hi need ur opinions on what and how to modfy my mk5b escort 1.6i

ash godsell

Tuner
Points
60
Car
escort mk5b 1.6i
as said in the title need a bit of help with what to modify on my escort 1.6i got a £500 budget maybe more if i think it is worth it got a body kit allready and a nice audio set up about 400watt out put im only 17 and on my 4th car rebuilt the first 3 so no problems getting the to the engine internals to modify them just want other peoples input into what i should do

ps thinking about a cherry bomb exhaust

all inputs welcome
thanks
 
red got rear bumper fited atm got pic of that and what the front will look like when i have time not painted yet
 
Hi and welcome ash, nice to have you along. 4 cars at age 17- thats not bad going!

It's a good car to work with, the engines are pretty solid. Why not go with a smoothed euro look and bad boy bonnet?

A cherry bomb would sound great but I doub't it would give you much more power. I'm sure the kit will look 10000 times better when it is painted, are you sticking with red?

What about a fast road profile cam and decent set of brakes?

(Bit of a minor nag - we dont allow txt speak or language including most *****'s.)
 
ok sorry about that might paint it black not sure yet and with the cherry bomb i just want the sound and a little bit of power it 105bhp aready and i have not passed my test got theory test booked for wednesday next week
 
Good luck with the test. I think black will look fantastic, especially with some nice tinted rear lights.;)
 
got spray gun compresser and primer just need top coat and laquer

what would you do with the lights spray tint them or buy them tinted?
 
you can get spray tint, but it might be easier to buy them pretinted this way they are e marked and you shouldnt have issues with them. if you spray them too dark you may be asked to scape them clean by the nice police.

that should work out cheaper then if your doing it yourself
 
ok do you know what the dimentions are for the back box is on the mk5b 1994 escort it was the last one to have a cvh engine before the zetec was introduced i cant find it anywere
 
Welcome to the forum mate. Imo I would rip that body kit off. It's far too big for the car. It looks too 'boy racer-ish' as well. If it was mine I would smooth it over and drop it as far as it will go.
 
To be honest prince I was going to go with the whole smothed euro look until I look at the price tag t was nealry 700£ so decided against it I'm goin to smoothe over the boot and rear doors it was origanly goin to be stock but with a twist or very over the top with the modification and u can guess what I went for and happy withit at the moment when I pass my test and get my licence it will be my project car and will get another little car like a 1.2 l something to drive until the escort is finished or ready for the track what ever comes first LOL
 
im back got some new parts form my escort now:
1 fusion reactor 12" x2
2 fusion reactor am90010 mono block amp 900watts
3 cherry bomb back box
4 alpine 6.5" speakers for front
5 jbl gto ??? 5x7 for back
6 kenwood kdc w241 headunit
and body kit has been painted
so much for £500 budget lol
nearly £1000 in total so far dunno what to do next (get paid might help)
 
Lol the joys of car modifying.......wallets hate us cos they are always empty.

have you got any recent pics of it now that bodykit has been painted?
 
not yet finished painting them today im gunna fit them on wednesday its gunna look the dogs imo got the alpine speakers coming 2moz so fitting them first what do you think of it atm
 
looking good (not my kinda thing but its your car and if you like it then thats all that matters)

would say you need to debadge the it though, front and back.

oh and im a sucker for rs turbo tiger stripes on all escorts.

what you doing with the lights? think you should go for some colour coded morettes for front and lightly tint rear ones :)

http://www.morette.com/products/HEADLIGHTS/FORD/Escort/Escort 5/HLESCORT5.htm
 
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Personally I think that body kit looks rubbish (for want of not using a swear word!) what are you doing to the sides?

Cherry bomb? Steer clear! It'll be all noise and no go - and with the 1.6 I wouldn't spend too much money on the engine (although my mk4 had 1600 XR2 engine in with stage 2 head) maybe just a nice back box to give it a nice look.

What I would've done is XR3i/RS2000 spotlight bumper, RS2000 sideskirts and GTi/RS2000 rear spats (with colour coded bumper) sadly the mk5b have such an ugly bonnet. Maybe Laguna splitter. Yes my suggestion probably sounds 'boring' but be much classier and subtler (even use a 'prowler' front bumper) - being honest that bodykit will get laughed at by anything other than Max poo fibreglass snowplough splitter brigade.


Don't forget insuring it as non-standard within your budget!

Run up some no claims, save your money by NOT putting crap on your Escort and then buy a decent car when you can afford the insurance! :D

Z
 
Welcome to the forum mate. Imo I would rip that body kit off. It's far too big for the car. It looks too 'boy racer-ish' as well. If it was mine I would smooth it over and drop it as far as it will go.

Don't beat about the bush, Prince, say what you really think :)

Having said that, I agree. But then I don't like heavy body kits (in appearance) on any car. But hey, if that is your bag, go for it. And it does look better painted.
 
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Alright ash welcome to the site the car is looking savage firstly secondly good luck with the test thirdly i ve a escort as wel but off the road goin rebuilding it (at a very early stage due to the fact its crashed and lack of funds) are ya set on the red or are considering changning because i would recommend doin it white with white 10 spoke alloys always looks nice. How much did ya pay for the bodykit??
 
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£200 for the body kit by the way i passed my theory test yesterday got my practical in a few weeks :bigsmile: well happy :D dunno about paint yet gunna pass my test then decide
 
ag, well don on the theory test.
Years ago had a mk4 with full illusion kit but wouldnt do it again as a lot of work to get this on an d looking ok, not really my thing now but if you are after a cheap exhaust system that is all noise then maybe go for an ashley system - i had one years ago and it was cheap but very loud. Doubtful about whether this would pass an MOT though, (oh and they dont mate very well to the downpipe so you may to to rig up a bit of a funny joint connection but its doable - main thing is its cheap.)
 
turbo zo you got a skoda enough said
FPMSL, yeah that means I know good cars :blink1: its a good runaround while keeping the cossie for weekends only.

Let me see, 180bhp Skoda or shonky old Escort... (although I'd love another XR3i, or RST or RS2000) let me think :lol:
hey I loved my mk6 cabrio, just my opinion on what would make your car look best and not like some sh!tty barry boy who'll get laughed at by serious enthusiasts. In future you could transplant an RST lump in

Doesn't this look so much better? Cyclone sides and prowler front, different yet subtle

cyclone.jpg

red2.jpg


Z
 
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FPMSL, yeah that means I know good cars :blink1: its a good runaround while keeping the cossie for weekends only.

Let me see, 180bhp Skoda or shonky old Escort... (although I'd love another XR3i, or RST or RS2000) let me think :lol:
hey I loved my mk6 cabrio, just my opinion on what would make your car look best and not like some sh!tty barry boy who'll get laughed at by serious enthusiasts. In future you could transplant an RST lump in

Doesn't this look so much better? Cyclone sides and prowler front, different yet subtle

cyclone.jpg

red2.jpg


Z
yes ur right its cool but imo it looks to standard and i wanted it to be seen to me the kit that ur talking about i would look at it walk away and forget about it were as with mine u will look at it look at it again walk away and not forget about it and im happy how it is and its noticed
 
Just a reminder chaps, were not here to criticise others cars or make personal attacks. I think for the most part we have been constructive here but I wouldn't like to see this thread deteriorate into a war zone;)

The kit looks much better sprayed. It's still not my thing but respect to you for all the hard work and effort thats going into this. You will end up with something you can be proud of.
 
yes ur right its cool but imo it looks to standard and i wanted it to be seen to me the kit that ur talking about i would look at it walk away and forget about it were as with mine u will look at it look at it again walk away and not forget about it and im happy how it is and its noticed


Yeah, I can, just about, remember that far back when being noticed was the be all and end all. As long as your friends and peers like it, what other people think is totally irelevent.

As you get older, however, you learn about style, panache, subtilty, understatement, etc. But when you are young, standing out in the crowd is what it is all about. If you like it, go for it and ignore all of the fuddyduddies (that includes me) on here :)
 
I'm a fuddy-duddy, too.

I was always one for being covert so never cared much for styling detail. But that's just me. It's your car and you should get it the way you want it to be.

Just don't go ploughing thousands of pounds into what might very well be a short lived project. And I'm making no inference to your driving skills, so please bear with me.

It's likely that you'll fancy a faster car fairly soon, if not already. Certainly when the first year or two of post test claim free history suddenly makes the insurance affordable you don't want to be stuck with something into which you've ploughed lots of money. Whether or not it looks nice you'll soon get fed up with the performance of a 1.6i Escort.

Money buys other things besides car mods, beer, for example :)
 
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thanks for all the opinions so far all are welcome any that say its sh!t will be taken into acount if it is something i can put on it or little bits i could change the body kit is there to stay !! all others will be taken in as well and looked into and might be done if i feel it is worth it
thanks again:)
 
The last of the Escorts, such as yours were actually very pleasant to drive indeed.

For years it was traditional for the motoring press to bait and badger Ford for it's sub standard cars. Especially during the 1908's. Possibly unfairly as the Sierra was dodging the fashionable FWD and remained stolidly a RWD design. The Granada (and Scorpio) were also RWD and all the better for being so.

Your late model Escort (obviously FWD) was a product of Ford's later efforts. I was pleasantly surprised with a 1.8 16v example in early 1998. Handling quite good. Grip also good. Didn't like the engines very much - a bit thrashy and spineless but pleasant to drive in spite of this.

Just bear in mind that this is all 20 year old technology and things have moved on.

Unless, of course, you go and test drive a brand new Vectra SRi with the 140bhp petrol engine. You''ll be convinced that forty of those horses are missing and that the others are wading through mud.
 
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ag - we also have an escort similar year as yours that we all use on a daily basis as its a great workhorse and rarely lets us down (touch wood) plus its cheap to run - actually like to drive it. Notice from your photos the wing mirrors and door handles are a bit pinky coloured, were these originally colour coded or did you have them sprayed? if originals maybe a bit of t-cutting (and elbow grease) will brighten them up a bit - if they were sprayed maybe you want to coat them again - these are relatively easy so as long as you have a dry environment (preferably a garage not in the house) then even a spray can would look ok - if done carefully.
 
the pinky coloured parts were orginaly colour coded but faded over time going to take them off and paint them when i have time and not have to use the car and when i get payed
 
maybe its easier to us a bit of colour t cut or similar if its only faded from the sun, this should bring them back. (just dont rub too hard)
 
would defo try t-cut as suggested by dpsubaru....... one of my mates had a red (well pink) vec gsi, we used auto glym paint renovator on it (plenty of elbow grease) then give it a good waxing with meguires and it was back to being shiny red.

faded paintwork can near enough always be brought back to life with a bit of elbow grease, would prob say try this first as will be a lot less trouble than having to spray them. :)
 

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