Is that the iceman intake? Hard to tell looking from my phone. I’ve been wanting to put an intake on mine but most are cheap chinacrome and don’t care for them.
Might be worthwhile replacing PCV. It’s only $2 at parts store. I’ve been chasing down a little gremlin in mine that’ll cause it to act up randomly. Turns out that was it!
Curious on your impressions Auto X. I’ve been wanting to go but I’m too lazy make the drive..
Holla at me if you need any advice on setup etc. Glad to see this car being returned to good use. I was going to say "glory", but then I remembered that it is a ZX2.
Today was mostly paint. I realized that a spray can approach was going to kill the budget.
It started with removing items in the way. I was going to play nice, really I was but then I had to get the big impact out.
That led to a broken bolt.
And these Torq type wouldn't budge at all.
I did find bolts hidden here and there. Luck for me the one that broke was one of those. I just have to drill and tap the hole.
I scrapped and brushed and tried to vacuum. But this junk heap reject doesn't suck...well it does...but not, well, removing stuff type.
So I am going to remove the switch / wiring that does work for the headlight switch.
So I used a leaf blower to remove that junk after I got all the nuts, bolts and screws out.
$8.95 plus brushes out of the budget.
Not quite done. I am hoping that it looks better when I finish. That said, the photo doesn't look as good as it does in person.
So look at the next photo close.
One bolt is on the seat bracket on the slider, it was where the harness was attached. Is that legal?
Then there is another bolt on this side of the tunnel under my finger, I think the harness would rub even if I removed the console mount.
I found the thread about harness installation and plan to follow it. Just unclear about that bolt.
Last thing I did to the car was to put the bumper and front fascia put back on.
Finally I measured my trailer which I didn't think the ZX would fit on. It will but I have to make some ramps, and get new tires. It is rated at 3500 lbs so the weight isn't an issue. And I plan to pack the bearings, by Friday. I registered this morning for AutoX Event #10 in KC. Its next Sunday. I can flat tow it again, but I think I want to trailer it to Florida so this will be a dry run to see how it works out.
FSP_ZX2 said:Holla at me if you need any advice on setup etc. Glad to see this car being returned to good use. I was going to say "glory", but then I remembered that it is a ZX2.
HEY. WAIT A MINute... Yeah your right. 
But I can still have fun. I mean think about a Miata, your thinking your really doing something look down, 40 mph. 
In reply to Subscriber-unavailabile :
I think its just the standard intake. I am looking for a picture of the iceman intake to make sure but haven't found one.
In reply to Bent-Valve :
I've spent too much time on the Ford Escort forums for someone who hasn't driven one in almost 20 years...I found one picture of a red one, here:
This is what mine looks like
Starts off 2” with a resonator then ends with 2 1/2”(?) on air box side.
What’s exhaust situation on yours?
Please move the harness mount off of the slider and onto the chassis/floor itself. This may be "legal" for autocross, cause stock belts are, but it should never pass a real tech for racing.
In reply to Bent-Valve :
About that bolt you found- look under the car and see if there's some metal re-enforcement. If there is, that would be the stock harness mount for the passenger. And for that era of car, I'm kind of surprised that there isn't an identical mount for the drivers side.
Having not read the harness mount thread- in theory, there should be a way to add some thick plate behind the metal to re-enforce the tunnel and make it work quite well as a harness mount location on the drivers side. Even with the consideration of the rubbing (which is bad, as you suggest)- that looks to be pretty far away, and more diagonal for my tastes. I, personally, like the lap mount to pull me back into the seat corner- when I was racing, I would have the lap belt really tight- as it just felt good to me.
In reply to alfadriver :
There were no passenger side mounts in the car before I got it - I installed that. The passenger side is installed with a backing plate - there are no threaded seatbelt mounts on the inside as there are on the outside. That one shouldn't be used for the drivers side.
That's how the drivers side was mounted from when they raced it in SSC (They apparently didn't feel like drilling a hole in the tunnel). The sliders were fixed and didn't slide in that car and it has/had a seat brace - so I highly doubt it was/is unsafe - it passed tech more than once. You could drill a new seatbelt mount hole on the drivers side tunnel and transfer the backing plate and belt mount over there though.
It is an iceman intake - and unless I'm mistaken it has a decent LSD in the car. Remember, this was raced by a bunch of Ford engineers - while not officially backed it has all the good stuff.
accordionfolder said:In reply to alfadriver :
There were no passenger side mounts in the car before I got it - I installed that. The passenger side is installed with a backing plate - there are no threaded seatbelt mounts on the inside as there are on the outside. That one shouldn't be used for the drivers side.
That's how the drivers side was mounted from when they raced it in SSC (They apparently didn't feel like drilling a hole in the tunnel). The sliders were fixed and didn't slide in that car and it has/had a seat brace - so I highly doubt it was/is unsafe - it passed tech more than once. You could drill a new seatbelt mount hole on the drivers side tunnel and transfer the backing plate and belt mount over there though.
It is an iceman intake - and unless I'm mistaken it has a decent LSD in the car. Remember, this was raced by a bunch of Ford engineers - while not officially backed it has all the good stuff.
I'll drill a hole and move it too the drivers side. I'm going to position the seat back some as I am crammed in when I drive it now.
Today I --
1) Moved the eyebolt to the other side. Chassis is stiff, easy to jack up. Climbed under and inside multiple times checking fit.
a) Almost forgot, drilled broken bolt out, tapped thread.
2) All excited, I put the harness in. Put seat in, cant thread the latch through the hole in the seat, took seat out.
3) Took the harness out, put the seat in, then thread the harness through seat. Need Hobbit sized hands.
4) Got seat adjusted perfect, couldn't finish tightening mounting bolts, unadjusted seat. Tightened mounting bolt.
5) Got seat adjusted perfect, again, realized I forgot the back brace. Took seatbelt harnesses and seat out again.
6) Forgot to paint the back brace Sunday, its drying, seat and harness are still not mounted.
At least when I get it all together I'll be good for a while.
I cut the slide mount point off and smoothed it down with a file.
Its also a little tight but everything works out. The seat is just a little forward of this leaving more room between the eyebolt and slide.
Got the seat mostly in and the harness adjusted. I decided I didn't like the retapped seat bolt, drilled it out and got a grade 8 bolt, washers and nut to make sure its secure.
I used some of the foam to make sure the straps don't move.
I have a apart roll of Gorilla tape, I wrapped a little around the back brace bar to damp any rattle.
I also used some 2 sided tape to hold the rubber pad to the brace. Some of my notes here are just for record keeping. I got pictures of prices while I was in town so I can update the spreadsheet.
The rest of the roll will be used to tape down wires on the floor pan. there was tape holding them in place but it had sort of given up.
And the wire ties were shop stock. Found price on them too. Im using them on the foam.
I didn't take a picture (yet) but I got a metal battery hold down. I used the rods and nuts from another kit. It was $3.95 for those and the metal hod down was $5.95 (roughly, I have receipt).
I was crawling through the trunk to do the straps etc.
I noticed that the trunk light still works..
There is mucho wire still inside the car, notice the speakers? I may start removing excess wire and other things left behind.
Using an old metal clipboard I cut a few patches to cover holes in the firewall.
I made a mount out of some metal strap for the ecu. I had it secured with Velcro to the floor. That didn't seem like the best solution.
In reply to Bent-Valve :
Oh, hey - look around one of those holes (passenger side firewall of the engine compartment if I'm remembering correctly) and there's a vacuum line plugged with a screw - you should probably, you know, fix that. Unlike what I did (which was shove a screw in it).
Looking good!
I cleaned up all the wiring into neat bundles, but a part of the harness I unclipped is the headlight switch, I think.
I got all the safety foam back in. I rearranged it as I don't have a passenger seat (yet) for maximum driver protection.
I also got tires for the trailer, an unexpected expense, but the old ones were 17 years old. I am also packing the bearings so, theroretically, I should be a little less likely to have problems.
It was one of the things I didn't really think through when I had the bright idea to go to Florida and drive in crazy patterns then blast down a drag strip (another first btw). Yes blast is a relative term with 140ish HP, I will still be grinning like a fool.
accordionfolder said:In reply to Bent-Valve :
Oh, hey - look around one of those holes (passenger side firewall of the engine compartment if I'm remembering correctly) and there's a vacuum line plugged with a screw - you should probably, you know, fix that. Unlike what I did (which was shove a screw in it).
Looking good!
LOL, yeah I found that, I was making sure I wouldn't drill into anything and removed the overflow etc. I still have to put all that back.
I forgot to add that to my list
Before I start, it was a good day, I went autocrossing!
As the day started around 5:45, I noticed the world slowly spinning, I had just stepped up into the bed of Pyro's Ridgeline which is a type of plastic, covered in a heavy dew. As I saw my feet in the air I realized I was going to hit the ground, I didn't though, the thoughtful little ZX2 had its hitch there catching me by the knee and ribs so I wouldn't hit the ground.
Last night I expected bruising, but no bruises and only my knee was sore, not bad either. So it could have been worse.
On to the autocross. For some reason they did not score my runs on the app thing, so I only remember the basic times, 66, 60, 60, 56, and my last one was 55.1XX (I think 55.187 but I'm not 100% sure) 42.726 was the fastest raw score of the day, 48.598 was the fastest in Street Modified which is what I have run in both times. I didn't hit a single cone. I will get the class properly sorted next year. The plan is a minimum of 4 autocross days.
Suspension questions:
This is on my last and fastest run. The ZX2 hikes that inside wheel accompanied by tire squeal as (I assume) it pushes the other tires, all warm r888's. I rode in 2 other cars, Matts S2000 (supercharged) and a LS powered BMW with slick slicks. Neither made the fun tire noises I was making, but both are faster, partly because of power, partly because they were smoother. I learned a lot from those 2 rides.
I have seen hot hatch videos where they hiked the wheel, but those seemed smoother and less dramatic.
Any suggestions?
On the way home this happened:
Right front tire on the ZX which tried to push the Ridgeline into the left lane even though the ZX went full lock right. It took a bit of effort to straighten the wheels to get the one out. When I got home the steering makes noise it didn't before, it seems, off, somehow. It also seemed to pull different, I think I jacked the alignment, the noise I will have figure out. It may have bent / tweaked / broken something in the rack.
Having 4 spares, a good jack and an electric impact made the road side tire change the fastest one ever! 
Didn't help the fender either:
I had to tow it about 20 miles on the r888 which I am trying to save for the Challenge. I'll need all the help I can get in the autox, I decided to be greedy and drive all of it myself. I could turn it over to someone who knows what they are doing, but where is the fun in that?
More metal is bent underneath. I'll post about that as soon as I know something. I think I'm done with flat towing. I did get new tires and bearings for a trailer I have but couldn't get the ZX on it, the ramp was too steep. I have an idea to get it up there but it's gonna take a bit to work out.
So like I said, it was a good day despite a few missteps along the way.
I see no problem in the rear, but the outside front needs more negative camber. A stiffer front sway bar might help, or it might over load the front tires. If the rear inside wheel is still touching the ground you are too slow, or the course is too slippery.
iceracer said about the ZX2 in another thread --
" Best thing I did was increase caster through offset control arm bushings. After tying in and out toe found zero to work best. Along with 2.5 degrees neg camber the car was a joy to drive on the track and throttle steer. "
No work on ZX2 today, I did get the last of the trailer bearings changed tonight*. Back to the ramp problem tomorrow. I think I can use the stock ramp and an additional ramp to stretch the length and lower the angle.
I also have to urgently check the front end, make a few lights work and I should be ready, well, as ready as I can be for the Challenge.
10 Days until check in in Florida. 
* I replaced all of them, some of them were pitted. Since I had new tires I just decided to replace all of it and not have to worry.
Before I got crazy with the ramp I wanted to make sure the car fit on the trailer. I measured, measured and measured again.
I figured out a way to lower the angle of the ramp and carefully tried it. BTW I won't be towing with the CRV.
So it will work. Yeah. I have chains and boomers to keep it in place. And when it's hooked to the Ridgeline I will move it a bit forward.
Then I had to do some chores and I'm in town right now waiting but tonight I'll crawl under it and check the alignment.
I started by jacking it up and removing the wheel. I can't see or feel any damage, nothing is leaking, cracked or bent.
Then I started looking at the fender.
I straightened the metal and it looks ok from 4 or 5 feet.
Since I had the right side up I worked on the rear suspension. I doused all the bolts with penatrating oil and using a wrench broke them loose, gently? I was afraid to get to happy with the event just a few days off.
I got grease on the metal sleeves of most of the bushings, but I couldn't get the sway bar bracket loose, it was striping the bolt head. And the long bolt didn't want to come out so (see yellow arrows) I lubed it as best I could and put it all back together.
I got grease for the poly bushings but I don't think these come apart. Unless you push that sleeve out? It don't budge, so I am going to leave these until after the Challenge and try this again. That way if I screw it up I have time to fix it.
I took the sway bar loose to lube the bushings and because I thought it was binding that long bolt up. I couldn't get the spacer and bushings back in since the car is jacked up on one side. I'll put it back after I do the other side, but I also want to see how free the sway bar rotates in those aluminum mounts.
In reply to Subscriber-unavailabile :
About autox, I guess I am hooked, I am planning for next year's events. After the Challenge I plan to do a bit of work on the ZX as my dedicated autox car. Plans include taking the entire suspension apart and seeing if the struts need rebuilt, looking for offset bushings, etc. I don't really need more power yet so the current setup will just get maintenance.
I also look at my RX-8, it handles very nicely and would be a hoot. My friend Matt has vetoed my other idea, Greti the 2002 Grand Marquis, to quote him "No to the boat!" LOL It would be hilarious to autocross. Ok, yes it would be slow, but still hilarious....
In reply to Bent-Valve :
I autocrossed a Town Car, it was indeed hilarious and fun.
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