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Onion Turbo Blog

ollie240585

ollie240585

Ex. Club Member
Think this is the third time i've put this up due to the server problems, but heres my WIP 1989 MKII Ford Orion GHIA

Mods to Date:
Escort RS Turbo Engine with wiring loom, inter cooler, metering unit, radiator, manifolds, Garett T3 Turbo, Bailey Dump Valve, Silicon Boost Hoses, crackle Painted charge carrier.
Escort RS Turbo front calippers, discs and pads
Poly Bushes all round
Kicker Amp behind seats
Escort Sterring Wheel
Spax Suspension (shocks and springs -25mm drop from standard)
Series 2 RS Turbo Alloys

Mods to fit:
Orion RS Side Skirts
Escort RS Turbo 88 Spec front bumper
Escort RS Turbo bonnet

Things to remove:
Mechanical ABS!!! It's the biggest pile of crap in the world!!!

Mods to buy:
Orion RS rear valance (very rare item to find)
Escort Cosworth Front brakes

Well this was the day I went round saw it, fell in love and brought it. It was love at first sight!!!

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And this was not longer after, parked next to my mates MK1 Orion

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It was not long after purchasing it, that I decided 105 BHP was not enough, plus an N/A engine sounds a bit pants. So was offered an RS Turbo engine + ancillaries for a very good price and snapped it up. The conversion began Like so:

Out with the old:
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In with the new:
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Dials had to come out to splice the two wiring looms together:
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And hey presto the conversion was done. After a few teething problems, the engine is now running superbly. All of the above was completed 10 or so months ago. The car has been off the road since the end of may awaiting a few repairs. I have now started work on it and here she is at the moment:

Escort RS Turbo air box fitted with K&N panel filter
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Poly Bushes in process of being fitted:
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Nice new Scorpion stainless steel exhaust system from turbo back:
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This exhaust does need extending, will be taking it into work to have 6"s or so welded onto the exhaust tip (due to the Orion being slightly longer than an Escort)
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Kicker Amp installed behind the rear seats powering the front speakers:
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Additional Amp will be installed next to it and a sub fitted in the boot.

Got an excellent condition Escort steering wheel to fit too (and my foot):
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Spax Suspension turning up:
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One rear side fitted, looking good with the poly bushes
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I've got my exhaust finally welded up. This has only been tacked and will be properly welded tomorrow. This was just for test fitting and as you can see its not a bad job. Not a bad job seeing as i got it done at work....and seeing as I work for a PVC drainage pipe manufacturer, it aint bad. lol.

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Update:
Exhaust All properly welded up now
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Then a photo in day light :)
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Ollie
 
Whats with the weird and looks unnecessary U bend in the exhaust? and nice foot!!
 
Arnold said:
Whats with the weird and looks unnecessary U bend in the exhaust? and nice foot!!
Click to expand...

You mean the unnecessary U-bend which goes round the fuel tank?

The Exhaust on the Orion and MKIII and MKIV escorts goes underneath the rear axle and because its so low it goes round the fuel tank so if the exhaust is hit from the bottom it doesn't dent/damage the fuel tank. Thats my best guess anyway.

Exhaust is all welded up and fitted. It sounds lovely!!

Next thing is MOT :O oh dear!!!
 
Loved those old school Orions, Granada's, Fiesta's and Escorts.

Dunno why, but I like the look of boxy cars. They look more aggressive. Stuff like those old fords, Alfa 75's etc etc.
 
Antony said:
VIDEO....lol
so when you sending me your rocker cover?..lol
Click to expand...

I got a spare one in the boot, I'm looking at performance until I do any aesthetics, but if I got some spare cash I'll send you it.

I will get a video done. But if I do a video I want to do one whilst driving, and seeing as I lack MOT TAX and Insurance, theres still a bit to do. I'll get one of the the exhaust revving a bit though.
 
Originally Posted by capnmchl
Loved those old school Orions, Granada's, Fiesta's and Escorts.
Dunno why, but I like the look of boxy cars. They look more aggressive. Stuff like those old fords, Alfa 75's etc etc."

That was one of the main reason i got my Nova...Looks like a good build matey, would love to hear how she sounds...
 
micra_tom said:
Originally Posted by capnmchl
Loved those old school Orions, Granada's, Fiesta's and Escorts.
Dunno why, but I like the look of boxy cars. They look more aggressive. Stuff like those old fords, Alfa 75's etc etc."

That was one of the main reason i got my Nova...Looks like a good build matey, would love to hear how she sounds...
Click to expand...

She sounds sweet. I've got a little vid of her idling. I got a mate coming round soon, I'll get him to record it whilst I give it a little rev!!!
 
you know the ford RS stripes you get down the side of the new fiesta ST.... i recon that with all of the car painted the same colour, a nice set of white rs stripes down the sides along the bottom of the doors would look spanking...
 
She'll be going in the bodyshop the next couple of months to lose the gray bottom half. Have the Orion RS Side Skirts and the escort RS Turbo Bumper fitted and sprayed to match.

Should look lovely.

Antony Nice Idea, I'm gonna see how she looks when shes sprayed before doing anything more.
 
Nice one. Bring on the Onions!!! I've just picked up a Genuine RS front and rear valance for mine, so will be having the full genuine Orion RS Kit fitted.
What front bumper is that? Looks similar to an xr2i/fiesta turbo one.
Where abouts are you from?
The cars looking awesome!!!
 
its a standard 88 spec orion bumper with an rs valance the lights have been cut into it, the lights and surounds from an xr2 where too big for the orion bumper. i have a spare bumper and valance if i change my mind lol
 
I like it, looks fantastic. My best mate has a MK1 Orion Turbo with the RS Kit as well shown here:
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We're a rare breed us Orion owners, I love them though!!!
 
Time warp man. My neighbour has an original rs1600i escort in black, he uses it everday, respect the old fords especially the rs500... Love the oldskoolness here!!!! Nice one matey.
 
We love are fords round here.
I got the Orion Turbo
My mates got an Orion Turbo
Another 2 mates have got S2 Escort RS Turbos
Another mates got an RS1600i with a 1900 CVH Turbo Block
Another Mates got a MKIII Excort Cabriolet (about to have an EFI turbo lump)
Another mates got a MKI Fiesta with an Escort RS Turbo engine
and I know someone who's got a Cossie powered Anglia!

It's all good round this way!!!

Got my new car alarm today, should make insurance better! lol.
 
Got my car up my unit now, have fitted my Escort RS Turbo bonnet, have welded a patch over a tiny hole in my sill and now shes ready for an MOT test.

Got bored and decided to see what it'll look like with the side skirts on, these are 20 years old and i've only just took them out the packaging. lol.

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ollie240585 said:
I like it, looks fantastic. My best mate has a MK1 Orion Turbo with the RS Kit as well shown here:
CopyofImage039.jpg


We're a rare breed us Orion owners, I love them though!!!
Click to expand...

i seen one of these at crail running silly times!! also ollie was it hard doing the conversion?? my mates currently doing it and nearly finished, if he has any problems would you answer a few questions :p cheers
 
Stani1029 said:
i seen one of these at crail running silly times!! also ollie was it hard doing the conversion?? my mates currently doing it and nearly finished, if he has any problems would you answer a few questions :p cheers
Click to expand...

Its the easiest turbo conversion you can do. Everything is a straight fit. They are such simple engines, nothing is really that hard to do on them. I've helped do 3 turbo conversions, the only thing i'm not so good with is the wiring, i got a mate to sort all that out for me.
 
Q. What do you get when you take a 1.8 Zetec bottom end, blank off the 4 oil returns, fit some forged pistons, a CVH water pump, a 1.3 CVH cam belt tensioner, fit a crank case breather, an oil turbo return and then bolt a CVH RS turbo head to it?

A. A 1.8 forged ZVH Engine.

Along with this I have an EFI inlet manifold from a late MKIV Escort Cabriolet, I've got Beige (uprated Fiesta turbo) and Yellow (uprated cosworth) injectors to fit, not sure of which ones to go for but have both. I'm losing the distributor and replacing it with a coil pack, the whole mechanical fuel injection loom and ECUs are going and being replaced with an EFI fiesta turbo ECU and loom.

Just need a couple of sensors, an uprated intercooler, and either a piggy back ecu, or a mappable stand alone ECU and i'm good for 250+ horses!!

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I'm also fitting a piper CAM to it. YAY
 
Arnold said:
Ready for ISTS?
Click to expand...

Nope, it's going no where near the car until I can sort out the engine management, was going to go with fiesta turbo loom and ecu, but probably either going to go down the omex or emerald route now. I'm better off doing it right first time on something mappable, rather than risk running lean on the fiesta set up.

I could fit it and run it on mechanical fuel injection, but I wanna ditch that because it's rubbish!!!
 
After a conversation with our legendary tuner Mr Ed Ralph, I have made an investment and purchased an Omex 600 ECU and loom. This will allow Ed to add some 21st century mapping on a 1980s technology car!!
 
Arnold said:
Too right, a project like this shouldn't be bodged :)
Click to expand...

Yes, a bodged project is far too often seen. The engine management is often something which is overlooked. I'd like to see this reach in the region of 250-300 BHP which should be quite achievable with the purchase of the right parts.
 
Ahhh, I thought you might of had a plain heat shield and went somewhere that does Laser Cutting, thought it might of been a good idea if I ttok my heatshield off and had it laser cutted. Nevermind, your car is looking great though, I used to own a Sierra 1.8 LX, I only drove it once and that was to the scrappers, lol.
 
pjg1979 said:
Ahhh, I thought you might of had a plain heat shield and went somewhere that does Laser Cutting, thought it might of been a good idea if I ttok my heatshield off and had it laser cutted. Nevermind, your car is looking great though, I used to own a Sierra 1.8 LX, I only drove it once and that was to the scrappers, lol.
Click to expand...

Thats a usual place for a ford. haha.

Wouldn't be too hard to get your own one made up, Any decent engineering firm will do laser cutting. I would of done my own cad drawings and got one made up, but because they're so cheap for the ford I couldn't reallly be bothered.
 
pjg1979 said:
Ah right, Can you use AUTOCAD then?
Click to expand...

Erm, think I'm up to about 5 years experience now. Although it's rubbish.

I'd much rather do something in 3D using Autodesk Inventor! I use AutoCad and Inventor on a daily basis at work. Anyway, this is going off subject here. PM me if you want to know anything about cad.
 
Head now built up.

Escort RS Turbo Head
Piper 285 T2 Cam (rated to give an extra 26 BHP)
Fiesta Turbo Inlet Manifold with Beige Injectors (Think they are 240cc) this will do for initial running before the boost is cranked up
Adaptor plate to allow the EFI inlet manifold to fit to the MFI head
Ford EDIS (Electronic Distributorless Ignition System) same as Fiesta RS Turbo and other EFI CVH fords.

Just need to bolt it together and she's good to go, here's a couple of pictures:

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Cheers Pete.

Have just secured the purchase of some extra bits.

A Brand New T3 Turbo
Sierra Cosworth front brakes with red stuff pads
Sierra Cosworth rear discs with brackets and handbrake cable.

I'm doing this right!!!

Think thats now about £2400 i've spent in the last month on bits for this car!! What credit crunch???
 
Davey C said:
Nowt like going against the grain lol.

Cars looking awesome, love old skool motors (Y)
Click to expand...

Cheers Dave, was always an admirer of your old K11 turbo.

Cars not looking how I want it to, but with the engine being concentrated on, bodywork is on the back burner, but should be done for the 2010 show season. Although saying that I have everything needed to make it look good, only need to pay for fitting and spraying of everything.

I can't remember the last time I had a drink, my social life spending has never been so minimal! But a couple of months of sacrifice will put a huge smile in my face!! haha.
 
Lovely Onion you have there fella, well done going for the EFI route :) my FRST ran much better than my mates ERST i always knew it was the injection system ;) speaking of whom, he now has an onion will see if i can get a snap of it :) i think you'll really like it :)

Matt
 
Finally got some progress to show for it.

FMIC installed:
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How it looks under the bumper:
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Turbo cooler installed:
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1.8 ZVH in, waiting for fel-pro head gasket to turn up (which is why the cam belt is loose)
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And I've loosely fitted my boost gauge:
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