It was at this time that I crashed my main car which was a Mitsubishi Starion. (for more info on this click here)  It entered my mind that I could fit the Starion engine into my Escort.   I did a bit of measuring and found that it would fit.
The sump was round the other way compared to an Escort so I cut the flange off the Starion sump and tack welded it on the other way round.  I had to remove the oil pick-up pipe but this could be re-made later on.  The sump was then re-fitted and the engine lowered into the Escort engine bay.  The engine was sat on a block of wood to keep it clear of the crossmember.  The downpipe from the turbo was then cut, turned and re-welded to clear the steering column.  The next problem was the gearbox.  The Mitsubishi 5-speed is compact enough, smaller in fact than a Sierra gearbox and with an all aluminium casing, but the flywheel didn't line up with the transmission tunnel.  This meant cutting the tunnel out and welding in a Mitsubishi one.  I have cut the tunnel out but have done nothing since.  Shame on me.

Current Situation
I have not done any more work on the car but I have been aquiring bits for it.  So far I have a Mk1 3-litre Capri axle which will be required to take the power of the 168bhp engine and a Mexico pedal box.  This is required because the Mitsubishi gearbox uses a hydraulic clutch.  I also have an Escort RS Turbo radiator and intercooler complete with electric fan.  This will allow me to run more boost hopefully allowing up to 230bhp.


part 1 The History