What started as a quick revamp, turned into a five-year rebuild. Finally, we might just get the Mk2 Escort back on the rally stages.

Followers to my previous blog posts will know that the Escort's last outing ended with a retirement in 2019 when the engine cut out and refused to start. Once home, the engine was pulled out and on taking the cam cover off we discovered a broken cam tower. The hunt was on for another big valve Pinto head. We found one, and after a 170-mile round trip, we had a worn head that could be used. New bronze guides, valves and cam were all fitted before we looked at the bottom end. 

The block and bores were in good condition, but a new crank and crank shells were fitted. All done by Mike, the engine builder, amongst other things I've probably forgotten.

While Mike worked his magic, I cracked on with painting the engine bay while the opportunity was there. I also stripped it back underneath and Raptored (stone chip protection) the underside. 

Next on the growing list of jobs was, to get things like new seat rails, extinguishers, and all the other bits that are required in the regulations for rallying. It's annoying that my harnesses had only done a handful of events before they were out of date for rallying, but that's a rant for another day!

There was also some paintwork required, where the stage furniture had "kissed" the side of the car. Thankfully, my friend Andy Brinkley at AB Bodyworks in Shrewsbury found the time to fit the Escort in for a partial respray. He and Roger Titley also helped with getting the car ready for its new Motorsport Passport. 

By this time, the list of jobs was getting smaller, and Motorsport UK Scrutineer Pete Farrington, was soon at the unit looking over the car. Thankfully, he was happy and the Escort with its new passport was one step closer. 

Our attention then turned to the engine bay. A new Wasp high torque starter motor, electronic dizzy and a new alloy group 4 radiator were all fitted before finally... The engine had its fluids and we could press the red button. Mike came over to oversee this and we planned to take the Escort out for a drive. Before we could even get off the drive, we noticed the carb linkage was broken, but at least the engine was running and sounding nice. The next morning, I took the linkage to Andy's and he kindly welded it back together, before later having another attempt at a road test. Everything was going well until suddenly, there was no clutch. We had only driven the Escort 10 miles!

A quick look underneath revealed a very loose clutch cable, and sadly, adjusting the nut made no difference. So, a quick call to home, and a lift was arranged so I could get the trailer and recover the car. By this time it was late, and it was raining heavily. I was already soaked from lying on the floor, and the frustration in me said it was time to call it a day.

The next day, Ian Ross offered to help drop the gearbox off and see where the problem was. We did this, and it was immediately obvious what the problem was. The clutch fork was bent! I can only assume that I'd forgotten to tighten the clutch cable, and as a result, the clutch fork hit the flywheel and bent. Anyway, it was still early in the day so we popped over to Andy's who kindly reshaped and welded it back with some extra strengthening plates. The gearbox was then refitted and the cable was adjusted and checked. Bingo, we're good to go!

Another thing I noticed on the road test, was that the brakes were quite poor. I had already fitted new discs and pads to the rear, but the front was long overdue for an overhaul. I have Princess 4 pots on the front, so new discs and pads were ordered. On inspection, it was obvious that I needed new calipers too and a refurbished pair were also ordered. Fitting was straightforward, but we are now only three days away from the car's first rally in five years.

It is too late to pull the entry now! Will we be ready for Sunday? To be continued...