Special Stage Forums banner
Cancel
Create thread New Garage Forums

Ford Escort Gt

1 reading
Jump to Latest
7.5K views 21 replies 14 participants last post by  Glenn Wallace  
D
#1 ·
I am a newbe that did not take everyone?s advice and decided to build my own car.

I have a 93 Escort Gt and it is set for almost done except for.... a good suspension. I know the Mazda 323 and the escort from the year are the same, but I am still having problems finding someone who makes a good suspension for this car. Do the AWD and the FWD 323 have the same suspension or not? Any help would me much appreciated.

Thanks,
DREW
 
#2 ·
>I am a newbe that did not take everyone?s advice and decided
>to build my own car.
>
>I have a 93 Escort Gt and it is set for almost done except
>for.... a good suspension. I know the Mazda 323 and the
>escort from the year are the same, but I am still having
>problems finding someone who makes a good suspension for
>this car. Do the AWD and the FWD 323 have the same
>suspension or not? Any help would me much appreciated.
>
>Thanks,
>DREW

nope. Suspenders are different.

Philip J. Boer
grinner323(at)sbcglobal(dot)net
 
J
#3 ·
>>I am a newbe that did not take everyone?s advice and decided
>>to build my own car.

well _I_ say build your own: you know KNOW what you have and where you skimped and where you didn't and can plan and budhet accordingly
>>
>>I have a 93 Escort Gt and it is set for almost done except
>>for.... a good suspension. I know the Mazda 323 and the
>>escort from the year are the same, but I am still having
>>problems finding someone who makes a good suspension for
>>this car.

That's cause nobody ever rallied one.


Do the AWD and the FWD 323 have the same
>>suspension or not? Any help would me much appreciated.
>>
>>Thanks,
>>DREW
>
>nope. Suspenders are different.

WAIT!!
The front knuckles are dimensionally same between the GTX, the GT, nd the only slightly different from the Tracer the difference being a shorter cast in steering arm which will give quicker steering which is always a good thing.

I am not sure what the differences are in the rear but maybe you might have to join the growing list of guys who want affordable Bilstein 41mm upside down struts and nice thick wall chrome-moly striut tubes for all those obscure cars that people choose to build.
Let's see right now its supposed to be 2 Golf II, maybe 1 Golf III, one Justy Sub-a-rat, and 1 Sub-a-rat RX.

Those 41mm things were good enough for WRC cars as late as 1992-93, the 50mm rears are stronger than the fronts.
Maybe you should give me a call or send a email
janvanvurpa AT f4 DOT ca
>
>Philip J. Boer
>grinner323(at)sbcglobal(dot)net





John Vanlandingham
Seattle, WA. 98168

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat
 
#5 ·
>>nope. Suspenders are different.
>
>WAIT!!
>The front knuckles are dimensionally same between the GTX,
>the GT, nd the only slightly different from the Tracer the
>difference being a shorter cast in steering arm which will
>give quicker steering which is always a good thing.
>
>I am not sure what the differences are in the rear but maybe
>you might have to join the growing list of guys who want
>affordable Bilstein 41mm upside down struts and nice thick
>wall chrome-moly striut tubes for all those obscure cars
>that people choose to build.
>Let's see right now its supposed to be 2 Golf II, maybe 1
>Golf III, one Justy Sub-a-rat, and 1 Sub-a-rat RX.
>
>Those 41mm things were good enough for WRC cars as late as
>1992-93, the 50mm rears are stronger than the fronts.
>Maybe you should give me a call or send a email
>janvanvurpa AT f4 DOT ca
>>
are you sure that the late 80's 323 GT/GTX/Tracer use similar knuckles to the Escort? I have fit MX3 knuckles into one of my GTX's... but I was under the impression that the later Escort's were to dissimilar



>John Vanlandingham
>Seattle, WA. 98168
>
>Vive le Prole-le-ralliat


Philip J. Boer
grinner323(at)sbcglobal(dot)net
 
J
#6 ·
Jim I remember Otakes, and yes there was a nice guy from NE Ohio who I cant recall his name just now, I think he has a Fucus now, but when I say nobody, I mean like'so few people worldwide that there exsists now rally specific suspension, driveline, gearbox, cooling system, strengthening guidelines etc.

2 or 3 guys is nothing relative to 20,000,000 MkII Escorts in England, 2,788,000 in Sweden and 4,600,000 Escorts in Finland.




John Vanlandingham
Seattle, WA. 98168

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat
 
J
#7 ·
Thats spelled Fraud Ex-squirt, eh!

>
>>
>>Those 41mm things were good enough for WRC cars as late as
>>1992-93, the 50mm rears are stronger than the fronts.
>>Maybe you should give me a call or send a email
>>janvanvurpa AT f4 DOT ca
>>>
>are you sure that the late 80's 323 GT/GTX/Tracer use
>similar knuckles to the Escort? I have fit MX3 knuckles
>into one of my GTX's... but I was under the impression that
>the later Escort's were to dissimilar
Derek Bottles and I looked a bit too fast when I was doing the waaaaaaay bitchin' 4 bolt 4 piston thing and got Tracer knuckles, and ended up with quicker steering and no drawbacks (once I found some Nissan extra long tie rod ends that had the same thread and taper as the maz-dog)
Who knows really.
That's the problem with obscure japanese things, no real parts ID.
And for that matter I don't know which so called Escort this guy has, so few are ever diddled with we don't know if this car is the "badge-engineered" 323 with the Maz-dog 1600 16v, or the 1900 Ford CVH, what suspenders it has or anything.

Regardless, if this guy sends bottom half of his struts or whole struts tubes and rear shocks I am sure somwething can be arranged for very durable and pretty reasonable price.
>
>
>
>>John Vanlandingham
>>Seattle, WA. 98168
>>
>>Vive le Prole-le-ralliat
>
>
>Philip J. Boer
>grinner323(at)sbcglobal(dot)net





John Vanlandingham
Seattle, WA. 98168

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat
 
A
#8 ·
>
>Jim I remember Otakes, and yes there was a nice guy from NE
>Ohio who I cant recall his name just now, I think he has a
>Fucus now,

Othake's car was, I believe, originally Barry Latreille's. Tad now has a more recent Escort variant (ZX2). Based on a post in the where are they now thread, Lurch knows where to find him. Barry graduated onto more powerful 4wd stuff.

The Ohio guy would be Ken Kovach. He sometimes posts here. He has been playing with Foci recently.

The New York Irish crowd had at least one Escort, but I can't remember who had it, or when I last saw it.

Adrian
 
R
#9 ·
Ordre de depart, Rallye des Draveurs:

David LEGAULT / Pat LAVIGNE Ford Escort 1991
Marc RACINE / Pascal GADBOIS Honda Civic 1997
Sylvain BAZINET / Patrick PICHÉ Ford Escort ZX2 1998
Sylvain ST-PIERRE / Patrick CY Nissan NX 2000 1991
Yohan TESSIER / François MORIN VW Golf GTI 1992...

Robin
 
#10 ·
RE: Thats spelled Fraud Ex-squirt, eh!

Ford stopped building the American Escort in '89ish. From there up, it was the variation of the Mazda Protege/323. The base models had the Ford made 1.9L, the GTs came with the 1.8 DOHC out of the LX Protege, the N/A version of the 323 GTR Turbo engine. This lasted until about '97 I believe.

-Jon R. Car# 306 (Ford Festiva, running the Mazda 323 1.6L engine)
(That would be the baby brother of the Escort, just to see if I could.)
 
#12 ·
RE: Thats spelled Fraud Ex-squirt, eh!

Oh yeah, the Kia connection to the BP line of engines. What about the Escort GT that ran at Pike's Peak this year, I think he had a set of DMS struts on his car. Overseas these cars, in various forms where popular for racing. Frankly, overseas, anything with wheels is up for grabs, as far as racing goes...
-Jon R. #306
 
P
#14 ·
RE: Thats spelled Fraud Ex-squirt, eh!

>Ford stopped building the American Escort in '89ish. From
>there up, it was the variation of the Mazda Protege/323.
>The base models had the Ford made 1.9L, the GTs came with
>the 1.8 DOHC out of the LX Protege, the N/A version of the
>323 GTR Turbo engine. This lasted until about '97 I
>believe.

'96. '97 model year (which actually started in something like March of '96 so there are a *lot* of '97s) has a 2-liter split port CVH engine and a revised rear suspension (cams to adjust toe instead of turnbuckles, and tubular steel links instead of those naaaasty flimsy corrugated stampings) in the sedans and the ZX2 had a weirdo 2-liter Zetec with variable cam timing, and the shortest gearing put in a Mazda tranny in the US. (Still not so hot but waaaaaay better than the garbage they put in the Focus which is just fine for cruising down the highway in 3rd because it's so tall you thought it was 5th...)

But 90% of the other parts are still Mazda 323 stuff.

What I'd like to know is how much interchange there is between the MkIII and the "American" Escort ('81-90). I hear varying degrees, from "mostly" to "not even the badges interchange"
 
3
#16 ·
RE: Thats spelled Fraud Ex-squirt, eh!

JVL whats the inventory in 41 lookin like right now? Do you have a surplus of seals and guide bearings for the inserts that the people in california dont belive are real....?? I had a leed on 50mm tubers but the people in germany flaked at the last minute........

Larry
 
J
#17 ·
RE: Thats spelled Fraud Ex-squirt, eh!

>What I'd like to know is how much interchange there is
>between the MkIII and the "American" Escort ('81-90). I
>hear varying degrees, from "mostly" to "not even the badges
>interchange"

The MkIII (also an Orion) and the early first gen Escorts (1981 to 1983.5) have a lot of interchangeability in the suspension (Struts, knuckles, TCA(s), bushings, etc.). It was a world car with the code name ERIKA. (the Contour and Focus were also more modern "world" cars from Ford).

Blocks, heads, pistons cranks, etc. are also common.

Trannies are different. The US 4speed (only MTX for that early version) was designed by Mazda (not built by Mazda, however)--a good piece with a number of ratios available).

Sheet metal was close, but no cigar.

In 1983, Ford US came out with the Tempo and started using components common to that car rather than the UK cousin. Front Knuckles, struts and brakes were the start.

By the late eighties, the only interchangable pieces between the US and the MkIII (or Mk IV) would have been wheels, rear struts and possibly some bushings.

The Brits loved to import the 1.9 "big Block" CVH for hot-rodding purposes. Many were turboed. (In 1984 and 1985 the US Escort and EXP could also be had with a Turbo a Jap IHI).

Cheers.
 
J
#18 ·
RE: Thats spelled Fraud Ex-squirt, eh!

>JVL whats the inventory in 41 lookin like right now?
I expected to have my 16 units back via UPS today but nothing yet!!


Do you
>have a surplus of seals and guide bearings for the inserts
>that the people in california dont belive are real....??
Since I'm making the chrome moly strut tubes, and I'm out right now so I gotta do another run, I am also making the guides from an off the shelf bronze bush which is pressed in and them finished in position.
I also source a universal wiper locally.



I
>had a leed on 50mm tubers but the people in germany flaked
>at the last minute........
Well I'm striking out on the 90mm cured foam bump stops, the answer from Bilstein San Diego after over a year of various attempts is "Uh, er, those are German items...."
No sheet sherlock! Or have I been using Bulgarian Bilsteins all these years????
I'll have to try a second time in UK for them, I know I can get them cause i just sent 12 struts and tubes and bumpers direct to the Peoples Republic of China and they just called at o dark thirty to confirm arrival last night, so I can get them.

I asked my UK contacts about 50mm and they said no real demand in their client base.
I have rough plans to buy circle track 50mm rears, strip them down and weld a pin on top, 'electroless nickle' plate them, maybe titanium oxide em and reassemble, but I personally feel the 41mm are good enough at a fair price.
I can now supply new 41mm too.
>
>Larry





John Vanlandingham
Seattle, WA. 98168

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat
 
G
#19 ·
RE: Escrot

Actually very few parts from the 1.9 CVH were interchangeable with the other CVH engines, and the US Escorts 83-88 or whatever in fact share very few (if any) parts with the Mk III or IV European cars.

I spoke with John Wheeler (you might remember him as the man who designed the RS200 drivetrain and the Escort Cosworth...) once at Ford Motorsport and he was telling me how Ford USA essentially threw out all of the "global engineering" done by FOE for the Escort (Erika etc) in favour of their local design.

The reason I was asking him was "how hard would it be to do a RWD conversion of the US Escort a'la the Mk III Gartrac/RS1700T".

Glenn

owner of two Escorts, 1972 Mk I Twin Cam, 1976 Mk II RS2000.

I might also add I don't consider the US cars worthy of the name Escort, but then that's typically of the elitist snobbery you expect of Australians.
 
J
#20 ·
RE: Escrot

A close friend of mine built an EXP with a 460 cu. in. big block Ford/ tube frame/ 9 inch.

Not an easy RWD conversion, but it became a cover car on some Ford magazine and was labelled "Shotgun Fever". This thing was streetable and way beyond fast.

Glenn--If you don't want to use "Escort"; just use "Mercury Lynx".

Cheers.
 
Special Stage Forums
posts
447K
members
11K
Since
2002
A forum community dedicated to North American rally car owners and enthusiasts. Come join the discussion about performance, modifications, classifieds, troubleshooting, maintenance, and more!
Full Forum Listing
Explore Our Forums
USA Car Construction and Equipment Photos & Videos Off Topic World