A Tube-Framed & M3-Powered Mk2 Ford Escort

I’ve seen loads of modified old-fashioned Ford Escorts in my time, however most of them have revered the mannequin’s rally and circuit racing heritage. What Sebastian Sundfors has created together with his Mk2 in its final kind is one thing else.

I say final kind, as a result of in Sebastian’s 15 years with the Escort it’s been by quite a lot of guises, every engine swap elevating the now show-quality race automobile construct to a different degree.

Within the engine bay, Sebastian began out with a 1.6L Ford Crossflow earlier than transferring onto a 2.0L OHC unit, and then one thing utterly completely different with a Nissan SR20DET. You’d assume the Japanese turbo four-banger can be an ideal engine for the Escort, and it was till Sebastian got here throughout one thing particular on the market.

By this stage, the Escort itself was a far cry from the automobile that left the Ford manufacturing unit in 1979. Actually, all that remained of the unique unibody have been the A, B and C-pillars, plus a part of the floorpan. The remainder was constructed round a {custom} tube-frame with suspension geometry borrowed from a Nissan S-chassis. The one-piece entrance finish, moulded rear shell and doorways are all fiberglass, whereas the roof panel is made out of carbon fiber.

Carbon was additionally used for the entrance quarter bumpers, boot spoiler, mirrors and extra. The lighting is all LED.

As for the engine, Sebastian waved goodbye to the SR20DET when a naturally aspirated BMW S14B25 EVO3 unit from an E30 M3 got here up on the market. In manufacturing unit kind, this high-revving 2.5L four-cylinder produces 235bhp, however due to Wössner solid pistons, Schrick cams, modified M5 throttle our bodies, a DTM-spec carbon inlet manifold and MoTeC engine administration, Sebastian’s engine now makes 300bhp and 236lb-ft.

There’s a dry sump system in use, and we will’t neglect the exhaust both – a {custom} stainless-steel system completed off with twin Yoshimura motorbike silencers.

The driveline has seen a major improve too, beginning with a 5-speed BMW ZF S5D dogbox from GearMotive and ending with a Volvo 740 rear finish with an Eaton Detroit Truetrac limited-slip differential. Within the wheel division, Sebastian often runs Compomotive CX break up rims on slick tires, however once I caught up with the automobile it was sitting on its storage setup.

For suspension, Sebastian went with custom-built KW Competitors coilovers with exterior reservoirs and adjustable entrance and rear sway bars.

The inside is pure race automobile, absolutely stripped with an in depth roll cage, Sparco Professional 2000 seats, an adjustable pedal field, Momo steering wheel, AiM MXP Strada digital sprint and extra. The firewall and transmission tunnel are each detachable for ease of upkeep.

It’s exhausting to consider it trying on the automobile, however the Escort got here collectively in a short time with the BMW engine setup, as Sebastian had a brief deadline for its debut on the 2018 Bilsport Efficiency & Customized Motor Present (AKA Elmia). He had a whole lot of help although; Sebastian’s brothers Benjamin and Emanuel aiding the place they might, his spouse Cecilia including some material touches to the inside, and good good friend Mikael Öster taking care of all of the carbon and fiberglass work.

So far as residence storage mission’s go, Sebastian’s Mk2 Ford Escort is correct up there with one of the best I’ve seen. Having completed what he wished to with the Escort it’s being transferring on, however that doesn’t imply Sebastian is hanging up his instruments. There’s already a new mission on the go in his storage, and this one relies round a Ferrari 308 GTB. Custom wide-bodied, of course…

Vladimir Ljadov
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