Group 5 Zakspeed Escort

[ant]

hi
can anyone who has got one of these cars please tell me how much extra track width is gained by using this bodykit, dont worry im not going to be building a zakspeed car,i dont even own an escort i am just interested because i love the look of these arches but i cannot remeber just how wide they are.

so maybe one of the garys or rs1600 can help me out please,

thanks

ant

[rs1600]

Hello ant!
My english is not so good
if i understand your question right then the totally width is 1980 mm at the rear fenders
cheers

[ant]

o.k thanks mate, now i can find out how wide a standard car is, and work it out from there.

thanks very much mate

[Slartibartfast]

Here is an old Autosport photo of the SA Escort. Notice that it is right hand drive. The article states that it used a F5000 spec. Cosworth GAA. In a later article (which I am relying on memory for) they showed Dave Charlton building a 'group 5' Fiat 131 for what was at the time called the manufacturers championship. There were no decent shots of this interesting vehicle - sadly.

[zakspeed65]

Hi,

Great photo of the car in action in SA.

What you say about the car running a GAA all rings true as the car is now being restored and will run a GAA. The owner told me that this car has great history running this way, also said that the car was built up in SA with many parts from Zakspeed.

[escosracer]

the restauration of mine (Croix Blanche Press car) is well on its way and those interested can see the progress each month in the UK classic ford magazine.

gary @ retromotorsport is rebuilding the whole body / suspension side of the car and i must admit i am over the moon.

the workmanship is just simply outstanding, not more not less. i can only recommend him for any panel work on historic vehicles, i have seen many many many in my time of collecting and restoring cars but still cant beleive some of the pictures.

i cannot post many pictures in respect to the magazine but can share the following :

[Slartibartfast]

Actually, in relation to my earlier post about the Fiat 131, it might also have been built/driven by Geoff Mortimer. Anyone is SA with photo's of the championship at that time (approx. 1976 - 1982 I think)?

[rs1600]

Here i have a interesting article of a magazine called CAR from march 2002!
If i read this correct than the SAREL-car is converted from a Rallye-BDA into the racecar from the pictures later with GAA-24valve engine....right??
Here are two sites from the article

[escosracer]

people.....do your research properly....

the ford GAA engine was used in the sherman tank in WW2...weighs 950lb and is big as a house....no way that ever went into an escort...

heres a picture of a GAA in a mustang to show you what i am talking about:





also i would like to point out that the SA car has no grp5 features apart from the bodykit.

[ian beckett]

The engine in the South African Escort is a Cosworth created 3.4 litre V6,originally built I think for the Capris and also used in Formula cars.It has nothing to do with the motor in the Mustang above.It was a small and quite compact unit.

[retro_msport]

Michael is right, and its a common mistake calling the Cosworth GA V6 24valve 4 cam 3,400cc engine the GAA, the GAA as shown above is a tank engine V8, which was 32 valves and 1100 cubic inches, it was designed to go into aircrafts as a V12 but ended up having 4 cylinders cut of and used in the tanks, later the v12 was re-used when Ford was asked for a bigger engine, this engine is called the GAC.


Heres an example of a GA in Nick Whitings (rip) Thundersaloon

http://www.rsownersclub.co.uk/video/nwxp.wmv

[banger_racer]

Heres a link to the cosworth engine ian mentioned above http://www.ep90.com/index.php?id=94

[escosracer]

...

[escosracer]

what a sexy engine that GA is.....anyone have a spare ??

[retro_msport]

Originally Posted by banger_racer

Heres a link to the cosworth engine ian mentioned above http://www.ep90.com/index.php?id=94

As you can see ... even they have called it the GAA, i know i have by mistake in the past

[Slartibartfast]

Quote from the book "Cosworth - The search for power" by Graham Robson: - Based on the existing Ford Capri/Granada V6 block, but with light alloy 4 valve, twin cam cylinder heads, and cogged belt drive to the camshafts. The original engine was a 2994cc unit: the GA was a bored out version for use in Group 2 touring car racing in the Ford Capri RS3100, and later used in F5000 single seaters. 100 kits produced and sold through Ford Motorsport. Developed in 1973 for 1974 season with 440bhp. 460bhp for 1975 F5000 season.
Check this out, and turn your speakers up FULL!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dA6UH_G9Xn4

[Alex E]

I always thought it was called a GA, but I seem to remember back in the Thundersaloon days someone built some GA`s with alloy blocks & they got called GAA`s. The extra `A` for alloy I assume ?
Alex

[zakspeed65]

Hi,

As far as I know the Essex based 3412cc, V6 Cosworth engine has always been given the 3 letter Ref: of "GAA". Was Iorn, not Alloy block.

Cosworth has always given its engines a Ref; of three letters, examples below.

SCA Family; SCA, SCB, Scc etc.

FVA Family; FVA, FVB, FVC etc.

DFV Family; DFV, DFW, DFY etc.

BDA Family; BDA, BDB, BDC etc.

YB Family; YBA, YBB, YBC etc.

Others Family; EAA, GAA, KAA etc.

The youtube movie is great. Thanks.

[Slartibartfast]

GAA is correct. The A in this instance refers to it being the first (and only) variant. The BDA is a universal name applied to a whole family of engines. There was an 1100cc BDJ and a 1300cc BDH for example. The leters ran all the way down to the BDX which was - as far as I recall - an alloy version of the BDG. Robsons book states that the original Capri iron block was used, and that the heads etc. were aluminium. I read - back in the mists of time - that an all alloy engine existed somewhere..... In Ireland, GAA refers to a juggernaut!

[Tim the Grey]

I thought the GA was the Cossie tuned 2900 and 3100 engines, then the full on DOHC 3400 was the GAA, and it was also used in F5000 as it was stock block with OHC, unlike the 5 litre pushrod V8s.
Admittedly, I'm remembering something from 30+ years ago!

[Slartibartfast]

No Tim, Cosworth were not directly involved in the racing 2.9 litre engine which was a bored out 2.6 from the road going RS2600. It was a far simpler OHV type. There may have been some parts used - pistons and the like - but the engine was tended by Cologne themselves. In his book on the Capri, Jeremy Walton says Weslake did some work on the 1973 engines, which by then were out to 2995cc.

[superroo73]

Hi fokes, nice forum you have here.
Werner Weiss who owns a Grp.2 and Grp.4 Zak told me from this.
I´m the happy owner of the dashboard´s from the two Grp.5 cars that Tibor Molar has taken in bits and peaces. ant take them out of a box before he send them to the screapyard the other day...
At the weekend i get one original rear sidewing signt by H.Heyer and others.
This cam from Coix Blance 1992.They give it to friends from swiss while ther was a Escort RS2000 meeting. It was stored at a wall in my friends garage.
Will make some pictures soon.
Greeds to moscow and hamm..
Stefan

[kurtiejjj]

Originally Posted by superroo73

I´m the happy owner of the dashboard´s from the two Grp.5 cars that Tibor Molar has taken in bits and peaces. ant take them out of a box before he send them to the screapyard the other day...

Scrapyard? Please explain, I'm getting a bit worried now Has he taken parts from the cars to the scrapyard?

Du kannst aber auch immer auf Deutsch antworten

[superroo73]

War bei Tibor kurz nachdem er die beiden Autos ganz zerlegt hat. Von dem Gitterrohr Auto das Dr. Stein gehört ist noch die Technik und die Kunststoffteile da, Rohrrahmen hat er zerschnitten da eh niht mehr für ein Rennauto zu gebrauchen. Von dem anderen Auto hatte ich das rechte innere Stehblech mit der Zak Nummer fotografiert...
Sein Auto ist noch wie auf dem Bild von Dirk Nowak zu sehen... Ich muss auch noch ne Fotostrecke haben mit etlichen Detailaufnahmen.
Er hat es aber nicht mehr in der Halle oben stehen sonst würd ich noch mal ein paar machen beim nächsten Besuch.
Gruss
Stefan

[zakspeed65]

Hi all,

This latest news is sad as it sounds as if 2 more Gp5 cars are now no more.

Some new info on my car here in NZ. My family has now moved back from Moscow, visa issues!!!!!
I will move the car from storage to my workshop on Monday and start work again soon after. I will update with some new photos soon.

Keep the info coming.