By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

My weekend started a little early: on Thursday afternoon I headed to Group 2 Motorsports to shoot video of my Escort GT getting some vintage NOS Koni adjustables installed as part of the car care video series we’re doing for Quaker State. It was only the second time since the restoration that I’ve allowed anyone else to work on my Escort–the other time was for alignment–and I have to say it was a little nerve-wracking, but well worth it. These particular struts, which every first-gen Escort owner spends their whole life trying to track down–a set of them shows up on eBay maybe every two or three years–absolutely lived up to their reputation, and the GT now handles better than new. So I ended up having a pretty decent Labor Day weekend bombing around in my favorite car, though I’m going to have to pay for it by working today while everyone else is off. Oh well!

How about you? What did you do this weekend?

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Ever get a non-running car all the hell apart only to find that the remedy is something you could’ve taken care of in five minutes? Here’s how my awesome learning experience, straight out of the no-shit-Sherlock school of automotive troubleshooting, unfolded: my Escort GT had a no-start condition yesterday morning when I went to leave for work, and was exhibiting some very strange electrical symptoms. Interior lights worked, door buzzer worked, but when you went to turn the ignition it would kill everything and the dash would go dark. Then when you backed the key off, even weirder things would happen, like the radio display flashing on and off. What the hell? Continue reading…

Continue reading "Lessons Learned: Respect Your Hunches, But Try Simple Fixes First" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

This “epic battle of the slow cars,” featuring my friend Walter’s Escort and his buddy’s 4-door Nova, is described as a couple of pals just settling a friendly bet at the strip. At 11 seconds flat and 11.5 respectively (ahem, that’s in the eighth) they didn’t do so terrible for an 80′s 4-banger and a smog-o-matic 305. Take a watch, it’s very soothing.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

I put a new starter in my diesel Escort–it’s nice to have the little thumper running again. Then on my Escort GT, I finally installed the new radiator Chris got me for my birthday.

How about you? What did you do this weekend?

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

I’d forgotten how awesome this cornball flick was. This was from way back in the day when Corey Haim (R.I.P.) was just an adorable little kid and the California DMV apparently ran a fleet of 80′s Escorts and Chevettes for their driving tests. Love it!

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

I had one of those thwarted weekends where I’d hoped to get a lot further than I ultimately did. I’d planned an oil change and a new radiator, thermostat, and hoses for my Escort GT, and a starter for my diesel Escort. Turned out the new starter mounting holes are threaded differently from the ones on my original, and matching hardware is going to take some tracking down–ditto for the GT’s lower rad hose, which is an obsolete two-years-only deal. So I had to settle for the oil change, and I threw in a new fuel filter for the GT and my new pressure cap on my old radiator just for the hell of it. On the upshot, I might not even need to change the radiator now after all, since it’s running cooler already.

How about you–what did you do this weekend?

By Michael Berenis

Tampa Sports Car Examiner

When a Ford Escort is lodged into a garage like a square peg in a round hole, it’s pretty obvious someone was speeding. How fast were they going? That is unknown, but it’s safe to estimate it’s well over the posted limit. How fast do you think the Escort was going when it lost control and became one with a garage? Comment below. Read more about the wreck at Tampa Sports Car Examiner.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

I’ve never let another human being wash my Escort GT since getting tri-stage candy paint nearly four years ago. However, when we were shooting video last week at NorthWest Auto Salon, I totally let Blake’s crew of crack detailing genuises get their mitts (literally) all over it. But, you know, that’s because it’s Northwest Auto Salon–they detail million-dollar supercars for a living, and I am in awe at their skills, not to mention their tact in refraining from making any more fun of my Escort than they did.

So, while the car-wash rule is clearly out the window, there are still, dammit, things I would never let another person do on my car, at least not out of my sight. For example, I will never let anyone else change the oil on any of my cars–for such a simple task that most shops, even the good ones, relegate to only their most ham-handed flunky, there are just way too many ways to mess it up. And most of them are potentially catastrophic.

How about you? What is your single bottom line over-my-dead-body procedure for which you’d never entrust your vehicle to another person?

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

It’s an ’88 Escort hatchback chopped into a convertible, sprayed with rhinoline, and equipped with a variety of features unheard of on Escorts of this era–like a real working trunk! I dig the gnarly hood scoop, the Batman Command Console, and the angled exhaust tips (which are purportedly functional, though I think that’s the actual exhaust sticking out where the rear plate used to be). Striking fear into the hearts of New Jersey denizens everywhere it goes, it’s even piloted by a middle-aged dude who dresses up in a batsuit to battle crime at corporate picnics and little kids’ birthday parties. More pics below the jump, and read more here. Thanks to 1lowscort for the tip.

Continue reading "Ford Escort Batmobile" »

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

I went to the world-famous Griot’s Garage in search of a 134db low-tone truck horn I found on their website (the site lets you actually honk the horns–how could I resist?), then ended up going halfers with Chris on a bundle of their ultra-yummy car care goodies (d’oh! More on that later). I also did a motor flush, replaced the valve cover gasket, changed oil, swapped in new spark plugs and wires, and rotated tires on my Escort GT, and rigged up a vent tube to replace the crankcase breather that used to occasionally dribble a few drops of hot oil onto the plug wires and exhaust header.

How about you? What did you do this weekend?