TIL: Ford Escort GT valve cover fits on Miata 1.8

Kinja'd!!! "Nick Has an Exocet" (nickallain)
04/27/2019 at 15:01 • Filed to: TIL

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Ford used the BP 1.8 in the Escort GT but customized the valve cover. Also found in the Mercury Tracer LTS, and Kia Sephia RS, and Suzuki Esteem / Cultus.

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DISCUSSION (10)


Kinja'd!!! Spanfeller is a twat > Nick Has an Exocet
04/27/2019 at 15:37

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I don’t understand the fascination with leaving the valve timing belt uncovered

See also: Ducati clutches


Kinja'd!!! ADabOfOppo; Gone Plaid (Instructables Can Be Confusable) > Nick Has an Exocet
04/27/2019 at 15:43

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My first car was a Tracer LTS with a 5MT. That car was way more fun to drive than it had any right to be. I taught myself how to heel-toe and rev-match in that car.

And since it was so small, I could roll all four hand crank windows down from the driver seat.


Kinja'd!!! MM54 > Nick Has an Exocet
04/27/2019 at 15:53

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So... get the latter one pictured (with the oval but no ‘Ford’ text) and make an inlay of your choosing/design for the E xocet?


Kinja'd!!! BaconSandwich is tasty. > Nick Has an Exocet
04/27/2019 at 17:00

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I’ve wondered how people discover things like this.  I remember a friend of mine telling me about some franken-engine (or would that be more of a Frakenstein’s monster engine?) that had one part from a Volvo, and another part from a VW (like big parts - a block and a head), and somehow it all bolted together properly.


Kinja'd!!! Nick Has an Exocet > BaconSandwich is tasty.
04/27/2019 at 18:26

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I think it's widely known that Mazda and Ford were parts sharing. Then all you need to do is be desperate and in a junkyard. Ha.


Kinja'd!!! Nick Has an Exocet > Spanfeller is a twat
04/27/2019 at 18:26

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10 0% agree. Just seems like a bad idea.


Kinja'd!!! Nick Has an Exocet > MM54
04/27/2019 at 18:27

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Stop giving me ideas! Haha


Kinja'd!!! bhtooefr > BaconSandwich is tasty.
04/27/2019 at 20:28

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Sometimes it’s some old hand parts guy that just knows how things interchange from decades of experience, or knowledge filtered down from said parts guy.

Sometimes it’s knowing when something was rebadged, like this case - Ford rebadged the Mazda engine as their own, so the Ford valve cover fits (IIRC it had a separate timing belt cover, hence the timing belt being uncovered when you put it on a Miata).

And sometimes it’s just, someone tried shit and reported that it worked on a forum. (I hear that can be weirdly common with pistons in various heavily-modded engines...) Hell, for years, someone had figured out that if you wanted to convert a Volkswagen TDI to head studs (for extreme high-boost applications to avoid lifting the head), ARP head studs for an Escort Cosworth fit perfectly, just based on the measurements.


Kinja'd!!! Stopcallingmesir > Nick Has an Exocet
04/27/2019 at 22:27

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Thinking this is also in Mazda Protege? Which was a surprisingly fun driver


Kinja'd!!! Nick Has an Exocet > Stopcallingmesir
04/27/2019 at 23:41

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Yep - both versions of the B series: 1.6 and 1.8 depending on year.