over revved and broken, not Stag related.

[jakesmig]

Our Escort rally car suffered a driver induced engine failure by over revving when he crashed into 1st instead of up into 3rd from second when exiting out of a hairpin at the recent SRC Granite City Rally. Driver reported a lot of rattling and no oil pressure. Turns out the flywheel bolts sheared, which presumably caused the flywheel to rotate 'freely' on the end of the crank, the bolt studs creating the rattle on the crank end, and with no flywheel momentum the engine suffered a compression stall, hence the lack of oil pressure.
Rest of engine looks ok and turns over nicely on a spanner / crank pulley nut turn, so here's hoping.

John.

[new to this]

don't they have rev limiters,to stop this happening ? by the way what escort is it Mk1 or Mk2

dave

[jbuckl]

don't they have rev limiters,to stop this happening ? by the way what escort is it Mk1 or Mk2

dave

a rev limiter cannot prevent over revving from vehicle inertia i.e. selecting too lower gear for the vehicle speed.

[jakesmig]

Mk2 with a Vauxhall Red Top engine. The owner / driver has various Escorts, Mk 1's & 2's in various conditions, and also a Stag and a Brooklands Capri.

[new to this]

a rev limiter cannot prevent over revving from vehicle inertia i.e. selecting too lower gear for the vehicle speed.

jbucki

thanks,thought a rev limiter would have stop that,but now you pointed it out i can see

thanks dave

[new to this]

Mk2 with a Vauxhall Red Top engine. The owner / driver has various Escorts, Mk 1's & 2's in various conditions, and also a Stag and a Brooklands Capri.

jakesmig

must have been a lot of work fitting the vauxhall engine in,escorts still seam very popluar for rallying

dave

[jakesmig]

Dave, Despite the size of car there's a good amount of space in the engine bay, although first impressions of the fitted engine doesn't give that impression because the large bore headers and the twin 45 webbers take up all the space between the engine and the turrets. It is easier working on it than the Stag. I think the Escort is so popular because it is an iconic sporting car, choice of engines make it a fast car and you can chuck it about easier than a lot of modern alternatives. Comparative to most of the rally cars we compete against it is a light car and ours puts out about 240 BHP but another on the circuit reputedly puts out about 270, but it will destroy a set of rear tyres in one long stage.

John

[new to this]

Dave, Despite the size of car there's a good amount of space in the engine bay, although first impressions of the fitted engine doesn't give that impression because the large bore headers and the twin 45 webbers take up all the space between the engine and the turrets. It is easier working on it than the Stag. I think the Escort is so popular because it is an iconic sporting car, choice of engines make it a fast car and you can chuck it about easier than a lot of modern alternatives. Comparative to most of the rally cars we compete against it is a light car and ours puts out about 240 BHP but another on the circuit reputedly puts out about 270, but it will destroy a set of rear tyres in one long stage.

John

John

how come your still using twin webbers, and have not moved over to EFI ? mine you your 240 BHP is impressive

dave

[jakesmig]

Dave,

The car was bought with webbers and to gain significant benefit we would need to fit throttle bodies, new ecu and fuel pumps which is a lot of money, plus carbs are a lot simpler with less to go wrong. Probable gains in power might only be in the range of 20 - 30 BHP and the rear end is already fairly active with the wheels spinning for significant distances on each forest stage, additional power would increase loss of traction, without greatly improving stage times. There's more time to be gained with the existing setup if the pilot can improve his technique. He's only had this car for 6 months so there's lots of learning still to happen before he needs more power.
Besides, the car currently grinds down a set of rear tyres over 2 stages, more power would cut that to 1 stage which brings in logistical difficulties.

John

[new to this]

Dave,

The car was bought with webbers and to gain significant benefit we would need to fit throttle bodies, new ecu and fuel pumps which is a lot of money, plus carbs are a lot simpler with less to go wrong. Probable gains in power might only be in the range of 20 - 30 BHP and the rear end is already fairly active with the wheels spinning for significant distances on each forest stage, additional power would increase loss of traction, without greatly improving stage times. There's more time to be gained with the existing setup if the pilot can improve his technique. He's only had this car for 6 months so there's lots of learning still to happen before he needs more power.
Besides, the car currently grinds down a set of rear tyres over 2 stages, more power would cut that to 1 stage which brings in logistical difficulties.

John

john

is that normal for them to burn through tyres that quick,do you need to carry out work/mod on the rear end ? do you drive the car as well

dave

[jakesmig]

Dave,
Yes, depending on stage conditions that tyre wear is typical for escorts of that power. Last year we saw a competitor with a BDA powered escort, reputedly putting out circa 270 BHP, replacing rears which were down to the canvas after the first stage which was 12 miles or so. The rear end is very light so the wheels are fairly constantly spinning which creates the problem. It was traction problems and high power / torque output which saw the introduction of the Quatros' and the demise of Escorts etc in the WRC, it was becoming impossible to put down any more power with 2 wheel drive. Needless to say, that type of wear is not so typical on tarmac events because better traction on tar creates less spin..
The rear axle is a quaiffe unit costing about £3 K.
No, I don't often drive the car, and never in anger. Generally I only drive it to work the brakes or road test after maintenance works. It isn't the most comfortable car to get into or sit in. I get my driving jollies out of my Midget which usually gives the Escort a fright.

John