yet

 

[normspanners]

something I have just thought about make sure you tighten the engine mounts on the block then try the through bolts you might find you need to adjust their position by thin shim washers coz the through bolts are critical if out even a very small amount, on being able to push them through the XM rubbers. Also as mentioned before re the gearbox dont force it over for the output to be central, adj the rear by pushing the rubber engine mounts through XM forward or back to tune it.