Escort
1991 ford Escort GT racecar.
Built by renowned racing driver Jim Peirce in Torrance Ca. This car was a testbed for many of his products that begun his Pierce Motorsports brand and remain on the car. He fully caged it including tying into the front shock towers. He spent countless hours on chase development and product testing on this car. He raced it for many years before selling it to the customer that I purchased it from. The engine is a Mazda 323 GTX turbo 1.8L BP (The engines are the same as 1993-1997 Miata and second gen Escort GT but with a low-pressure turbo). 5 speed manual transmission(from a1994-1996 Kia Sophia((which had a licensed BP engine)) which is stronger than the original Escort one) with custom metal shift bushings, four-wheel disk brakes, and four-wheel independent suspension. It has K-sport coil overs and a fiberglass hood. Mounted five Falcon 660 tires with one track day and 4 more spar wheels (though one is bent) for a total of eight serviceable and one bent wheels. It weighs about 2400 lbs with driver and fluids. When running well it makes just over 200 hp.It has a Cobra Sebring Pro halo seat expired 2021 mounted on the stock movable seat base, a long-expired passenger seat and expired harnesses. I bought the car in August 2010. I raced it for parts of two seasons in NASA. I continued to use the car for track days about twice a year until the engine let go at Chuckwalla in 2017. I then built an engine using forged Wiseco pistons, Carrillo rods and a stage 2 flying Miata clutch. A miss installed head gasket and no oil pressure indication damaged the bearings. I had a reputable shop rebearing and reassemble again. At this time, I had a Kazz LSD installed in the transmission. The car ran grate but overheated from a miss diagnosed failed thermostat. A used GTX engine was installed and made one track day ending with a personal best time at the big track at Willow Springs 1:36.44 and a hole in the block! The current build used the better internals referenced before all new hydraulic lifters and a Boundary Engineering oil pump from Flying Miata. The car runs and drives but is hard to shift and has another overheating problem. The thermostat is removed. After so many years I have decided to move on.
Racing is never cheep but this one is as inexpensive as it gets to run.
Good car that needs some attention(love).
Spars include
Both front axles and idler shaft
Intake manifold
Throttle body
Exhaust manifold with seized turbo
Two Alternators
Two water pumps
Turbo heat shields
Starter
And more…
