Scott D's next MK1 Escort Project

[Gary P.]

Well done mate. See you at Noosa.

[maxrs]

Was surprised to see you on the highway Sunday. Everything was in one piece in tow. So a successful weekend up Noosa?

[ozstang65]

Yes, very successful for it's first time there, best time on my final run of 67.56. Hopefully by November I'll have the LSD in, a lower ratio diff and possibly some soft tyres. Getting to know the track better too is helping.

[maxrs]

Very good. That's quicker than the old boys Fx and Dannys in a dunnydoor.
You will be eager to get back to test the track knowledge. Well done!

[Gary P.]

[ozstang65]

OK, so time flies when you're having fun...obviously.. So time for an update before the next upgrade. I entered quite a few events at the end of 2012 start of 2013, all a huge amount of fun. There wasn't much to be done on the car in that time, played with suspension settings (minimally), cleaned up oil and filled the tank a few times. The biggest job was fitting the LSD (as bought) in early September. It came with a selection of ratios, however a 5.1 was in the diff already set up so I've stuck with that.

Since the last post I've competed in the following events, getting used to the car and getting faster at the repeated venues:

HRCC Norwell Sprints Sep 23. First event with the LSD - what a difference!

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Australian Motorkhana Championship Oct 13. The car was very quick - on all tests that didn't require a handbrake or reversing! But it's not set up exclusively for motorkhanas so I kinda expected that.

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Mt Cotton Hillclimb Oct 28. First time at Mt Cotton with the LSD, lowered my pb to 50.40 on the last run.



HRCC Noosa Hillclimb Nov 10. Managed a pb of 66.05 on my final run.



Mt Cotton Hillclimb Nov 25. pb lowered to 50.19



MG Iron Man sprint Norwell Feb 10. The 5.1 diff isn't ideal for here, a 4.9 would have been a bit better as most of the main 'straight' was 7500+ RPM in 4th! Best standing lap of 71.87 and a 67.59 flying lap for 25th outright & 1st in class.
MG Iron Man Hillclimb, Mt Cotton Feb 11. Finally managed a sub 50s run with 49.85 on the final run.



HSCCQ Khanacross, Willowbank. What a blast! 4th outright overall and would have had an outright fastest time on one of the tests if I hadn't taken a couple of poles with me!



Some more bits arrived recently for the next upgrade which is fitting the 5 speed. I've got an alloy bellhousing and a new starter to be installed along with some electricals reshuffling to be done to relocate the shifter. Next event is the HRCC Autumn event at the end of April - better get to the shed...i mean garage...

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[ozstang65]

oh, one other thing i did early this year was to pull the oil pump off and check it out after the dramas of last year. Turns out that the bypass valve was stuck closed which is why it kept blowing the seal out of the filter if it was given a rev before it completely warmed up. We also found out that the Ryco filters bottomed out before properly sealing so that combined with 90psi pressure was too much for them.

[Peter Knight]

Well done Scott,
It,s amazing what afew goodies does to a car.
I think I live close to you we will have to catch up sometime.

Peter

[gen mk 1rs2000]

hey scott those front wheels look all over the shop in those pics
lotsa flex goin on there !!
???

[ozstang65]

nah, just lots of camber to fit the tyres under the guards

[ozstang65]

OK, we're off to Morgan Park this weekend for HRCCQ's Autumn Historic races and regularities. The green machine now has it's legs back with the addition of a new 5-speed T9 (2.9:1 1st gear option). With an alloy bellhousing and gear reduction starter it's only 2kg's heavier than the old setup. Luckily I've had the last couple of weeks off work so everything's been done without needing any midnight finishes too It's also got a new pair of Bilstein's on the back and i've added a window net too.

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off to the track!

[ozstang65]

Currently at Morgan Park for the HRCC Autumn Historics. One practice and one competitive event finished successfully, 3.7 seconds better than my previous best here

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[ozstang65]

Back from a successful Morgan Park event last weekend. I managed a pb of 1:33.9 (3.0km circuit) on Sunday morning which was 4 seconds faster than my best in July last year, the 5.1 LSD and 5 speed gearbox as well as a new set of Bilsteins on the back really made a huge difference! Only a couple of minor issues were raised, by the end of 8 or so hard laps it was getting a bit hot so a better radiator will be required. The alternator appears to be on its last legs so I'll be looking to rebuild it or to get a new one, also need to find a bigger pulley for it to slow it down a bit.

The new 5 speed performed flawlessly and shifts really, really well. Due to mounting the gearbox crossmember directly on the floor, the engine is angled back a bit too much so I had to wedge a couple of washers under the front of the spring saddles to bring the nose of the diff up a bit. Plan for the long-term wishlist is a world cup style crossmember which will enable me to drop the front of the motor a bit and i'll look at spacing up the gearbox mount as well.

Lakeside is the next event on May 18th (Saturday) for a teams regularity event. Should be interesting, I've never driven Lakeside before.

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[Darrin S]

Fantastic drop in lap time Scott. Always good to see money spent giving results. I'll be doing the July Historic's. Keen to see if the recent changes can improve my time from the Qld sprint event from October last year, I've got to got to better 1.26.872. The regularity team event sounds interesting where can I read about this. See you at the July event should be plenty of cars for us to pass.
Darrin

[ozstang65]

Thanks Darrin, I can't see any more huge drops in lap time in the near future! I'm planning on doing the July historics also. We need to get the groups split up in time order, although it is nice to do a bit of overtaking, it absolutely screws the lap times!

[ozstang65]

So, I finally managed to have a go at Lakeside, must say, it's a very fast track! 66.97 was my best lap in the final run of the day before the clutch slip got too bad and i backed out.

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Next event is MG's Noosa Hillclimb on the 29th/30th of June and there's a few things to do to the car before then. Aforementioned clutch needs to be sorted, looks like grease is coming out of the spigot bearing so it'll need a good clean and possibly a new clutch plate. I've also made a new set of engine mounts so that I can get the driveline angles back to normal, there's been a bit of a vibration since i put the 5 speed in it.

Engine mounts are a combination of EB Falcon diff upper control arms and standard engine mounts, similar to what I ran on a rally car a few years ago.

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Also, the alternator is shagged so a new one is in order. I'll need to come up with a bracket of sorts for it, shouldn't be too hard.

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[Matt1975]

Looks great mate,

Love the improvised engine mounts.

Is that a Daihatsu alternator?

Keep the pics coming.

Cheers

Matt

[gen mk 1rs2000]

strange lookin block scott ?? alloy ?

[ozstang65]

Hi Matt, alternator is a Denso 'size', I got it through Summit Racing (along with a bunch of other stuff) I looked at it last night, should be pretty simple to make a mount for it.

Steve, the block is a special blend, highly secret alloy, painted grey to disguise it. I'd tell you what it is, but the other IP guys might get narky at me....

[gen mk 1rs2000]

Steve, the block is a special blend, highly secret alloy, painted grey to disguise it. I'd tell you what it is, but the other IP guys might get narky at me....[/quote]


aha i know its made from "unobtainium"