Landracing Forum
Bonneville Salt Flats Discussion => Build Diaries => Topic started by: 116ciHemi on December 31, 2009, 01:23:31 AM
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My Dad bought this car for me just before I turned 16 as a project. I was less than enthused art first because I really had wanted something rwd a little sleeker. After having the car for two years now, I am glad I ended up with it. It is a 1982 Ford Escort, the base model of the base model. Manual everything, no radio, no a/c. It took me a year of tinkering on the car before I finally got to really drive it, when my parents put plates and insurance on it for my 17th birthday present and parked it outside of the school I go to. By this time, I had painted the car two tone with rustoleum paint. Up till this point, I really had no real direction with the car, until I started hanging out on bangshift.com and started reading the stories posted there about Maxton. I started asking questions and decided that I would build the car to conform to the G/GRS class, even if I only ran time only.
This is what we drove home in January 2008:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IM000576.jpg)
Bondo, bodywork, and some white paint and it was starting to look decent:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/HPIM1282.jpg)
After the red was laid on and the trim put back in place I had this:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/CopyofPicsForMom08011.jpg)
Now while this paint job looks good in these pictures, the paint wore poorly and rust is already showing through due to my lack of bodyworking skill. It still looks better than it did when I bought it, though.
After dealing with the weak old 1.6 I decided that I had enough and I built and dropped in a newer 1.9 engine with a slightly better flowing head, but only about 8:1 compression ratio.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/HPIM1634.jpg)
I drove it out to the local 1/8th mile where it lit up the boards with an 10.8@ 64 mph with the new engine, which means I have about 85 fwhp. That more or less brings us to present day, where the car serves as my daily driver and gets about 30 mpg.
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Very cool, you will learn a lot working on your car. I like your paint scheme. :cheers:
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Good job.......Hope to see you at Maxton in April, Paul.
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Congrats---you have a great start----ie your comments about the heads---looks like you are as smart as your mom and pop---gave you something to work with and let you get after IT to "git'r done"---your way what a great start---have fun and stay in school.
I have a machinist class, classmate who did the same thing when his son was 14, then helped him restore it to running before his drivers lisc.---drove the car through highschool and college and to his job interview just before graduation from college with an engineering degree.
During his job interview, the recuriter ask him, "What have you done?", the young man said, " Well its in my resume"---"No what have you done with what you have learned" The young man got up and took the recuriter over to the window and pointed at the '72 Camaro and said---"I have been working on that car, with my dad untill I got my Lisc and got out of high school. Since then my dad just helps when I need a hand". I have changed and the overhauled the eng, changed the suspension and brakes, redesigned and made new suspensi, ect ect ect--
Bottom Line---he had a job with Garette Turbo before they sat back down... As I suggested earlier, Stay in School, 'ave fun, and as Pork Pie says "Think fast---always"
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This is what hot rodding is all about. You start out with a light weight, castaway car, clean it up, throw some paint on it (or maybe not), stick a bigger engine in it, and bingo - you have a hot rod.
It's so easy to look at some of the really great examples of the hot rod art that include billet, chrome, high-tech electronic wizardry, intercoolers, etc., and think, "gee, I can't afford to go fast". But what I see here is a postmodern version of a Model A on a set of '32 rails.
This is a Hot Rod. Congratulations, and thanks for reminding me what a Hot Rod is supposed to be.
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MM you are---- SPOT ON
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Thanks for the kind comments. Whether or she's a hot rod, I don't know. But she's mine. My father has been out of the performance loop for about 40 years, but he enjoys helping me build on it. He mostly works just enough to keep it from occupying the garage long term. In fact, I waited till was gone for a week to pull my engine so that he wouldn't see the mess I knew I was going make. He has been there through all of important parts, teaching me to drive stick, to race, to fire up the new engine I built, and always there when I go in a little over my head. Aside from getting tires, the only time I left the car in someone elses care is when I needed the right rear wheel cylinder replaced I left it with the voc ed auto shop. Last year I was in the automotive program at the local voc ed center and when I changed programs to machining and drafting, I kept up a good relationship with my auto shop teacher and as a result, I can get bay and hoist open when I have need.
Here are a few more pics that show a little more of what the car looks like. It's a lot rougher than the first pictures make it appear.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/HPIM1480.jpg)
Before:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/HPIM1473.jpg)
After:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/HPIM1478.jpg)
My welding isn't pretty, but it works.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/HPIM1479.jpg)
I am working on making an aluminum CAI at school, but this works for now.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/HPIM1665.jpg)
Me getting tree'd on my first ever pass. For a point of comparison, I was running three tenths behind this Lumina with a stock 3800.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_0405.jpg)
I know that this car won't take me through college. I will be dealing with a ten hour drive between home and school and I want something a little more comfortable for long trips.
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As MM said ---a small light car with a bigger eng is a HOT ROD
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My current rule book is packed up, but believe there is a record held by an Escort in GT.
I will try to find the write up online about it. I have not seen Jack Dolan on here in a long time.
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Man, when I was a kid my mom had a 82 Escort Wagon and then an 86 Escort GT. I have a soft spot for those cars. What they lack in "sportiness" they make up in praticality. :cheers:
By definition, your car is a hot rod. A discarded car, repaired and modified with a larger than stock engine to increase performance. I am also diggin on that CAI you have fabbed up there. 8-) That shows the same spirit displayed by the likes of Vic Edlebrock Sr., Dean Moon, Mickey Thompson, Smokey Yunick, Clay Smith, Blackie Gejeian, Alex Xydias and countless others. Your car is definately more of a hot rod than the spoiled teenager, who had daddy buy him a new Mustang, then had daddy pay for a shop to bolt on some goodies. A lot of people have become jaded by the quickness and ease of driving a new performance car has. A new Camaro at 85 is quiet and smooth. Drive my modified '65 C-10 at 85 and you know it. I think driving an older car should be a requirement. It make you a better driver and more knowledgeable with what the car is telling you.
The welds don't look good, so what, your haven't been welding for years. We all were born cold, wet with one head and crying. NOBODY was born a master welder, engineer or basket weaver. Look at it as a learning experience. You got some practice and now you know where you stand with welding skill.
You show an above average sprirt to make it yours and learn through trial and error. That is a very special trait in todays world. You will make fine machinst and draftsman. Never take what someone tells you for fact unless they can prove it, never stop asking questions and never stop learning.
I will leave you with this. Before asking a question, trying to research and find it out yourself. You may not understand the answer you find, but you will be ahead of the game when you ask a "grey beard."
C. J.
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I'll make no promises but will remind you -- and everyone on the Forum -- that the vehicles featured on the Salt Talks t-shirts are chosen from build diaries on the Forum. It's my way of thanking you folks for sharing the fun and hassles of building.
No promises -- but take this as encouragement in your build. And - where are you going to college? Did you decide yet?
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I am 95% certain I am going to MTU. I had to visit the campus at State for an AFROTC scholarship interview and Lansing is a place I would hate living. I was just selected for one of the MTU presidential scholarships. It's only worth $2000 a year, but it's 2k more than I had before. I really hope that I will get an AFROTC scholarship, which would pay at least full tuition, and a chance at room and board.
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I applaud your (probable) choice. And remember -- the initials of the school stand for M(y) T(ummy's) U(pset). Don't let them fool you into thinking it's Michigan Technological University. The full name of the school is like that -- but it's five words long. Michigan Tech -- no logical University.
Happy New Year. Signing off and going to bed. It's past 9PM - getting late for us.
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Hooray for you!!!!!!!!! :cheers: :cheers:
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Yeah but what time are you going to sleep!! :evil: :cheers:
Fred
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Well, with the cash accrued through various means tomorrow will probably see the purschase of either new rear tires, a new cv axle, new drivers side front end stuff, or a new clutch. All need to be replaced. Anyone have any recomendations as far as a decent tire that I could get in P165/80 13? I could go down to 155s, but I would rather not, since I do drag race the car in the summer.
Last week I had ice build up in my drivers side door jam and break off a patch panel, so I had to take of the drivers side door, oxy acet weld in a new patch, bodywork, paint and re hang the door in a temp range of -4 to 25 degrees in a garage with an old torpedo heater for or only source of heat. took me 48 hours from roll on to drive out.
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Hey, Hemi -
You've got those darned 108 mm bolt pattern wheels, don't you? So later 14" Escort wheels won't fit.
13's are getting real hard to find, but if you're looking for a performance tire to race with, Hoosier makes an A70/13 Vintage race tire that's intended for vintage road racing on MG's and Triumphs. Probably get you better bite than any street tire you're likely to find in that size.
Perelli makes a 175 70R13 - probably about the same diameter as what you're looking for, but a bit wider, the Cinturato P5.
As to what to do next, I'd try to get the tough stuff done - after all, you proved that the heater works. :-D Any way you can just make a weekend of it and get the clutch, front end and CV handled all at once? Sure beats tearing it down three times.
Cheers from the other side of the lake.
Chris in Milwaukee
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Yeah, this is all gonna wait till it's warm. The only tires I can get up here are FR380s for $53 apiece. The tires I will do at school where I can get them mounted for free and hold it to my tolerance for balancing as opposed to the tire shop. CV shaft I will order tomorrow though since they are hard to find and no one makes them anymore.
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The roads are to bloody slick right now to drive aggressively on, so I found a place where I could. It's still bloody slick, but I think that's to be expected.
:evil:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ybsjF8VDaCI
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My first vehicle was a four cylinder flat head willys engine in a farm tractor. I got it running but not rolling. You are way ahead of where I was at your age and know more about cars than I do now. The lake driving will teach you not to panic when you lose traction. You will know what to do when it happens.
An undergraduate student has a lot of basic material to learn. Some of the little schools with no graduate program and no prestige are very good. They are focused on the undergraduate, only. Although I did not go to this small college, engineers from it have made a good impression on me. It is St Martins College in Washington State. Farther than Lansing, for sure.
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The lake driving will teach you not to panic when you lose traction. You will know what to do when it happens.
There is so much truth in that statement. Driver's ed will tell you what to do in a skidding or sliding situation, but there is no responsible method of learning it on the street. Testing one's abilities to control a car on a slick surface, something we "Northern Tier" folks encounter every winter, can only make you a safer driver.
My only concern is that you -
A. Don't fall through the ice
B. Don't knock over my tip-ups! :-D
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I bought 2 175/70 R13 Falken Sinceras. I should have them mounted by the weekend. If I ever go really serious with the Escort those hoosier road race tires are on the list. That or a set of 14s.
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Well, I am still plunking along on the Escort. Right now I am within $500 of having all the money I need to get her down the track in June. One thing that I have been debating in my mind for awhile. If I get a job, I will have no issue working the money to race. Swag theory says My car should run right around 95-100 in it's current form. With the right mods, I would like to try for 115 at the June meet. I know that is a big difference, but it's a goal. With that speed, I should have no legal need of a roll bar or 5 point. Frankly put though, I am sure that if I lose it near 100 I'm not gonna be around to care about what happened to car. I would like to weld in a 6 point from jegs (they make a weld in kit for the exp- same floorpan) use a kirkey prostreet seat that I can get for free, and an inexpensive 5 point. Now here is my dilemma- if I cannot get a job before the meet and I am stuck with either safety equipment or the parts I need to meet to my speed goal. What are you guys thoughts and opinions? Of course, to further complicate matters, there are no local welders that I have found that will do a cage. I do have a friend in Ohio that might do it for cheap, however.
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Okay, this is brutal, cold, and a mean thing to say, but I'm gonna say it.
3 reasons to build the cage:
1 It's better to walk away from a poorly executed 100 mph run than to be stuck driving an electric wheelchair.
2 It saves your next-of-kin the headache of e-baying all those used power parts they scavanged before they scrap what's left of your car.
3 We like you, and we want to see you become an old fart, like us. :-D
Chris
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Okay, this is brutal, cold, and a mean thing to say, but I'm gonna say it.
3 reasons to build the cage:
1 It's better to walk away from a poorly executed 100 mph run than to be stuck driving an electric wheelchair.
2 It saves your next-of-kin the headache of e-baying all those used power parts they scavanged before they scrap what's left of your car.
3 We like you, and we want to see you become an old fart, like us. :-D
Chris
Well said!
Lynda
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Okay, this is brutal, cold, and a mean thing to say, but I'm gonna say it.
3 reasons to build the cage:
1 It's better to walk away from a poorly executed 100 mph run than to be stuck driving an electric wheelchair.
2 It saves your next-of-kin the headache of e-baying all those used power parts they scavanged before they scrap what's left of your car.
x30000
3 We like you, and we want to see you become an old fart, like us. :-D
Chris
Well said!
Lynda
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Well, I compiled the massive list of stuff I have to get done on the car. Tonight I finally got around to sandblasting my old wheels and in a few minutes I will go out and prime them. Then tomorrow I will throw on some paint and take them to school to mount up the falkens and get rid of my mismatched rear tires. I am just slowly pecking away at anything I can afford to. I will be grinding my spare flywheel at school so I can use a larger clutch than the one I have on now. I am working on an adjustable cam timing pulley as another school project. I also bought the new drivers side control arm and tie rod end, but I am still in need of the cltuch and CV axle before I can swap everything out.
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So tell us about this adjustable cam timing pulley :-o! Are you modeling it on an existing piece, or is this your own design? What kind of material are you building it with? If you can, post some pics.
As long as you still have access to the shop at school, I'd say make as many parts as you can. I'd be looking at the 'to do' list and see if there's anything else you can get a grade on and save some cash.
Chris
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Well, I compiled the massive list of stuff I have to get done on the car. Tonight I finally got around to sandblasting my old wheels and in a few minutes I will go out and prime them. Then tomorrow I will throw on some paint and take them to school to mount up the falkens and get rid of my mismatched rear tires. I am just slowly pecking away at anything I can afford to. I will be grinding my spare flywheel at school so I can use a larger clutch than the one I have on now. I am working on an adjustable cam timing pulley as another school project. I also bought the new drivers side control arm and tie rod end, but I am still in need of the cltuch and CV axle before I can swap everything out.
Walter, Call me. Time to talk. clutch & CV joints should not be things you're thinking about.... 8-)
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Well, I compiled the massive list of stuff I have to get done on the car. Tonight I finally got around to sandblasting my old wheels and in a few minutes I will go out and prime them. Then tomorrow I will throw on some paint and take them to school to mount up the falkens and get rid of my mismatched rear tires. I am just slowly pecking away at anything I can afford to. I will be grinding my spare flywheel at school so I can use a larger clutch than the one I have on now. I am working on an adjustable cam timing pulley as another school project. I also bought the new drivers side control arm and tie rod end, but I am still in need of the cltuch and CV axle before I can swap everything out.
Walter, Call me. Time to talk. clutch & CV joints should not be things you're thinking about.... 8-)
I will be calling, but I kind of theink that I do need to think about the clutch. This sucker doesn't have a whole lot of life left:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/HPIM1636.jpg)
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Anyway, I did get the time today to resurface the 1.9 flywheel that I was sitting behind the garage in the snow. I left it on the grinder a little to long so it has way to smooth of a finish. Tomorrow I will chuck it up again and remove some material for weight savings and get the correct finish on it. I had one of the new tires remounted but the autoshop messed up the other one. Now I need to go find another one since they are not availible locally. Ugh. At least I do not have to pay for it.
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I wouldn't worry too much about weight, as it tends not to be much of an issue at Bonneville. Good luck with you're build. :cheers:
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Yes, but at maxton it might help since I do not think I can get up to terminal velocity in a mile. The cam timing pulley will be a modification of a current spare that I have lying around, since I lack the experience to even think of trying to mill out 38 teeth with the correct profile. It will probably be made out of mild steel and will use 6 1/4 20 socket head capscrews to secure it. It will allow for 16 degrees of adjustment. I will post up the drawings I did of it later.
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Alright, here are the drawings of the timing pulley. One shows the original, one shows what needs to be changed on it, and one shows the new part that will have to be made. The drawing are not of great quality, but I am still learning.
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Alright, here are the drawings of the timing pulley. One shows the original, one shows what needs to be changed on it, and one shows the new part that will have to be made. The drawing are not of great quality, but I am still learning.
There's nothing wrong with drawings that are as clear as these. Much clearer than my stack of scribbled-on bar napkins. :-D
Looking forward to seeing this part when you're done.
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Hemi---sure beats my shop floor :cheers: ooops I for got you are not leagl yet---lol
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Got a few more things knocked off of the list today. I have my ignition wiring sorted out and working 100% and I have my voltemeter hooked up now, giving me 4 functional gauges. I grabbed an old head off the shelf and looked it over with my teacher and it sound like we are going to take a shot at giving the head a complete performance workover. The only things the head needs are the exhaust guides reamed, the valves ground, and the surface decked. All of those I can do myself at school, so I should be in good shape. There are a few other things I want to do to it, but those are dependant on whether or not I can fit a set of domed pistons in my minimal budget.
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Well, I got the new tire mounted today. I now have good rubber on all four corners. I have all the valves cleaned up on my spare head and the exhaust valves are all ground. Tomorrow I will do the intake valves and then knurl and ream the exhaust valve guides.
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Well, after starting a pnp on the head, I ended up finding that the head I was working on was cracked. So that shot that down. When I took the head to the scrap yard I also threw the car on the scale and weighed it. Grand total of 2100 lbs with me and fuel. Today I started pounding out a sheet of aluminum as a grille plug. Pictures when I get it finished.
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Well, after starting a pnp on the head, I ended up finding that the head I was working on was cracked. So that shot that down. When I took the head to the scrap yard . . .
NO NO NO! Too late. :-o Damn.
There is no better way to practice porting a head than on one that's already scrap. Head porting is where art and science meet. Don't know if you've done it before, but a bad head is a golden opportunity to try some ideas and test how thick the castings are. And sometimes they can be welded up.
Oh, man, . . .
Alright, I'm over it.
Good luck with the new one.
Oh, Man . . .
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I still played with it after I found it was cracked. I like junk heads. But the cracks were right by valve seats and would have required a huge amount of time to reweld and machine. Anyway, here is one of the promised pictures of my grille plug:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/HPIM1687.jpg)
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That should help smooth things out.
Pete
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That is my hope. If nothing else it gets the temp up where it should be. The car only runs about 160* without it, and it has a good 180 Thermostat. The heater core is apparently quite efficient. With the plug it gets up in the 180-190 range where it should be. My metal shaping tools were very fancy: about four different hammers, some chunks of 2x4, an old anvil, and a set of metal shears. It is also slightly lighter than the plastic grill it replaces.
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Work has slowed down a lot on the car. The week before last I yanked the engine and did the clutch, cv axle, and front end stuff. I got the engine back in the car, but after that I had to stop and take care of some other issues. Now that thoes are resolved, Dad is in a bit of a foul mood and I have been trying to stay ahead of school and other things so that Dad isn't on my back constantly. I may get the car running again by the end of the week, but I am not sure. One thing is apparent though- I worked the car hard over the last 5000 miles. The clutch was worn down to just above the rivets and the flywheel that was nice and clean when I put it back on has a whole bunch of hotspots on it now. Suprisingly, the tires are doing OK, even though the outside edges are getting a little worn from the way I take corners. The rears are dang near brand new, and will find their way to the front at the dragstrip soon.
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The week before last I yanked the engine and did the clutch, cv axle, and front end stuff. I got the engine back in the car, but after that I had to stop and take care of some other issues. Now that thoes are resolved, Dad is in a bit of a foul mood and I have been trying to stay ahead of school and other things so that Dad isn't on my back constantly.
That whole clutch and CV FWD stuff is always a nightmare - you'll be glad you have it behind you.
Keep peace in the family, Walt. Take it from somone who has been there - better to have dad as an ally than an enemy. :wink:
5000 on a disc? Something doesn't sound right.
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The disc was factory ford and had around 100007k on it. I opted not to replace it when I swapped engines beccause it was a special order item and would have held me up. It was showing it's age then, but it is significantly worse now. Something about the drag racing and the way I regularly powershift it from dead stop to the speed limit that makes a to small and tired out stock clutch wear out.
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I made a decision this morning that I wasn't going to ride my bike to school. I thrashed all morning and got it running just in time to make it there. After two weeks of being without the car, it feels nice to beat on it a little.
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On top of giving me a ride down there, letting me bum a hotel room, giving me a helmet and a racing seat, and all of the other little nickel and dime things that they have helped me out with, the red hot racing guys hooked me up with a jacket that matches theirs. I owe them a big debt of gratitude, they are all top notch guys.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/Escort/IMG_0758.jpg)
The clutch was really beat by the time I got the new one in:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/Escort/IMG_0029.jpg)
The flywheel might have gotten a little warm, also:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/Escort/IMG_0028.jpg)
The new clutch/flywheel is a big difference over the original I had in it. I can spin all the way through first now. I believe that the 1.9 flywheel also balances a bit better than the 1.6 did, but I could be imagining it.
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Imagination !! The foundation dreams are built on..
Keep thrashing...
Charles
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I believe that the 1.9 flywheel also balances a bit better than the 1.6 did, but I could be imagining it.
Probably just having new components, but I've no doubt that is feels smoother. I fried a clutch in my '66 Cyclone, and I never realized just how unbalanced the assembly had become until I replaced it and skimmed the flywheel. It was like night and day.
Imagination !! The foundation dreams are built on..
And perspiration! I hate tearing into FWD stuff, but Walt, you don't seem to give it a second thought. I admire you for that.
I'm looking forward to what the summer brings you, and your reports.
Chris
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Of all the cars I have had to chance to work on, the Escort is quite easy to work on once you get the rust broken free. The real PITA with Ford FWD vehicles is that they use an interferance fit cv axle in the wheel hub, which means you need a special puller install the axle. The next bugger I have to deal with is that the left inner cv axle ripped, so now I need to yank the strut to fix that. It will give me a good excuse to wack off some coils, though. I am almost finished with the new cold air intake, I got it welded up yesterday and now I only have a few mounting issues to deal with, and then I will make the airbox and make a slit in the cowl to let air into the box. I hope that I can get some of the pressure in the cowl area to give a ram air effect at speed.
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So I have some cash saved up for seatbelts, and I am wondering if anyone has any recommendations on what to go for. I plan on at least a four point bar with a crossbar in the main hoop to mount the belts on, but I do not know what I should look at for. The ECTA rulebook says I should have a pull down type tightening mechanism, but from my brief time working starting line in april, the pull ups were a lot easier to tighten, especially when working around the cage and racing seat, and there were cars there running both ways. Does anyone know the reasoning for the down vs. up recomendation? I understand how ups work better for liners and dragsters, but I can't figure out and advantage to the pull downs.
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At Steve's (whitemonster) suggestion, I called Joe Timney and he patiently explained what I needed to do to install the the belts and set up the seat and roll bar. I have been talking to the welder who has offered to help me out with the cage construction and now I am working out a date to drive down to Ohio and see him. On the 18th I will drive out to the 1/8th to work on tuning the engine a little. I don't have a lot I can do, but when I dropped the engine in, I was in a hurry and I just eyeballed the timing. I also have a few other jet combos I should try, even though the ones I have seem OK.
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:-D :-D :-D
I took the car to the local 1/8th mile for a test and tune last night, and I was somewhat pleased with the results. It ran a best time of 10.706 and a best speed of 64.765. I also walked away from a '09 Cadillac CTS. It was one of those deals where I think the driver didn't know what he was doing, since he cut a .5 something light to my .070, but my et was quicker also. I also ended up getting some seat time in an AOD equipped 5.0 Mustang, where I discovered that it takes much less effort to shift and automatic than it does a stick after I put it in park for a split second at 60 mph. The owner of the car let me try again and I ran a respectable 10.2 after that. I made 23 runs with the Escort and I had a pretty good night in general, at least until I discovered I had cut it to close on the "show up to the strip with an nearly empty tank of gas" idea. I bought a gallon of 112 at the track, made two more passes and then drove home. I have a fwe pictures, I will try and get them posted up soon.
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I have been busy, both on the car and on other things. I got the new cold air intake mostly finished. I made it from scratch at school, and the welding shop took care of sticking it together. Most of the material I used was scrap, and the total cost to make the tube portion was zero. I used leftover aluminum from the grill plug for my air box, and I cut into cowl at the firewall to allow cold air to get to the intake.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_0046.jpg)
My other project is the timing pulley. I machined the old piece to the specs listed on the print, and then I chucked up a hunk of round stock and started turning it down. I got the basic shape done today, then I wrote a program for the CNC mill to cut the adjustment slots and make some indexing lines. I still have to broach in the keyway, and drill a couple of holes so I can make a spanner to help adjust it on the car. for the mating piece, all I have to do is use the CNC mill to pop in my bolt circle, and then I will tap it and call it good.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_0041.jpg)
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_0926.jpg)
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_0046.jpg)
The machine trades parking lot:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_0914.jpg)
The 'vette belongs to the teacher and is really done up right, the Nova belongs to a good friend of mine, and the 3rd gen is the paropro's daily driver.
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I wrote a program for the CNC mill to cut the adjustment slots and make some indexing lines.
Nice touch - it sure beats having to set up the protractor everytime you make a cam adjustment.
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I think it's great that you are making your own performance parts! :cheers:
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Well, these are fun to do. I messed up link the picture of my air intake, so here it is:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_0045.jpg)
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Very cool
Keep in the back of your mind we got 3lbs of boost when we removed the air cleaner and put in a screen.
terry
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Ran into a little snag on the timing gear- we don't have a 5mm broach. Oh well, a little bit of time with a file should open it out to the correct size. I installed a new radiator the other day after a rock got propelled into the old one, so at least my cooling system is going to be in good shape. I pick up the header this afternoon, and I go to get the rollbar, racing seat, and seat belts in the car on Saturday. From there on out it's just the little things to get it done for the June meet. After the June meet I will start the process of getting a new engine for the car. I am trying to decide between a duratec V6 (nice stock engine, little aftermarket) or the old tempo v6 (crappy stock engine, great aftermarket).
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Man, it feels odd to leave your car with someone else. I just dropped it off at the welder's in Ohio to get some floorpans patched, the rollbar installed, and the seatbelts mounted. I got the header installed and the cat removed a few days ago, and it now sounds a lot better. From my end, the car is done. I will pick it up on the way to Maxton to go race.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_0065.jpg)
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_0062.jpg)
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What a nice job you are doing with your Hot Rod :-)
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Man, it feels odd to leave your car with someone else.
No matter how small the car is, when it's gone, theres a big hole left behind.
Less than 2 weeks - I hope your weld guy is faster than mine!
Good luck, have a safe trip to North Carolina, and keep us posted.
Chris
PS Race safe and go fast!
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The welder got the seat mounted yesterday, and has the floorpan mostly patched. He bent up the main hoop yesterday, but didn't like the way it came out so he is bending another one tonight.
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Main hoop is in. The only thing I don't like about the roll bar is that it is chrome-moly (2" with .190 wall thickness) and the upper corners are cut and welded (and gussetted with 1/4 plate). I called Kieth Turk and he said that it was OK, just not the preferred method. I plan on changing that before the next time I race it, but it will have to live for now. Another Maxton racer sold me a simpson harness on the cheap, so I am in pretty good shape. The only thing I didn't do was get the full front air dam made, but that just couldn't be helped with the time crunch I was in. 5 days till I leave.
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Main hoop is in. The only thing I don't like about the roll bar is that it is chrome-moly (2" with .190 wall thickness) and the upper corners are cut and welded (and gussetted with 1/4 plate).
Did your welder give you a reason for cutting it this way? Is there a clearance issue, or was he trying to reuse the tube he wasn't initially happy with?
I suspect you'll put up some numbers that might surprise a few folks. It's a well thought out and patiently put together example of what can be done with an unlikely, low-dollar combination.
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Pictures of the progress. The car is 98% ready to run. Just a few little tweaks to finish up at the track.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/0614001749.jpg)
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/Escort/0616002118.jpg)
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/Escort/0616002121.jpg)
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/downsized_0622001807.jpg)
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/downsized_0622001808.jpg)
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/downsized_0622001809.jpg)
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Well, I sort of neglected to update this, but this is it: Picked up the car, started down and about the time we got into the mountains, the brakes on the truck started to get a little strange, i.e. pedal needed to be pumped up, and when it did work it would pull right or left. That, combined with the truck's gutless 7.3 and 3.73 gears made the mountains a rather exciting time. After the mountains, things went smoothly and we dropped Mom off at the hotel while Dad and I took the car to the track, where I was immediately drafted for rookie orientation and then weed-whipping short shutdown. By then, Dad had given up on me and returned to the hotel, so I drove the Escort back and for the first time with the racing seat and seatbelt. Dan Stokes took me and my parents out to dinner, where he did his best to assure my parents that what I was doing was really quite safe. Dad needed little convincing, since his youth involved street racing his 13 second 1965 442. He is tickled that I bother with all the trouble of the safety equipment and taking the car to a track. Mom, well, she needs some reassuring. Saturday morning rolled around and I arrived at the track around 5:30 to prep the car. Then I worked on the starting line till noon, and the after that I finally got into the Escort and rolled around to the line. I definitely had first run jitters, since this was a much bigger and more dangerous deal than my 1/8th mile passes. However, it went without a hitch, or so it seemed. :wink: I just kept the hammer down, didn't miss shifts, and ended up running 100.5. As I rolled into short shutdown, still giddy, Victor waved me over and said "The tower called, they said you dropped something on the track". Crap. It turns out, it was a screwdriver that had fallen through a hole in the floor at the starting line. Oops. I made several other passes that day, netting a best of 102 with the front end taped up. On sunday, I arrived at 5:30 again to make a few small changes to the car, and then I started running laps. I was in search of 103. We had the whole front end of the car taped off, with Russell and Graham providing their tape and expertise. On my last few passes of the day, I beat the snot out of it. I was trying to push the go pedal through the floor. On my second to last pass, I ran 102.8. Before I even got out of the car to grab my timeslip, Kieth just waves me back to the return road. So I line up on more time, and I gave it one more shot. 103.2. It was fun. Sure, it was slow, but it was still an awesome. I will be back next year, so question.
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Great update to a great thread.
Now apply for that SCTA scholarship!
Mike
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I mentioned the SCTA scholarship to him and his folks at the June Maxton meet. I think they said he already had some scholarship support -- but more is probably better. I went to Tech, remember, and I know well how much beer costs up there. :wink:
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Great job, congratulations. It's amazing how a few tenths of a MPH can make you feel, eh? -Dean
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My scholarship covers full tuition, 900 a year for books, plus 300 per month for living expenses. Because I was in the first twelve AFROTC scholarship students to confirm to tech, the school covers full room and board.
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I hope all goes well in school.
See you next year at the track.
Charles
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One comment I have to make- people tell me that nothing gets done by surfing the internet and posting on forums like this. I have to disagree. Without the encouragement, knowledge, and generosity of those I have met on the internet, I would never have gotten past the "I wish I could do that someday" stage. My racing seat came from the Red Hot Racing guys, who I first met on bangshift.com. Most of my seatbelt was donated by Daryl White, who goes by Revolutionary on here. Dynoroom has blown a lot of his time answering my questions and sharing his expertise. Another internet forum member did the fab work to manufacture the roll bar and install the safety equipment, just for the cost of materials.
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103.2 is nothing to sneeze at, and given that you have a plan in place to improve on that, I've no doubt you will.
Think about what you've started with - What you're doing is precisely how this sport started out on the lakebeds - buy a cheap Ford and keep tweeking it. I can't think of anybody on these boards who has done so much with so little. What's making it happen for you is grit, determination, imagination, know-how, and the will to achieve.
Summit doesn't sell that stuff.
And after all is said and done, you can say, without equivocation, "I am a land speed racer".
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Summit does sell grit, it just has been sprayed onto a piece of paper... :evil:
Looking great Walt, anytime you ever need any help with anything, just let me know. I still owe you for a short ride there at Maxton anyways! LOL!
Jeff
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Well, I am up here working hard (or hardly working) at Michigan Tech, and hating every time I have to get in my soulless toaster of a Focus and drive. The lack of automotive outlet has made me decide that over winter break I am going to go bat-subaru crazy on the Escort for the three weeks I have at home. First order of business is fixing the floorpans. Then it's new shocks, cut springs, and some aero work. With any luck, I will have enough scratch to insure it again once I get off school so that I don't have to drive the Focus all summer.
My goal is simple: 104 mph. For now. Maybe the salt in 2013.
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I know the feeling, brother. I'm in Wendover as I write, and despite being out-run by the racing bar stools, I can't picture myself anywhere else.
Concentrate on the studies, but don't loses site of the goal.
I'll see you on the salt, Walt.
Chris
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OK, plan be. I was getting ready to pull the trigger on $800 worth of go fast parts, and I happened to look on an Escort forum's for sale section. Bad, bad thing to do with money in your hand. So I found this:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/The%2087%20Escort/IMG_0201.jpg)
It is a 1987 Escort GT. Which in and of itself wouldn't be that attractive to me, except that this one has been a racecar since day 1. As soon as it was purchased, it was racing SCCA showroom stock. From 1987 to 2000 it raced SCCA events, and from 2000-till now it has changed hands repeatedly, until it found its way to me. It has a roll cage, it has two racing seats in it now, thought the drivers seat will be replaced by the kirkey. At least the intake and carbed setup from mine will find it's way onto this one for a awhile. I feel that I should learn how to properly set up a carb before I switch to EFI. When I do switch to EFI I will go megasquirt to learn to do that. This one will race pretty much as is this year, but next year I will repaint it, most likely the same red and white that I already have, or in the scheme that it raced SCCA showroom stock. The bad news is that I will end up having to part out and get rid of the '82. Dad cannot be expected to store my junk, so I can only have one project car at a time. This one will be a better deal since the floorpans are solid on it and it lacks all of the structural rust that the '82 has. Though I truly hate having to get rid of the '82, especially since it will be hard to find someone to buy the shell, so it will likely get scrapped.
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Anytime you can avoid having to deal with rust, you're miles ahead, and you couldn't build a cage for what you have in the GT. A rust free, 23 year old Escort with a cage is a definite step in the right direction.
This one will probably put you where you want to be in less time than the '82 - you're not starting from as deep a mechanical and structural deficit.
Think of it in these terms - if the $800.00 had been put into the '82, would it be in the same shape as this one is in? And it probably freed up some repair time on the old one to concentrate on moving this one forward.
I think you made a wise purchase - that is, if purchasing race cars has anything to do with wisdom. :-)
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Make sure you check the cage requirements. The early SCCA cages were thinner wall than whats required by the SCTA. Since this was a showroom stock racer you can bet they didn't go with heavy wall tubing. When I was working on a SCCA and Firehawk showroom racer we tried to cut weight anywhere we could and even had GM making us special body parts and wiring looms. Tony
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So, Walt -- where was this car when you found it? Did it have to go far to get to you (is it going to Hoton or Cacillac?)? It doesn't look rusty enough to have lived in the Copper Country for 23 years. Whatever -- nice find. You probably (assuming all turns out good on the inside) to be one of the lucky ones that scores a good barn find.
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The car is in Evansville, WI, just south of Madison. I drove down to see it yesterday, made a deposit on it, and I will pick it up over thanksgiving break. She's more than solid enough for my purposes. And did I mention that it has less than 30k miles on it? I will check out exactly what the cage is made of, but I was mainly happy with the fact that it was a solid cage that would be better than what I have for my sub-135 speeds at Maxton. I will end up adding at least a crossbar for the seatbelts to mount to, I am not a big fan of what it has right now for the belts, and I doubt Joe Timney will be either. The salt is the target in 2013, so I have plenty of time to get that part worked out beforehand. Right now I want to get it sorted out, running on the carb, and semi-streetable.
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Some more pictures that I took while I was down there.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/The%2087%20Escort/IMG_0206.jpg)
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/The%2087%20Escort/IMG_0205.jpg)
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/The%2087%20Escort/IMG_0204.jpg)
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/The%2087%20Escort/IMG_0203.jpg)
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/The%2087%20Escort/IMG_0202.jpg)
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Got home for break last night. I went over and threw in a battery, hooked up the fuel line, cranked it over to get some fuel back into the carb, and shortly thereafter it fired right up. Right now I am in the process of deciding what is worth stripping off before it finds it way out of here. Some parts may be removed just so that I have a template to use to design better pieces.
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Ok, Escort v2 is in the garage. Some study of the documentation and some educated guessing gives me kind of this timeline of the car:
It's actually a 1986 model, so between 1986 and 1989 it was probably someone's DD, where it most likely racked up most of it's 27000 miles. The Showroom stock logbook is a bit of a question mark for me, because it lists the car having a 1.6. It could be a typo since 1986 was the first full year of the 1.9, but I would expect that the owner would at least know what engine his car had, especially since he was racing it. Anyway, the SSC logbook only shows three events, all driving schools.
The ITB logbook seems to start with a different owner, but only shows record of the annual inspection and two races. Then it was sold again, and this time it was raced pretty consistently over a season and a half. The owner appears to have let other people us the car for driving schools, and then he raced in SARRC PRO IT events up until 5-28-94, when the logbook ends. I believe that the car was involved in an accident on the track and the owner decided to get rid of the car instead of fixing it. I have several receipts from 1997 that appear to be for new parts for the left front of the car. The center section of the grille does not match the one in the logbook photo, and the graphic scheme that the car wore in the photos in no longer present.
Since then, the car has changed hands several time, with no other discernible racing or street driving. Several owner made changes, with the last working to convert it back to an ITB car, at least until he lost interest. Now it's my turn, but I am pretty sure that I will have this on the road and on the track in May.
The car is a nightmare to determine what it has in it. The engine is a E7EE casting, which means that it was the '87 casting design. The head is an E3EE, which means it came off of a 1.6. Most of the EFI hardware does appear to '86, but the intake tube came out of an '89 mold. There are dozens more examples of mismatched part numbers, which makes me guess that this is definitely not the engine that the car was born with.
Anyway, here is what the car looked like in 1992:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/The 87 Escort/IMG_0324.jpg)
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/The 87 Escort/IMG_0325.jpg)
Here is today:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/The 87 Escort/IMG_0292.jpg)
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/The 87 Escort/IMG_0301.jpg)
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/The 87 Escort/IMG_0300.jpg)
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/The 87 Escort/IMG_0301.jpg)
It's clean under the valve cover:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/The 87 Escort/IMG_0306.jpg)
It came with a few extra parts:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/The 87 Escort/IMG_0295.jpg)
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/The 87 Escort/IMG_0296.jpg)
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How happy and excited you make a lot of us old geezers feel recounting the day---I would love to talk 442s with your pop---I had a 65 4 spd with 3.90s that I street raced with 67 factory ram air internalls--- great memories
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So, was Dad aware that he was going to be losing this much garage space? :-D
Dual pattern wheels - well, that answers THAT question!
And speaking of parts, save space for a carb - it just showed up yesterday. PM me your addy. It will require a rebuild - and I'd start with a good soaking - it ain't pretty, but it looks functional.
Congrats on a safe trip home, and happy Thanksgiving!
Chris
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How happy and excited you make a lot of us old geezers feel recounting the day---I would love to talk 442s with your pop---I had a 65 4 spd with 3.90s that I street raced with 67 factory ram air internals--- great memories
I am sure Dad would love to talk 442s with you. From what he says, his 442 tore the street up a lot more than the track. I think that is why he tolerates my antics with land speed racing- it's better than me street racing. He's much less of a gearhead now, about 25 years ago he dropped cars and took up planes. When I got the Escort he started to regain some interest in cars, and now he pretty much always gets to my copy of Muscle Car Review before I do.
MM, I will PM you my school address. It will probably look a little odd in my dorm room, as I will probably be assembling a megasquirt 2 box and rebuilding a carb at the same time. Thanks again and please extend my thanks to your friend.
-Walt
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Walt, don't forget to leave yourself a few minutes to stop by for a visit on your way back to Hoton after the Thanksgiving break. My phone number will be the same as it was before the holiday. Call -- maybe we can find a sub sandwich or something to keep you properly nourished for the two more hours to Tech.
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"took up airplanes"---- :-o
Super Cub :-) and C 185 :-)
Std. Cirrus
Nimbus II B 8-)
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Dad just has a little Piper Tomahawk that he rents out and uses for flight instruction. I have my private, but I don't get a whole lot of chance to use it. I did run into some folks who are putting together a homebuilt, and they let me go over and turn a wrench (or pop rivets) when I am bored.
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Well, took it for a test spin today after getting some things sorted. It had all five gears, but seemed absolutely gutless. I am not sure how much I actually got on it though, since the throttle was sticking open and the thing was so loud that I was worried about someone calling a noise complaint. In all seriousness, the only cars I have heard that are this loud are the old stock cars that run at Maxton. Shifting gears meant me lifting of the gas and pushing in the clutch while I used my toe to yank the pedal back up. The throttle return springs are just plain worn out, and I can't find any good OEM style replacements, so it will just end up being crutched along by my required double throttle return spring. Setting that is going to be a PITA due to the physical layout of the engine bay. It will end up carbed for May anyway (if I can't make this engine sing a little bit, it'll have the whole engine from the '82), so it's not that big of a deal, but I want it to work right from the start.
One of the thing I am having trouble with figuring out the exhaust. I can pretty easily throw on a glasspack and make a side exit system, but I don't know if that will be quiet enough. I really don't want to swap over the 1 3/4" crinkle bent system from the '82, and I really don't have the cash for to have a good 2" system bent up. Does anyone have any suggestion for a muffler that could fit into a 7" diameter, 24" long tunnel and actually muffle the engine? Not breaking the bank is good also.
I am back at tech now for the next three weeks, and after that is when the real fun starts.
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A big thanks to Milwaukee Midget for finding a carb for me. It showed up today and looks like exactly what I was looking for. Right now the body is soaking in carb cleaner while I try and free up the choke plates. PB blaster here I come. He also threw in a SCTA rulebook and some SCTA decals and a DLRA sticker. I'm quite happy right now.
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A big thanks to Milwaukee Midget for finding a carb for me. It showed up today and looks like exactly what I was looking for. Right now the body is soaking in carb cleaner while I try and free up the choke plates. PB blaster here I come. He also threw in a SCTA rulebook and some SCTA decals and a DLRA sticker. I'm quite happy right now.
Good on yah M.M. Thats a nice story.
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Both my buddy John and I are happy to help.
Nothing like a dorm room reeking of carb cleaner, eh, Walt? 8-)
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Well, not much has gotten done since I tore down the carb to clean it. The main body is still up in my car chilling in a bucket of carb cleaner. It should be pretty clean by now, but I likely won't get back to it till I get home. It's finals week right now, and school take priority over hot rodding. I am also doing some research into exactly how I plan to proceed with this project. Right now it's looking like I might try and build a zetec to make the power needed for the salt flats, but that's a year or so out before I start on that.
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Well, a lot has happened since I got back from break. The '82 is gone, sold for $138.40. That's what 1320 lbs of scrap metal is worth. The '86 died. Not sure what went wrong, and I don't really care to try and fix it. The blue engine will be in it in a few days. I test fit the kirkey in, and the seat frame I have for it will be OK. I will make a few tweaks, but it looks good as it sits. I need to add a shoulder bar to the main hoop to mount the seat and shoulder belts to, but that won't be to hard. I will make my own aluminum dashboard since I don't care to try and hack the original one to work for me. The wiring harness is going to get modified to suit my needs and give me separate engine and chassis portions to make different engine combos easier to drop in.
On another note, I kind of failed at school this time around. Hard. I keep my scholarship by a loophole, and I will be on academic probation till I get one issue cleared up with a teacher who I somehow ticked off. So for next semester I will pretty much try stopping everything I do involving cars to avoid distractions. Average will do to keep me in school, but I really need a couple of 4.0s in the next few semesters to stay competitive for field training.
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I too pissed off teachers, no worries, kharma will come in future years.
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Good to hear that your priorities are in order! Good luck in school. 8-)
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You'll turn it around. Keep in mind, not only do we want to see you race well, we all know that you've got to nail down this school thing. There's not a person on this forum who isn't pulling for you.
1st semester is always a challenge. I started out at a University of Wisconsin system school, where I was initially rejected, and only through a letter writing campaign did I overcome the stigma of "Academic Ineligibility". Year One - probation. Year Two - Dean's list. I eventually graduated from UW Milwaukee with a 3.6.
Just like the old '82 (RIP), you'll get it done.
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Gee, what a coincidence, Walt. Not that it'll make you feel any happier, but I, too, spent some time at Tech on Academic Probation. I finally did graduate -- and then was greeted by the folks in the placement office -- the ones that help find jobs (not that you'll have trouble, what with being in ROTC) -- who told me - "Jon, with your degree in Libefral Arts -- well, son, we've got about 700 firms coming here to interview graduates for jobs this year -- and not one of them will be interested in hiring you!" Gee, thanks, fellas. So what'd I do? I got busy with the university radio station, which was just then growing from ten watts to 100,000, and was appointed to a full-time staff position at WGGL-FM.
Persevere, Walt, and don't give up a little fun. Winter Carnival is coming in a few more weeks, and you really should take a few minutes out of the study room to enjoy the spectacle. Have fun, study hard, get good grades -- and you'll win in the long run.
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The first semester is always hard unless you have an older brother or sister that can convince you just how hard you have to study to make the transition from hs to College. It is possible to make a come back. As soon as you get your new schedule, ask for a student /prof. appointment as soon as you can, ask for their help and try to gain insights into what they want to hear and read.
If the professor is very liberal MOST are going to resent that you are on a ROTC scolarship---down play it to everyone except the MS Officers.
Let them know it is a means to an end---a college degree.
Contrary to what most belevieve, most leftist professors will grade you down HARD if they think you are conservative.
Learn to play their game and game them.. STUDY them and learn to tell them what they want to hear. This works well when you have essay ans.
I will be happy to let you know some of the things that got me off probation and out of college---hard work, lots of appointments and learn to use buzz words in my test answers and replys that got me OUT with Degree.
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You know, another trick to getting into a prof's head is to go to the library, search their name under the author's listings, and give their publications a read. Probably less so at a tech school than a university, but if they're a full professor, they would have had to have published something. There are a lot of master's thesis' available in many college libraries, too.
Anyway, you don't necessarily need to completely understand what they've written about. I'd do so without letting them know, and I certainly wouldn't go toe-to-toe with them on the subject, but you can get an idea what's important to them. Additionally, you can observe their writing style. Many profs write much better than they lecture, and perhaps you'll understand what they're trying to say better in that context than by simply following the syllabus. And check out some of the bibliographies in the back of their publications. Any info is usable.
Kind of like Patton v Rommel in North Africa in WWII. :wink:
Of course, don't waste too much time on it, but you can develop a better understanding as to what makes 'em tick.
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With the exceptions of the one prof, I know exactly what I did wrong. It boils down to poor time management, poor homework habits, and not giving enough effort at certain times.
With exception to the incomplete that is dragging me down right now, I was pretty average as far as grade were concerned. Chemistry was my biggest problem. I just didn't understand it, and I still don't really get it that well. Calculus took me awhile to understand, but once I got it my grades went way up. I still only got a C in the class, but the last 1/4 of the semester I was aceing the quizzes and homework, and I got a pretty strong final exam score. Physics lab and chemistry lab were both strong subjects for me, as was my ROTC class.
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Oh, Chris, let me correct you. Michigan Tech -- more fully known as Michigan Technological University -- one of the leading engineering universities in the country, leading such also-rans as Purdue and right up there with MIT. Tech grants bachelor, masters, and doctoral degrees -- in more than just a few areas of scholarship, and also receives large amounts of grants and research funds for more than just snow -- although for many years the school has had a close relationship with the various auto manufacturers who maintain cold weather and snow research facilities.
The school was founded in 1885 as the Michigan College of Mines, and in the middle of the 20th century became the Michigan College of Mining and Technology. The change to MTU happened in the mid-60s or so.
Yes, I graduated from Tech -- could you tell?
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Oh, Chris, let me correct you. Michigan Tech -- more fully known as Michigan Technological University -- one of the leading engineering universities in the country, leading such also-rans as Purdue and right up there with MIT. Tech grants bachelor, masters, and doctoral degrees . . .
Yes, I graduated from Tech -- could you tell?
I have stepped in it.
I had no intention of besmirching the reputation of the fine school that is MTU. I spoke from an uninformed assumption. My apologies to MTU's proud students and alumni.
So the MTU library is also probably chock full of dense, droll, unreadable doctoral and master's thesis' written under the demonic code of post graduate scholarship, called "Publish or Perish". I know that the UWM Library is.
Walt, it now occurs to me that your best course would be not to listen to my crap. :-D
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MM/CC IN my opinion you gave VERY good advice:
I would still ask the Chemistry prof., lab students, and other Chemisty majors for insights on how to "Visualize Chemistry". The world is full of people who didn't grasp various subjects until the light bulb went off. I didn't --no couldn't even begin to grasp electricity until about 30 one day I related it to hydraulics, walla :-D
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The "good enough" mentality isn't going to work for next semester. But where chemistry is concerned- good enough. I didn't fail. It's not a degree requirement, I will take no further courses in chemistry subjects. If I ever need chemistry help in the workplace, I will ask for it.
Back to the car:
The '82 is gone to the scrapyard, even after attempts to give it away no one wanted it, so I had to scrap it so it wasn't in Dad's way.
The '86 is in pieces. This kind of sums up what thing look like right now:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_0508.jpg)
The engine in the '86 pumped a ton of oil out the exhaust. Enough that when I casually reached up to disconnect the shift linkage, my hand came away looking like this:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_0501.jpg)
It's ability to run degenerated as I worked on it, and eventually it stopped running altogether. Still not sure why. When I started teardown there was fuel pooled in the throttle body, which I definitely don't understand, but it's not a big deal.
I just started tearing the engine down and preparing it to be pulled. The last few days, Dad and I have both been out working on it, which is fun. We rarely are working together on something for fun. Usually it is just hammer down and get the job done. This time around, it's more of a laid back working with lots of benchracing and talking interspersed among the work.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_0497.jpg)
Precision dashboard removal- The heater box in there is actually the heater box from the '82 going in so I have a defroster:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_0510.jpg)
Newer bearing- then engine had obviously been rebuilt at some point. Not a lot of carbon buildup, somewhat clean parts, obviously newer pistons, and the bottom of the conrods have all been marked.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_0506.jpg)
This one will go in for now to get the ignition and fuel sorted, but I am heavily debating building the other one with the higher compression pistons over spring break and then dropping it in for the May meet. 9:1 just seems better than 7.5:1
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_0504.jpg)
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Walt:
Thanks for the photos. Now I feel better - that my shop area isn't the only one that looks "busy", not pristine. It sounds like you had some fine time with your Dad out in the shop. You'll be telling the story about that adventure for years. Treasure the time!
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I got some more stuff done today. I collected the rest of the hardware I need to finish the fuel system for the OEM carb. I will finish putting the new carb together up at school (so I will stop MOST of the car stuff). Tomorrow I will patch the firewall, finish the dash, and at least the the engine and trans on the cherry picker ready to drop in on Thursday.
Here is the new gauge panel:
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_0525.jpg)
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_0526.jpg)
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_0527.jpg)
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_0528.jpg)
Nothing real fancy, total investment so far is $10. I grabbed the 1/8"aluminum sheet for dirt cheap from the A+P shop that works on Dad's plane, laid it out with a piece of posterboard, and then used a jigsaw to cut out the shape. I marked out six spots to mount 2 1/4 gauges, and I centerdrilled and holesawed out three of them. The other three I just drilled enough to mark the spot so I can add more in the future. I will pick up a larger holesaw tomorrow to mount the tach. Then I just need to bend and drill some mounting tabs and paint the thing in a black crinkle finish to offset the white face gauges. Hopefully it will be done tomorrow.
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Looks good Walt keep swinging.The school will come together as will the new ride.
terry
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Well crap. I left the Escort last Saturday, after struggling to get it in running/driving condition with the '82 engine enough to take it to the airport to store it. I was almost ready, but I ended up having to spend a couple of hours in the cold trying to get a few fuel system leaks fixed (whose idea was it to use pipe thread on a fuel pressure regulator) and I didn't get the car done enough to drive it before I had to leave. Dad finished fixing the fuel system, but still couldn't get the car to run well. My theory is that the ignition system is messed up, since I know that the engine is good order and that the carb is good. On the list then is an MSD 6A to get around the old engine harness.
Last word on the car was that it idled OK, but had a random miss back up through the carb, and the clutch was slipping to much to pull it up on the trailer (PO made an adjustable clutch cable for some unknown reason, and I didn't set it up because I never had the chance.
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I forgot to post the finished picture of the IP when I got it painted. I am one the fence on whether to use these white face gauges or to go with the black faced ones in the car now. I will probably use the black ones for the aircraft vibe they have.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_0531.jpg)
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I forgot to post the finished picture of the IP when I got it painted. I am one the fence on whether to use these white face gauges or to go with the black faced ones in the car now. I will probably use the black ones for the aircraft vibe they have.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_0531.jpg)
I like the white gauges on the black dash as pictured,,,, but what do I know about style and function ??? LOL
Great Job,,, see you in May.
Charles
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Got to tinker on it a little bit today, found out the dizzy was set at 0* initial and the computer wasn't advancing the timing. So, I will end up swapping out to a mechanical advance distributor and a 6AL to sort that out. Fuel pressure was also to low so cranking that up and advance the timing got rid of most of the backfire. I think there might be a small vacuum leak, but I can dig around for that over spring break.
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Counting up some costs and looking at what I can realistically do, and I think I am going to skip the May meet. Some unexpected costs came up here at school, and some other minor issues are going to make going to both meets difficult. So, trying to make the June meet will give me more time to get the car built. I'll need a job over the summer, and trying to get a job and almost immediately get time off to race probably won't work out well. Given the job market at home in Cadillac, I might end up somewhere else if things look like I can do better somewhere else. I would love to spend the summer in Houghton, it's beautiful up here, and I think it would be nice to see during the two months when it's not snowing.
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Walt, one of the best/most memorable summers I can remember was the first one I spent at Tech. The weather (to this 19 year old kid from the big city) was unbelievable, I took only a few courses so I didn't have much about which to worry, and the weather was unbelievable. Best of all was the weather.
Do your best to give at least one summer in Hoton a try. Unh, maybe there's a job in house with Moyle Construction or one of the other big contractors up there. Heck, mosey down here to Mqt. and see what you can find. You can get up to the Copper Country for weekends, at least.
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To add to Slim's note - My experience was summer courses tend to be a little less rigorous, and a good opportunity to up the GPA. If you can swing a course or two, it can work to put that AP behind you a tad quicker. :wink:
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Walt, one of the best/most memorable summers I can remember was the first one I spent at Tech. The weather (to this 19 year old kid from the big city) was unbelievable, I took only a few courses so I didn't have much about which to worry, and the weather was unbelievable. Best of all was the weather.
Do your best to give at least one summer in Hoton a try. Unh, maybe there's a job in house with Moyle Construction or one of the other big contractors up there. Heck, mosey down here to Mqt. and see what you can find. You can get up to the Copper Country for weekends, at least.
It's tempting, but it would be a big change for me. It basically means giving up going home to Cadillac and living 400 miles from my parents year round.
The attraction is huge, though. It would mean living in one of the most beautiful places in the world, truly living on my own as opposed to being stuck in the dorms, and being able to see how things go if I am living on my own. The downside is that I would have to find an apartment, though I do know plenty of students who only use theirs for 8 months out of their 12 month contracts. I would not have access to the same garage and tools I had in Cadillac.
I think that I will poke around, crunch the numbers, and see if I can do it, and go from there.
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Well, I have been busy since after spring break, but I figured a few things out. Ignition is squared away by retrofitting the duraspark 2 from the '82, the factory carb is working OK, and the engine runs like crap, popping out both ends and having no guts. Theory is a blown headgasket and possibly a vacuum leak, it might have lost its seal either when I was pulling it or dropping it in, since I usually have to lift by the head. Current plan for the engine is to get the crank from the '86 engine turned and use it's .040 over domed pistons in the blue engine, use whichever head is in better shape, and use the Mustang carb. Should be a solid increase in power between the increase in compression and the overbore, and fuel system upgrades.
Over break I got tired of trying to deal with hacked wiring, so I cut most of it out and started fresh with switch panel and new fuse blocks. Right now I have the critical systems wired, I just need to figure out the lights, turn signals, and windshield wipers.
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Well, indefinite hold. Just got the go ahead to take summer classes to try and boost my GPA some more. So that means being up here and ready for classes on June 27th, which will make it hard to pull of Maxton. It sucks, because I have been looking forward to racing all year, but that's life. School first. Maybe I will slip down there and watch or make a pass in my DD Focus before Maxton is unavailable.
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> engine runs like crap, popping out both ends and having no guts
I'd first double check firing order and rather than believing, take out all the plugs and slowly crank the motor the cylinder huffing out air is the next to get a spark. Check compression while you're there.
If both check out the cam is likely retarded.
Good you're working on the GPA.
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Walt
Remember, if you get down to Detroit area any time, I have a new head for you.
One of the good ones, It is safely in storage, but easily accesable.
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> engine runs like crap, popping out both ends and having no guts
I'd first double check firing order and rather than believing, take out all the plugs and slowly crank the motor the cylinder huffing out air is the next to get a spark. Check compression while you're there.
If both check out the cam is likely retarded.
Good you're working on the GPA.
Firing order, cam timing, and ignition timing are all fine. I should also mention that there appeared to be blowby coming out of the radiator overflow outlet, though I didn't get a chance to check it further.
Rick,
Next time I am down that way I will swing by. I just don't get down there much now that I spend most of my year in da UP.
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> should also mention that there appeared to be blowby coming out of the radiator overflow outlet
Hopefully you can spare some time to drain the water and dry the cylinders soon. Water can do a lot of damage.
I have toasted a few engines, but none with a headgasket resulting in popping from both ends, so there's a curiosity to hear what you find when you get a chance to crack it open. Seems I read about something I haven't encountered at least weekly on the forums (usually more often than that). So thanks for posting whatever you observe, it helps.
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I'm sure there is some damage already, but since the next iteration of this engine will have new rods, pistons, p+p on the head and intake, new crank, and a .040 overbore on this block assuming nothing is cracked. It did live outside over the winter, but I had a 25/75 water/antifreeze mix in it to try and avoid cracking due to that. Also, it ran fine when I pulled it into the garage to yank it. Since I won't be racing this season, I should have a chance to do things right and try and turn some good numbers with a CVH. After this engine though, I am done with SOHC 4 bangers. The search will be going out for duratec or a zetec to take it's place.
Two weeks and I will be able to get at it and start work again. :-D
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OK, I am on my way home toward the car. I didn't rock this semester, but I appear to have pulled by, getting my cumulative GPA from a 1.91 to just above my 2.5 minimum. I am just waiting on one last grade to make it official, but the grade should be an A, and all I needed from that class is an AB.
For now though, I have two months to wrench on the car. It's gonna be good to get back under the hood.
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It's gonna be good to get back under the hood.
A bad day turning a wrench is better than a good day cracking the books. You've earned the wrench time.
Glad to hear you're turning the grades around.
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Well, life goes on and I keep nicking away at things. I went and rebuilt the carb right up to refitting the float arm, when I broke the aluminum tab that the pivot shaft goes through. I need to find some aluminum casting flux around here and some 3003 rod to try and repair it since I don't have a tig. I've never gas welded on a a casting before, so I don't know how it will go. I guess I'll go slow and be careful.
I investigated my poor running condition and found that I was running pig rich on 2 and 3 while lean on 1 and 4. Some investigation showed that I had fuel dripping from the carb and into the intake. I backed my fuel pressure regulator off all the way and now it runs OK, though with no real enthusiasm, and still a bit rich, though now on all four. Wiring is starting to get squared away, and I now have my oil press and water temp gauges plumbed and working. Still no turn signals, hazards, or back up lights, but I have headlights, running lights, highbeams, and brakelights.
Steering is all shot to hell. I need to take the whole thing apart, replace the steering column, give it an alignment, and re-bush everything. That will probably be done next time I pull the engine, since I have to yank most of that apart when I pull the driveline.
I gave myself a $100 cap for parts over break, determined to use some of the stuff I have stockpiled around. It has worked pretty well, and I have gotten a lot of other little things done. Right now budget is the limit with many other life expenses, but I keep trying to sock some stuff away so I can drive the thing next summer.
One other thing that is in progress for the car. I have a passion for aviation, and that is where a lot of my inspiration for the style in which I build the car. I have always like world war 2 style noseart, and a friend was nice enough to do some concept artwork for me to use on the car. This is only on a test fender where I painted it, but it will be going on my car before I head back to school.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/IMG_1563.jpg)
-Walt
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cool art hang in there
terry
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I think I dated her once . . . :mrgreen:
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Well, I decided that I would take the Escort for a little test cruise to see how things worked before I took it back to the airport for storage. So, about the point in my route that was farthest from home, I tried to shift from 4th to 3rd on my way to 2nd to flip a u turn. As I pushed the shifter forward I felt a clunk and then the shifter started wobbling around in my hand. I was to slow to save it and keep going, especially on the gutless wonder under the hood right now, so I pulled over to start see what had failed. The shift linkage bolt had fallen out somewhere on the road and left the link arm hanging under the car. Naturally, I had no cell phone with me (I hate cell phones. I only need one .3% of the time. Of course, it would be nice to have mine with me that .3%, but I digress), I had left my license on the kitchen table, and the car is not street legal yet so I had no registration or insurance. And I was just in sight of a state road that is heavily patrolled by state and county police. And the car was stuck in gear so I couldn't push it to get it off the road. So, I found a zip tie under the drivers seat, and as best I could I crawled under the car (rather a feat given the lowering springs) and reconnected the shift linkage and secured it with the zip tie. By this time, my Dad had realized that something was wrong so I passed him coming with the tow rig to bail me out while I was driving home. Fun stuff. Good news though- it drives. I have headlights, taillights, and brake lights. I need to get a turn signal switch wired in, and then I am good to go for lights. The steering is still bad, but I managed to get some things squared away enough to make it cruiseable, though it will not see a track until it is done right. The trans shifts OK, though I am debating seeing if I can rebuild it and replace the shifter bushings. I tore down the old four speed before I scrapped it, and to my surprise, it was pristine and looked brand new. Nothing excessively worn, no metal on the magnet on the case. I figured that trans was a lost cause the way I drove. Powershifting or shifting clutchless, sidestepping the clutch at 4 grand, and many hard launches on the dragstrip.
The engine is a lost cause, however. The headgasket is shot and it won't idle anymore, so next on the list is to tear the engine down and get it to the machine shop to get it back in shape for the the rebuild. If I can figure out how, I will yank it at the airport over break and leave it with the machine shop over fall semester so I can do assembly and start top end work over christmas break, and then send the head to the shop over spring semester and throw it all together over spring and summer break. It's a royal PITA to build a car a week at a time, but it always seems worth the trouble when I fire it up and tach it up a little bit.
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Shift linkages. AAAARRRRGGGGHHHH! :|
My second car was a '66 Cyclone GT - 390, 4 speed - pretty cool. This was back in prehistory, when zip-ties were considered "industrial supplies", and not available at Kmart in the checkout aisle.
I imagined myself as Don Nicholson for a couple of summers.
1st Avenue, Cedar Rapids, Iowa, hot summer night, a ratted out Road Runner pulls up next to me at the light.
I took him off of the line, grabbed second, and the shifter snapped off in my hand!
We both had a good laugh at the next light, as I waved my "magic wand" at him.
I'm glad I didn't have to back up into the driveway when I got home.
Keep punching - one week here means one less week down the road.
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If I can figure out how, I will yank it at the airport over break and leave it with the machine shop...
Renting a break-down engine hoist would handle it though if you have free access to a tow rig I'd go with that. One thing, have your paperwork handy, a engine pull in odd locations is a PD red flag. The good cops will check you out.
Where to stash accesories will depend on security where it's parked. Engine clean-up and transport... Yep, a few things to figure out.
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The problem with pulling the engine at home is that when the engine comes out of that car, the trans comes with it and the front suspension is totally disassembled. I can't really store the car at home if I am not there to work on it, and I can't easily trailer it. As far as worrying about the PD at the airport, I doubt it would be a problem. Very nearly everyone at the airport knows me, so no one would call it in as odd. The hanger faces away from the road enough that no one can see inside where I would be working, so being seen from the street isn't a worry. Transporting the engine is pretty easy. Once I separate the head and the block each piece is light enough that I can lift it without a hoist and set it in the back of my Focus.
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Hey, Walt -- you weren't up here in Marquette County, Michigan, yesterday afternoon, were you? We were at Sands Speedway (1/4 mile, paved, on the side of a hill - I think I've got photos) and Nancy saw a guy that looked a heck of a lot like you. He was crewing for one of the Sportsman entries, making the resemblance all the more believable.
Fun racing -- and since Kudos Laser Engraving is a sponsor of one of the cars, we're involved enough to go to the track and watch the local folks compete.
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Nope. Sounds like he was having more fun than I am. I spent most of yesterday doing research and preparing a paper up here at Tech.
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Back at it for a week. Not much is going to happen except that I am going to take a lot of the car apart. I need to get the engine out of the car, but this time I am going to try and lift the body off the engine instead of pulling it from the top. Usually it is a struggle to separate the CV axles and get the front suspension apart. If I do it this way I just yank it all out in more or less one piece, or at least that is the idea.
-Walt
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Walt, Joe Timney stopped by our pit today so I sent the photo with him to give to Keith. I'll catch KT later and see if he got it.
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Sweet, thanks.
One car related thing I did this summer was that for my photography class final project I shot cars, trying to get them in what I consider their natural environment. Or at least in try and capture some of the feelings or thoughts that I get from cars.
I started with a 1963 Porsche 356 that I was using to represent '50s cars. To me this is kind of the traditional sunny day on a country road car. Where I live, it was hard to find nice backdrop for the shot, but this is what I ended up with. This was also one of my first attempts to try and pan and blur. I did OK, but I really needed more practice at the technique.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/Photography%20class/Porschev3.jpg)
The next shot was a 1966 Chevelle SS. Nasty 396 in this car. This shot and this angle was more or less to bring up the idea of street racing out in the country, or street racing back in the sixties. This is the basic image and angle that my mind calls up when Dad would talk about racing his 442.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/Photography%20class/Chevelleedit1.jpg)
For the '70s (yes I know it's an '80) era car I went back into my files- we were allowed to use one picture from our past collection in the series. Bonus points to anyone who knows where this is and can tell me what I photoshopped out. This photo was taken in anticipation of the days events, and that is how I presented it with the series- waiting for the race to start.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/Photography%20class/Chevelleedit1.jpg)
There are not a whole lot of '80s cars I want to take a picture of, but the owner of the chevelle had this beauty tucked away. The car is PERFECT. I don't have a real narrative for it, aside from the fact that as perfect as it is and it looks, we still couldn't trust it to be reliable for anything more than being pulled out in front of the garage.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/Photography%20class/Buickfinal.jpg)
My '90s car was a '98 Firebird Formula that a friend owned, but my memory card was corrupted before I could download the files.
The final car was this Bullitt. The soul-sucking toaster I drive every day has made me fantasize about having a Mustang or or a more fun car to go explore some of the twisty backroads and go find some of the scenic lakes and waterfalls around the Keweenaw Peninsula.
(http://i293.photobucket.com/albums/mm57/RoninRDS/Photography%20class/Stang.jpg)
Not Escort related, but there are car people here, so I figured I wouldn't get any flak from showing some pictures of cool cars for relief from the '80s econoboxes that have dominated my thread.
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So, it looks like I am scrapping the idea of building another CVH. I found a deal for a low mileage 2.0 duratec like the one in my daily driver, and I think I am going to go for it. The Duratec is lighter and makes 140 hp from the factory, which I would be lucky to get out of a decently built SOHC engine in race trim. The PITA now is making the Duratec mate with the old manual trans, and running megasquirt to control the engine. It'll probably run me close to a grand to get the engine mated to the transmission (It'll be much cheaper than that if I can get my hands on a proper mill and bandsaw, but I am not counting on that), but it is still cheaper than trying to swap in the focus trans and make custom CV axles.
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A lot has happened since I last posted here.
Sadly, this project is coming to an end. I wish I had the storage to keep this till I have time, but frankly, I have lost interest and motivation. I have a good home for most of the parts including a lot of the rarer Escort specific parts. Between the school, ROTC, Dad and I starting to build a plane, the daily driver, my bicycle projects, and now the motorcycle, I have enough on my plate. I can turn this into some cash.
I won't be dropping land speed racing, just postponing my participation as a racer until I have the means to build the car I really want. I still hope to get down to ECTA meets to volunteer when the stars align and I can make it all work.
This car was named Miss Fitts, and no better name has ever been contrived for something I owned and worked on. I like that moniker to much to drop it, and I have nose art that deserves to be on something. So, the Honda CL350 will take up the name and the noseart, probably in the next three weeks as I am cleaning it up to ride.
Here's to first cars, and finally moving on. :cheers:
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Walt, I'm sorry to hear that the mop is flopping in this direction.
It took me almost 40 years to finally be able to commit to this sport. You've tasted it earlier than I ever could, and I suspect there is no 12 step program for this.
Stay as active in it as makes sense, and do so on your own terms - that's how you'll get the most out of it, and still be able to put something into it.
:cheers: To first cars.
:cheers: :cheers: To faster second cars.
Stay in touch.