bludclot

haven't done any more to it these last couple of weeks, been working 6 days a week and more..... there's plans though so updates will come.

it's not set in stone - if other members agree we can make it a sunday morning.....

proposed informal meet for southerners - by mick's burger van on top of the hill. Say 7 o'clock - so plenty of day light left for looking at any decent scrotes that show up... please copy and paste this list with your name added if you are in... 1. bludclot - super clean mk6 van 2.

yes they are pcd 4x108, (16") the offset is 25, the width is 6.5 and the centre bore is 65.1. my mk5b xr3i jobs are 14", width 6 and offset 41 and needed 5mm spacers on the rears . i have some 15mm spacers left over from my previous escort that may help matters.....

will a set of ouragan 16" from a peugeot 206 gti fit on a mk6 escort? any knowledge on this?

it's not about spending millions, it's about priorities. ford will have two priorities when designing an exhaust - cost of manufacture and type approval. it stands to reason that a pea shooter is cheaper to make - less material and less bending strength required - and type approval will mean meeting noise and emissions targets at certain revs when on the machine. an after market exhaust designer will have different priorities - looks, longevity and power curves coming out as higher in importance than ford would ever consider..... any decent back boxes for the mk6 van out there?

that can be overcome (or at least a few millimetres saved) by soldering speaker wire directly to the terminals, favoured by me wherever possible as soldered joints can't fall off like spades!

my off side headlight gets condensation in it. it's a bit unexpected as when i bought this van i spotted this problem and changed the headlight for the one from my old van - which didn't get any moisture in it ever. but now that it's on this van it moistens up on the inside. so, any ideas as to what's causing this and how i might fix it please? also this van, in common with the old van, it makes a strange mid-pitched rattling sound on the over-run in between gear changes. the old van did it for 70 thousand miles or so and it never gave any problems or got worse, but seeing as the new van is so low mileage and i'm on the case with it currently i'd like to fix it. any ideas? bludclot artatak

thanks for the offer but i'll be keeping the xr3i alloys fitted, at least until the current tyres wear out. some progress with this: mirrors - a pair of new pattern mk5b mirrors arrived and were fitted. they don't adjust as smoothly or as accurately as the original ford mirrors and the nearside mirror doesn't fit perfectly at the top on the outside. on the plus side though they are unscratched and the glass is unbroken. paint - there's an imperfection near the roof at the rear on the near side. when the roof and bonnet were examined i found a multitude of tiny rust specks in the paint where somebody has used a grinder near the van and let the sparks shower over it. my clay bar didn't take them off, some g3 was starting to be hard work to i sanded both panels with 1000 grit and booked the van in for these panels to be re-painted on 5th September. There's no shine on these areas right now and I feel happier that the whole van will have new paint rather than me machine and hand polishing for a few hours to bring them back. it also went in to my favourite installer for a day and had remote central locking and a meta alarm system fitted. i drove away some notes lighter for the experience but it makes the van far easier to use on a daily basis and more secure. i am toying with the idea of removing the locks and smoothing them over but they will probably stay. ice - when i posted last the doors were stripped of trim and clean. once the central locking was in i could complete my work. here i have re-routed the central locking wires to behind the inner skin and sound deadened the outer skin: http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/door3.jpg i templated the area around the door speaker hole and chopped out some 18mm mdf. 18mm is required for the base piece as the top roll of door immediately above the speaker hole sits around 22mm proud of the speaker hole level. the baffle ring can be another thickness, this depends upon the depth of the driver being installed, basically the rear of the basket needs to clear the window. http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/mdf.jpg the inner skin is then deadened. the takes up the extra few millimetres that the 18mm base plate needs for the baffle ring to sit square to the base. obviously, the speaker hole is cut out of this layer of deadening: http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/door4.jpg here the base plate is trial fitted with the crossover in place to ensure that the door card still fits and nothing is fouled or compressed: http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/door5.jpg it fits so the base plate is removed and a thick bead of (good quality!) clear silicone is applied to the rear of it around the edge of the speaker hole. mid bass drivers in particular (but all drivers really) need to be sealed from front to back. when fitting speakers in a location such as this obtaining that seal is tricky but crucial for resulting sound quality, hence the silicone. it squidges down and fills in any small recesses that might be between the base plate and deadening. another thick bead is applied to the back of the baffle ring and it is screwed firmly to the base plate: http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/door6.jpg some wiring starts making an appearance: http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/door7.jpg and the two gaps left in between the base plate, door skin roll and baffle ring are filled with glass fibre to obtain that all important seal: http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/door8.jpg the tweeter goes in and the mid bass cable is suitably prepared: http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/door9.jpg and the mid bass driver is fitted: http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/door10.jpg finally the door card goes back on: http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/door11.jpg a couple of points to note: the door cards were a scrappy find and the cloth insert matches the seats - chuffed! the speaker installation sounds loud and clear and is completely hidden from view - a priority given that this is a work van and i don't know exactly where it will be left on a day to day basis. really i would have liked to modify the door and door card and had the speakers down low and on-axis, but this was decided against. there's a couple of finishing tasks to perform in the cabin area but that's the interior pretty much done. next up - underside.

forest - yes any pictures would be great! a mate of mine is running wolfrace voodoo 17s on his mk5 van and although i am not a fan of that particular design they suit it very nicely indeed and look great. i refurbed a set of multi-spoke st220 mondy alloys for another mate of mine and when i put them up against my old van it made me consider having some hubs machined up and sourcing a set. i have seriously considered a set of breyton magics or team dynamics 'equinox' but i have to remember that this is a work van and 14s don't cause any problems rubbing with any of the heavy loads that i sometimes have to carry.....

seen this twice now, colour coded skirts, front and rear bumpers etc. looks very clean and straight, maybe enough to rival mine. any info?

has anyone attempted a key conversion for the ford escort? for my first van i had the key welded to a piece of 2mm steel and this was drilled into a meta keyfob: http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/key2.jpg but now ford have changed their key material make up and current key blanks are not steel and don't weld. i had this made up: http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/key.jpg but the man that made it said not to grind down the solder (or weld) any further or its strength will be compromised. now obviously i don't want it breaking off in my ignition barrel.... i see that current transit keys are available: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/160963282270?ssP...984.m1423.l2649 can these be cut to escort key specs? has anyone here built an escort key into a buttoned fob and can guide me before i embark on this learning curve?

forest - i'm not sure on the wheel choice either. i ran orion ghia / xr4i pepperpots on the last van and they seemed to suit it much better and look bigger, despite being the same size. they are in the shed and may be changed over at some point. i didn't make a straight swap as all 4 toyos on them were nearing the end of their lives... at least the mk5 xr3i jobs that are on there are completely and totally mint and, to be fair, they look better in reality than in the pictures. when it's complete i'll take some better photo's and post them here. i re-fitted the seats this morning, via a good clean, the same kind of good clean that everything has been subjected to: http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/seats.jpg and the baulk head panel went in too. the new van had an upper cage which i liked but somebody had butchered it about so it was rejected in favour of this: http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/baulkhead.jpg the doors have been stripped for some time now: http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/door.jpg but have now been cleaned. this was a time consuming and messy task, that ford sikoflex stuff is horrendously sticky and difficult to remove: http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/door2.jpg for now i have re-fitted the factory speakers as there's more work planned for the doors before the audio work on them commences.

some more help if anyone can oblige? i don't think that the key above will fit into a meta key fob. will the transit key like this: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/NEW-FORD-MONDEO-...=item257a28c55e be able to take a meta circuit board and, perhaps more importantly. can it be cut to suit an escort? more progress today. firstly the rest of the audio cables were run in. not as neat and tidy as i would have liked but there are a few... http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/cables3.jpg and the rubber floor mat was fitted. this was taken from my other van, i spent a good while cleaning this to a good enough standard to suit the rest of the van: http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/cables4.jpg http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/cables5.jpg the centre console went back in: http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/cables6.jpg and the head unit was wired and fittedL http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/cables7.jpg some mdf boards were chopped out and screwed through to the rubber mat: http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/cables8.jpg which allowed the fitting of the amps. (well, very nearly, it started to rain and i had to give up for the day) http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/amps.jpg http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/amps2.jpg bludclot (artatak)

brilliant - thank you! i am beginning to see this forum as most excellent. security work has started: http://portchesterpropertymaintenance.co.uk/images/van/key.jpg this is not as easy as it used to be - ford used to make their keys from steel that was easily weldable, these days there's some additive or other that means i had to hunt out a specialist welder for this as my usual biker mechanic guy tried and failed.