My 1994 Ford Escort aka The Trusty Escort

ahh okay sweet, i was afraid that when i do mine that they'd fall off because i didnt know how to put them on, thanks

Last week I installed my 'new' junkyard acquired vent visors. I only found three good condition ones (two front and one rear) so I only put on the front set. Still looking for a passengers side rear vent shade to have the complete set. I love the look of them on the front..just wished I have the entire set.


Yesterday I removed the air intake snorkel/baffle sound reducer thing. What an odd contraption of plastic to say the least. Car sounds a tad louder now which is nice.


Next on the list is a new pair of rear speakers. Currently sporting the stockers from '94. They can't handle the little amount of base my cheapie headunit puts out so they have to go.


Otherwise the car has been doing. Filled up this morning and to my surprise the car is putting down 29 MPG city/highway!

Cleaned up the engine bay as well as the interior and exterior today including shaving down the alignment nipples on the headlights and completely sanding them down for polish.

Started with a rotary tool and a cut off disc and removed the nipples...then sanded them down with 150 then 220. Then I went over the entire lens with 400, 600, 100 and finally 2000 before the using the lens restoring polish I have...to complete them I wiped them down with 303 aerospace protectant.





For the engine bay I wet it down (using a warm engine) with simple green then used a toothbrush, sock and pressure washer to make it look pretty again. I covered the alternator as well as the maf sensor and the coil pack, and before and after the wash I sprayed wd 40 in all electrical connections. I sprayed the battery down with battery terminal cleaner then a protectant. Finished off the entire job with dousing the bay with 303 aerospace protectant.







And for the exterior...just the usual wash with Meguiar's Gold Class shampoo...and then ultimate spray wax.






I also installed a pair of Sony Xpolds in the read deck a few weeks back. Everything sounds much better now.

The car is looking great!

Shiney! :cheers:

Looks mean dude, mine is getting there except i need to fix some rust and paint the car

Thanks guys. I still need to find some stock Escort wheels to be really happy with the car. I am not fond of hubcaps.

Got a set of 91-93 fanblades...hint hint...

I do like those to be quite honest, I just expect that shipping would be killer.

trying to find my rims were killer too, and im still trying to find a egt bumper but its been no luck yet

I definately love my blades <3 I'll be throwing up the parts from the GT I stripped down on the for sale list. That of which include a front bumper and sideskirts.

How much u want for the bumper and sideskirts? And will the skirts fit on my wagon?

I'll be putting up a topic in the for-sale section once I get pictures of everything. (been a pain in the toosh)) I will have the price for you then. And yes, they will fit perfectly.

Installed a new bosh water pump today as the aftermarket unit that was on the car had a TON of side to side play in it. Also installed a new front crank shaft seal since it was easy to get to. Timing belt was still good. That was replaced not to long ago.

How do you go about replacing the crank seal? Just wondering for future reference.

Remove the crank pulley and you will see the seal. Mostly rubber with some metal. We used a slap hammer attached to a screw that we screwed into the rubber part of the seal making sure not to damage the edges around the seal and slapped it out.

Here is the result of a three week project. Pulled a minty fresh valve cover from Harrys in Hazelton PA earlier in the year. Solevant cleaned it and then scuffed the entire thing down with a green scotch bright. Applied rustoleum engine primer then engine aluminum paint after cleaning the piece with wax and tar remover. Let that dry a week and masked off the raised portion of the rocker cover. Scuffed that area with a gray scotch bright, blew it off cleaned with wax and tar remover then applied low gloss black engine paint. Let that dry a week then blocked out the raised portions with 400, 600, the 1000 grit. It came out nice!



I painted the three valve cover bolts matching low gloss black and had purchased a felpro gasket to complete the install. Fairly cold lately so I am not sure when I will get to actually install it.

Nice clean sedan! I like what you did with the Grand Marquis rear view mirror and what you did with the valve cover. Keep up the tasteful mods!

Thanks guys.

Here are some updated shots of her.


Washed, clayed, compounded, polished and waxed:









New valve cover installed:

Lately, not today though, winter has showed its evil head and the weather has gotten really cold. Heat was non existant and the engine would not get up to temperature at all. The gauge would never even enter the normal range, and I got frustrated. Looked into common problems and figured it could be the bypass valve in the thermostat. I ordered up the parts...thermostat, thermostat housing as well as gasket and went to town on the engine. Once everything was replaced the same thing was happening...no heat whatsoever and no normal engine temperature.

Looked into the issue further and did some digging myself to find that the two heater hoses were 70 degrees apart in temperature! See a problem?

Today was so nice out that my dad and I pulled the car in the back yard and flushed the core out really good.

Wouldn't you know it! I now have super hot heat and a normal temperature reading on my 1.9L.

Also washed the Escort down.