ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,194
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Oct 11, 2015 21:23:34 GMT
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Well, the issues do keep on coming! Let's start off with the good news! Firstly, I managed to knock a few things off my to do list including: - Reducing brake vibration from the front - Replacing front brake carrier bolts with new items to hopefully get rid of the issue above (i.e the calipers falling off!) -Solve the cooling issue -Replace 3 wheel bearings ; 2 rears and one front -Replace rear damper top mounts - Ish but done the job for now -Sort out breather hose ; separator tank oil drain - Done but I have a new problem here (read on) -Weld up the holes left from the roll cage - Booked in Sending the discs off to be skimmed and turned down a couple of mm has solved the above issue well. Braking has improved quite a bit and with no shudder. New bolts were also installed. Although I changed the rear wheelbearings the front was also changed this weekend, with it being torqued up as per the Haynes Book of Lies. For the first time the car has been much nicer experience with no droning or sounds coming from the wheels. The creak from the rear top mount has also gone! Although the rubber bushes are now made out of unobtanium poly replacements are on the way. In the meantime I cleaned up the rubber mounts and applied silicone lubricant. This seemed to do the job quite well! On my way down to the Pistonheads Sunday Service all was well. The engine felt strong and sturdy with the car generally behaving well! Things looked good for the day even if the car was dirty! The car even had good comments towards it for most of the day! The comments soon turned to cursing after it hit the track! For all of 2 laps the car was great! There was plenty of grip with enough grunt. Intially there was a puff of smoke from the rear which I assumed came from the exhaust. OK thought this is probably a bit of oil coming into the turbo from surging. Not great but it will suffice! The whiff became a cloud and stench with people sliding off behind me! The one retro I have had with zero oil leaks decided to spew a good 1/4 to 1/2 a litre of oil on the track on right hand bends, burning the the rest off the exhaust! To say I was gutted was an understatement but OTOH at least no one was hurt and hats off to the car being pulled in. The underside of the car was dripping in engine oil, no what I wanted. The engine bay is still as clean as a whistle on the block and everywhere. The only thing I can think of is that the oil must have got out of the vent tube of the oil separation tank where only water vapour is meant to exit and it always has seemed to with or without a catch tank due to the internal pipe which is placed right at the top of the oil separator. Of course this would mean that I have a fairly serious oil surge issue. I initially was going to put the vent hose back into the metering head but it was pointed out that with that much oil coming out I'd probably do more harm that good and potentially even lock something within the engine. There will be some head scratching for sure. This now will sound pathetic but I was seriously considering getting rid after this issue. While the issues have not been major the car has certainly had its share of niggles over the past year. It has also been one of the few retros I have owned to be assisted by a Green Flag man on more than one occasion within a year; Even the Stag managed not to have this happen! However,I decided to persevere with the car. The oil was mopped up at Silverstone underneath the car and the vent tube put back into a catch can. Sure enough on the way home only water vapour came out despite the car being topped up with oil! Arrrgggghh! Retros; Who'd have 'em? In more pressing news the Chequer plates of derision have finally left the building! This was done in preparation for the interior to be refitted. It is already looking better eh? At least that part of the car is working out for now! I am sure one day the car will behave itself for more than a week!
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Last Edit: Oct 11, 2015 21:30:24 GMT by ChasR
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Oct 12, 2015 20:57:18 GMT
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Lovely car. I love s1's but i could only afford a s2 a few years back just to scratch the itch.
When it was behaving it was a great characterful car. But it never lasted. I sold it after another niggle and on the test drive for the new owner it went better than ever.
I regret selling it as no RS Turbo is in in my price range anymore.
Stick with it. It'll be worth it.
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,194
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Oct 12, 2015 22:23:49 GMT
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Many thanks for the kind comments. Yesterday was annoying for sure.
If the car can stay reliable it would be great. On song the car is superb.
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Last Edit: Oct 13, 2015 6:30:17 GMT by ChasR
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Nathan
Club Retro Rides Member
Posts: 5,626
Club RR Member Number: 1
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Oct 13, 2015 11:03:11 GMT
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It does seem to be a trend with RST owners, I had one in 2000 and pretty much ditched it because if constant issues. Stick with it fella, you'll regret getting rid of it in years to come, I know I did/do.
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Oct 19, 2015 13:36:15 GMT
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AFAIK BC boxes never had larger bearings and ribs, but I may be wrong. Currently on my fourth one after lunching several, IB5s are hard to come by in Cyprus so I resorted to a diesel box with no LSD, sacrified performance for durability as longer gears and no lsd to minimise stress (the diesel box being stronger is a myth). ATBs are quite harsh when they come in I believe, and if one wheel goes up in the air you lose all drive. MTX-75 will involve chopping up. IB5, you can get one from a 1.8 NON Turbo diesel van, 1.3 KA IB5 for the gears. Install the LSD from your box (also S1 diffs are 6 bolt and may require some jiggery pokery compared to S2 8 bolt diffs), along with the 1.3 KA ratios in the 1. casing. Using the release bearing from the van, and S2 220mm clutch assy. This will give you ratios near identical to that of an S2 RS Turbo with added durability of larger main bearings and additional reinforcement. It will also drop straight in with no modding. Also a good time to add a Transit Connect starter to provide superior starting and less of a chance of seizing up when hot due to the turbo. HTH, Ahmet.
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'73 3.0CS '81 Golf Gti 1.6 '83 Golf 20VT '87 M535i '86 Escort RS Turbo
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Oct 19, 2015 13:40:48 GMT
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Many thanks for the kind comments. Yesterday was annoying for sure. If the car can stay reliable it would be great. On song the car is superb. get an R32 & have done with it
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,194
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Oct 19, 2015 17:14:59 GMT
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It does seem to be a trend with RST owners, I had one in 2000 and pretty much ditched it because if constant issues. Stick with it fella, you'll regret getting rid of it in years to come, I know I did/do. Now that was kept quiet for all of the time I have known you! What kind of RST did you have? Any pics? TBH I suspect you are right regarding the car. OTOH it is improving with the changes being made . AFAIK BC boxes never had larger bearings and ribs, but I may be wrong. Currently on my fourth one after lunching several, IB5s are hard to come by in Cyprus so I resorted to a diesel box with no LSD, sacrified performance for durability as longer gears and no lsd to minimise stress (the diesel box being stronger is a myth). ATBs are quite harsh when they come in I believe, and if one wheel goes up in the air you lose all drive. MTX-75 will involve chopping up. IB5, you can get one from a 1.8 NON Turbo diesel van, 1.3 KA IB5 for the gears. Install the LSD from your box (also S1 diffs are 6 bolt and may require some jiggery pokery compared to S2 8 bolt diffs), along with the 1.3 KA ratios in the 1. casing. Using the release bearing from the van, and S2 220mm clutch assy. This will give you ratios near identical to that of an S2 RS Turbo with added durability of larger main bearings and additional reinforcement. It will also drop straight in with no modding. Also a good time to add a Transit Connect starter to provide superior starting and less of a chance of seizing up when hot due to the turbo. HTH, Ahmet. I'll see if I can take a picture of my 'box. It looks stronger than an S1 item . I reckon the diff is also open which should give me more choice as to going with more diffs . The car is already running a 220mm clutch as well on the Zetec flywheel. In theory, with an ECU, EFi manifold and a few other bits I could actually have the car running on a standalone ECU with relative ease ; The crank sensor is still in the engine . But we shall see. There is plenty more to do. The wheels losing drive is something I am aware of with Helical diffs but in reality it shouldn't be much of an issue bar hitting the kerbs on track. Hmmm, an IB5 from a van? What are the retios like in them? ATM my car will around 3300rpm at 70MPH on the motorway. I already have the Transit Connect starter with heat wrap around the exhaust . It certainly is one of the best *VHs I have come across for starting . Many thanks for the kind comments. Yesterday was annoying for sure. If the car can stay reliable it would be great. On song the car is superb. get an R32 & have done with it Can you really see me doing that? .
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Oct 19, 2015 20:47:45 GMT
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Get the front in the air and give the wheels a turn, if both spin forward you've got an LSD in there! Not sure on the ratios on the mk5 vans, but the diesel box in mine off a mk4 does 65 in 2nd and at 70 about 26-800rpm of the top of my head. 38mpg on the long run is nice! According to a post I put up a while ago, will be doing around 2500 at 70, personally i'm not that bothered as I like a relaxed cruising gear.
Megasquirt is next on the list for mine, already got my EFi manifold ready, modded my MFi head too so I don't have to run an adaptor plate which fouls the strut brace.
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'73 3.0CS '81 Golf Gti 1.6 '83 Golf 20VT '87 M535i '86 Escort RS Turbo
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,194
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Already done bodgemonkey . It is almost certainly an open diff but the car does turn in more if I play with the throttle a little on turn in part way in the bend and understeer with almost no throttle. The long ratios would probably help with putting the power down and making the car easier to live with daily. It is surprisingly torquey even with a bit of turbo lag. The EFI manifold fouling the strut brace with an adaptor place is news for me. That is not what I was expecting to heat truth be told. How did you mod your MFI head? I shall look into the ATB issue more though . I was under the impression that it did not lock as such with partially being due to the ramp angle of the gears and it being a parallel geared diff in comparison to a cross axis helical geared diff like the original Torsen T1 which are known for being more vicious when engaging. That said, were you running a normal viscous LSD in your RST?
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Yes mate was running a viscous S2 diff in mine. Modded the head using my every trusty dremel and some very careful measuring and cutting, offered up the EFi manifold then made sure I had the correct angle and shape for the injector holes, then filed and shaped the port slightly more before blending into the intake port.
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'73 3.0CS '81 Golf Gti 1.6 '83 Golf 20VT '87 M535i '86 Escort RS Turbo
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,194
Club RR Member Number: 170
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I shall bear this in mind in the future. On the road on the brief occasions I have been using it the car has been behaving quite well. With many of the previous issues gone including the horrific creak the car is now great to drive once more. Of course the clutch does spoil the fun, although I don't think RetroWarwicK was quite man enough to handle it . I shall start with some of the work I did to get it there. Without repeating too much from before I changed 3 wheel bearings (both rears and the fronts). One of the rears did look worse for wear with the front bearing looking like the rollers had become flush with the race. How could that happen after a CV joint boot swap? This time however I did adhere to what the Haynes Book of lies said to do which seemed to have done the trick all across the car. Yes, one of the rear bearings were breaking apart. The others did not that "that" bad but the car is now far quieter . I also had the holes rewelded left from the rollcage. The quote ended up increasing a little but the job is great: At least things are going smoothly for one. I also managed to tame the high idle and get the auxilary air valve working a little better. Instead of idling at 1400rpm it is now idling at a more sensible 800-900rpm . I plan to sort out the cold start injector and see if it can be used again but we shall see. For now the car is good to use everyday bar the clutch. During Haloween on my travels I came across a new hot hatch. The shot seemed to be quite apt to take TBH. Which would you go with? However, my fun was not quite over yet. After dropping the car off home and indulging in some late night Haloween shenanigans I recall waking up a little fragile on the Sunday. But I was soon fit enough to attend the RetroWarwicK breakfast meet for a few hours, well, as long as my injured ankle could bear! I have to say the meet for a small one was great with a vibe present. It was certainly worth the trip. Here's to using the car more .
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Of course the clutch does spoil the fun, although I don't think RetroWarwicK was quite man enough to handle it . that clutch is evil....pure evil....
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,194
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Of course the clutch does spoil the fun, although I don't think RetroWarwicK was quite man enough to handle it . that clutch is evil....pure evil.... There was me thinking you were not man enough to handle the beast! . OTOH the clutch has probably been one reason why this thread has not been updated lately. That and the Escort's propensity to rot in front of your eyes in the presence of salt. But with it getting warmer I figured get my thumb out of my butt and crack on with getting the car the treatment it deserves. Back in March I decided to remember that I owned it. However, the car as a remind to this fact decided that would be recalcitrant after a 3 month lay up. I could almost hear the car saying "What, you are playing hard to get, and you think you can just slip into me like an old pair of slippers and expect to behave?". Sure enough the car cranked over, but the battery went flat after about a minute of cranking at various intervals. With some jump leads and an AGM battery however, we were back in business! Driving it reminded me just why I like this example. Yes, the clutch is horrific and requires more caressing than a princess on a bad day. That is before I get to the random squeaks and complete lack of storage space, or so I thought, but more on that later! But I love how the car grips more when you plant your foot on the accelerator in the bends and how even at 10mph or 90mph it feels alive! Flooring the car in 4th and then changing up to hear a few random pops and bangs from the exhayst on the overrun Yup, I really do love the experience. And so with it appearing to work well I took a photo to celebrate the experience: However, it was still too bloody cold! So it was parked up again. But for the first time in a couple of years the car would have to be a commuter once more in a twist of fate. Some of you may know that I own a Clio 172: For some silly reason, probably because I try to be too considerate when parking, and the Clio's combination of steering lock that makes the QE2 look like it has an amazing turning circle I decided to get some 15" wheels, for the fear of kerbing the Cup Turinis with slightly stretched tyres from the factory, and have a nicer ride. I however did not quite envisage ending with the car looking like this!: Check out those Carbon Fibre* centre caps: *that may be a lie: Yup, not a great look, but maybe it is to you! OTOH, someone liked them: they paid Pristine Wheels £290 for the priviledge of painting them! And so the Clio went back onto its Turinis: One problem: The rear tyres on them make Kojak's head look like it has plenty of hair! Enter Stage left.... The Escort would prove that despite it having no carpet and it being a royal pain transport anything due to nothing having a surface to grip on, that it would be a superb car for transporting wheels! Off it went to a City all loaded up, with the wheels dropped off and then back in the City to mooch around for a day: Someone wanted photos of the car for whatever reason, and so I parked outside a cool looking entrance and obliged: And then I parked it in what I thought was a secure Multi-Storey. Brave I know! After viewing the city, looking around, buying decent grub and meeting up with RetroWarwicK of this parish I decided to head back. But not without the wheels! They do look a little different I think you agree! Anyway, more on that on another forum and thread! This thread is about the Escort after all . Today I figured it was time to push on with the car. Off it went to the Butty Run promoted well by our own choptop here. After the event it was time to get stuck in with getting the interior closer to being like a normal RST again. Here is a during shot: After a couple of hours, metal everywhere, cleaning up the said metal from the rivets mainly I finally had a more stripped out look: Door plates and cage be gone!: Now to clean out the carpet, fix a water leak and push on with getting it looking like an RST should .
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Last Edit: Apr 3, 2016 21:16:03 GMT by ChasR
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,194
Club RR Member Number: 170
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Well, it seems sad times have come about in the times of retroness in the world of Chas. But also, a time of change. With the list of things to do for the Escort growing, and storage issues with such a car despite looking for months for alternative storage I finally did the nasty deed and got rid. It certainly was sad getting rid of the car. It was sad putting a few things away into it but it is time I moved on. Yup, there are a few spares in there! Even more!: One of its final drives chasing up a slow Mk2 Golf : What is a sadder day is that it is probably the first time since I have started driving that I have been retro-less. Some would argue that the new steed is a future classic, but you know what I mean. One day I will return to the fold which is mostly what I have come to know, live and breathe, but for now I guess its time to enjoy a few other things and take a bit of a break from spannering, well, we'll see what happens with the new car :
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foldy
Part of things
Posts: 710
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May 12, 2016 15:34:50 GMT
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Where's the unlike button?
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ChasR
RR Helper
motivation
Posts: 10,194
Club RR Member Number: 170
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May 12, 2016 21:52:17 GMT
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There isn't one . But if iffy characters hanging around the lockup saying they would 'take care' of the care I figured it was best to get shot, espeically when as andrewbaran can testify, storage is far from cheap in Warwick (think the rent of a room/flat for someone decent!). It's gone to a friend so it will be interesting to see what happens with it. It is probably one of the few times I have sold a car to a mate. Once my storage issues are solved I'll be back .
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foldy
Part of things
Posts: 710
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May 12, 2016 22:36:34 GMT
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I'm with you there buddy, rather it go to someone who'll look after it and enjoy it, than end up missing and in bits. Even betterer if it's gone to a freind
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