Project Car / Motorbike thread. Let's see 'em.

Mr Crudley

Glock in your sock
Yeah right. Because there is this near me. I definitely can't fit my bike in my wrx. Reckon i could fit one here?

Try one of those detachable towball hitches for the WRX. I have one on my MPS and you have to look hard for the mounting bracket when the rack is removed.

Just don't get the urge to do some towing since those hitches are rated for it - not that you would on a WRX.

I shoved bikes in the back of my old hatch before and it did work fine apart from getting all sorts of dirty trailside crap in the car also. A 2mm Bunnings plastic sheet cut to fit the rear cargo area does help a lot. Overall the hitch mount is much easier.

Sent from my F5121 using Tapatalk
 

Flow-Rider

Burner
The problem is when you need to buy genuine parts or insure European cars, if you crash an older model it will be an instant write off.
 

Haakon

Keeps on digging
Bosal swan neck towbar from europe. micksgarage or eurocarparts a good place to start.

"Oz spec" towbars look crap.
 

Haakon

Keeps on digging
The problem is when you need to buy genuine parts or insure European cars, if you crash an older model it will be an instant write off.
Thats a good thing - if its badly damaged id prefer its written off anyway. If its light, buy back the wreck and repair yourself and often come out ahead.
 

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
As the Escort is post 1974 it needs a collapsible steering column even though it wasn't fitted with one new. Actually it is one interpretation of the rules pertaining to ADR10 but I think it is dumb not to have one rather than argue the point. I found some interwebs posts talking about guys fitting early Laser columns but having to weld joiners on etc. Then I found an obscure post where someone said they fitted an early Gemini column to a series 2 Capri. Capri and Escort shared the same rack and column. No details and no further comments. I bit the bullet and grabbed a T series Gemini column. Overall good condition and when I compared them side by side very close in length. The Escort steering wheel is offset and angled so I put the new crossmember in and the rack and fitted the original Escort column and RS steering wheel and measured it. The stock set up is severely on the piss! Anyway then put the momo and boss on and repeated the measurements. Put the Gemini column in and positioned the column where it needs to be, used the Escort boss kit and momo and it looked doable. Rang around this morning and grabbed a Gemini boss kit and then started making up a mount. Bits were cut off to make way for studs and new studs were screwed where the Gemini column mounts. Managed to take about 10mm of the off centre and angle out though you still notice it until the position becomes second nature.



The Escort rack is a 9/16" 36 spline whereas the Gemini is 5/8" 36 spline. I think I can get an adapting uni joint but if not I will split one of each and make up a new joint. The crossmember works well. Column wasnt bolted in here and needs to move over a bit.





Isuzu key barrel and steering lock are now just swarf on the floor. We are running push button ignition and switched fuel pumps so no need.



Check fit before putting the switch gear on and pedal box in.



And here is the final mock up. Wiring the XR4 wiper motor and the Gemini switch together was doing my head in until I realised the Gemini is negatively switched while the XR4 was positively switched. Dumbarse I am. Wasted an hour. No wiring diagrams that I can find for the Gemini but no excuse. Relationship between seat, pedals, wheel, shifter and switchgear is good and better than factory.

I will finish off the gearbox crossmember and engine mounts next. I have a piece of channel running across the chassis with a 90x90x110 block of hardwood holding the gearbox up and I have put packers between the sump and crossmember. Good enough for test fits. I picked up some rollcage tube and that will replace the mild steel tube I had so that will be the main component of the gearbox crossmember with some 5t plate coerced into position.

I managed to find online a Ford engineering document about the Duratec. It lists acceptable setup angles and oil sump capacities etc. For and aft needs to be within 5 degrees of horizontal either way. Ours is bang on 5 up rear to front and the nose is about 1 to 1.5 degrees high as it is sitting on the trolley so that is good. Hard to go lower without a whole new crossmember. Again. Oil sump is off a 2.3 Ranger so about an extra litre in the sump which is also a plus and another 500mL or so in the air to oil heat exchanger. I am not going to use the water to oil unit that came with the XR4 engine, cooling will probably be close anyway.
 
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Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
Good point! They did something but I cannot recall. Gordon is about 6'19.7" tall so they moved him into the back. Might go and look again.

Edit: just had a look. Clearly a collapsible column but no details. Looks like the type that are fitted to hotrods.
 
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Chriso_29er

Likes Bikes and Dirt

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
Odd they chose to mount the fuel tank so high. I expected a drop tank.

Opel Manta column so quite similar set up. Wonder where they got their uni joint from...
 

hifiandmtb

Sphincter beanie
I bet they worked hard to get the column perfectly inline too. Because they can.

[edit] I tell a lie - must be the same as yours as they are using the same bulkhead hole & do t have anything fancy inside the cabin such as another UJ or whatnot.

If Gordon’s ok with slightly crooked then everyone should be happy!
 
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Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
I bet they worked hard to get the column perfectly inline too. Because they can.

[edit] I tell a lie - must be the same as yours as they are using the same bulkhead hole & do t have anything fancy inside the cabin such as another UJ or whatnot.

If Gordon’s ok with slightly crooked then everyone should be happy!
The pedalbox gets in the way of a straight run through the firewall. I guess you could do it with multiple joints but lots of work.
 

Dales Cannon

lightbrain about 4pm
Staff member
With a weekend lost in Melbourne I spent this morning doing the gearbox crossmember. I had a design in mind that used a horizontally mounted circular mount and a pipe cross member. Bought a cheap mount online and it was enormous! I then used a spare Pinto engine mount we had mounted vertically. Even then I expected to have enough space to fold some 3mm sheet and pretty it up with dimples but in the end there was no space. I used a short length of rollcage tube and squashed the ends in the press and welded these to some 5mm plate. This in turn is bolted to the plates welded onto the chassis by the previous owner. The press has had a hard life before me so squishing pipe was tedious. The bottom of the gearbox is canted 8.7 degrees left to right and 5 ish front to rear (I got the specs wrong, I am allowed up to 15 degrees fore and aft). The mount is vertical and the attachment to the gearbox takes up the angles. Final welding to the fixing plate will be done once the engine mounts are done. Will try and knock those over this weekend though I have some other things on.

Enough words, time for pics.





Installed, gearbox isn't quite centred here but the top section isn't welded yet.



And some welding for @pink poodle



The gearbox weighs about 43kg full of oil and taking half the weight of the tailshaft. I worked out the loads on the two engine mounts and the single gearbox mount and then made it strong enough for 10x that load plus a safety factor so it will be plenty strong enough.
 
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