By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

I decided to stop being angry at and threatening to sell my diesel Escort, and instead did a little re-plumbing and re-wiring. But even after replacing all the fuel hoses with braided PVC and running wires properly for my in-line helper pump, it still gets air in the fuel and quits after 5 miles or so of driving. I’m going to try another couple of fixes before getting fed up again and throwing it back on craigslist for an astronomically unrealistic asking price.

How about you? What did you do this weekend?

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

‘Concours’ is a word not often discussed on these very pages. Although it literally translates to ‘contest’, the word connotes cleanliness, originality and even a certain level of perfection. We’ve become obsessed with modifications as a reflection of our own personalities. We all all want to be identified as unique, as our own selves which is of course is perfectly natural. But when we begin to choose our modifications from catalogs which feature mass produced products, that countless others can also choose from and buy, does that not contradict what we’re setting out to achieve ? I’m only playing devils advocate here but is the only way to originality to remain original? Continue reading at Speedhuners

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

The Royal Marines don’t mess around, and this high-speed motor-and-trans swap makes me wish such things were permitted in the pits in NASCAR. But I call a bit of bs: if the car’s front end is anything like the US Escort’s, you have to disconnect the lower ball joints and swing the wheels way out to plug in the half shafts. But despite the shortcuts, it’s worth a view. Via Jalopnik.

By Speedhunters

Car Culture At Large

Here is a video that Ken Block sent me this morning of himself and fellow rally driver Chris Atkinson having some fun in Ken’s 1978 Ford Escort. Under the hood sits a 2.4-liter, four-cylinder Millington engine that boasts 280 BHP. It also is setup with WRC-styled paddle shifting and a six-speed sequential gearbox. I think this video does an incredible job of capturing the definition of fun!

—By Vaughn Gittin JR

By Austin Knight

Gotadime

One thing that I love about CarDomain is the absolute diversity that you can find on these wonderful pages. Mon is a fellow car guy that lives in the Philippines and until I saw his gorgeous wagon, I thought that there was no such thing as an attractive Ford Escort. He really has brought this rare find back to life and since his winning of SOTW nearly a year ago, lots has changed around his well-built ride page. And not only does he have a beautiful car, but he’s one of the most friendly guys you’ll ever meet—the perfect CarDomain role model. Make sure that you head over to take a look at Mon’s 1972 Ford Escort Mark 1 Wagon.

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

I replaced a carb base gasket on my Escort GT to get rid of a bad vacuum leak, then tuned its Weber up a bit. After some minor tweaks, the car’s got more get up and go than it’s had since I got rid of the 4-bbl Holley. I spent the rest of the weekend doing front-wheel burnouts and fending off my boyfriend’s pleas to let him drive it. I also swapped on this rare one-year-only ’81 Escort grille with the blue oval delete and offset Ford lettering that I found at the Pick A Part in Canada.

How about you? What did you do this weekend?

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

Yesterday, Chris asked if you had misgivings about cars you’d sold. It seems like a lot of people do, which is part of the reason I can never let go of any of my rides. But what about the flip-side of this equation: what car do you rue the day you ever laid eyes on? Typically, the car you regret will be a major basketcase–that mother of all projects, the car that will always have you broke and stumped–the ride that, demonically, develops another catastrophic problem each time you fix the one that’s currently disabling it. And yet, you can’t let it go.

My ultimate basketcase is my ’84 diesel Escort. Sure, it’s been fun learning how to work on diesels, and I haven’t stopped working on this car since the day I bought it. It’s got a Mazda motor–the parts for it are incredibly rare and obsolete, and anything I do to it costs me about five times more than the equivalent repair on my Ford-powered Escort, which generally runs like a top. The diesel has demanded major overhauls, presented me with massive parts failures, and generated huge bills. It’s left me stranded and once even caused me to wreck. In short, the diesel Escort is the bane of my existence, and it’s a car that needs to be gotten rid of. But I can’t–and I regret it more with each successive drama.

How about you? Ever had a car you wished would just be destroyed by an act of God? Do you still have it?

By Rob Einaudi

Editor-in-Chief

Oregon members—hide your green Escorts! An arsonist in the Medford area has set fire to three green 90s Escorts in the last few weeks. Police are scratching their heads over possible motives for these attacks, and seem to have no real leads. Full story at MSNBC

By Jen Dunnaway

Editor

It’s been uncharacteristically sunny here in Seattle, so I recently took the opportunity to get the Escort GT out for some exercise. After living in upstate New York for seven snowy years, running my summer project car in the sun during the dead of February is damn hard to take for granted. Don’t get me wrong–I loved New York and I dearly miss the ample snow wheelin’ afforded by the great Northeast. But not having your favorite car under lock-down for four months out of the year is pretty great too. How about you: is it nice enough for a winter spin in your neck of the woods, or is your car still under wraps? Or do you just say to hell with it and run your prize ride year-round regardless of the weather?

I found another early first-gen Escort—two of them actually, within about a five-block radius. Combined with my car, it was probably the densest concentration of first-gens anywhere in the country at that moment, not counting the junkyards. I also swapped out my Escort’s starter, and discovered that a bolt had fallen out of the roll restrictor, the mount that anchors the drivetrain to the front crossmember. (This explains the Mystery Bolt that showed up in my parking spot one day). The sloppiness that had been plaguing my Escort’s steering completely went away after I tightened stuff up.

How about you—what did you do this weekend?