Sierra estate 24v

[whiteestate]

Well not long started on this project, i had a budget of £1000 to buy the car and donor granada cosworth.
So ok i have gone over by a bit but if you don't set yourself a target it will escalate !

87000 granny cost me 500 and my estate cost £450



Donor car partially striped



Granny clock



Leaky rocker cover causing horrible mess !



Covers and inlet manifold were not i a good state !





And after i cleaned them and repainted





Now that the engine is pretty much ready i made a start on sorting the rear end of the estate which was a little bit of a challenge as i had drum rear arms so the rear granny disc hubs would not fit. After a bit of searching and waiting a pair of granny estate rear arms came up that also had the drop link mounts so i could actually fit a roll bar as most estate arms are left semi trailing so i will have a better ride with less roll !
Fortunately my estate had the roll bar mounts on the chassis rail so no need to weld in new mounts which i am happy with



Estate arms with drop links and abs sensor



So thats the rear end in and the only real issue i had was that the granada handbrake cable could not be used as its too long, after a call to my nearest motor factors and £18 later i return with a sierra disc brake cable.

I am now waiting to get hold of a set of 4x4 cosworth front struts and springs as i want to use the 5 stud hubs off the granada as I'm using the cosworth wheels.
Going to be collecting the mt75 rwd box at the end of the month need a flywheel and clutch and possibly a prop as i have a t9 unit and the granada cosworth unit that i may be able to use.

Abs loom and engine loom has been fitted today so all going well i should have everything fitted and plumbed in by the middle of november.

Not sure on my ecu location ?

[kevchard]

Hi
Nice looking project.
I would be inclined to put the ECU inside of the car to avoid heat / wet of the engine bay. Arent they normally in the passenger side glove box area?
Cheers
Kevin

[capri v8 driver]

I would be inclined to put the ECU inside of the car to avoid heat / wet of the engine bay. Arent they normally in the passenger side glove box area?

Kev is right. The ecu lives behind the glovebox.

[whiteestate]

Cheers guys looks like I will be moving it so I may try and get a cosworth dash cover and sit both the abs ecu which is already behind the dash.Will sort it after the engines in and running.

[KitCarRob]

I put mine in the engine bay in my kit car. It's housed in an aluminium box from RS Electronics. Not had a problem with it at all. I'll try and find the part number of the box.

[TwinTurbo]

The hole in the body under the battery is JUST the right size for the EEC-IV plug.

Pre 90 cars the ECU goes above the fuesbox, 90 onwards goes behind the glovebox.

TT

[whiteestate]

Thanks TwinTurbo the problem is I've used that hole to fit the abs loom and relays in so i may have to swap these around.
Hopefully i will have a flywheel very soon a 2.8 capri unit.
Need a clutch then will have a look in the tech section on here to see whats best setup cable wise also.

[TwinTurbo]

the Sierra ABS and ECU loom go through the same bulkhead hole.

TT

[whiteestate]

Result i will pop the ecu in there too for the ems brill may do that tomorrow night thanks for the advice 

[TimoXr4i]

Nice project, i gonna buy a very pretty dark blue estate, softlines, koni all around, the thing looks just like a new car, 98k km on the counter, dohc, pretty good for a daily, an, becouse its a gt i wont have to fiddle with wires for my mirrors and windows, our current dohc saloon is a cl, didnt even had a revcounter when the lady of the house bought it!

[whiteestate]

Nice project, i gonna buy a very pretty dark blue estate, softlines, koni all around, the thing looks just like a new car, 98k km on the counter, dohc, pretty good for a daily, an, becouse its a gt i wont have to fiddle with wires for my mirrors and windows, our current dohc saloon is a cl, didnt even had a revcounter when the lady of the house bought it!

Yeah no rev counter with mine but i like the pure simplicity of it all though as i don't want electric windows or central locking and all that, i just love the old and dated feel about the car and of course the fun factor when the engines all up and running.
It will be a work in progress as eventually i want to turbocharge it too but it will be a gradual thing.
Something about the estate that makes me smile as people don't expect it to be quick so I'm sure it will surprise a few cars out on the road when its finished. Don't get me wrong its not going to set the world alight thats why i have a 180 rw bhp kawasaki ninja zx12r that weighs in at around 200kg and it is very very quick !

[TimoXr4i]

Yeah, our is a daily runner, and the estate is reallyusefull with the dogs whe have. In our daily i want electric mirrors, heated seats, revcounter, electric windows and if i could do it, i would fit a heated windscreen. Also want heated screenwasher jets, and my frontlight wipers need to work to, they give the car an extra luxury touch i think

[whiteestate]

If maybe later on i go down the 4x4 route as a winter all round machine i would deffo have a heated screen mirrors and the washer jets !
i have a spinger spaniel and the estate will come in handy.

[KitCarRob]

If you're interested, this is the box I use to house my ECU in the engine bay:

http://uk.rs-online.com/web/p/general-purpose-enclosures/5173305/

(If it isn't exactly this one then it's pretty similar and it came from RS.)

If you want me to double check I'll pop the bonet and measure up. Cables run through a gland in the top of the box. Painted the same colour as the engine bay it is virtually un-noticeable.

[whiteestate]

Cheers kit car rob but i have fitted the ecu behind the glovebox but i had to feed the loom in through behind the dash as the ecu plug would not fit through first no problems though and it looks so much better and from a security point of view.
Hopefully should have the hybrid mt75 off turbo shed in the next couple of weeks when i can get down to pick it up lol !
Now only need sierra cosworth 4x4 front struts mt75 front prop to get this baby on the road not bad for nearly 3 months of slow progress and limited budget !

[whiteestate]

More progress the last week,
Mt75 rwd gearbox i picked up of turbo shed so many thanks pal for that  ,it has the 2.5 diesel gears from the bug eye scorpio that also has the extra knicks in the gears for more oil flow and cooling.
Fitted my 4x4 cosworth clutch with high lift pressure plate



I have also drilled and tapped the box pivot hole out to m12 for my adjustable pivot pin to screw into



Gearbox trial mounted to see if all lines up and it does





Going to take the old pinto out this weekend if i can fit the old estate in the garage but I'm not very hopeful !

[whiteestate]

Right sold the old 1.6 pinto and box for £150 so the build is around £1000 so far ! how cheap is that !

Made my own pivot extension that i just need to weld onto the hardened steel end



And now I'm modding the turret tops to fit the granada struts as they use a 3 stud fitting as in pic but i have to grind the top of the strut to 100mm diameter to fit the rubber mount through



Will be getting some eccentric top mounts when i get some compression struts and adjustable tca's

[whiteestate]

After a couple of days of grafting all on my own with no help the engine is in but i have struggled to get hold of a gearbox mount.
I have a feeling the type 9 gearbox mount would have fitted but i sold the damn thing when i got rid of the engine and box !



Im using the standard granada tca's and roll bar but its a bitch to fit think I'm going to have to use my rachet strap on it !
Little bits and pieces left now hoping to have it up and running over the christmas break.

[Dave]

Some good progress 

[whiteestate]

Got the car rolling tonight  but notice the granada front shocks are way too long so i will have to get some escort cosworth or sapphire 4x4 units to bring the height of the car down and pull the slight positive camber out  should be spot on then.

[turboshed]

looking good, glad someone can get some use out of the box.

[whiteestate]

Cheers Turboshed ! couple more days before i will take it for a little run.

[whiteestate]

Today i got it running for the first time but the idle valve is knackered as I've discovered !
No exhausts on so would not run for long but no blown fuses and fires on all cylinders nearly there.
Little vid of the first key turn !

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/liam271082/8D562E4B-2B4F-436F-BC59-4645F308650E-1923-000004EF249BAB13.mp4

[mk2 cossie]

Great success it seems 
was it filmed on an iphone by any chance? 

[whiteestate]

Filmed off the i phone crap i know but it has good sound quality thought i would chuck it on as after less than 3 months work its nearly finished.
Idle valve is short circuit ! think it was like that on the old granada as that would not idle well. What is the working resistance of the idv is it between 7-13 ohms ? and what is the polarity to the connection as i want to make 100% sure its correct before new one is fitted ?

[whiteestate]

Another vid and its running much better due to the mass air flow meter 12v being reversed polarity !

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v215/liam271082/67204E55-B6D0-441C-8CCA-82ED2901463F-3277-0000091ABC5E3E14.mp4

[whiteestate]

Progress has been slow, still trying to get hold of some 4x4 shocks and springs and I'm saving to get a mig welder to finish off the exhaust then to do the sills and arches.The welder i want is rated at 150amps and costs around £200 but may just save a little more and get a 180amp unit we shall see.
The exhaust i have used is a 2 to 1 unit i believe this will give more low down power, i plan to find  a yb cosworth stainless system then adapt to fit the downpipes.



i have cut the pipes ready to weld as these are not a direct fit.I will tac the pipes in one spot then i will adjust on car before i fully weld so that they will fit without any clearance issues.

Only fuel lines, front shocks and exhaust left.

[whiteestate]

Engine running well

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v215/liam271082/?action=view&current=7881D895-0CA0-4D8A-80B0-399F4FB0C2A5-1042-000002B9D61802C5_zps6c6f1443.mp4

Engine getting ill bottom end knocking so looks like i may just take the engine out and rebuild it

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v215/liam271082/?action=view&current=27A5B15B-D88E-48BD-B41E-CFA041B333F4-1771-0000035C781F4781_zpsb41c9847.mp4

[whiteestate]

Engine bottom end has been stripped due to a knocking noise towards the back of the engine.
Found piston number 5 big end bearing was gone but had not spun so a new set of bearings and a good polish of the crank will do the job.
Here are some pick of my garage had to strip the crank out the wrong way around as i need to pick up an engine stand to put it all back together the end of the month.

Engine on stands and supported on the hoist



Access to the timing chain



Crank pics





Main cap bearings







Rod bearings the worst ones





Think this is the culprit bearing on no 5 big end





Oil pump with little wear.

[capri v8 driver]

Think this is the culprit bearing on no 5 big end

I got the same feeling.