Concealer404's Ze Escort of Doom

[concealer404]

I ended up just having another arm made. Should be here today, then i have to get it powdercoated again, then maybe finally this damn thing will roll out of the garage.

Update 4/2

Yeah, update is that one of my rod ends seized in one of my rear control arms, and it wasn't coming out.

Had to have a new arm made, should be shipping out today or tomorrow, then i have to get it powdercoated, then i can install. Spent the last week organizing/cleaning garage and buying a bunch of -AN fittings.

Thinking about doing a remote filter/cooler setup at the moment as well using a custom blockoff plate, Earl's cooler, and a Maximum Motorsports filter housing. The setup as i want it though would be about $500. Not sure if it's something i should be worrying about at the moment.

Garage is now somewhat organized.








It's still not great but at least all my (Metric only) tools are easy to get to now and not stacked on top of each other, and i can walk all the way around the car, and get into all my cabinets.

Should be more progress on car itself this coming weekend.

[concealer404]

Out of the rubble....



Something beautiful emerged.


And very dirty, apparently.



Those that know, know. Those that don't who won't ask, won't know.



SPAAAAAAACE!!!

[concealer404]

And as we all know, no day working on car things is complete without a trip to at least Harbor Freight. In yesterday's case, i got lucky and got to go there, Home Depot, AND Lowes!!!



This is a ratcheting adjustable wrench. You had no idea it existed, and now your head is exploding and your jelly is falling out everywhere.

[xjdesertfox]

I like this build. That is all, continue on.

[concealer404]

Pimpy delrin crossmember bushings!!!!






Big bag of -6 XRP AN fittings!!!

[concealer404]

Oh, and i figured out what do about catch can:






Now to get two -10 bungs fitting welded into each valve cover. LEGIT.

[—kung fu jesus—]

Still love this build. Brings back a LOT of memories. It's amazing to me all the custom pieces available for this chasis NOW.

[psulja]

This build is pretty impressive, those purple arms look great!

For the bumper, I vote for the second choice too

[concealer404]

Still love this build. Brings back a LOT of memories. It's amazing to me all the custom pieces available for this chasis NOW.

I think i dragged a few people along into building these things. Most of them have gotten farther than i have in less time, but they had different goals. The aftermarket is still growing! The delrin crossmember bushings were a recent development in the last 2 months.

There's even more stuff out there that i can't legally use in my build.

Carbon fiber doors, Carbon fiber hatches, Carbon fiber hoods (ok, i can and will be using one of those), tubular front and rear subframes, legit road racing legal cage kits, there's a KSport kit developed especially for racing BG chassis by Pierce Motorsports... the list goes on.

[—kung fu jesus—]

Back in the late 90s/early aughts, racing one of these in improved touring was a challenge because the Hondas were so dominant. It took a lot of cross-referencing and experimentation to come up with a 1/4 of the stuff the Hondas had readily available. It is neat to see people realize the potential the chasis has after all those years.

The best chance you had against the Hondas, wheel to wheel, was to box them out in traffic and try to get along side, at least, going into corners. You could use the sheetmetal to 'lean' up onto them to get them to back off. A trick learned from the V dub racers.

Everytime something non-Honda gained an advantage, protests came up and your car was scrutized heavily.

[concealer404]

Back in the late 90s/early aughts, racing one of these in improved touring was a challenge because the Hondas were so dominant. It took a lot of cross-referencing and experimentation to come up with a 1/4 of the stuff the Hondas had readily available. It is neat to see people realize the potential the chasis has after all those years.

The best chance you had against the Hondas, wheel to wheel, was to box them out in traffic and try to get along side, at least, going into corners. You could use the sheetmetal to 'lean' up onto them to get them to back off. A trick learned from the V dub racers.

Everytime something non-Honda gained an advantage, protests came up and your car was scrutized heavily.

Heh, that's something the Hondas will always have over these cars: huge aftermarket, and double wishbones.

Oh, and we did figure out how to convert the EGTs to AWD. Part of me wants to build a Mazda-ized Cossie clone.

[—kung fu jesus—]

I would love to own another 323gtx. A BG 323 gtr would be even better.

[concealer404]

Heh... anyone care for updates?

[—kung fu jesus—]

Yes. Please.

[concealer404]

Apparently some of the pictures are broken. I'll do my best to catch up again.

4/17/12

Oh look... an MX3 GS steering column with an Escort GT ignition cylinder and other electronics grafted on to it.

This wasn't as easy as it looked, but at least it's done, and will bolt right in.



I need to clean this, obviously, but it's on, and that's the important part.



Things not being used. Escort steering wheel, MX3 ignition and switches, Escort column.




5/8/12
This car will be the death of me.

Steering rack from MX3 turned out to not be salvageable. Had to buy a new one. (That i'm just going to tear apart anyways. ARGH.)

Noticed that my stacks are patterned for a normal KL head, not a KLZE head. (Oval port vs. square port.) GREAT. Looks like i'm finding a set of DE heads to slap my ZE cams into so it all actually works. Nothing ever goes according to plan on this damn car.

Replacement arm FINALLY came back from powdercoating.

Sourced a late 626 distributor block off seal. FINALLY.


Still haven't found MX3 LCA rear bushings brackets. Can't put car on ground until i have those.


Custom delrin crossmember bushings:







5/14/12
There's some issues going on, but at least it's a step forward finally...