Vantastic

[unacceptable_risk]

Hi all, I dig the Liquid speed section.

I have (as posted once or twice) been going the full refurbishment and modification on my 78 escort pvan.

I sent this Much loved car away to have $4000 of body work done. cutting rust is amongst the only things I would pay a pro to do to my car. some 6 months later, I have to lean on people to get it back......it comes back....

IT is soooooooooo crap! they F$%$^ My Car. I had one of the last limited edition 2L escort vans, that I was grooming for full concourse show.......and these monkeys gas axed it to backyard perfection.....not even, I really would have done a better job myself. So rather than prep and paint the vehicle as per plan, I made a bunch of calls which included a solicitor. To cut to the chase, I demanded a full and prompt refund, which has been given. I descided to skip the likely 18 month wait on actually getting the guy in court. Is sad but I really need the transport as much as the value my vehicle just lost as a showcar.

Anyway, The point is, if you are ever truly after brilliant results on your car....do it yourself. As for the car, well now I have no excuse not to modify the krikey out of it. Hilux lsd, t5 5spd, 2.4L single cam with cossie internals and nice turbo for expected 340HP and buckets of torque in an 860kg package. I allready have a full alloy cage, bilsteins and race seats, harnesses etc.

So with any luck, cool pictures, quater mile and dyno stats will follow in the next few weeks.

_UR_ http://members.optusnet.com.au/merv28/cedpics.htm

[unacceptable_risk]

Well the engine is back in with a working 4spd box. It was great to hear and smell it running. after sitting for years, with the ocasional turn over by hand at best, it kicked on the 3rd turn with a bit of 2stroke mix down the carb.

This is my stock 2L engine that I plan to register the van with. Once the paperwork is done, I have some noisy bits to bolt on.

I can't wait to drive it, it has been so long.

[Synthohol]

after seeing the cockpit, is that a 1 seater? in the front i mean??

[unacceptable_risk]

hehe no, there is room for a copilot. Wow, I drove it yesterday. Not registered yet, but onto that tomorrow. As it zipped up the road to the roadworthy mechanic, I fell in love with it all over again. I don't know how soon I will rush to fit a bigger Hp donk......the one in it is very happy and I havnt driven for a long time[read years]. It seems to have plenty of poke just stock 2L with extracted 2" system......for now anyway.

[unacceptable_risk]

Bit of an update,

The Van is registered now, despite the governments obvious efforts to get cars more than 8 years old off the roads here.

I can't believe I failed a roadworthy certificate on the basis of cracks in my dash. People were determined to find fault with the van.

Eventually I found a mobile mechanic called Udey, who came to my house and did a rwc inspection on the spot. He was good, pulled out a persian rug and slid under the car, checked everything that mattered and did'nt get hung up on upholstery issues.

So after an agonizing weekend wait for the Dept of trans to open, my GF and I registered it early monday and drove straight out of town for a much needed break in the bush.

Yeah so we made it about 400 meters onto a freeway...and ran out of gas...lol...I am a wanker....luckily got a mad cabbie who pulled up sideways on the grass verge...Total delay...20 mins.

After that we made a 1000km round trip journey over 3 days, saw some friends and caught up with nature in some beautiful spots.

The car climbed two mountain ranges and loved it, it really eats up the kms with ease. The only issue was a semi blocked idle jet from the fuel tank I descided not to flush.

All up, a total success. It feels so good to be mobile again, seems like my world is a bigger place.