Lil Red 1999 Ford Escort Zx2

Sweet! I sometimes look for a nice blue one of these.

Good luck with the bumper search, I had to do the same on my Ford Probe and I used car-part.com but sometimes you just run out of luck and have to travel a bit far for older cars like these.

My late brother's daughter brought over her 98 zx2 (automatic) with 50K miles because of a leaky break line. Neat little car. She asked me if I thought it might be collectable. I laughed and told her that there was probably a small market of crazy people that would cherish it for it's oddity, and like to own one cheap to thrash on.

Happy to find this thread.

Apparently I’m an idiot. My car is a 1999.5, in which the late half years got the 6 wire maf instead of 4. Was too busy trying to google stuff instead of looking ... oh well

snuck out earlier and swapped ECU over, car fired up right away! Can already tell it’s running smoother. But my car is blocked in by too many others to take for a drive just really see

Only driven the car few miles but definitely can tell difference with the S/R ECU.  Decent small bump in power but definitely much smoother liner power band. Bad part is this ECU is a 93 oct tune and I have over half tank of 87 in there now. 

Today I managed to sneak away and get the CCRM swapped out. Thr CCRM on these have relays built into them that control the ac, fan, fuel pump and PCM. Unfortunately if one relay goes out you have to replace the module, unless you want to melt out and resolder new one in.

Well when I bought the car the AC did work. But it was rigged to trick the ECU to know it’s on due to bad relay. It worked, but made car run like crap and stall out coming to stop. On a plus side coming across the S/R model is you need to CCRM from it or your fans will run constantly so it’s a double win!

To get to the module it’s underneath the air box 

Fee bolts, clips and you get here. The module with white label

In order to get it off,  you have to go dig thru all your tools to find one of those sockets you never ever thought you’d need to remove it. Something like a 3/295 or so does the job.. While I had everything apart I took out the silencer box on the right side. Who doesn’t like more vroom noises!

with everything put back together car is one more step better. Not only does my fan work like it’s suppose to. There’s no more bogging/stalling issues with AC on. Which is big plus here in Texas in the summer time.

Sadly I didn’t have time to make it back to junkyard to get the rest of parts I wanted. Hopefully by time I make it back everything is still there 

Looks good!

I don't think you can beat $1300 for a car you enjoy having and driving. I don't know anything about these cars to actually have something useful to say but, seems like you've got it pretty well figured out. I'm curious now so I'll have to keep an eye on this thread.

In reply to Error404 :

Basically this vehicle was suppose to be my drive to work car. Something cheap that gets me point a to b that’s it. I have a much better family vehicle that this car is only driven be me. When it came time for us to get second vehicle I searched high and low for something I could have that was fun. That’s how I stumbled across this car. 

 Ultimately I’m in my 30s and wanted a “fun high school” that I can drive the piss out of! It gives me a good chuckle and serves its purpose. All the while on the very cheap which I like!!

All I can say is wow! What a difference fixing few little issues can make. I always liked driving this car but I really like driving it now. 

On downside though,

With strut bar up front it definitely helped, but damn  I need a bigger rear sway bar now.

pretty sure what was left of bushings on shift linkage is gone. 

Contemplating whether to do the “knock” mod. Supposedly these cars have a very sensitive knock sensor that picks up vibrations from motor and retards the hell out of the timing. A lot of people on escort forums unhook the sensor and swear it makes big difference. Not sure it’s worth it tho

In reply to Subscriber-unavailabile :

The rear sway bar from an Escort GT fits (1991–1996). I had a 98 ZX2 that I bought new and used to autox.

In reply to Joseph :

There was a 19mm bar on the S/R I was getting parts off of. I literally didn’t have to capacity to carry anymore parts and was wayyy to hot/ and far to  be going back and forth it

I noticed in your haul that you did not get the actual shift rail. This is where the slop usually occurs. Try for the bolt that holds the rail to the transmission as it makes replacing the bushings a snap. This is my first move with a new Escort...yes I have been through plenty, and makes a beater feel like a decent ride.

Bruce

In reply to egnorant :

Funny you say that, just got home from getting these

Managed to get bushings swapped out, Sortve..

have to dig around in 20 year old grease and grim to get to everything which is awesome before dinner

The bolt on right came out easy enough, old rolled up plastic fell out tho. Pop in 2 bushings and done with that side. The part on the left side different story though. The rod is welded to the whole shift arm. berkeley. Oh well time to improvise.

few cuts with knife and got this

Trimmed them down, cut slit and few mins with screw driver got them squeeezed in. Hopefully they stay, if not I’m no worse off then it was.

Since my AC is working properly I went to take off the “hot” wire that was rigged to make it work.

I know it may seem I half ass some of my work, and car has its fair share of zip ties and tape holding stuff together. But this...

Argh I hate hack jobs like this. Scariest part , when I unhooked the old alarm ALL the wires were hooked up like this under the dash..

Car is one step closer being a shinier turd which makes me a shinier turd!

Oh and sorry if pics are coming out huge. I’m doing this all on my phone

I think the old escort wagons had 21mm sway bars. It’ll be a bolt on for yah, really kicks the rear end out. The escort GTs rear disk brakes will also bolt on with the exception of a spacer that’s needed, I don’t recall the size or location as it’s beem close to 10 yrs since I’ve had one. 

On my way home from work the shifter all of sudden felt “different”. There’s a bushing/boot that the shifter arm is attaches it to the shifter stabilizer bar. Can kinda see in this pic 

Well that part decided to be two separate parts. The pic is of my old one but looking at doesn’t look like it can be removed/replaced. Hopefully google will give some insight. Might just drill a hole thru both plates and bolt it together for now.

Also have a popping noise coming from front left when turning right. I replaced the sway bar link earlier this year but I didn’t have the car level. Hoping the link is just binding . 

Well time for another boring update

Wife got called into work yesterday so I decided to tinker around in the 100 degree heat.

Pulled plugs and all looked normal. Changed the oil. Why is a simple oil chance job end up taking way to damn long??

Windshield resoivor  was in way of getting the filter out. , strut bar was in way of resoivor. Washer did work before , DID.... I  some how have managed to lose all of my deep socket 10mm. So after 15 mins in tight ,sharp place with wrench I calmly ripped it out of its demonic place and sent to it to be made into bardie skeet bottles. 

My shifter at this point has “dropped” and is resting on the heat shield. Well of course part is NLA. Google fu’n on old escort forums suggest drill hole thru plates and bolt them together. But apparently this can cause issues. This method  basicially mounts the whole shifter assy to the trans and your shifter Now moves a lot! Exciting but no bueno. Thankfully I still have my old assy and it  has a good bushing. But I let someone borrow my jack stands so I’ll wait to fix that. 

After that decided to do something more lil more janky. Think I need to rename this thread project Janky. Sponsored by zipties, electric tape and Yo momma! 

 The stock air box on this car has a 1 1/2” opening. 1 1/2!?!? Not saying size matter but bigger is better right?? I’m damn Texan you dang right it is!

Armed with cheap drill and jigsaw I stole from work I ended with this

And this 

Found parts leftover but oh well who needs a 2 pound box taking away fun noises.

Cant say if it made 30 or 40 more HP, but definitely pulls a lot better thru the RPMs now! Which now reminds how cheap tires are cause no traction in 1st anymore. 

I really wanted to go back out to junkyards. Know where car is that has UDP, which is supposedly 3-5 whp gain. MSD coil pack and wires, although I’ve had bad luck with MSD stuff before. 19mm sway bar , and facory S/R eibach springs. I have the S/R struts now but on factory springs. 

As I was explaining to the wife why I needed to spend another $100 on janky E36 M3  at the junkyard she reminded me that our 5 year  anniversary is 2 weeks away and she deserves a special weekend.... well berkeley. Happy wife more parts right

So extra funds are on hold for now. Hoping to make it to rally cross on the 27th see what I can break. But Need to buy a helmet though, really don’t want to share head cheese

Feel like I should clarify couple things. I don’t want to come off as a two bit hillbilly doing janky E36 M3, even though that’s what I’m doin 

When I set out this past winter to find a second vehicle it’s main purpose is to work and back that’s it. But since this “my” work vehicle I wouldn’t settle for another auto car. I had a bigger budget then what I spent on this, but lived in small town and manuals were hard to come by. Finally gave up and bought this because I ran  out of time waiting for the “right” car. 

Now the janky part. I’ve owned n/a and turbo fwd. RWD, AWD.  I don’t mind a fwd for DD but I’m not going down rabbit hole and spending $$$$ on good fast parts for this car. Only way make good power is turbo, and turbo fwd are fun and crappy at same time. And let’s face it rwd wheelspin is much more fun! So I’m basically being frugal but having fun at same time . Hence all the jankiness you see . 

Where I live now I can get much much better platforms to spend real money on for 2k or less anyways 

Nice job. I like following along because I am putting a Zetec in my Renault 8, and you are one of the few GRMers actively working on one.

Keep up the updates!

I like the little Zetec it’s solid motor. Not sure if it’s been rebuilt or not but if it’s original it has 226k miles on it. Doing the S/R ECU which is basically a tune, and opening up intake made big difference. Has a very liner power band and doesn’t loose oomph until 5500ish. 

What mods you have planned for the motor?

In reply to Subscriber-unavailabile :

Megasquirt, 4-2-1 exhaust header (similar to an SVT one) and individual throttle bodies. Thats because I am using a stock Super Beetle transaxle and I dont want to break it. Next step is to buy a Zetec and the ITBs.

One of these popped up recently for $1k asking price. Really trying not to go buy it, but it would make a good Gastropod entry to the Challenge. This thread is not helping.

In reply to captainawesome :

For $1000 it’s real decent car, granted it’s been taken care of. The body and interior are on mine are pretty shotty. But good part someone took good care of the mechanicals. With couple mods the motor pulls great, internet fan bois claim with the ECU I have with the “keman ” intake mod, I should be making 150hp. I’ve owned higher power cars and this thing surprises me for what it is. I’d take a video if computers weren’t so tricky as woman.

On the downside though,

I haven’t looked extensively but giving the car is older and it’s zx2,  aftermarket parts are hit and miss. Some part are NLA, so stuck with used parts or be like me and janky some E36 M3 together. The S/R parts I’m acquiring are apparently rare pieces to find. 

Believe the biggest wheel that fits is 215/225, unless of course you want box flares. 

But there’s always grassroots way around that stuff. piece together  a Turbo kit and MS would be easy, already has a crank trigger factory! 

In reply to Subscriber-unavailabile :

Who doesn't want box flares?  

captainawesome said:

One of these popped up recently for $1k asking price. Really trying not to go buy it, but it would make a good Gastropod entry to the Challenge. This thread is not helping.

I always sing the praises of the zx2, it'll get 40mpg if you baby it and is pretty fast for what it is, low 7 second 0-60.

It's a lot of car for 1k

Can I upload video straight to site from my phone? I’ll post up some janky street clips