656of1000's 1988 Ford Escort GT turbo

[656of1000]

I'm going to try and chronicle the slow build of my old beater Escort. Right now my immediate goal is to turbocharge the 1.9L HO. As long as the motor build goes as planned, I will probably concentrate on other cosmetic issues down the road. But since my daily driven Galant VR4 is in need of a lot of attention, I'm simply focusing on getting the motor put together and in the car.





A brief history of this car... I bought it on 2/10/01. This was my first car, and paid $600- a lot of money for a 17 year old. Considering I've owned the car for 11 years, and I've put about 75k miles on it, I'd say I got my moneys worth. Almost a year ago, the motor let loose- well, not exactly. It still ran just fine, but the noise in the bottom end was horrific. I haven't torn down the old motor yet, but I figure a wrist pin went bad, or maybe a bent rod.



After trying to figure out if I even wanted the car anymore, I decided that sentimental value won out, and I would rebuild the motor to keep it on the road. Ever since I was 17, I wanted to turbo this car. It seemed like now was the perfect time, so I started collecting the parts I would need.

To turbocharge an Escort on the cheap, I needed to find a Merkur XR4Ti in the junkyard and grab the ECU, injectors, FPR, and air meter. I also wanted to find a roller cam HO head from a 90 GT- Ford only used the roller cams from 88.5 to 90- mine is a flat tappet 88 head. For the exhaust manifold, I'm going to be using a DSM manifold. It's not a bolt on mod, but the port spacing is dead on, so with some porting and drilling new holes it will work fine. Being a DSM manifold, it opened the door for any DSM turbo. I chose a T25 Garret from a 2g- it's small with a fast spool, and they're dirt cheap and easy to find. Also, the T25 has a curved outlet that will work great on the setup I'm planning.



I'm going to install the intercooler on the top, Subaru style, using the stock FMIC from my Galant. The turbo and manifold will be installed upside down, so the T25 compressor outlet will aim directly towards the TMIC. I'll be using a 1g BOV recirculated.

The last thing I wanted to get was the block and bottom end. The Escort LX uses lower compression pistons than the HO, and I was lucky enough to find one in the junk yard with low miles- it was a little old lady car.



With all of the parts collected, I now just need to put it all together. That's where I'm at with the build right now. As I go I'll be updating this thread. My hope is that it'll be on the road by spring.