Love your cars. I grew up in Staines in the 80s and knew loads of blokes running moody Escorts patched up with primer. Everyone was dreaming of having an XR2 or a Mexico - the real deal not some look-a-like. My first car was a '77 Fiesta base model so I've got a particular soft spot for your XR2.
Is this photo taken in Suffolk then, looks a bit coastal?
DÜdo - thanks a lot pal. Yeah its suffolk, that shot was taken at the clifftop car park in old felixstowe. Popular venue for local v-dub, but thought i'd give it a little ford flavour, hehe!
Haven't updated this for a while. Tbh not much has changed with either of the cars. The engine for the mex is nearly finished now, I have my shopping list of all the bits you forget to budget for when you plan these things, gaskets, pulleys etc. Have ended up spending 50% more on engine and box than had originally intended, but hopefully it will be worth it.
The XR2 is as was when I started this thread, just been out enjoying it.
I have had it set up on a rolling road now, drives SO much better, much more responsive low down, altho still uses just as much petrol (possibly as the chap at the rolling road drilled the needle out a bit as was running lean)
Few pics of her on the RR here ...
And a couple of videos here
Run 1
Run 2
She made 93bhp in the end, which I was pretty chuffed with, as they are 84 standard, so she has a bit more poke than she left the factory with all those years ago :-)
Only other thing to report, was that she was photographed and used for a (funnily enough) Mk1 xr2 buyers guide in Classic Ford Mag a couple of months back ...
Was nice to see the car in glossy print, and a nice thing to put in with the history of the car :-) Not quite a full feature, but am hoping when the mex is finished that will be worthy of a proper write up (I can only hope)
Anyways, that's up to speed with what's going on with both these cars, thanks for reading, and will try and update a bit more regularly in the future. Also have just bought a mk2 fiesta to use as a daily runner, so have just started a new thread for that too, should keep me occupied :-)
Hey guys. Meant to post these up a few days ago, but never found the time......
Had an afternoon off work, and the XR2 only had 2 days tax left (these were taken October 30th) so thought i'd give the old girl a quick blast to see her off for the winter, and use up the petrol that was in the tank
Ended up taking a few shots in a little boatyard. Light was quite flat so shots arent particularly special, but thought i'd share anyway
Got a couple of little issues i need to deal with before she comes back out next spring, including a wheel refurb (that i was supposed to do last winter but didnt) But have throughly enjoyed having her back on the road this year after so long parked up
Roll on next April Although not sure realistically how much use I'll get in her next year as fairly certain the mex will be running again, and think that will be the favoured drive for the first few months at least :-)
This made me ridiculously happy as it meant my engine is finally ready for collection! I finish work this Friday for 3 weeks, so am popping up to grab it next week ready to fit this winter :-)
Then all the little bits and bobs you'd expect... - Kent vernier Pulley - ARP head stud kit - Arp rod bolts - High pressure oil pump - Standard cosworth big end bearings -Cometic Head Gasket
And the bits not on there already.... - Ashley exhaust manifold & system Group 1 Alloy Radiator Kenlowe Adjustable Fan.
Being mated up to a Tran-X Straight Cut CR Type 9 5speed box.
To say I'm excited would be an understatement. Can't wait to get this thing in, set up, and see what noise and numbers it makes :-)
Will update once I start fitting it, got a few more goodies to buy for the bay first :-)
Well, its been over 8 months and annoyingly i've not got that much to report! However, i have a little bit so thought i'd stick a little update in here.
Basically, the 2.3 pinto and Straight Cut type 9 were slot into place about 5 months ago (yayyyyy)
But thats as far as is went. My wife was expecting our first baby at the start of June, and i knew if i didnt get the car running by then, i'd end up leaving it for the summer, and thats what happened.... just didnt pull my finger out in time
Its not been completely forgotten though, and i've been collected a few bits for it, and WILL (mark my words) have it finished this winter, ready for a full season with it next year
Firstly, my old ashley mild steel system wasnt going to cut it with the new engine, it was poorly made, and only 2.25" bore, which is fine for upto about 180bhp in an 8v pinto, but i am hoping to be pushing over 200bhp with the new engine, so i made the decision to go up to 2.5" bore, and thought whilst i was at it i would upgrade to stainless steel. Bought myself an HPE (harris performance) manifold, which is lovely! AND whilst i was there, i caught a lucky break and sourced a second hand 2.5" stainless system built by Longlife, for one of the Harris boys, so its come off one of their cars.
Most systems for the escort bend over the rear axle, but this is a pain to get on and off, so this "harris spec" exhaust goes straight under the axle, so can easily be dropped off to save weight etc on the strip if need be. I was worried about clearance at the back, but there is a very slight bend (hard to pick up in the photo) that tucks it up nicely, so chuffed with that! The manifold cant be fit with the standard servo and tower in situ though, so i am going to have to either fit a bias pedal box, or a wilwood space saving master cylinder (havent decided yet) .... either way will tidy up how the bay looks a little anyhow. Although now i'm tempted to move the battery to the boot so "balance" the engine bay.
am a little concerned my laptop is gonna crash and i'm gonna lose the essay above, so gonna quickly post this and continue in a minute hehe
As much as i love the Optional Extra 13x7" RS 4 spokes i have on the mex. They are a very popular wheel, and i wanted the mex to stand out a little. I did consider getting some original mexico steels banded, but again, thats becoming more and more popular. So i started hunting for something a little less common.
Have had my eye on this harrier for years, running Compomotive Turbo 3pc splits. I think it looks absolutely fantastic, and these wheels are very very hard to come by in 4x108pcd, so not many people have them. I managed to find a set which i believe came off an open wheel racing car, as were built crazy wide, with an odd old offset, but the price was right, so i pounced! As fate would have it, the 4.5" inners fit absolutely perfectly on the MK2 escort, so that just left me to get some outers. In the end (after some measuring) i settled on 2" for the front (making 13x7") and 3" on the rear (making 13x8")
Have done a mock build of both sizes so i could see how they fit on the car ...
Ignore the black centres, they arent going to stay that way.
This is how the fronts fit
and this is (hopefully) how the rears fit ...
I didnt have enough space in the garage to jack the rear up, so i fit it on the front just to see if it fit under the arches ok (am assuming the front and rears fit about the same)
Just have to choose a colour now. And was hoping for some opinions to see what people think. The original colour of the wheels is gold (had a photoshop done of my car to give me a rough idea)
or i could go colour coded
and lastly (and the way i'm swaying at the moment ... polished with a little bit of black
I don't think i can go far wrong with either, but i've changed my mind about 20 times already! and am getting to the point where i need to make my mind up now
Am going to keep the Ronal 4 spokes anyhow just incase i feel making the car look a little more understated from time to time But looking forward to seeing how the car sits on those comps
Anyhow thats enough waffle for now, hopefully next update will have a little more to it!
Those new wheels with gold centres look the absolute business. Silver or black look ok (silver better) but the gold is something else!!
The Millenium Volcon "Get yourself a Volvo if that's what you really want, you might be dead next year. In the meantime, you could be going sideways in a gigantic land barge."
Funnily enough the original colour is gold, and the gold paint is still present hiding under the satin black.
I've been informed that these were probably anodized originally, so if I can suss a way to remove the paint but leave the anodizing in situ I'll be able to rock the original colour without paying to have the centres painted.
You could always have the centres re-anodised if they can be separated.
The Millenium Volcon "Get yourself a Volvo if that's what you really want, you might be dead next year. In the meantime, you could be going sideways in a gigantic land barge."