'99 Ford Escort ZX2 FE3 turbo build

[JohnZX2]

I got the car in February 07 for $2700 with 110,512 miles.



The first mods I did was kemanize the intake and pull the knock sensor.

The car came with its 6-disk CD changer and speakers ripped out (literally), so I purchased a Pioneer headunit and speakers.



I wasn’t planning on buying rims anytime soon, but then I saw the Enkei OR52’s and feel in love with them. I got them in 17x7 with Falken Ziex ZE-912 205/40R17 tires.





Then came a DynoTune Nitrous wet kit and 3” ZXtuner intake with a Vibrant Performance filter.











Somewhere along here I got a B&M trans cooler and did the shift kit mod. I also got a Grille-Tech grille.

I got pretty good at e-brake 180’s and “drifting”. One night while showing off for some friends, this happened.









I ran off into a ditch and hit a stomp. It pushed the front frame over about a quarter inch. Lesson learned.

I removed the dash and clean all of the air ducts and deleted the A/C, I also removed the rubber firewall sound deadening (which turned out to be only 10lbs max of weight reduction, lol).
















The auto slush-box wasn't cutting it, MTX swap time.

Scored a '98 ZX2 trans (only ZX2 year with Escort GT gearing, in 99.5 they went with longer 3-5th gears). Also got a ZX2 S/R spec Borla muffler.



Spec stage 3 clutch.



After it was all done, the car felt amazing! Would pull quite hard and was very responsive. Drove it only for two mouths then changed the oil, only to find a sh!tload of coolant in it........

The verdict was a warped head. As CARFAX stated the car started its life as a rental, there is no telling how much it had been abused/overheated, eta.

So the tear down began.

[JohnZX2]

It was only supposed to take a few days just to swap heads. But then I got laid off from work, and as there is ZERO job opportunity's in this town, I had it pretty hard for a while and couldn't give any attention to the 'scort. When I did get back on my feet, I became obsessed with modding the 85 Corolla I had (I'm a old school Toyota guy at heart). Once I got tired of that, I sold it and started back on the ZX2.

The plain was a turbo build with low psi and about 180-200whp. The engine bay would be stripped a painted along with every other engine/suspension component. Then when I went to put the bottom end on the stand.....the crank moved....... it had crankwalk (about 1mm of play). Frustrated I let it set some more. Just recently I came close to selling it for something with more "potential" (Civic, 240SX, eta), then I discovered the F2T and FE3 engines and how strong they were (particularly the FE3), and got interested in the car once more.

Painted crossmembers, mounts, steering rack, eta



What it looks like as of right now.



Going to be cutting off the top and bottom pieces of the damaged radiator support and fab my own, similar to this http://i483.photobucket.com/albums/r...nnon40d109.jpg That's also how the engine bay will look as well, trying to keep it super clean, almost show car clean (read; almost, lol)

Already bought the F2 NA trans to BG chassis front mount bracket from FE3-323, going to the junkyard next mouth to pull a Kia FE3 and F2 NA trans. Once the swap is done, I'll boost it to ~200whp while I build a stronger G series trans (MFactory LSD, micro polished gears, eta), then I'll aim for 300whp+.


So there you have every detail of this poor car from the last ~5 years, lol. It is very sentimental to me and I hope to get it back on the road soon-ish. Nobody around here really mods cars like these (you mostly see Civics, 240's, mustangs, eta) so it should put a surprised look on many a face once done

[FE3-323]

be known that even low boost on a FE3 will put you over that 200whp mark. they are VERY responsive to boost.

edit....... here's a better pic

[JohnZX2]

I was thinking of getting a EVO 8 tube mani and mating it up to it.

http://www.amazon.com/Godspeed-Mitsubishi-03-07-Turbo-Manifold/dp/B004BB5H7U

[FE3-323]

definitely a good idea. just mind your distance. in the BG's theres ****all for room to the front radiator (FE3 gives you roughly +2.25 more inches of forward space but still)

[JohnZX2]

definitely a good idea. just mind your distance. in the BG's theres ****all for room to the front radiator (FE3 gives you roughly +2.25 more inches of forward space but still)

Yeah, I forgot to add that along with the custom radiator support, I'll be relocating the radiator to in front of the support for a little extra room.

[Racerboy]

sub'n

[Damkid]

Sub'n

[Mazda_Powered]

awesome! car's ready for some FE3 love

[Turpro]

Subn

[monoxidechild]

nice! fe3 zx2 FTW!

not alot of us FE3 guys on the forum. glad to welcome another!

[Crazypunkerguy]

This sounds like it's going to be sweet. Good looking zx2 you got there, good luck on the swap!

[KaleoXtreme]

Subn for this, should be sick!

[DeeAOne]

Cool ass project you got here man. Good luck!

[JohnZX2]

Thanks alot for the support!