Christophe's V6 Mk2 Escort

[christophe]

Though I better start a project thread as I'm now hopefully going to get a bit of work done to the escort, and will have lots of questions to ask you nice knowledgable people  

Anyway, the car is a 1979 mk2 escort ghia that came with a 1300 automatic, it used to belong to some nice old chap in Bolton that managed to clock up 44,000 miles in the time he owned it. Then last year it was bought by a local chap who started fitting a 2.8 v6 from an XR4i, somewhere along the line he got bored with it so put it on ebay. Heres where I enter the deal, £200 later I had myself a bargain and was off to bolton with a tralier to pick it up  



The long term plan is to get it up and running with the 2.9, then sort out the bodywork, which is mostly good just needing one front wing, and then do lots of tidying up before getting a mate to do a full respray. Then probably before that some work on the axle and brakes will be needed, probably on the lines off a full atlas, or maybe even a rear beam from a 4x4 sierra  

Anyway thats a little way of yet....

[christophe]

First question, 2.8 flywheel onto 2.9, I'm thinking use the 2.9 bolts as they are longer but do they need thread locking when they go back in?

[cossiemk2]

That's always a good plan Christophe.

If they come undone it could snap the crankshaft........

[cossiemk2]

Aaaaah, this all reminds me of fitting my first V6 into the Escort.

Was fairly easy to do, and good fun to drive too, despite it being only a 2.0 V6 with 90Hp.

[Tony]

christophe

use the 2.8 bolts with the 2.8 flywheel and yup lock-tight would be good

if you fit the 2.9 bolts with the 2.8 flywheel they might well bottom out, dont forget the 2.9 flywheel is so much thicker, hence needs longer bolts to go through!!

tony

[christophe]

Cheers Tony, the length think had occured to me so will use the 2.8 ones.

On a smiliar note are 2.8 and 2.9 clutches the same?

[steve]

more pics and progress please

[christophe]

Not managed to get a great deal done lately but anyways...

Engine has been stripped off the bits I dont need, I've removed the flywheel from a 2.8 engine thats gonna be used and its been to an engineering frim and skimmed. I've also ordered a new clutch, and the sump gasket, crankshaft rear oil seal and flywheel bolts should all be here in the next few days so i can hopefully get the engine and gearbox put together.

The engine bay is now completely prepped and ready for spraying as soon as I can get some paint. Also managed to aquire an exhaust from an XR4x4 that'' need some modifiy but gives me a start.

The main thing I've been doing is clearing the shed nearby so I can get the car in the over winter to keep it and me dry while I work on it.

[christophe]

Bit more progress this week now I'm home from uni, sprayed a rattle can of halfords finest under the bay so I could see how it used to looked before it faded  



Pretty nice I recon, the whole lot will be done sometime, but just the bay will be getting a few more coats for now. Then on to the engine, got a sump of a 2.4 granada and fitted it with new gaskets after giving it a lick off paint, also fitted new crankshaft oil seal, 2.8 flywheel and new clutch.







Then went to attacth the gearbox and noticed a rather dodgy input shaft, (see other post in transmissions) so thats gonna have to wait a while while it gets fixed or I get another box.

On a good note I managed to bag a group 4? crossmember of ebay which then got a quick clean up and paint.

[Damocos]

Is that sump gonna clear the crossmember ok?

[cossiemk2]

I use a Gp4 crossmember with lowered steering rack mounts and i still had to modify it slighty to fit the engine lower down so the bonnet would close.

But the 12v intake is lower than a 24v so it might just work.

[christophe]

I was having nighmares all night last night after u suggested that lol  

Well the good news is it just about fits, im gonna have to remove a little metal from the back of both rack mounts but thankfully the sump fits between the top of the mounts with a few mill to spare each side. Its all pretty tight tho, the sttering rack only just miss the mounts on the cross member and when I mocked it up I can get the rack to within about 20mm of the sump, not sure how much further I can get with it until its in the car tho.

[cossiemk2]

How far back is your engine Chris?

The V6 I had in it first had the ignition/rotorcap 1cm from the bulkhead. I even had to rotate the dizzy vacuum control around to the front to clear.

[christophe]

How far back is your engine Chris?

The V6 I had in it first had the ignition/rotorcap 1cm from the bulkhead. I even had to rotate the dizzy vacuum control around to the front to clear.

Thats part of the problem I dont know as this engines never been in the car and the 2.8 in the car before was on some dodgy chassis mounts. I'm gonna have to get the engine on a hoist and in the bay before I start making any mounts or choping things out.

Ideally I want it as far back and low as possible, I have some quite bad rust on the bulkhead at the furthest forward point as well so might take the opportunity to chop it back abit to give some extra room  

Do you happen to have any pictures of your car with a 12v v6 in Jurgen?

[cossiemk2]

I have some on my website but i'll look for some more clearer ones.

[christophe]

Long time no update.....

Finished the new crossmember mounts today, the original nuts had rusted out and there threads gone so I cut them out and fitted some threaded tubes through the top of the rail as well as a u-shaped bracket to help strenthen it. Just need to finish fitting the crossmember then I can weld the tubes in their final position.

Also fitted the gearbox and starter to the engine and well as a quickshift so its now ready for its first fitting in the bay once the crossmember mounts are finished

[christophe]

Right test fitted the engine in the bay for the first time today and found quite a few issues.

Firstly I couldn't get the engine high enough as it couldn't come far enough forward to get the bellhousing bolts past the bulkhead due to the back of the huge type 9 starter is hitting the crossmember. If it could come forward half an inch it could then come up to clear the crossmember and allow the bellhousing to lift up and miss the bulkhead.

Also the on the drivers side the exhaust manifold flange lines up directly with the steering coloumn and there seems no chance that I could bend it past with the original manifold. One of the brake lines to the master cylinder is also touching the manifold and the cylinder itself is only about 2 inches away  

Even with the engine tis far back the water pump pulley just touches the rad at the front so it looks like it will nee moving forward as well.

Did you have any off these issuse Jurgen?

Pics....

[TwinTurbo]

A couple of minor issues then!!!

TT

[Dave]

Not the end of the world.

Keepa ploding on.

Looks like time to make some home made manifolds to me

[christophe]

Are there any other exhaust manifolds that might fit the 12v, boa/bob etc?

[Dave]

No BOB & BOA are completely different.

Only possible will be Transit 2.9 manifolds at a guess.

But that is a guess

[christophe]

No BOB & BOA are completely different.

Only possible will be Transit 2.9 manifolds at a guess.

But that is a guess

Hmm anyone have pics of a 12v transit manifold? drivers side if poss?

Other than that ill have to try and cut and shut the one I have

[OxtonyxO]

you've got more chance of flying to the moon than finding some of those
had to have manifolds made for my transit

[christophe]

you've got more chance of flying to the moon than finding some of those
had to have manifolds made for my transit

  Ok then, cheers mate

Had another go at fitting it today, chopped the lip of the bulkhead and gave the top of the gearbox tunnel a few belts with a mallet. Also fitted a shorter starter and it appears to go in a lot better.

The crossmember now bolts up fully and the enginge actually site about where I want it to. The exhaust manifold is still a problem but I'm going to try and get the tightest exhaust bend I can find and see if that gets past it.

The master cylinder is definatly a no go though, what are my other options for this? I've seen a few cars running with the servo right at the front of the bay on some sort of extension box section whats the deal with this? Also looks like the steering rack mounts on the crossmember will need modding as the sump is hitting them. The radiator is still damm close though, might need to alter something there

Pics...









http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c202/djchristophe/Escorts/100_4786.jpg]http://i28.photobucket.com/albums/c202/djc...ts/100_4786.jpg[/IMG]

[cossiemk2]

When I first fitted the 2.0 V6 I had some issues too.

I had to bash down the lip on the bulkhead(just like you did) and rotated the dizzy so the vacuum advance was pointing forward.

Did you also cut the radiator shroud/mounting of the slampanel? I did this on mine, and fits snugly. I had to push the front of the inner wings out a small amount with a hydraulic press tho to get it that far forward.

I had my starter especially made with the relay pointing down coz my steering column is in front of it.(LHD  )



I'll see if i can find some pics of my install.

[christophe]

Yep the radiator panel had already been chopped out and I'm thinking I just need to push the inner wings out a fraction more to get a reasonable rad in.

What rad are you using Jurgen?

I looked into the manifold abit more and its definatly going to need modifying, the standard manifold that side is abit off an odd shape (see pics below) with two sections of pipe at the rear end, my current thinking is chop off the top curved section that bypasses the furthest back cylinder (blanking off the hole that creates) then chopping off the lower section just before it starts to curve back upwards and the welding the flange on here (possibly having to extend the pipe a little first) Hopefully this'll mean the flange has moved down and forward a good few inches to allow clearance.

Will I struggle welding cast? I have  sealy mig welder thats fine on mild steel but I've never touching anything cast like this.

[cossiemk2]

I'm using a 2.9 12v Granada rad.

I must say that manifold doesnt look anything like my bro's 12v one.

His are just 3 in 1 going straight back.

[christophe]

Something like this  

[cossiemk2]

Nope its just 3 pipes from the heads going into one flange without the diversion on your pic.

[wreckersteve]

got a pair of transit 12v manifolds tucked away i ended up using manifolds from kit car (sumo) any use to you pm me here a pic