Mk1 Escort Twin Cam Rebuild

[Scottlotus]

G'day fellow car nuts. My old man owns a 1970 Mk1 Lotus Twin Cam Escort and now that I, myself have started some motorsport we thought it was fitting to rebuild the Escort. Not only cause it needs a good bloody engine rebuild but also to broaden my general knowledge about race cars.

There is a little history behind the Escort. It was initially my dads friend
(Geoff) dads car (sounds a little confusing). Anyways this car was bought by Geoff's (my dads mate) dad as a family car in the 70's. After a few years of being the family car it was garaged. From here Geoff bought the car off his old man with the plan of completely rebuilding the car for the 95 Round Australia Rally. My dad was asked to navigate for Geoff and as a car nut himself my Dad willingly agreed.

After some time the escort was completely rebuilt as a rally car. Modifications such as an 80L fuel tank was installed, the rear firewall was refabricated so the tank could fit in the boot, the engine was overbored and stroked to bring it up to 1700cc, larger valves, cosworth pistons, rear suspension was turreted to make shocks vertical, seam welded body, vented discs on front and solid discs on rear, larger wheelstuds, 6 point alloy cage, higher output alternator for spot lights etc, L2 Cams and a 4:1:1 Quaife lsd. The standard 4 speed 3 rail/2000E box was kept. The engine was line bored, the crank tuftrided, fully balanced and blueprinted by Bryants Engineering in Brisbane.

After the 95' Round Australia Rally the Escort was bought by my Dad in 98' off Geoff. I reckon he had a little emotional attachment to the car and couldn't bring himself to say goodbye. After the rally she looked a bit tired and needed some help. Dad did some work on and off for 10 or so years to bring the car back to a reasonable state. Some semi slicks (ao48's)were bought and with some new springs and shockies under it (lowering a couple of inches) the escort started looking less rally and more sprinty.

In 2005 Dad did his first race at Leyburn Historics Sprints. Dad did a few more events such as Noosa Hillclimb and Mt Cotton Hillclimb. I got to race the escort (Just got my P plates) at Leyburn in 2008. It hasn't been raced recently as its needs a rebuild and so the work begins.

We plan to convert a steel Datsun crank to shorten the stroke and bring it back to 1600cc, posted the crank to Elan Factory in Melbourne a few days ago. New pistons, new valves, new cams (race cams not fast road), new conrods, new quadrant and the list goes on. I will try to post up some photos from the 95 rally to current in this post. Continued photos of the current rebuild will be posted weekly/fortnightly. We pulled out the engine two days ago and took off the head today to have a look at valves and what not. It DEFINITELY needs a good clean up.
#2 valve appears to be more black then the others. Seems that oil is leaking down the valve stem or some where else. The piston also appears to have marks from the valve hitting it. The timing must be a few degrees out, the consequences of trying to time cams yourself. Anyways hope you guys enjoy watching this rebuild.

And if you are thinking about getting into motorsport, dont hesitate, once you start you will wonder why you didn't start earlier. I have a very tiny income as a part time casual (being at uni I have no time to work) and I am currently thinking whether my first car should be a track car or a road car. I think I might be catching public transport for longer than I thought. _2:

Any help in regards to the rebuild and tips would be appreciated.