1985 Ford Escort mk3 Popular - welding time again!

[cjhillman]

I got in the Escort the other day and forgot its still driving pretty rough.

The problem is when you accelerate moderately hard the Car jogs pretty hard. Imagine 30mph in 4th gear and the revs are a bit low, it will buck about unless you to go back to light acceleration. On the flip side under really hard acceleration it doesn't do it either.

At this point I'm guessing its either:

-The Condenser, as I didn't replace this (just the points) and it was ok for a little bit after replacing everything.

-The fuel pump

-The Carb or Carb accelerator pump.


My question is how to I test this cheaply or for free. Fuel pumps and Carbs are expensive for this engine at the moment. Would be nice to get it driving nicely. My bet is still on the ignition as when I swapped the leads it was good for a while. It couldnt be the coil could it?


I cant find one but the original condenser is a Bosch - 1 237 330 350 if anyone comes across one.

[vulgalour]

If it's a failing condenser that's something that will usually get worse the more you drive, and then clear up when it's had chance to cool down again, so if it's not doing that you can probably rule that out.

Fuel pump is unlikely if it improves under load, normally a failing pump will starve fuel supply under load so it's probably not that.

Carb is a possible contender, especially if there's weak components or dirt in there.

Another possibility is that your timing might be retarded a bit too far, or your idle a little low, these things can wander. It might also be distributor related with a weak vacuum advance or tired springs.

To find out if it's the coil, which is also not a bad call, you can test the output with a multimeter to see what it's actually doing before you replace it with a new one.

One other thing I can think of since you mentioned replacing the points is that the securing screw might have come loose since you fitted them and put your points gap off just enough that it's messing things up, that at least is a completely free fix since you just need to look and get the feeler gauges and screwdriver in there to sort that.

[cjhillman]

Cheers for this vulgalour ! I'll try testing the coil and maybe put some redex in tomorrow. I think the car has always been like this but I've accepted it. The more I drive other Cars I notice it, so it must be an item that always been on it.

Could I test the Vacuum advance/ springs by sucking on a fresh pipe to Vac advance? Never done this before but know of it.

I think the idle is a little low too so can try that.

[vulgalour]

If it's any consolation, the Princess has a similar trick before its warmed up or when the oil in the dashpot is low (just SU things) and clears up when it's driven a bit more.

I don't know how to test the vacuum/springs, that's a bit above my smarts, there'll be plenty of info online of how to do it I imagine.

Redex probably won't do much of anything for this, do some checking and collate some data before spending money on potions. It's likely there's just a setting a bit off somewhere, or a couple of settings that are a little bit off and compounding to appear worse, you just have to find where they are.

Damp weather won't be helping much either of course, especially since you're still running points and condenser. I switched to a hall effect electronic kit to replace them and haven't looked back since. I don't mind points and condensers, it's just really hard to get decent quality parts reliably now so the electronic ignition kit was a great cheap upgrade that has led to smoother running and more reliable starts.

[cjhillman]

Wow its been a whole year since I updated this thread. The last post I was talking about it running rough. In the end I'd swapped all the plug leads which seemed to work but then again I couldn't decide if it was a fuelling problem. After exhausting all my knowlage I remembered years ago I messed about the with mixture screw for some reason, I 1/4 turn on that and all my problems seem to have been solved. Since then its been just fine.

When it came around to MOT this year it passed thankfully but then a few weeks later I noticed the inner wing was falling out. I wasn't too surprised by this and the car just sat outside my house for the whole of summer. Not the best thing for it but with my Job I had a lot of unexpected (but very welcome) work come in taking me all around europe plus, we were trying to buy a house! My logic was if we got the house I could stick it to one side and if I couldnt afford to get it fixed just cut the rust out, treat it and maybe learn to weld myself in the future. We DID get the house and it turns out I could afford to get someone to fix it so... off to the welder it went.

I just got it back this week and today sprayed some Wax Oil underneath and sprayed the inner wing red again. I'm definitely going to go round and go over the current wax oil early this week while its dry. In the future though I'd like to strip the front down, treat any flakey bits and generally smarten it up. I think I still might need to learn to weld though... Oh and find some Escort mk4 inner arch liners!!










The front wing was chopped in half to fit the inner wing panel. Not ideal but luckily the wing isnt the best and nor is the paint. I'll sort this once I've cleaned the car up. 

[wildrover]

Congratulations on the house, I am sure I am not the only one that wants more details...

You will never regret learning how to weld. Even if you can only manage to barely stick two pieces of metal together it will be a lesson well learned. I did an introductory course at a local college and found it invaluable - even though the focus of the course was for future pipe welders/professionals it gave me the basics and practice I needed... go for it. I will never be a great welder but, I have the (perhaps misguided) confidence that I can sort of properly stick two pieces of metal together... at least to the degree that I need

[cjhillman]

Nov 3, 2024 7:49:21 GMT wildrover said:

Congratulations on the house, I am sure I am not the only one that wants more details...

You will never regret learning how to weld. Even if you can only manage to barely stick two pieces of metal together it will be a lesson well learned. I did an introductory course at a local college and found it invaluable - even though the focus of the course was for future pipe welders/professionals it gave me the basics and practice I needed... go for it. I will never be a great welder but, I have the (perhaps misguided) confidence that I can sort of properly stick two pieces of metal together... at least to the degree that I need

Thanks mate! I have had a go before at welding at the R tech welding stand and loved it. It was great! Now we have the new place I'm hoping I can get one and figure out a non flammable area to work. The only problem is my girlfriend and mum think its probably a bad idea considering I use my hands and eyes for a living . The guy who just did all the work on the Escort said he used an amazon welder with a proper gas bottle. I get the feeling it was one of the Hitbox ones, I don't think I've read good things though about the build quality.

The house. I'm very excited about this! Its a 3 bed semi but the drive goes down into the garden so I'm able to drive into the Garden. The hope is at some point I can put a garage down the bottom. There are a few problems with drains in the Garden... documented here.

Garage / Garden build

[vulgalour]

You've got all the fire safe space you need for welding there. I too use my hands and eyes for a living and I've been welding rusty old rubbish for years with only minor mishaps.

Get yourself a R-Tech welder and you'll have a happy time, they're a bit more expensive than other offerings but they are excellent value for money and take a lot of the stress out when you're welding variable 80s nonsense.

For your safety, get used to wearing overalls (fire retardant best if you can get it), welding gauntlets, and a decent auto-dimming welding mask. This means you'll be more comfortable as you work once you get over the initial clumsiness with the gloves and you're not going to ruin your hands.

When you're grinding always wear eye protection, no exception. I'd also recommend wearing the welding gauntlets too, they've saved my fingers a couple of times over the years. Ear defenders too, you'll regret it later in life if you don't. I also never take the guard off the grinder unless I absolutely have to and that too has saved my fingers on more than one occasion, even if it does make it difficult to get in at some stuff.

Really, the welder is the safe bit. It's the grinder and the tin snips and handling the patch panels where you're most likely to injure yourself and that's where most people seem to get the most careless. If a job is stressing you out, step away from it, when we're wound up and/or tired we make more mistakes too.

You'll be fine though. You've got a sensible head on your shoulders, get stuck in and you'll be unstoppable.

[cjhillman]

Thanks vulgalour ! I'm going to do my best to try and get a welder in my life. I also know what you mean with angle grinders. Really don't like using them. I was hoping I could use a handheld belt sander for the really frilly stuff haha.
I have a few things like the bottom of the passenger door on the Escort and the Drivers door on the Capri that I could practice on after practicing on scrap. They have kind of rotted out really so need patching up. Also the boot lid on the capri, I have a spare which needs putting on as the current one just rains in.

Currently I need a small garden shed to keep stuff like the welder or at least the gas bottle in. Hopefully I can sneak something in as I'm quieter than usual this winter with work, time to tinker!

I saw the guy who welded my Escort today, he said he used a ROHR Welder and loves it. Unfortunately they have gone bust it seems.
Oh and flammable wise, I was just worried about the grass and the wooden fence. the only other space is the concrete ramp, maybe That could be useful to keep the jobs up high if I move the bins.