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.