1993 Ford Escort KL swap / SCCA SMF build

Wow, this bastard Forzda has really put you through the ringer! Im really stoked to see you staying in the ring for another round.

Probably worth the effort to put together an order of operations checklist, including "things to check" between steps, and be quite diligent in your adherence to it.

You have a very intimate knowledge of this motor, which is often a VERY good thing, and I think in this instance, it is. But it can also allow for complacency, which can sometimes mean simple things get overlooked. I know from experience...a simple heater fan with power accidentally hooked to ground, and vice versa, after wrenching on something underneath it requiring its removal, sent a 90k mile Cavalier to an early grave...entire electrical system was a total loss after just turning on the heater...magic smoke coming from the ECU, lots of molten plastic in teh steering column, starter turned black, alternator sizzling for 5 minutes after the rest of her was dead silent...no component of the electrical system survived the attack. Something soooo simple required this pizza delivery driver to need a new car, that afternoon.

This is a great project, and I really do think youre really on to something here. There are a lot of us here who are incredibly excited to see what youre able to do with this beast. Good luck man! Keep fighting the good fight!

updates?

I moved it from one storage space to another this past Saturday. Does that count?

No other updates. Did some planning/parts listing a few months back, and my initial cost estimates were quite a bit off. Cost to have the cams copied in a way that will work with the lifters i want to use will be more like $1000 + shipping two ways.

I haven't touched the car, and honestly, that doesn't bother me at all. I should probably look into parting it out, but after horribly regretting selling my beautiful black Celica for the last two years, i'm unsure if i want to chance making the same mistake.

Tentative plan when i have time/feel like getting back into this damn thing again:

Step 1) Find a new chassis. This one isn't worth messing with any longer. The idea of trolling SMF class in an Escort is still funny, but in my setbacks and downtime, the class has progressed enough that the car will no longer be an "overdog" and i'll have to brush up on my driving. Car is overweight, mangled, worn out, and rusty. Not a good candidate these days.

Will be moving to a Protege/Escort/Tracer Sedan or a 323 hatch. Preferably a 323 hatch.

Step 2) Motor.

I have the details hashed out.

01-02 626 block (KLG4) Old Skool Toys ported heads (KLG4)
Custom welded cams by Delta
Zetec shimless bucket conversion
RD Racing Titanium retainers (acquired)
Ferrerra Chromoly locks (acquired)
Interprep valve springs (acquired)
Scat 347 I-beam rods (acquired)
Wiseco 12:1 pistons .020" over (acquired)
Going to use the lighter KLG4 cast crank, balanced and polished

I'm currently researching dry sump oiling systems to gain a general working knowledge on them, and will probably apply that knowledge to this motor. Should give a little power, but more importantly will keep this motor alive when spinning to 10-11krpms.

A 4.7 final drive is in the future.

Meziere electric water pump has been acquired.

The question is... when will i get to all this? No idea. Hoping to at least slowly start on the motor sometime this winter. Almost certain that the car will NOT be ready for the 2015 season, and i need to decide if autocrossing is really worth burning through 2-3 sets of Hoosiers a summer.

I know of a good BG 323 hatch for sale in NJ cheap (It's actually a running B6 powered car with a ton of miles on it)

Half of the problem with the Escort was tons of miles. Damn thing has almost 300k on it.

How cheap are we talking?

$500 tops, I think the seller would take $400-450, it does have 550K on it, it's straight and can up clean when I ran the magnet across it a few times. Needs front wheel bearings and calipers.

550k? Holy E36 M3.

If it would drive back to Indy, i'd probably consider it. But right now, i don't have the time or space to deal with a non-driver.

I'll probably just end up snagging one in California or something.

I understand the distance and looking for one from a rust free area. I have spares so I may pick the NJ one up if it's still available the next weekend that I'm in town.

Sidenote: there was a 2.5L KL swap mx3 for sale by me recently that sold before I could get down to check it out. It has me thinking about doing a KL or F2T in the next BG 323 I pick up.

I think i saw the MX3...

As for your swap ideas: Are you looking for easy? Cheap? Different? Or just cool/weird?

I would NOT do this swap again, if that says anything. And not just because of the issues i've had.

The MZR-in-a-BG swap is a thing now. That's the future.

In reply to Swank Force One:

Yes/All of the above. I have a BPT in the gravel car and was thinking of going the KL or F2T for a tarmac car. Wouldn't doing a MZR or duratec be a massive headache? If BPT is the easy button I'll just pick up another set of GTR rods and go to town again.

captdownshift wrote: In reply to Swank Force One: Yes/All of the above. I have a BPT in the gravel car and was thinking of going the KL or F2T for a tarmac car. Wouldn't doing a MZR or duratec be a massive headache? If BPT is the easy button I'll just pick up another set of GTR rods and go to town again.

The MZR doesn't look as bad as i was thinking. There's some details on ClubProtege and i think Mazdas247. If this new KL blows up and i feel like keeping the car for whatever reason, we'll be moving to a 2.5 MZR.

The KL swap might work fine for gravel. The advantage to doing it is that to do it right, you should really move to MX3 suspension stuff anyways, which is better.

The downside is that a BPT is WAY simpler, and possibly cheaper.

F2T in a BG would probably only be good for frantically clawing your way down the standing quarter mile to run a 15 second time, but trapping well over 100mph.

FE3 would bolt the same as an F2T and would probably be better suited for what you're looking for.