Christophe's V6 Mk2 Escort

[christophe]

Been doing lots of work on he wiring over the last few weeks, unwrapped all the underbonnet escort loom and removed the unused bits, then did the same to the granada loom before fiting it to the engine and starting to slice it into the escort loom. This involved connecting and mounting realys and fuses for the fuel pump and ecu power as well as the ecu itself. Then I had to splice in the oil pressure switch, temp gauge and power supplies to the hall sender and distributor.

The battery is being located in the boot and I have a thick power cable run through the car to a cut off switch which is then connected to the loom power supply, starter motor and alternator. I connected up a battery tonight and most off the escort stuff is working, lights, instrument etc but a yet there is no power to the ecu as there appears to be 12v at both the relay solenoid and the earth so it seems I have a short somewhere, will have a good look round it all tomorrow though.

[Leebay]

Looking good mate! Dont you just love wiring   Cant be much wrong if its only the ecu not getting power.

Be up and running soon then.

[christophe]

Looking good mate! Dont you just love wiring   Cant be much wrong if its only the ecu not getting power.

Be up and running soon then.

Can beat abit off wiring, its the easiest bit  

Now were geting somewhere! after a bit off fiddling with the wiring on the starter on the starter motor the engine is cranking over fine, oil pressure light goes out straight away and everything sounds good,my god its loud though and it aint even fired yet  

Also after fiddling with the starter wiring I most have sorted the earthing issue as the ecu realy is now working meaning theres power at the ECU and coil, so I then refited the ecu and the fuel pump relay is clicking then clicking off after a few seconds for priming pulse plus I'm getting a spark at the coil and the injectors are clicking, so i looks like the wiring is all good    

Started making the fuel lines, will fit and connect them later and then we'll see what happens....

[christophe]

IT RUNS!!!! :D  :D  first try as well, didn't run it for to long as theres no water in it but my god its loud! sounds like a v8 dragster as it fires up but thats what you got with running 6 inches off downpipe and nothing else

Anyway before that I fitted the new fuel lines and then connected up the braided hoses to te engine and pump/filter. I ran out of clips to attach it to the tunnel so there'll be a few more off them to go on when I get them, also I'll fit grommets where the hoses pass through the bulkhead as I didn't have any big enough. I have to modify the bottom off the fuel tank to open up the outlet abit so for the minute I just stuck the pump in the top off a jerry can. Fuel system seems to be all good though, the pump will be mounted under the car next to the outlet with a hose inside to the swirl pot and filter.

Before It ran properly I lost power to the ecu again and I worked out that It'll only work if I touch the casing off the ecu to an earth point on the car, does this indicate a bad earth somewhere else or another problem? The ecu is earthed to the body in the same place as the escort loom and an engine to body strap, theres also a second engine to body strap on the other side and two straps from battery to body in the boot.

Heres a few pics off the fuel setup, also a quick vid off the engine running, it does it no justice though as its a damm sight louder than that, me and my dad were stood infront off itand youhave to shout to talk to each other  :D











[url]http://s28.photobucket.com/albums/c202/djchristophe/Escorts/?action=view&current=P1030163.flv]

[Leebay]

Sounds good    was going to say dont do what I did......had two ht leads round the wrong way, only took me 2 1/2 days to figure it out why it was running like a bag of nails  

Have you got any earth straps on the engine/gearbox? I went way OTT on mine but its a royal pain in the arse when you get a electrical fault. No chance you could have missed a earth cable in the loom? Just double check the earthing connectors and make sure they are to clean metal.  

[christophe]

Cheers, I think its running reasonabley well, throttle response isn't to go but you can really tell anything else as its to damm loud  

I've got two big earth straps to the body, one from the bellhousing and one from the side off the block, also the ECU is earthed to the same place. Then in the boot theres to big straps from thebattery to the bodywork.

I wasn't conviced by the ecu ground so spliced two new ones into the loom right next to the ecu and ran them to a decent earth point, seems this has sorted it as its working fine now

[cossiemk2]

Hi Cristophe.

I had a few problems on my V6 build.(although 24v)

The ECU itself has a separate earth yes(don't ask me what wire coz i'm drunk)

The ECU has 3 separate earths apart from that which will get you in a whole lot of sh!t if they're knackered.

Problems like the left and right HEGO reading different.

5v circuits going wrong like TPS and water temp.

Make sure that's all OK

I stripped my brothers 12v '91 Scorpio (Granada for you English blokes) and marked all the wires from the ECU which is which.

The bloke that bought the engine from me was putting it a Mk1 (European) Granada. He just had to connect all the wires up like i told him and fired up first go with both HEGO's working. No DTC's.

[psmk2]

Any updates on this yet

[christophe]

Any updates on this yet

Not had chance to do alot lately tbh, had alot of work to do on my other car and now have uni exams for a few weeks.

Have been sorting out the cooling system though, put a few hoses on, sorted a header tank, just need to find a radiator now. Dont want to pay out for an expensive alloy one so been trying other stuff, sierra one is to big and escorts and mondeos all seem to have outlets in the wrong place so will start looking further a field, VWpolo one is a possibility atm.

Also bought some capri 2.8 bilstein struts for it along with vented discs, just need the spacer kits for the calipers now an some pads. Oh and fitted a throttle cable  

[cossiemk2]

Why not get a Capri V6 radiator?

You have to redo the slampanel to fit it anyway.

I had this rad when I put my 2.0 V6 in.

[christophe]

Well long time no update but things have been comin on steadily. I've been working on the exhaust just lately, chopping about some old downpipes to make them fit, then mated them to an old xr4x4 system and a pair of middle boxes. All thats left is an over axle bend to put on and a piar of back boxes.

Also got myself some capri 2.8 struts off ebay with bilstein dampers, they came with vented discs so just need some spacers blocks for the calipers to fit them. They've been fitted along with new track rod ends and steering rack gaiters, only thing left to do suspension wise is refit the steering coloumn and track it up  

Lots of other bits on the way to, sorted out a radiator and a fuel return for the tank so things are comin along just abit slowly.

[ShaunPC]

Looking good mate, the exhaust looks like itl do the trick. Should be a right giggle when you get it on the road

[christophe]

Long time no update once again but things are progressing. The brakes are now just about done, front calipers have had spacers fitted and then repainted, all solid brake lines are also done and connected up with braided flexi's. All thats left is to bolt the calipers on properly and bleed it all. Next jobs have been mounting the alternator, I ended up using a mk6 escort one mounted on a cut down sierra bracket, then fitted pulleys from a 24v v6 to allow me to use a poly-vee drivebelt.

The radiator is now also in, its meant for a rover 200 i think, but its in here now on a cut down escort rad mounting panel, pipework is mostly done just have to mount the header tank and connect it up. I also fitted the oil filter adaptor after having to modify the take-off, this is to allow the steering coloum to fit. Fuel tank outlet has been modded to allow it to be used with the EFI pump, just need to mount the pump somewhere and connect it up.

Everthing seems to be taking a while at the minute, its all little jobs but seems to be coming together

[Maccroft]

Looking good

[christophe]

Finished off a load of little bits last week gettin it ready to go for a drive, went to collect my new wheels today, 14 inch wellers in white so put them on when I got back and took it for its  first drive round the field. First time I have ever driven it (had it nearly 4 years now) and it seems to be workin well, clutch is very heavy but steering is not as bad as I though.

Plenty more jobs still to do but im proper happy with it now :D

[Dave]

Yeah defo getting there.

Starting to look like a car again  

Seriously keep up the good work.

[christophe]

Yeah defo getting there.

Starting to look like a car again  

Seriously keep up the good work.

Cheers Dave, its finally starting to seem like I'm gettin somewhere, couple more weeks and it might be MOT time  

[christophe]

A load of random pics for ya from the last couple of weeks, radiator fan is fixed and wired in, battery tray made from a chopped up mondeo one and welded in the boot, header tank mounted properly and pipes rerouted.

I also put alot of the interior back with a new center consul and tidyed the wiring up, the fuel pump and system is all done and mounted but I'm not sure about its location so it will probably get moved again. I also went to repair the other front wing but found it was fully of filler so removed it ready for a new one  

[christophe]

Its been mostly bodywork last week, fitted a new passenger side front wing, the inner rail was much better this side so only had to replace a little bit of it and of course part of the headlamp surround. The fit is quite nice on this one, better than the other side which sticks out abit compared to the door.

Also repaired the lower left part of the front valance which I've been meaning to do for ages. It wasn't particularly easy as theres an oval indicator recess that I had to make and so I tried to shape some steel but I think I got it abit to big so my dads on with some creative filling to make it look something like the other side  Thankfully the lower part is covered by the front spolier which we also fitted.

Hopefully have another update by the weekend, things are starting to come together now :D

[Maccroft]

Looking good

[christophe]

Well it had its very first drive on the road tonight, all of the 300 yards from my house to workshop and in that time the bonnet came off and the gearlever snapped off in my hand    not a good start lol, I only just dropped the bonnet on the first catch but it bounced up on the one man hole cover in that 300 yards and got wedged on the wing, i promtly nailed the brakes to stop and put it back whereby I stopped and it carried on and bounced down the road    

Its covered in scratches and a little bent but somehow I managed to see the funny side of it as I fished it out the ditch  

Pictures to come tomorrow.

[Leebay]

Coming together very nicely mate  

[littlegems4x4]

Looks like a lot of fun this does mate!!

[christophe]

Another update, exhaust is now all done, twin systems all the way down with 2 silencers each side, had to be chopped about quite alot but I think the tailpipes look ok. Sounds very nice, still quite loud but has a nice noise to it. Fuel system is also all back in, had to move the pump slightly because of the exhaust so its running and driving about quite well.

I also finished the last bit of welding on the c pillar, the rust was quite bad inside but I made a repair panel for the inside and the welded a piece in flush with the outside. Quite pleased with how it came out, the bottompart has pulled in slightly where the heat has distorted it, but with a slight skim of filler I recon it'll be unoticable.

Lots of little jobs left but it'll have to wait tillnext week cos I'm at rockingham all weekend, hopefully it'll be ready for MOT next week  

[brooki]

nice work there mate always wanted to put a v6 in a mk 2

[cossiemk2]

nice work there mate always wanted to put a v6 in a mk 2

Hell. even a 24v fits in a Mk2

[christophe]

Well tomorrow is the big day, MOT time  been messing about all day doing the last final things, changed the steering column, refitted the seats, bonnet pull cable, windscreen washers and put the front number plate on. All little jobs but seemed to take all day, i imagine i've missed something so we'll see how it goes.

Pictures to come tomorrow and hopefully good news.

[christophe]

Well somehow amazingly it passed!!   I though it was all gonna go badly this morning when the indicators stopped working, but somehow they fixed themselves after a short drive   then we started the test and the wipers did half a wipe and stopped which luckily just turned out to be a corroded fuse   After that is was plain sailing, tester seemed quite impressed, took it out for a little run to check the brakes and said 'boy it does go alright when you give it some'  

I gotta say I'm preety impressed with how it drives, engine it mega torquey from about 1500 revs and pulls nicely, gearbox and brakes are fine, diff is abit noisey and very short ratio, think it must be a 4.1 or something with in originally been an auto. Handling isn't to bad but you can definately feel the axle moving about on the leaf springs.

Lots of work still to do but im gonna get it taxed tomorrow then go for a proper spin see how it goes    

[Maccroft]

Well done.

[javars]

well done hope you have loads of fun