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Escort Rally car and anglias

To: british-cars@autox.team.net
Subject: Escort Rally car and anglias
From: xgg2356@dcmdc.dla.mil (James Fuerstenberg)
Date: Thu Apr 7 13:25:35 1994
In your message you write:
> Date: Wed, 6 Apr 94 19:24:09 +0900
> From: igeta@ars.ntt.jp (Kazuhiro IGETA)
> Subject: Escort twincam
> 
> I do not think any BDD mounted escort was sold for public.
> For the homologation purpose, 1601cc BDA engine were mounted on 
> "Escort RS"s.
> It is believed that there were no physical difference from 1599cc version
> but paper work. FIA regulation allowed 1601cc cars expanded up to 2000cc.
> Some competition cars might armed with BDD without no violation,
> though BDD is not the only 2000cc BD engine.
> 
>    The twin-cam rally car was an RS1800 Twin Cam. A close friend of
>    mine has one.  It finished 2d in class, 4th overall in the 71 or 72
>    East Africa Safari rally.  It is currently in storage waiting for
>    time and money to be restored. (not a 4 valve motor)
> 
> I think twincam "RS" are all BDAed, thus 4valeved.
> "Twincam"s are all powered by Lotus Twin Cam(2valve).
> However it is very difficult to bore up 116E blocks to 1800cc,,,
> 
> 
> Kazuhiro Igeta 
> NTT BRL
> 
> Gerry,
> 
> Yes, there was a Mk I Twin Cam Escort, but it wasn't the RS2000.
> The Twin Cam used the usual 1558 as seen in the MkI and MkII
> Lotus Cortina and Cortina Lotus and other cars. Two valves and
> chain-driven cams, and rallied, as you note.
> 
> The next Aveley Escorts were the RS1600 and the Mexico (1600 Kent).
> The RS1600 had the 4-valve 1600 BDA of course, originally in
> iron and later with an alloy block (I had one of the very first
> alloy block engines). These all used the Mk1 shell, along with the RS2000,
> which came later.
> 
> The Mk II shell continued the RS2000 name, but with a 4-headlight
> droop-snoot front, and still with the SOHC Pinto engine. The
> multi-cam version of the Mk II was the RS1800, which had an
> 1800cc alloy version of the BDA, but with a couple of down-draft
> carbs (for some reason). The Mexico was dropped, replaced by the
> production, tame, 1600 Sport.
> 
> Now, there was another Mk II RS2000, known as the flat-front (Uruguay)
> RS2000. This was homologated by Ford Uruguay quite properly,
> for use in their own rally programme. It was also taken advantage
> of by European competitors.
> 
> This is all about _production_ Fords from Britain. The rally programme
> was different. The Boreham RS1600 rally cars were bored out to
> 2000cc. This might explain your confusion with the RS2000. As far
> as I know, in the Escort this always the BDA, and never the BDG or 
> FVA or any of the other Cosworthish Fords.
> 
> Paul.

> 
> Jim Fuerstenberg said
> 
> > The twin-cam rally car was an RS1800 Twin Cam. A close friend of
> > mine has one.  It finished 2d in class, 4th overall in the 71 or 72
> > East Africa Safari rally.  It is currently in storage waiting for
> > time and money to be restored. (not a 4 valve motor)
> 
> There have been three different d.o.h.c motors fitted to the rear-wheel-drive
> Escorts.  The first was the Lotus "Twin-Cam", using a Ford 1500 block, Lotus
> head with 2 valves/cyl, size 1558cc.  The car was known as the Escort 
>Twin-Cam.
> The second was the Escort RS1600, with Ford 1600 block, and Cosworth Four 
>valve
> head - the whole engine was known as the Cosworth BDA (Belt Drive, Series 
>"A").
> The rated capacity was 1601cc, but exactly the same dimensions were used for
> the 1600 Mexico (push-rod) which was rated as 1599cc.  Just a racing category
> fiddl^H^H^H^H^H adjustment.  The third motor was an aluminium block & head
> >from Cosworth at 1800cc.  Not too sure of the designation, but it could have 
> been BDE.  This was the RS1800, which memory says was only a MkII, not a MkI
> model.
> 
> So what is the Safari car?  It should have 4 valves if it's a straight line
> RS1800 and the only 2 valve twin cam head fitted to those Ford blocks was
> the Lotus as far as I can remember.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Mike
> Mike Causer           Setanta Technology        mike@setanta.demon.co.uk
>                          Cambridge UK
>                           Utrecht NL
> 

I just called my friend with the Escort Rally car to get the details.

The car has a 1800cc Lotus Twin Cam.  The factory used selected
blocks and overbored them to 1800cc.  Not a lot were made.  His car
ran the Safari the last year prior to BDAs.  They had the BDAs that
year but did not use them in the Safari due to fear of bad fuel.
That is probably why they finished behind the 240Z.  The car has a
ZF 5sp, Atlas LSD, is dry sumped and has 4 wheel discs.  They used
lotus elan calipers in the rear with the integral parking brake.
They made very few of these models.  It has the proper ID and
scrutineers tag from the Safari.

Jim

> 
> There is a 196X Ford Angela advertized on the ad board in my
> local grocery store.  I recognized it by the picture :-)  "Flat"
> rear window and all.  I drove one in 1968 in Kenya.  It is rather
> surprising to me that any survived and that one turned up here
> in Oregon.
> 
> Oh, yes.  The interesting part is they are asking $2200 for it.
> Excellent shape and all that, old man.

> TJ
These make excellent vintage race cars.  There is a very quick
1300cc Anglia I race against (basically a 1300FF motor). 

Jim


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