Octagon January, 2017
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sections for “A” pillars, front guards and<br />
inner and outer sill panels, and purchased<br />
repair sections for front and rear lower<br />
guards. Most Saturdays, Greg would be<br />
welding these in place, then grinding to a<br />
neat finish.<br />
The rear inner guards had already been cut<br />
out to allow for the flares, so we fabricated<br />
new “tubs” and Greg went to work again<br />
with the welder. The front section of the<br />
transmission tunnel also had to be removed<br />
and a new section fabricated and fitted<br />
to accommodate the 5 speed gearbox.<br />
This brought us to the stage of fitting the<br />
fibreglass flares. There are many horror<br />
stories about attaching fibreglass to steel,<br />
and after hunting around I came across a<br />
product called Techniglue, which apparently<br />
is used in the marine industry for bonding<br />
alloy, steel, fibreglass etc. It is a relatively<br />
easy to use 2 pack product which appears<br />
to have done an excellent job of bonding,<br />
and sands to a good finish. Finally the shell<br />
was sound and we could move on to the<br />
mechanicals.<br />
At this point we discovered that a limited slip<br />
option was not available for the Mitsubishi<br />
differential that came with the car, so we<br />
again reverted to Ford items rather than the<br />
very strong but heavy Toyota diff favoured<br />
by most. A billet CWP set has been fitted<br />
with a plate style LSD and much stronger<br />
2 piece half shafts. We turned to English<br />
suppliers for major suspension components,<br />
adjustable GAZ platform struts and springs<br />
for the front, with camber/castor adjustable<br />
top mounts and GAZ adjustable shocks for<br />
the rear. An “A” frame is used to locate the<br />
rear end. Locally manufactured King Springs<br />
do the job on the rear, and front and rear<br />
anti-roll bars were also sourced in Australia.<br />
We fabricated a new top mount for the rear<br />
shocks which allows them to be mounted<br />
more vertically.<br />
Next came the brakes which are operated<br />
by a bias adjustable pedal box. Improved<br />
production regulations allow us to use<br />
15” diameter wheels which in turn provide<br />
clearance for larger rotors and calipers. The<br />
fronts are 285mm rotors mounted on alloy<br />
hubs and 4 pot Wilwood calipers. The rears<br />
are 247mm rotors, again with Wilwood 4 pot<br />
calipers. At this point we also purchased a<br />
set of Compomotive 15 x 7 alloy wheels.<br />
The gearbox received a full rebuild including<br />
a straight cut close ratio gear set. Greg’s<br />
skills proved invaluable as he was able<br />
to assemble and set up both the diff and<br />
gearbox.<br />
14<br />
The <strong>Octagon</strong> - <strong>January</strong> <strong>2017</strong><br />
At this point we did a final trial assembly of<br />
all components into the shell before stripping<br />
it again for prep and painting. We did not<br />
have a painter organised, but believe it or<br />
not, while talking to good neighbour Peter<br />
from down the road, we established that<br />
he was a spray painter and was more than<br />
willing to paint the Escort. As it turned out,<br />
not only was he a painter, but a very good<br />
one, who completely ignored our advice<br />
that it is “mainly a track car” not a “show<br />
car”, so the paint and finish need not be<br />
anything special. The Escort had obviously<br />
had a couple of hits in its lifetime, and<br />
previous rust repairs, although plated, were<br />
a bit rough. Anyone who saw what Peter<br />
started with would appreciate the quality<br />
of his workmanship, particularly when you
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