1972 Escort Estate aka Jigsaw

Brilliant project! As a first contribution I am going with 1-3-4-2 (I did google it too)

May I also be first to say that your statement: "I'm having to move house and will probability lose access to mates garage." - so I went out a bought a project pretty much sums up our hobby. 

In fact, 'so I went out and bought a project' could be the motto of the forum.   Cheers and keep us posted

It has been a long time, about 40 years near enough but here goes.
Firing order 1-2-4-3
Points gap. A massive 25thou (0.025)
Dwell angle 38 - 40
Plug gap 0.030

Thanks folks. Results at the end of Day1.
Several boxes of random bolts and parts sorted.
Checking and fettling - PDI showed all controls were dead / disconnected 

Fixed / looking good so far 
Gearbox x-member now fitted, gearlever no longer jammed on trans tunnel - I can change gear. Engine & box now bolted in place! Not found the large x-member/gearbox bolt yet.
Accelerator - now connected and working, the spring clip to hold the cable onto ball joint at carb is still missing.
Clutch - now working after refitting cable (needs to be redone as I missed out the large rubber buffer / washer)
Handbrake - cable reconnected, brake works ! Needs redoing as I was missing a clevis pin so used a nail as a temp fix, clevis now found.
Bonnet release cable now working (it was fine but I thought it had been disconnected)
Choke cable reconnected and ok (but stiff - dry cable)?
Dynamo & fanbelt refitted loosely, dynamo bracket needs 1 more mounting bolt, waterpump pulley needs to be removed to fit the adjusting strap.
Propshaft centre bearing support bolted in place ( I need to find the prop / diff bolts before I can connect the rear section).


More investigation needed 
Footbrake - nil pressure, top the fluid up & it soon goes down. Leaks or needs bleeding? The "all new" wheel cylinders obviously aren't ! All pipes are original  
Pedal box works but the pivots are very worn, pedals need removing and new bushes made / welded in place.
Wiring harness mocked up, some lights work / some blown bulbs, ignition & dash have no power. Interior light crumbled when I tried to turn it off 

Rust - spare wheel well has been added on the to-do list (I can see shadows through the fiberglass / metal ! )

Where it all started


New floorpans came with the car


In the mancave


It looks like I have some fun times ahead 

If it’s a xflow I seem to recall the dizzy rotates anti clockwise.

Day 3 - It runs !

It looks like then main things I'm now looking for are a pair of rear light lenses for an Estate johnnybravo
Then "just" welding ...

ray - thanks, I'll check settings properly next time I get a chance to spend some time with it.


I'm away now for some beers to celebrate, I might be offline for a while 

Day 4 - Jigsaw is complete 

The propshaft is finally fitted. I know 60s Fords quite well and have been looking for 4 matching fine pitch nuts & bolts to hold the rear prop onto the diff, found 7 suitable bolts but no nuts. Checked again yesterday and noticed the diff flange has tapped holes so the nuts I've been looking for aren't needed. It's one of the few changes I've seen from Mk1 Cortina / 105E era I'm familiar with.

Now I know what goes where, I spent a while tidying the mancave and put most of the "surplus to requirements" parts into storage so I have more working space around the car.

Parts needed :

Rear light lenses
Exhaust downpipe (the manifold and a new centre section / backbox are here, needs to be LHD specific to clear the steering column)
Rubber sleeve to connect petrol tank to filler neck (this one is perished and cracked)
A "boss" for the windscreen wiper arm to fit onto ( the arms are here, the motor works fine but the bit the arm fits onto has been removed on both shafts. I've found one but there's still 1 missing)
Roofrack fixings (the rack is complete and rests on the gutters nicely but the clamps to stop if lifting off the gutters are missing)
Steering rack gaiters (on order to replace torn / perished - due next week)
Propshaft UJ (1 fitted has slight play - may be ok for inspection)
Front bumper mounting bolts ( 1 is missing, others are here but have been chopped during dismantling)
Rear numberplate light (scrapyard)
Interior (seats are here and good, door cards are good, load section side cards are here but damaged, headlining has been removed but is here as a template, dash "crash pad" is badly cracked due to heat, carpets are missing, seatbelts are incomplete lap belts so need replacing - and I think I need to install belts in the rear before inspection)
Enginebay wiring harness clips (not urgent - all the ones on the car have been cut during dismantling, I've seen a few places selling them so they're on my list)
Alternator (to upgrade from dynamo) if I see one in a scrapyard.

Parts needing TLC :
Front light lenses (superglue)
Dash switches (strip, clean, use hotglue to help weak clips during assembly)

It's heading in the right direction 

Good things have been happening for the past few days   

A pair of good used rear light lenses turned up on bay o'thieves with an "expensive" rather that "total rip-off" buy-now. They're now showing as in transit to a mate in the UK who will post them to me at the weekend if they arrive in time.
A pair of rear floorpans were delivered to his yesterday and will be sent in the same parcel.
A bulk pack or engine bay wiring harness clips were in the same parcel as the floorpans.
The missing front exhaust downpipe is on order at my local motor factors. I was told it was ordered last Thursday, they forgot so promised Friday, then Monday with delivery expected Wednesday. When I turned up to collect it I got told the supplier is showing 1 in stock but can't find it - ETA delayed another week. Ho hum 

Starting is now fixed   The first starter motor was sluggish and had a squeal from the bearings, the other starter was also sluggish. There was lots of swapping cables, solenoids, batteries but it didn't help. In the end I stripped the worst starter and filed / cleaned the commutator, now it spins over fine even without jumper cables. Nice !

A passing body was volunteered to help set the timing. Poor lass got told to sit in the stripped out interior, beware the seat as it's not bolted down, don't put feet through the gaps in the floors - and keep trying to start it and blip the throttle. That gave me a chance to use a timing light and set the timing - result is a very happy motor. The lass seemed ok sitting in stripped out car running open exhausts - I think I've found a useful 2nd pair of hand if / when I need help  I'm not so sure the neighbors will be so happy - today is a local holiday and with no exhaust the motor isn't subtle. I'll apologise when I see them   

Next on the to-do list, find somewhere I can get a pub co2 bottle refilled or buy a co2 fire extinguisher, wait for the delivery of bits from the UK, then start the winter weld-a-thon. I can see fun times ahead   

How did you get on with the firing order? Was it 1-2-4-3 as I thought?

Don't worry we shall all be thinking of you whilst you weld away in the sweltering Mediterranean sun - Meanwhile, the rest of us in Blighty will continue to dodge the rain, cold snaps & snow in June