To my undersatanding, if the car was not available in Australia with a certain engine option then the car would need to be engineered and passed. I'm assuming Transport SA should have a record of this or the current owner? Is the car currently registered in SA?
As the Mk1 was not "officially" available with a 2.0L in Australia (apart from the 25 homologated Mk1 RS2000's) then the above would be required. As the 2.0L Pinto upgrade is relatively simple I'm doubting it has been registered with this combination.
Yes, that engine number you have mentioned does look a little unusual - all ford Escorts chassis number and engine numbers matched from the factory and that does not look like a generic number from that era. For example it should read like CK41XK (chassis no.) if it were a Mk2 RS escort.
As above, check in on one of those sites for more info if required.
Good luck.
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