Escort Beater

[kitkat]

Hi Guys,

just wanted to share a few pictures of the old girl, not sure what she's
going to be powered by yet. Custom Cages T45 is on order, should be here early next year, I just love jigsaws!

[M3 Compact]

Great pics KitKat.

not sure what she's going to be powered by yet.

Still considering an M42/M44?

[rearwheelsteercompact]

Some very tidy welds there

Looking forward to progress - nice shell btw

[is-si]

excellent.....

[m3heaven]

Some very tidy welds there

Agreed.

[Sunbmw]

"To fail to prepare, is to prepare to fail!"

Very nice work their my freind, I can see you have taken the time to remove all the seam sealer crap before welding..........I wish I had.

To be fair, I was really wanting to get cracking, and my welder was buggered at the time, but bad workman,tools etc

Next project (LHD Compact) I will take my time (as it may be destined for somone else )

[m3heaven]

I must say Mike, your workshop is nearly as clean and tidy as Lee's...........

[kitkat]

Posted: Sat Dec 22, 2007 7:17 pm Post subject:

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Great pics KitKat.

Quote:
not sure what she's going to be powered by yet.


Still considering an M42/M44?


I've offered up a type R civic engine, lovely and light , the oil pickup is at the front however, just where the rack is sitting! You can get a dry sump kit for this but it's expensive....... The other problem is that you can't run in belguim with a BM fitted with a non BM engine, some of their events out there are far cheaper then doing events on these shores, hence I don't want to build something that has limited stage appeal.

Another option is the S14, would still need a dry sump kit or one of Mr Delage's sumps, which also look very pricey, but if he's managed to make a sump and modified pick up pipe, maybe I'll have ago at making one.......

The last option is the M42/44, but will it ever deliver the goods we all dream about? Plus point is it will fit, and the money saved in this area could be ploughed into producing power.

I just wish the MSA hadn't fiddled with K37, running a standard 3.2 six pot would have been so much cheaper and easier!

[kitkat]

I've been busy welding, the front end of the cage is nearly complete up to the main hoop. I haven't started doing the back end yet as I'm putting in rear turrets, so I want to tie the cage into these.













I put the 'A' post props in as an extra, trying to make it a bit more hi-tech!

[Sunbmw]

I put the 'A' post props in as an extra, trying to make it a bit more hi-tech!

Looks superb Kitkat......however, have you had the steering column and wheel on with the A post props? I was going to do that with my M3, but with the wheel in the correct position, it was far to close to the wheel, and would have been a knuckle/elbow basher when twirling the wheel quickly.

[kitkat]

I did check that out with the aid of some 2x2 wooden batterns! I'm planning to mount the seat as far back as poss to try and counter the heavy six pot, I tend to sit so close to the wheel that I could steer with my teeth anyway! Next job is to lengthen the column...... I've got a floor mounted pedal box, so will be able to leave the stilts at home

[is-si]

looking seriously good
Anyone know where can i buy the punch/swage tool that does the holes in the gussets?

[alan1272]

that cage looks the business!

[kitkat]

you can try frost.co.uk for the swaging tools, they call them hole flares, they're not cheap but they finish things off nicely

[kitkat]

I've made a bit of progress this week which makes a change! First step was to graft in some rear turrets. It took abit of courage and a kick up the ...... to take the angle grinder to the arch, but once started it wasn't too bad. With the aid of a camber gauge and tape measure, I took some base line readings from the standard turrets, as they're slightly inclined. I've managed to get both turrets in with 0.25 DEG difference, which I'm fairly pleased with !!


The next step was then to tie the cage to the new turrets which has meant grinding the ends of the tubes to get a good fit. I've lost count of how many times I've crawled in and out of the back of that bloody car only to forget which pencil line I should be cutting too!

Collected the engine and box and other bits and pieces from Russ at M3 Spares on sunday (Thanks for giving up your sunday lie-in Russ!). I just need to locate some rear beam bushes and will then try and finish off the cage to pick up the diff and modify the rear diff pick up point for a "twin ear" item, Russ's idea!