Jump to content
  • Join our community

    Sign-up for free and join our friendly community to chat and share all things R/C!

My RWD solid axle front engine Escort MK2 build


Frederik

Recommended Posts

Hi all, I started a build a whike ago on other forums, and thought you guys (who actually had these on your side of the pond!) might be interested to see what I spend my hobby time on currently :)

For full thread of the evolution of the project and all my thoughts process (including almost starting from scratch a couple times) see this thread at scale4x4rc.org.

http://www.scale4x4rc.org/forums/showthread.php?t=73820

The pivtures below are the first steps of the project (without text) just to get you up to speed on the build :) you will see I changed almost everything at least once :)

2BEEBD71-2208-481C-9995-874FC2934242-257

78234005-949D-4779-AEF7-43E2A5C80275-257

4E68473F-D6CF-445D-ACEE-07A323A88857-257

FBB5CF4A-4F59-4EC9-95E6-F7BE38D194C6-257

3CC898F8-A68C-4E69-B5A5-6A74B364A750-502

E280B444-9912-4331-9D3E-73F6CD83DCDC-565

6E527368-3861-4AF3-AFC4-DDFA79FFB465-569

2012010815596357192DSCN1083.JPG

ripustus.jpg

6707f8dfdb417cda5aa45a11e31a4ee1.jpg

07C5609A-EC20-476A-B014-EEAC51EBEE6B-798

C92C94A1-510E-4988-81C9-E7136F85C62A-798

BF1E48B5-7F4B-4925-9F29-4A4BDE09CF63-630

AF114107-D040-494F-9E92-265D93A5C330-630

727DBF1A-58E3-4FF3-9584-67D3F1E08A45-630

81E1954E-83F5-4C6D-BF3F-07EE957E2864-630

20F0EAFF-8AA0-4334-92A3-42CCCEBDE15E-310

3E7FA4E9-E767-4946-80A8-F0E4D4D1AB00-224

3BCBC445-F38D-4C37-8681-4D23294FB19F-226

3E1D23A2-E233-476E-9B62-5E0DC3500F6D-776

D39CB20A-6D7B-46FA-A16F-56BF1BBA6F3D-892

01EABFF3-D3A9-465B-9BC3-9A6F914B4DB3-892

C9981570-49E6-42BD-963B-99A432C70F70-892

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

367CE424-0415-43A6-8BD7-E3EC13CE37E2.jpg
EF264CF6-3D05-465A-8AAC-7675245C3C08.jpg
6E038AAF-D0A7-433B-8E15-D90E21B825C3.jpg
BDC4F1D6-E2C1-4B20-B648-E96E2AFDD60F.jpg
 
 
 
I made the second frame rail, and bolted them to the floor pan. I also made a hole for axle so it does not interfere when I do the suspension:
 
BDC4F1D6-E2C1-4B20-B648-E96E2AFDD60F.jpg
96614A42-35A4-4EC7-9BE2-AD2E098976B5.jpg
DB1D4C4F-0896-49E9-85D8-9633FBF1B47F.jpg
5D09C582-B574-4CF2-A1F9-551524A24201.jpg
239F3B79-7B72-4288-9ABA-1829D2D5EE51.jpg
 
 
 
 
The space between the frame rails is exactly the space required between the two link boxes, I slit the floor where the boxes will be (dremel):
 
 
45DF3415-C409-4DBF-863C-AB5BC8CFA6C2.jpg
BB839C06-F6B4-46B4-84CE-5FA71C620590.jpg
 
 
 
Then knocked out the pieces:
 
 
766C3045-A92B-4668-A026-C75B93FDF410.jpg
 
 
I cut the 4 link boxes and bent everything to shape:
 
 
13C11E35-B6AD-46EF-83B5-95CD69245ABF.jpg
3188FA58-506E-4C95-B5B4-144C7072E91C.jpg
 
 
 
 
And used the existing frame bolts to hold them, note there will be a reinforcement in front of the boxes:
 
 
 
F348C411-D2B0-44FE-B4F2-5A8D1873DA84.jpg
EE1F8E0D-A361-4215-9C33-E954D8D4FB8A.jpg
B0744061-573E-44D7-B2E2-FB44334E6CD0.jpg
F9BA9774-3452-4807-853F-8640AC40BFCB.jpg
5B8B05AB-39CB-40CB-9398-9C82AD5AC1DF.jpg
60350ACA-C48F-458D-B73C-E61090E99E08.jpg
F6012A0F-01C7-401C-A885-07DC89CFA83A.jpg
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I made the second links box and made one of the lower links attachments to the frame.
 
That allowed me to actually mount the axle and I did some more mock ups :) and test the four links with the new chassis.
 
Did I say I was glad I re-did the chassis that way? :) I am starting to like how it looks!
 
 
FEA11FB6-BA30-4273-BCF7-E1E5CC16D1D6.jpg
0AB4975A-EB8B-45B1-B9E1-AAD48F47E323.jpg
F5531185-6FEC-42F9-9898-7E8FE6FAE6A3.jpg
E0E76D9B-F958-4B9C-9B7C-987975CCD8F7.jpg
0251CE73-3348-49AF-BA57-105EE7EDC824.jpg
132C6296-948B-47D1-A0B8-050F7244A7AA.jpg
943E3367-675C-429E-B43E-C342832F025E.jpg
B3680779-34BD-456E-9D2F-AE4B2477198B.jpg
90B4DD8B-D503-4100-96F9-7587D10DE7A5.jpg
 
Some comparison pics :)
 
 
1CABFB5F-0206-4A2E-A179-68B23F416203-437
 
132C6296-948B-47D1-A0B8-050F7244A7AA.jpg
 
EE668D04-665D-4325-8C0D-2E2FA1152E02-437
 
 
I mounted my machined F104 wheel in the back and it looks like it will fit! with a slight fender pull. 
 
Not that it is the most scale correct wheel and tire but it is a different style and I would like to be able to swap styles easily. I see these tires as a nice drag setup, with very narrow front wheels. Or a kind of time attack car with big slicks all around. Of course I still keep the original idea that this will mainly be a rally car a la Simon McKinley and dirt rally style.
 
85B535C4-0AB3-4238-86FC-9F569DF4F125.jpg
4EB41B82-3993-4FA7-95A4-E742548E4050.jpg
FC790459-9152-4EDC-8515-87F4D4E39BEA.jpg
00CCAC36-F6BC-4167-9891-FF8F60A6834E.jpg
 
I trimmed the body approximately. It looks like retroracing will never ever respond and send me my back half like they promised, so that one will have to do. Thrown some wheels and tires for the pics. I should have an actual update tomorrow :)
 
3422FF88-3B81-4A17-9AEA-D90234AF2C20.jpg
 
16AFAED5-41F1-43E0-9EAE-ECFF6B9B4275.jpg

I completed the body trimming (front half) and bolted it to the rear half. 
 
Also I made the second bottom link mount, with a much better design. Instead of being awkwardly facing front, they would have been torn on the first rock :) 
 
1st version:
 
73569B9F-1BEF-4122-AD2A-B9F881709C88.jpg
 
 
New version:
 
 
EA3717F3-CE29-4F1C-B605-8CBF095823EE.jpg
 
 
And a poser shot :)
 
 
675ADB6B-D462-41B0-8B3B-93E892F01EAD.jpg
 
 
Better view of the trimmed front and shell bolted (with temporary bolts)
 
1CC8AC86-AE7B-4E94-8C09-F12FDCA621B8.jpg
  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

So that is where I am at as of today Oct. 22nd. This progress was done over maybe a year, I cannot put a whole lot of time on the project, just a few hours here and there, so progress is slow. I will keep this up to date with my progress! (I often work on this on Tuesday night, so I post an update at like midnight Quebec-Canada time lol)

 

Fred

  • Like 3
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awesome project! Top work ..... It's so rare to see something that's scratch built and has obviously had hundreds of hours of time put into it.

 

I'm sure I wont be alone saying I look forward to seeing this masterpiece when you have finished the build.

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thats a serious build mate, awesome work glad you shared it here i hope some take inspiration from it. If i ever got something like this it would stay on a shelf tho.

Ide love to see a car show shoot out old cars from different countrys, one ide love to see is the mustang vs capri both mk1 and the mk2s. What was America's version of the escort mk1-2 i saw they have something really similar to the escort mk3 from the movie 8mile.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thank you all for your comments! I just paid for photobucket monthly, apparently in a couple of days I busted the bandwidth limit ! (16gb on 10gb) The pics were briefily not available but that should be thing of the past now.

 

Also I tried to multiquote your replies but I was not able to, did not find the overall Quote button after selecting all the multiquotes.

 

 

I can assure you it will not be a shelf queen! :) I can't wait to have it sliding around corners and taking slight air, but I will definitely drive safe, kind of like an actual car which you dont want to crash I guess hahaha (less the fear to kill yourself too lol) With the weight I think it is going to handle pretty realistically, with body roll and squat. 

 

Thanks all!!

 

Fred

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thats a serious build mate, awesome work glad you shared it here i hope some take inspiration from it. If i ever got something like this it would stay on a shelf tho.

Ide love to see a car show shoot out old cars from different countrys, one ide love to see is the mustang vs capri both mk1 and the mk2s. What was America's version of the escort mk1-2 i saw they have something really similar to the escort mk3 from the movie 8mile.

 

Thanks!! I did not see the movie, but I google searched and it seems what you are talking about might be a third gen Chevrolet Camaro or pontiac Firebird / Transam. These were relatively small cars (maybe not Escort small but pretty small) and came with V8s (probably some V6 too), I am no chevy expert but I think they came with the popular GM motors like 327ci and 396ci, probably the 427ci too. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Awesome handcrafting. 

 

i notice your going with a 4 bar link on the rear axle. with the crude rear sway stabilizing. 

 

the mk1 and mk2 fords ran on springed leaf rear solids, a set of leaf springs clamped to the underside of the solid axle.

then a two bar link system was added , these were fairly close to the axles pumpkin  on either side

and linked to the chassis pan .

it meant racers could add swaybars in a more easy the more usual way ( small link rod to the sway bar system ).

 

 

have a look at the tamiya 1/14th scale leaf springs , i think they could work well in your build and give you that

escort drive feel , you can still keep the tunneling all you loose is the two upper link bars and keep the lower two.

a couple fabricated leaf spring couplers on each side fore aft chassis pan to hold some tamiya leaf springs inplace.

 

just a couple ideas to help you free up that rear end and give you a very escort like drive and squat feel.

 

here is a great source of pictures for a escort mk2 1600 race car. mid way down is some fantastic images of the rear leaf spring setup

and also the two link system. ( have seen V8 powered MK2's maybe a plastic engine model to run under the hood )

 

http://www.britishracecar.com/WalterDavies-Ford-EscortRS1600.htm

Edited by Tamiyacowboy
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Wow. Just wow.

Great work!!!

Next update asap!!!

Haha thanks!! I will try to get you guys addicted to the thread lol

Awesome handcrafting.

i notice your going with a 4 bar link on the rear axle. with the crude rear sway stabilizing.

the mk1 and mk2 fords ran on springed leaf rear solids, a set of leaf springs clamped to the underside of the solid axle.

then a two bar link system was added , these were fairly close to the axles pumpkin on either side

and linked to the chassis pan .

it meant racers could add swaybars in a more easy the more usual way ( small link rod to the sway bar system ).

have a look at the tamiya 1/14th scale leaf springs , i think they could work well in your build and give you that

escort drive feel , you can still keep the tunneling all you loose is the two upper link bars and keep the lower two.

a couple fabricated leaf spring couplers on each side fore aft chassis pan to hold some tamiya leaf springs inplace.

just a couple ideas to help you free up that rear end and give you a very escort like drive and squat feel.

here is a great source of pictures for a escort mk2 1600 race car. mid way down is some fantastic images of the rear leaf spring setup

and also the two link system. ( have seen V8 powered MK2's maybe a plastic engine model to run under the hood )

http://www.britishracecar.com/WalterDavies-Ford-EscortRS1600.htm

Thanks Tamiyacowboy, I appreciate the comments and suspension talk! And that link you posted is very nice, I saw it previously too while looking for reference pics for my build.

These escorts came OEM with leaf springs and I did saw some hybrid setups of 4 links + leaf + panhard rod, but I am more after the aftermarket rally 4 link with watts linkage and coil springs, I really want to accomplish that on this project. I will likely do a leaf sprung setup in a next project though. In your link, it looks to me as if they all have full 4 link plus leaf, I do not see an example of what you describe, lower links close to pumpkin + leaf. Maybe in the scenario you describe they put links close to the pumpkin to form a trianglulation, and eliminate the panhard?

If you are talking about this picture, it looks to me as if there is also an upper link, i.e. full 4 link setup:

http://www.britishracecar.com/WalterDavies-Ford-EscortRS1600/WalterDavies-Ford-EscortRS1600-DD.jpg

Here is a 1:1 pic of the setup I am doing, I am not exactly scale in size of components, but more in concepts:

escortaxle.png

I am not sure I understand what you mean with the sway bar stabilizing though, I currently do not have any sway bar in the rear actually (maybe that

Edited by Frederik
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Watching this with great interest.

It's a real breath of fresh air when someone does a scratch build. And i love the old school escorts.

Any thoughts on where the battery and electrics will be hidden? And i'm assuming you'll be fabricating a scale engine to hide the motor too. Keep up the good work man :thumbsup:

Edited by Pistonhead
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Watching this with great interest.

It's a real breath of fresh air when someone does a scratch build. And i love the old school escorts.

Any thoughts on where the battery and electrics will be hidden? And i'm assuming you'll be fabricating a scale engine to hide the motor too. Keep up the good work man :thumbsup:

 

Thanks! I am kind of a noob to custom and scale building, this is my 1st custom RC in such small scale, certainly my first project with any sort of scale aspect to it, so I do not have the knowledge for custom styrene work, let alone for what I am doing right now lol I like to call this a "somewhat mechanically scale" build :D I might try to wrap the motor and gearbox in some easily shapeable material .

 

I will start with the rough mechanical aspect, chassis and all, and I will refine as I go forward. The servos and receiver should not be too big of a deal, I can camouflage them as toolbox or some other thing, battery is different though. Especially with a driveshaft tunnel on the floor, I might have to slit open a battery pack and put 3 cells on each side, hidden as front seats maybe? I will have a micro servo to hide for the front disc brakes too, probably under the hood where the brake master cylinder would be :)

 

This is awesome mate. Top work,do keep the thread updated :good:

 

Thanks you !!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I got a back up shell from a buddy, in case the mk2 breaks, or just because, to swap styles :) I was glad to see it seems to fit pretty well on my chassis!! For those not familiar with this car it is an MK1 ford Escort. I mocked up F104 tires in the rear fender and it looks hot, might have to do a drag setup with the mk1 with these f104 tires abd skinny tires up front.

0888AFD2-9CBB-433B-B6DE-8E0DDDDA6084.jpg

BE01489D-9EE7-47B4-88D1-4A0CB6FB9E2F.jpg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...