This is Alex's 2nd 3rd generation Ford Escort, before the 97 Tracer and after the 98 Escort.

Following are pictures of a Ford Escort that was hit from the side by fairly large 90s pickup truck while going through a red light. Provided for informational purposes, to see the way the unibody handles such an impact. Estimated speed was around 30 mph. Captions with more information about each aspect of the crash are provided above the picture. The dates on the pictures are wrong.

Modifications: Replaced radiator support with custom a aluminum one. Aluminum fidanza flywheel. Centerforce dual friction clutch. 50% underdrive accessories pulley. New rings & rod bearings. New head. Ported intake manifold. SPI runners switch. MAF mounted directly on TB. K&N cone filter mounted directly on MAF, with adapter. Extreme toe-out angle. Negative camber, chopped coil off each spring. Momo steering wheel. LED tail lights. Upgraded rear swaybar from 2nd gen Escorts. Manual transmission swap from ZX2. Harland sharp aluminum rocker arms. 2.5 gallon front mounted fuel cell. Walbro fuel pump, in line filter, an fittings. Corksport strut bar. 16x7" SSR Type-C wheels & 205/50/16 kumho tires. Battery relocation - front passenger floor. Matrix racing bucket seat & 4 point harness. Custom 1st gen 4-1 open headers. PCV & EGR elimination. All accessories elimination. Manual steering rack conversion. 56MM BBK Throttle body. Polyurethane filled motor & transmission mounts. Deft racing carbon fiber hood. Total weigt: 1850lb (give or take 10lb).

Extra modifications planned for next build 2.5" lowering coilover set (exhaust hangs too low atm). Turbocharger with air to water intercooler. Plexiglas windows. F1 style carbon fiber mirrors. Carbon fiber doors. Carbon fiber trunk. Possibly lowering roof & shortening rear door section. Tubular chassis front. Custom motor mounts. Laptop cradle. Megasquirt engine management system. 42lb fuel injectors. Aeromotive fuel pressure regulator. ZX2 plastic better flowing MAF (before Megasquirt). Hydrogen injection. Rear disc brake conversion. Solenoid valve front & rear brakes controll. Carbon fiber front & rear bumper. Lots more that I can't remember. Custom turbo manifold (currently have cast iron escort RS man).

Pictures before the wreck.

Damage & disassembly report

• The rear sustained no damage.
• Both of the doors on the passenger side were damaged, with the rear being dented only slightly, while the front having a hard time opening from the fender.
• Both of the front wheels received some damange. The driver side wheel broke the bead and shifted due to the side impact, with minimal scratching on the lip. However the passenger side wheel although receiving no scratches did get a small chunk taken out far enough to effect the area where the bead sits in the rim. While structurally in tact, if the wheel were to be re-used, welding and repair by a wheel shop might be required.
• While the welds that held the custom radiator mount did break, they held on considerably well due to the damage the radiator received before it was finally set free. Even as dented as the radiator was, surprisingly it developed no leaks and held water, which was unexpected.
• The accessories belt got torn off from the pinching metal, the alternator pulley took a few good dents, but the alternator itself was in tact.
• Mirror got torn off.
• There was a dent in the roof because the unibody warped too much.
• The Aerocatch hoodpins broke in pieces and handled the impact quite poorly, considering how weak the carbon fiber hood was they should have been left in tact.
• The rubber part of the shfiter dismembered itself from the metal mount and dropped to the floor.
• Steering wheel and the area by where the battery used to sit contains lots of dried up blood.
• While some of the plastic may have broken off, the battery Optima seemed like it survived the impact, demonstrating their strength. No openings exposing the gel inside were found. Because a washer was not used, the nut that held the battery mount was ripped out of the floor through the sheet metal. Had a washer been used the battery may have remained in tact without a scratch.
• The threaded areas for the carbon fiber hood held exceptionally well, tearing apart the carbon fiber around the mount while still remaining attached to the hood hinge.
• While nothing around the timing belt was effected, the water pump outlet that goes to the heater core (in this case just looped) did break off, rendering the water pump useless (without welding at least).
• The Escort was dragged up on to the drive way and dismembered with an angle grinder and a sledge hammer to salvage any good parts while scrapping the remains of the frame. Cutaway photographs of the unibody are provided for anyone wondering about the internal structures.
• Even the bar that held the steering column and provided support in the dashboard (which was removed) area turned out to be slightly bent when it was removed and observed from a better point.
• The fuel cell sustained minimal damage but did lose one of it's ears (top left of the photo), which will require welding another one.
• The under drive pulley got damaged really bad in some of the ribs, most likely will not be reusable.
• Cutting apart the wrecked side in order to get to the engine mount took quite some effort, even with large 7" cutting blades on an angle grinder. Another thing not mentioned and also not documented with photographs, is the engine block is not reusable because the engine mount tore off the threaded parts of the cast iron block. It would have been much nicer if the engine mount itself was the weakest link in the chain, and allowed the whole engine to be reused without having to find a new block. The next build will probably incorporate that feature.
• The rear roof support has a lot of metal and layers, that made cutting through it quite difficult, with an angle grinder at least. While the front had almost as much metal, it was compacted better and did not require as much effort to cut through.

Pictures after the wreck.

Also see

• Ford Escort & ZX2 section for the entire index of all Ford Escort and ZX2 related articles.