here is a brief rundown on the original plan,
may i say from the start, this is not the first locost i have built, when i lived in england, i was involved with a build at the college i worked at as an instructor.
this car was based almost completely on the book save the engine set back which was for the most part, dictated by the position of the gear shifter on the escort transmission.
now where were we, oh yes the criterior for this build.
1. be economical.
2. be fuel injected.
3. use merkur scorpio (u.k. ford granada) axles and spindles cos i have them and independant realy is the way to go at the rear.
4. use a commoly available modern drive train.
5. have something different from other locosts.
6. be able to do some parking lot racing.
the first thing was economy, well with the weight, this was a no brainer but it had to be built economically, which meant that i would have to make as much as i could myself.
second was fuel injection, not aftermarket but the factory stuff, no mega squirt here, just the parts that came with the donor.
the third is self explanitory.
forth was drive train choice, i managed to aquire a wrecked 2003ford ranger complete, there are times when i wished i didn't.
fifth was to make it different, only time will tell.
lastly, well a locost, need i say more.
i chose a 442 chassis because the engine would need as much room as posible, the rear track on the scorpio axle was wide and although the duratec is an inline four, its quite wide too.
as on the last build, i would set the engine back as far as possible as electric fans don't seem to work very well out here in arizona, i wanted the radiator to be in the engine bay where it could be serviced by a viscouse fan clutch driven from the original ranger fan bearing in the timing cover.
the ranger engine is, pehaps not the best choice of duratec, as i also had to replace the entire intake and throttle body with focus units, also changing the fuel rail for a focus one with rear fuel entry and the pcv valve and hose.
i chopped the ac part off the ally bracket but retained the original altenator, adding an idler pulley to allow the original belt routing, next i removed the power steering pump and fabricated a new bracket and yet another idler pulley.
there seems to be a lot of people out there buying very expencive top water pipes but in this case i just shortened the one i had with the engine, fabricating a suitable bracket attached to the altenator bracket also providing a new mounting point for the top of the dip stick which required bending backwards slightly.
the ignition coil was removed from the valve cover and placed on a bracket at the rear of the valve cover away from exhaust heat and a set of v-tec plug wires were modified to fit the holes in the valve cover.
a new water pipe was fabricated to feed the egr valve and header tank from the thermostat housing.
lastly a throttle cable bracket was fabricated to suit the focus throttle body and utilizing the ranger cable.
that dealt with the engine but still left the clutch hydraulics and the shifter, which, although setting the engine back, still needed a remote to bring it within my reach, i removed the plug and play fitting on the hydraulic release bearing and fitted a part from speedway motors to take a -3 hose, all inside the bell housing.
these were the extent of the mods to fit the drive train but my pan hangs below the chassis by 1.5 inches so when i can afford a cosworth pan i will fit one.
note that my intension was to be emmisions correct for the engine/ ranger chassis for a 2003 ford ranger, obd 2 compatable for any diagnosis in the future, due to having a pats security system on this model, i also found a way to install the ranger steering column, ignition switch and instrument cluster.
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the rear suspension is pritty self-explanatory, hiem joints all round, the shocks are qa-1 with 220 lb. springs and off the shelf toe adjusters from mid-west controls and speedway motors.
the front suspension is a little different,made from 1" x.125 wall tube due to their length there are no bell cranks but the lower arms have an additional rod to the top of the shocks, giving approx 1 to 1 ratio and three inner pivots, the shocks are qa-1 with 12" by 110 lb. springs, the steering rack is from dan's performance in cal. as is the steering column and u-joints.
the pivot points on the chassis are from ballistic here in az, man did i use a lot of them standardized throughout the chassis, the diff is also mounted with them, 33 pairs, laser cut with a .500 hole @ $2.and change.
the rear uprights are fabricated from 4x3 box, using the bearing carriers from the original arms fitted to the scorpio and again, ballistic brackets.
the gas tank came from a ford exploder 2 door and fitted perfectly, the fuel pump is inside the tank, the wiring harness from the ranger had to be modified to connect the tank electrics by removing 2 plugs and combining them into the explorer plug, the wires have the same color code so it's a snap.
the evap canister is mounted under the spare wheel and is stock ranger.
in case you were wondering what the nose is, it's a vintage sprint car nose from speedway motors
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