My RWD solid axle front engine Escort MK2 build

[atom3624]

Have you decided on paint options?

The Mk.I could be RS2000 white or sky blue with darker blue banding.

The Mk.II could be the Mikkola (??) Rothmans rally.

 

I think we're all keen to see this progress!!

Al.

[Tamiyacowboy]

Have you decided on paint options?

The Mk.I could be RS2000 white or sky blue with darker blue banding.

The Mk.II could be the Mikkola (??) Rothmans rally.

 

I think we're all keen to see this progress!!

Al.

 

 

Nooooooo, i think sleeper style.

 

spray it up like a boggy standard of the factory line., its got a working hood so,

you drop a plastic model V8 into that front bay section.

 

you add rusting, rust bleed, dirt, paint chipping etc etc maybe even a cracked windowscreen and a lost

off side mirror. , oh and not forgetting those cheap push on plastic wheel trims to gotta have a set of those made from plexicard.

 

sometimes a model is best crafted to its original factory finish, and this build would win concours prizes just for that,

its full originality. rally cars are that just rally, but the old escorts everyone remembers driving round the roads.

 

 

if the OP was thinking some modern touches, suicide front doors would bring modern into it, also the V8 would be a more updated version

so that to would bring the modern age into an older car. 

I would like to know if the chassis pan will have the propshaft tunnel retro fitted, or if this channel has to be worked on and molded internal and then cut out external

Edited October 24, 2014 by Tamiyacowboy

[atom3624]

Sacre bleu mon sewer!!

V8 in an Essie? !!

 

This should be a thoroughbred Essie!!

 

Al.

[Frederik]

Have you decided on paint options?

The Mk.I could be RS2000 white or sky blue with darker blue banding.

The Mk.II could be the Mikkola (??) Rothmans rally.

 

I think we're all keen to see this progress!!

Al.

  

The color scheme is not really cast in stone but I really like white escorts, like all white for the mk2 (a la Simon McKinley) and maybe an rs2000 scheme on the mk1, would look good.

If I paint the chassis it will probably be white (with some genuine rust shwoing through haha)

Nooooooo, i think sleeper style.

 

spray it up like a boggy standard of the factory line., its got a working hood so,

you drop a plastic model V8 into that front bay section.

 

you add rusting, rust bleed, dirt, paint chipping etc etc maybe even a cracked windowscreen and a lost

off side mirror. , oh and not forgetting those cheap push on plastic wheel trims to gotta have a set of those made from plexicard.

 

sometimes a model is best crafted to its original factory finish, and this build would win concours prizes just for that,

its full originality. rally cars are that just rally, but the old escorts everyone remembers driving round the roads.

 

 

if the OP was thinking some modern touches, suicide front doors would bring modern into it, also the V8 would be a more updated version

so that to would bring the modern age into an older car. 

I would like to know if the chassis pan will have the propshaft tunnel retro fitted, or if this channel has to be worked on and molded internal and then cut out external

  

For space considerations I will probably put a 4cyl engine instead of a V8 I have to cram servos and receiver somewhere and mabe some of that will be in the engine bay.

I am not sure how I will do the driveshaft/trans tunnel, either solder it from above and then cutting the opening from under (more chances of it being all straight) or cut the hole by leaving tabs, bend the tabs to have something to solder the tunnel to...

I am not too much about modern touches, except maybe some extreme wheels swap at times

Sacre bleu mon sewer!!

V8 in an Essie? !!

 

This should be a thoroughbred Essie!!

 

Al.

Hahaha sacre bleu indeed!!

Thanks all for looking!

[Pistonhead]

There's a Rover v8 powered Mk2 local to me that's used on the local stage rallies, sprint events and hill climbs. Sounds glorious lol.

A V8 would hide the motor easier as making a four pot fit around it would look out of proportion tbh.

[Tamiyacowboy]

Sacre bleu mon sewer!!

V8 in an Essie? !!

 

This should be a thoroughbred Essie!!

 

Al.

 

yeah V8's do fit, here is a escort running a dyno test. 

 

 

 

 also For the OP and everyone, a V8 does look at home in the escort engine bay just look how 

it fits, looks like it was built for a big block, big size bay for a big lump.

 

[Frederik]

 

These V8 conversions looks pretty hot, you guys are tempting me to move to the front engine bay now with all these engine discussions must... resist... urge... lol

[atom3624]

Must admit I'm warming to the idea myself as well!!

 

Al.

[Frederik]

Must admit I'm warming to the idea myself as well!!

 

Al.

 

Work on the front will be coming soon!

 

 

Here is an update of what I did last night!  I was eager to complete the rear before going to bed! :banana: I think the aluminum L pieces for the watts linkage look out of place, I will re-do them later probably in steel tube, but for now they do their job and I can move on.

 

Good part of the work was to make the axial axles shafts work with the SDI axle. Needed to shorten the shafts and machine the area where the hex go, down to 4mm instead of the stepped pattern. I kept the notch and that's what prevent the shaft from coming out of the axle I also had to grind a bit of the inner axle tubes on the wheel end, to make some space for this notch between the tube and the bearing.

 

I took some measurements in the process so if someone wants to attempt this you have some guidelines: 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And some videos I am trying to embed them but not sure if it will work, worst case you'll have to click them

 

 

oops it seems I cannot post this type of file extension? I'll look into that later.

 

 

 

Thanks guys for following!!

Edited October 31, 2014 by Frederik

[Frederik]

 

I have uploaded my videos to youtube instead of photobucket so I can embed them, hopefully it works:

 

 

http://youtu.be/HChBZx_FmfY

 

 

http://youtu.be/P_BE2eKqyMo

 

 

http://youtu.be/0M4zXRmyh3E

 

 

http://youtu.be/FHSk3jL9Lgk

[Frederik]

Not really an update, but it's been a while since I included the front parts previously made with the newer chassis, so here are some mockups of the parts, held together by magnets. Should give you an "avant go

[Thorpey69]

Absolutely fantastic build,I look forward to seeing this come to completion,well done on building something so cool.

[RC4WD fan]

WOW love classic fords damn good job some serious envy going on here

[Frederik]

Absolutely fantastic build,I look forward to seeing this come to completion,well done on building something so cool.

 

 

WOW love classic fords damn good job some serious envy going on here

 

Thanks guys for the nice comments!! 

 

I just received the Traxxas E-revo 1/16 diff (part number 7078). I will eventually try to fit it in the SDI axle, not right now though but I thought I would show you a preview.

 

Thanks to Williezcr8's help (member at scale4x4rc) and idea who did the same to convert his T-Rex 44 axle to open diff, and also to Preston (Trini2DBone) for bringing back the idea and pointing me! You can find the T-Rex axle thread here:

 

http://www.scale4x4rc.org/forums/showthread.php?t=67962

 

 

 

 

It is just a tad too large on the gear towards the housing, but it looks like I could just grind the outer side of the gear (the side not in contact with the pinion) so it is at a slight angle and not contact the housing:

 

 

 

 

See how it does not sit fully in because of the crown gear:

 

 

 

Also another problem to solve will be how the shafts attach to the diff inside gears. I will have to drill a hole in my current axle shafts and replicate the attachment method, and remove the small shafts:

 

 

 

 

I will also have to find a pinion that will fit, best solution might be to buy E-Revo pinion and mod it to lengthen it (because it is not long enough out of the housing to mate to a driveshaft).

 

But that will be a project for later now that I have the axle assembled, mounted and working, I will move on to other areas. Can't wait for tomorrow and work on the front!

[Frederik]

Tonight I made some progress on the front of the chassis. I bent some sheetmetal to form a beam the same inner size as the frame flatbar, and plugged the end with a small piece of the same flatbar so I can eventually bolt a transverse reinforcement in the front.

Made two of these to lenghten the chassis:

Then I drilled and bolted everything up:

I then started to figure out what control arm lenght I need up front, no pics of that though. To have a feel for the width and space occupied by the strut I had to assemble the first version of strut I made, but with the disc brake.

The disc brake hex is like only 4mm thick, and maybe 2 mm of disc. The hex holes in the mini wheels are much deeper than 4mm so it makes the wheel pop out more than it should because the wheel actually sits on the disc not at the bottom of the hex.

So I machined one wheel, and removed a bit more so I can hopefully clear the venom rc bike brake calipers:

Next up will be actual struts and control arms!

Fred

[Bicko]

That's some bewildering skills you have there chum!!

Next one to be a Sierra Cossie???

[Frederik]

That's some bewildering skills you have there chum!!

Next one to be a Sierra Cossie???

 

Thanks Bicko!! I don't know what the next one will be but if you find me another car with unsual suspensions setup I might give it a try lol 

 

Here is another "pretend that there is more done than there actually is" mock up pic the strut assembly mocked up under the fender:

 

[Bicko]

Citroen 2CV ????

Edited November 7, 2014 by Bicko

[Frederik]

lol! at first I thought that was funny, but I just had a good read about the 2CV and despite its apparent basic and crappy design (to the untrained eye) there is quite some nice engineering put into it. Cool little car with unusual suspension indeed Here is what I just read, interesting to know the initial concept was with 8 torsion bars.

 

 

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-european/curbside-classic-1969-citroen-2cv-the-most-original-car-ever/

 

 

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/citroen-2-cv-leaning.jpg

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Citroen-2CV-chassis.jpg

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Citroen-2CV-suspension.png

Edited November 7, 2014 by Frederik

[Bicko]

lol! at first I thought that was funny, but I just had a good read about the 2CV and despite its apparent basic and crappy design (to the untrained eye) there is quite some nice engineering put into it. Cool little car with unusual suspension indeed Here is what I just read, interesting to know the initial concept was with 8 torsion bars.

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/curbside-classics-european/curbside-classic-1969-citroen-2cv-the-most-original-car-ever/

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/citroen-2-cv-leaning.jpg

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Citroen-2CV-chassis.jpg

http://www.curbsideclassic.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/Citroen-2CV-suspension.png

Lol! it was said with a bit of "tongue in cheek" but after reading up on the technical side(suspension) of things I thought there was a slight chance you would be interested due to the unusal design.

Though it's ugly enough to make onions cry!

[Frederik]

hahaha yes the "cool little car" comment was definitely not because of the looks! Just somehow technically cooler than it seems to be at first glance. Loved the "make onions cry" thing lol

[Bicko]

Itching for another update Frederic, get the finger out!

[Frederik]

Tonight I made some progress on the front struts (well only one side!) I made the upper mount, and also redid the strut itself better, with an extra untrimmed piece where I will attatch the steering arm. I need to go to sleep now so I will let the pics do the talking

Here are the F104 parts used to do the upper mount:

That's it for tonigh, baby steps I guess! Lol I did not even start doing the lower crossmember, I wanted to have the upper end of the strut located first.

Fred

[heavyleftthumb]

wow pal. thats a great build. defo too much time on your hands lol. im eagerly awaiting the next update. keep up the awesome work

[denty177]

That's awesome work...