Ford Escort Wagon... My first car

[adrian m]

HI. i am new to these boards, and i really know little about cars. i need some help. My first car is a 1995 ford escort wagon, and i am 15 years old. You know i cant have her looking or performing like a granny car, so i want to make her a beast until i get a truck like a ranger or soemthing. The only thing i really have experience in is paintball, im not sure if that would help me (maybe in airsmithing or something :-p). Ok so my first question will me this

will this spoiler fit on my car? and will it look good? I know that i will get less mpg's so i am still considering getting this..
http://www.jcwhitney.com/webapp/wcs...=-1&TID=8014524


my second question: can anyone reccomend me any tires, and sound system? i have been looking at michelin hydrofrost tires. not sure if i should though. I also want to get a K&n air filter and electric fan to try and get better gas mileage. Does anyone know where i can get an electric fan? ive been looking and no luck so far.

another question : I want to drop the car some so that i can get better mileage. i am simply assuming that if you have less low pressure straining under the car, you will get better milage right? just a thought. please correct me if i am wrong. I wanted to get these springs http://store.yahoo.com/streetbeatcu...res38lowsp.html
and i want to get a body kit, but i dont know where to look.



ANY HELP AT ALL WOULD BE GREATLY APPRECIATED!!

[Nemo69r]

I'd seriously save your money for college, a car that is made to be tricked out, or to spend on a money grubbing girlfriend. This may not have to be just a Ford Escort SW, but it is. They already get good fuel economy. Stock wheels are steel, aluminums look cool, but are just a hassle to mess with once they start corroding up and leaking. I took some aluminum spoke wheels off of a same year escort Lx, (or Tracer) and they dressed up the car for a cheap junk yard price. K&N is overated. The air flow in is still restricted unless you change the air flow out. These cars are already low to the ground and are made to handle road conditions without bottoming out. Smaller tires may be the only way to lower them, without cutting off coil springs (not recommended). Smaller tires will affect performance, fuel economy, and may even mess up the tranny. As a person can tell, I'm a fan of stock stuff. Windspoilers, bug shields, bras, tint, custom painting, side window vents, etc. are all decent priced, easy ways to set off a car from others. On another topic, what kind of paintball gun do you have?

[adrian m]

i have a 2003 autococker.... heheh she is tricked out. I like to trick things out. Thanks alot for the advice. I really just want to look like i have a nice car and not a grannymobile... I wanna get the car painted lime green.. you know about how much it would cost? would the fact that it is a dark red color affect the price of the paintjob? Can anyone show me a link to a nice bra? My car is a C cup, so i guess you can go from there :P. I will NOT get smaller tires. That gives you higher RPMs right? not very fuel efficient... I don't think my GF is that high maintenence, but i know i want to buy her everything she ever wanted, so i will always need to have extra cash lying around. As for college, i need about 10 grand to go to an online technical school.. HEHEH so i am not really worried about that.

[insnitypersonified]

Ok I'm tired of the "can't do anything with an escort" attitude.
Some do's and don'ts for the average fifteen year old with an escort.
First, I guess, it would be good if I gave you some of my credentials. I am currently working on an Escort project of my own. It will be my 47th totally custom car. It will be my third 4-cylinder. I don't frequently talk about my age, but I am twice as old as you are - give or take. I got started into building cars because I got cheated on my first car, and had to rebuild it within weeks of purchasing it.

Now that we have established that I know a little about what I am talking about, let's get back to your car. You have a 1.9 liter sohc engine. The first question that I have is do you have a manual or an automatic transmission? If you are lucky, you have a manual. The engine you have is not one of the best for buildups. Most horsepower I've seen made in one is about 125. It is safe for me to assume you don't have the kind of money it takes to make those kind of horses.

The first order of business for you is to learn something besides paintball. Buy every manual on your car you can find. It is my opinion, for a beginner, Chilton's makes the very best manuals you can get.

Do take pride in the car you have, no matter what anyone else tells you about it.

Do start doing all of your own minor maintenance, simply to learn more about it.

Try to find aftermarket cam kits for the car. It's fuel injected, so there are various turbo kits for "generic" applications that could be made to work.

Do seek out someone that knows cars and actually lives near you, someone you can trust not to steal from you. You'd be surprised what they would be willing to teach you for a six pack of beer (or monetary equivalent). I haven't found a manufacturer for cam kits yet, other than stock spec cams. If I do, I'll post the manufacturer here; please do the same, as that I am also looking for a cam kit for a 1.9.

Don't expect to make this a racecar.
Don't forget the interior and exterior of the car. As for you spoiler, the link that you posted took me to a page that was not found, but a tape measure across the area where you want to mount it should give you a fairly good idea.

I actually like the Escort wagon, but I am heavy into sound. Don't forget, if you, like myself, are an audiophile, a high output alternator, and you have all kinds of room for amps back there.

Good luck, and don't be discouraged by people with little imagination.

[adrian m]

thanks alot insnitypersonified. I do love my car, and i am trying to learn as much as i can. that is why i joined this forum. Sadly, i have automatic . I know a good bit of mechanics and whenever i can, i ask them any little question i can think of to try and learn a little more. I was thinking about putting something nice in that big area in the back :-p. I would be the only kid in school who listens to LOUD rock music in the parking lot lol. I am going to measure that area for my spoiler tomorow, saturday when i am so bored i have nothing better to do. thanks again for the help

[mustang302]

I'm with the others, save your money for the car you really want, and for when the escort needs necessary parts. That spoiler and body kit won't do a bit of good when the car won't run. Not only that, but a bunch of unneccessary weight and performance parts almost detract from the car and sometimes look ridiculous (you know what I mean, the guy with the junker with all the stickers and plastic crap hanging off). If you want to be proud of your car, wash it good and wax it to a shine, keep it clean and maintained. A nice stereo so you can enjoy the ride is a must. Mine came with some really nice hub caps, a cheap, easy way to make the wheels look great. Along the way you might just see that this simple car is great, cheap transportation that you won't want to be without. Enjoy it!

[jman63]

i've seen some really great lookin' escort wagons out there...maybe some 15 inch GT rims from a wrecking yard (cheap) or window tint or whatever...whatever parts you want to get, if you like it, it's not a waste of money or time...i like the 'scorts because they look pretty good, they're cheap to operate, cheap to work on if you do most of your own work and very dependable....there is no shortage of wrecking yard parts out there....you can get alot of good ideas by looking on cardomain.com ... everything from crappers to high dollar customs...sleepers to ricers... it's all there...anyway,you don't have to break the bank to make your 'scort look good or run good.

[insnitypersonified]

Originally Posted by adrian m

Sadly, i have automatic .

That can probably be rectified at you local salvage yard. Escorts were very popular and a manual and necessary hardware shouldn't be hard to find.

I told you if I found a place to get good cam kits I'd post it. Check out the escort parts link at
http://www.escortfocus.com they have cam kits and a lot of info on the different changes throughout the years on the escort engines. Some mentioned a set of larger diameter wheels, I must say they will go a long way in improving the looks and handling of your car.

[adrian m]

ok i am not getting the spoiler.. thought about it and it would look like a pizza car or something.. definetely getting window tint no matter what b/c you can practically see if i have any zits on my face it is soo see through.

"That can probably be rectified at you local salvage yard. Escorts were very popular and a manual and necessary hardware shouldn't be hard to find."

what exactly would i need to do to do all of that? i bet it would cost a good bit.. but hell i am willing to spend whatever i guess. I would need to switch out the transmission, install a clutch.. what else? Everyone tells me to get those GT rims so i am going to look into it soon.. I definetely want new sound, because i don't have aCD player in it, and the speakers don't have any noise to them at all.. im serious headphone speakers make more noise then these.

[bluemister2]

I'm sorry but I have to say that you should look up more information on cars in general before trying to "trick" yours out if your going for a pimp mobile get a caddy if you want handling for track get a mr2,golf gti,crx si, etc.. you get the idea small and cheap, or racing any american muscle car will do, since your 15 you can't really afford a jap muscle car.
and if you want your car to look good as hell your gonna have to spend lots of time on it and reading up on it doing countless hours of research. I got my first mr2 in august of this year and didn't really know anything about them but I read and read every bit of mr2 info I can find and know I can install engines and rebuild motors and all kinds of fancy stuff that would cost a billion dollars at a shop. ----------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------I am going to measure that area for my spoiler tomorow, saturday when i am so bored i have nothing better to do.-------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------------------------------------------- if thats how your gonna go about "tricking" out your car then don't. cars require alot of time. if you can't take the time don't bother

[adrian m]

i just said im not putitng the spoiler on...

and i do put alot of time into my car.. i always am reading stuff and i am always thinking about what i can do to make it a little better. This thread was asking on information concerning the car, not how much attention i put to it.

[sixleggedinsect]

Originally Posted by adrian m

i just said im not putitng the spoiler on...

and i do put alot of time into my car.. i always am reading stuff and i am always thinking about what i can do to make it a little better. This thread was asking on information concerning the car, not how much attention i put to it.

dude, i know its been mentioned before, but maybe your time and money would be better saved? it sounds like you're not going to be happy until you have a sweet machine. the improvements you're talking about making on your escort are gonna cost an arm and a leg, not to mention the project time. it would probably be better to save up and drop it all on something you know you'll stick with, instead of tricking out an economy car that you already know you'll trade in.

maybe you could put in a great sound system, something that when you buy your 'ranger, or something like that' you can just switch over. no big investment loss. doesnt take much time. and you'll have thousands of bucks you saved on the new wheels, paint, manual transmission, engine tweaking, and so on that you can blow on the big ranger project.

you're 15 you have that kind of cash to burn? man.. and here's me, 23, wringing my hands about whether to buy the OEM thermostat ($6) or the off-brand($5) to save cash

anthony

[adrian m]

lol yes i will definetely get sound that i can switch to when i get my ranger. I doubt that i will switch the tranny i was jsut curious if it can be done. I will save my money and get a better car when i can.

(ps: i still think it would look sweet with street glow, so i might still try that out)

[Hoopty Racer]

Everyone Laughed When I Told Them I Was Building An (87) Escort Wagon To Race But There Not Laughing Now It Had A 1.6L Automatic In It When I Got It Now Its Running A 2.3L HO / 5spd.From A Tempo AWD Everything Bolts Up In The Same Place As The Old Stuff As For Your Pedals All The Braces Are Already There Just Bolt Them In From The Other Car.Keep In Mind The Less You Need On The Motor The More Power You Will Have.We Did Away With The Smog Crap,Power Stearing,All The Extra Vacume Lines,& Went To A 600cfm 1bl Carb From An Old Chevy Inline 6cl.Put An Electric Fuel Pump On It,Electric Fan & Shroud From The Tempo Total Cost $150.00 & 4Hrs Work.Now The Jap Junk Follows Me.As For Tinted Windows Check Your Local Laws On Tinting Before Doing It Some States Have Restrictions On What You Can Do.But For A Mirror Tint Muratic Acid Is What We Use For 2 Way Mirrors Remove Your Glass First It Will Eat Your Paint. Check Out My Wagon At (msn.com-Groups/HooptyRacing ) Or E-Mail Me [email protected] & I'll E-Mail You Our Latest Pic.

[bluemister2]

I'm not trying to be an ass but I'm 19 and I'm screwed for at least a couple of yrs. I bought my MR2 for $2200 and in two weeks the head gasket blew. I PAID someone to do it because I didn't have the knowledge or the tools or the time for that matter (at that time) 6 days later after spending $1300 (raped) the bottom end went out. So now I owe my mom (she was nice enough to try to help me out because I don't have a credit card) about $1500, my MR2 doesn't run and probably won't for at least half a yr. I'm constantly fixing the escort which I had to leave at work tonight and walk home because the heater hose came loose and its to dark for me to fix it. I hardly make enough to pay bills and pay my mom back and buy parts for cars. I'M SCREWED!!!! just take your time. I wish I did thats all i'm saying. save for what you really want and really check it out when you go to buy something.