Time Attack Mk3 Escort

[Marc 76]

Just thought i'd post a few pics of my Escort here with a few bits of info for anyone interested!

Owned since 2006 and purchased as a very tidy roadgoing car with 76k miles, FSH and 2 owners in the same family from new.

Converted to its first incarnation of a track car by 2009 using a turbo CVH engine (1.6l) circa 200 bhp

Mk1 Focus RS engine and gearbox fitted in 2012 , producing 275bhp and rising to 330 over the next few years.

Time Attack Club Class fwd champion 2013, 2014 and 3rd place runner up in 2015.

Since then much more work has been carried out with a new engine (ST170 2litre Zetec) but with a very trick Life Racing ECU allowing switchable maps for various conditions (can be changed when driving), boost by gear, anti lag, traction control etc Power now stands over 400bhp, which makes for a very lively drive indeed!

After being sidelined recently for various reasons (not least Covid) the plan is to get out for another season of Time Attack in 2022 with events at Cadwell, Brands, Oulton, Donington and Snetterton, funding permitting.

If anyone is interested and wants to know more (i appreciate this is primarily an Alpina forum!) just ask below

TA Donington 2019 (10).jpg (4.5 MiB) Viewed 1060 times

engine.jpg (2.37 MiB) Viewed 1060 times

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[hap]

Very nice Marc love those extended wheel arches

[Marc 76]

Thanks Hap, indeed they are very modified Series 1 RS Turbo arches!

The fronts have extensions and are cut out underneath to allow big rubber and low ride height.

The rears are the same- cut out underneath but are also flared much more than standard- about 40mm per side wider than the standard bodykit.

[ScooBeeFive]

That’s a very serious piece of kit Marc - super nice! I love how it has evolved over the years too. Thanks for posting.

[Bob]

Looks like fun!

Do have a soft spot for a Mk3 ... back in the day a mate had an XR3 which was a proper beast compared to the 1.0 AX I was rocking at the time. He sold to another mate that finished it off when the throttle got stuck wide open giving it full bifta over some moorland roads!

[OllieD3]

That’s lovely, my first car was a Mk3

[Marc 76]

That’s a very serious piece of kit Marc - super nice! I love how it has evolved over the years too. Thanks for posting.

Thanks Paul, it certainly has evolved over the years. Above is the briefest of summaries of its evolution. It would take me hours to recall the whole thing these days, there are literally mods on mods on mods haha

[Marc 76]

Looks like fun!

Do have a soft spot for a Mk3 ... back in the day a mate had an XR3 which was a proper beast compared to the 1.0 AX I was rocking at the time. He sold to another mate that finished it off when the throttle got stuck wide open giving it full bifta over some moorland roads!

Stuck throttle is not fun! Quite a rare occurrence thankfully. The XR3(i) and then RS Turbo were quite a thing back in the day, although the Pug 205 and Golf GTI ultimately had the edge handling wise i feel.
In fact it was a MK1 Golf GTI that started my whole interest in cars when i was about 14...
Then i got into Fords and i've still not quite shaken them off

[Marc 76]

That’s lovely, my first car was a Mk3

The best of the FWD Escorts i think!

[James_G]

That is really nice and it's great to see a car like this get transformed.

Earlier this year a 3 door Mk5 Escort came to market that had been fitted with an ST170 engine and it got me thinking about doing something similar for a "clubsport" style track day car project. But other than learning to drive in my brother's Mk4 Escort 1.1L I've had no experience of Fords since so I've no idea if an engine swap like that would be easy or hard.

[Marc 76]

That is really nice and it's great to see a car like this get transformed.

Earlier this year a 3 door Mk5 Escort came to market that had been fitted with an ST170 engine and it got me thinking about doing something similar for a "clubsport" style track day car project. But other than learning to drive in my brother's Mk4 Escort 1.1L I've had no experience of Fords since so I've no idea if an engine swap like that would be easy or hard.

Some things are easy, others not so!

It depends exactly what engine you want to fit in what, but as far as zetecs in Mk3 & 4 Escorts go it is a very well trodden path.

The MTX gearbox fits with a slight mod to the chassis leg, and prefabricated mounts can be bought just requiring welding into the car with the engine & box offered up to get positioning correct. The gear shifter is on cables so that's easily fitted. Custom driveshafts are required but again, theres plenty of people out there who can give you the spline combination and length that is required. I'd recommend you measure these for your own application, dont go off what someone did before because your engine might not be in the exact same position.
For the exhaust i initially ran an Escort stainless system grafted to a MK1 focus RS decat pipe, but have since had a full custom side exit made. Again there are various cost options depending on what you ultimately want.
Then theres the ECU- stand alone management is better, but this is where it can get expensive!
Fuel system is easily connected, and the cooling system is relatively easily taken care of with the odd pipework mod required.

What engine would you be looking to fit to what car?

[James_G]

Thanks Marc, all very interesting.

Regarding the target car, I've just been considering engine swap projects rather than a particular model. Top favourites are either:

- An MGB GT but fitted with a M Series unit from a 90s Rover for 140bhp ish. I like this idea as I can get a 1976 MGB and tick the "car from my birthyear" box.

- A MK5 Escort and an ST170 unit. Obviously one shouldn't build a car that can be bought but equally those RS2000s that are left are probably minters and shouldn't be thrown around a track. There don't seem to be many 3dr Mk5 Escorts left though as presumably we lost a lot of them during the scrappage scheme.

- Or there's the classic BMW with a straight six swap, but I'd really like it to be a 1502 (my grandfather had one) and they are loads.

I have a double garage so space to do the work isn't the issue, but I've still much to do on the Alpina so I probably am getting a little ahead of myself!

[Yad3100]

Regarding the target car, I've just been considering engine swap projects rather than a particular model. Top favourites are either:

You need to be very clear about what you want. Is it a project or is it a track car.

If you want to do track days then buy something already modified as it’s cheaper than doing it from scratch. I have built 4 cars and unlike Marc76 I have changed the cars to make it quicker rather than keep building faster engines. I have also gone backwards after having a very quick RS focus mk1 back to an e30 as it’s about fun and not just about going mega fast. The more you modify the less reliable it will be, so the current car is std engine and brakes with better suspension and safety.

Always buy the best base rather than get a poor handling car and modify to get it to work. For a first track car suggestions would be MX5, bmw compact or if it must be fwd there’s lots of French crap to choose from.

[James_G]

Oh don't worry I've had loads of track cars, or at least cars I've taken on the track. I don't want a dedicated track car really, I just want something that's fun to own that isn't so mint that a track day or two isn't going to cause any issues. My current Alpina fits that category perfectly so once the warmer weather is back I'll get some track time booked in.

I did six track days in a year once and it was too much, so I tend to only do evening sessions these days and only then about three a year so it's the engine swap aspect that's the priority and if it can cope with a few laps every once in a while then that's a bonus.

[Marc 76]

I'd go BMW, you know you've got a good chassis to begin with, so it will likely cope with the additional power of an engine swap.