Toyota thai nguyen september 2016

PAGES OF BOOSTED CLASSICS 7 2 SEPT 2016 ISSUE 99 £4.40

SUPERCHARGED VR6

SMOKING MX-5 TURBO

ERA MINI CLUBMAN

Mustard KP30 1.3-litres of Rotary Fury HOME-BLOWN HEROES LOTUS ESPRIT TURBO DRIVEN WEDGE-SHAPED BRITISH BEEF TRIED AND TESTED

BONUS FEATURES NEON-LIT LAMBORGHINI EXHAUST TECH SPEAKER SHOWCASE NEW PRODUCTS

THE BEST OF DIY FORCED INDUCTION CONVERSIONS

MAZDA RX-7 BUYING GUIDE IT’S TIME TO BREAK THE BANK WITH A WANKEL

PLUS: READERS’ RIDES, STAFF PROJECTS, TOOLS TESTED, FREE POSTERS AND MORE… www.retrocarsmag.com

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@RetroCarsMag

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Got something interesting and retro?

We want to see it! retrocars.ed@kelsey.co.uk Or tell us on www.facebook.com/ RetroCarsMagazine and @RetroCarsMag Retro Cars is now available digitally to download. See: www.pocketmags.com

Meet the team

…the best advice we’ve ever had?

Midge – Editor

“You can’t always please everyone, so do your own thing… and make sure you look after your Mum.”

W

hen I was five I found my Dad’s copy of Mad Max on VCR and I’ve been obsessed with forced induction ever since. It’s not for everyone I know.

For some the old adage ‘there’s no replacement for displacement’ may ring true and there’s certainly a special kind of purity in a huge American V8 or a thoroughly ear-spitting Ferrari V12… not that I’ll ever be able to afford either of course, let alone run them.

Obviously there’s still plenty of naturally aspirated engines that warm my proverbial cockles - Alfa’s 3-litre V6 and just about every Honda VTEC immediately spring to mind. But to me the idea of having a blower has always made perfect sense. I mean, if the basic principle of tuning is adding more air and fuel then why wouldn’t you?

In the real world of course, there are plenty of reasons you wouldn’t. So maybe my childlike mindset is all down to Mel Gibson and his supercharged Falcon, or the turbo F1 cars and Group-B rally monsters of the 1980s. As is often the case, perhaps it’s simply rose-tinted nostalgia. I certainly spent most of my teens messing about with VW G60s and Ford RSTs. The Subarus, Skylines, VAG 1.8Ts and the odd oil-burner came along with adulthood, but they all had one thing in common. Whatever kind of ‘charger these cars were sporting, they were usually designed that way.

Now, you may think that’s what this issue is about, tuned forced-induction cars, but that’s only half the story. It’s actually more to do with something I admire even more – the people who take the boost to the places that the factory didn’t.

Whether it’s an off-the-shelf kit or a full-on engine conversion, there’s something inherently inspiring, and a little naughty, about popping a bonnet and finding something that just shouldn’t be there. Even more so when it’s the owner that has put his own blood and sweat into the work… but still insists on cranking it up to 11!

Obviously the ‘forced-induction vs all-motor’ debate will always split opinion but we’ve put together a selection of home-blown heroes from the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s that even the hardcore n/a fans should respect. There’s also a road test and buying guide on two of our favourite factory-turbocharged legends. It would have been rude not to, right?

Speaking of splitting opinion too, how about this month’s Wildcard? Yes, it’s a classic Lambo that seems to be sporting a Burberry baseball cap. Now admittedly, I immediately transformed into Victor Meldrew when I first saw this crazy Diablo - and then Catherine Tate’s Nan, “what a load of old shiiiiiiiiiii…” But maybe I (not uncharacteristically) spoke to soon. Perhaps I should have gone in with an open mind because, now I’ve looked a little closer, I can understand it. Even if I still wouldn’t be seen dead behind the wheel. So that’s exactly why you’ll find it here in RC. Then again, as my Scottish frend said to me the other day, maybe I just have a screw loose. It’s entirly possible.

RETRO CARS WOULDN’T BE HERE WITHOUT THESE TOP CONTRIBUTORS…

Ade Brannan, Dan Furr, Daniel Bevis, Chris Frosin, Dan Pullen, Damian Hall, Chris Wallbank, Tom Wilcox, Ben Hosking, Matt Woods, Jarkle, Kevve.be

NEXT ISSUE ON SALE: FRIDAY 5TH AUGUST

Officially the poorest bloke to ever do the Gumball Rally, Midge has been putting together modified cars for two decades… even though he says he’s only 24. The RSPCA has banned him from having a dog, in case he tries to lower it.

Paul Sander – Designer

“You should have at least one Alfa in your car history.”

Shame my new ride is an MPG-friendly diesel wagon!

Paul likes colouring in so much he decided to make a career out of it. A veteran designer for 15 years, he’s had a hand (not to mention a mouse) in many of the UK’s finest car mags. He is also a top scorer on University Challenge.

JJ Vollans – Contributing Editor

“Go out in your road car and learn as much as you can before modifying for the track.” I didn’t do that, d’oh!

A former Retro Cars editor and old-skool car buff extraordinaire, the double-barrelled Mr Vollans has a double-barrelled collection of rusty motors, too.

Awesome mechanic. Even better wordsmith.

Retro Cars Magazine Issue 99, September 2016

27 PAGES OF BOOSTED CLASSICS SEPT 2016 ISSUE 99 £4.40

SUPERCHARGED VR6

Kelsey Media Cudham Tithe Barn Berry’s Hill Kent, TN16 3AG

SMOKING MX-5 TURBO

ERA MINI CLUBMAN

Mustard KP30 1.3-litres of Rotary Fury HOME-BLOWN HEROES INDUCTION CONVERSIONS THE BEST OF DIY FORCED

LOTUS ESPRIT TURBO DRIVEN WEDGE-SHAPED BRITISH BEEF TRIED AND TESTED

BONUS FEATURES NEON-LIT LAMBORGHINI EXHAUST TECH SPEAKER SHOWCASE NEW PRODUCTS

MAZDA RX-7 BUYING GUIDE IT’S TIME TO BREAK THE BANK WITH A WANKEL

PLUS: READERS’ RIDES, STAFF PROJECTS, TOOLS TESTED, FREE POSTERS AND MORE… www.retrocarsmag.com

www.facebook.com/RetroCarsMagazine

@RetroCarsMag

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contents HOME-BLOWN HEROES

Issue Ninety Nine IN THIS MONTH’S RETRO CARS…

THE REGULARS

What’s On?

018

Here’s what’s coming up on the UK show scene.

The season isn’t finished yet, not by a long shot!

Rotary Toyota 1000

008

Driven: Lotus Esprit Turbo

020

Supercharged Golf VR6

024

New Kit

034

ERA Mini Clubman

038

Tool Test

036

Turbocharged Mazda MX5

056

RC Tech: Exhausts

044

Audio Focus - Components

054

This month’s cover car has the body of a ‘70s Toyota and the rotary heart of a Mazda. Pistons are just soooo last century!

According to some no V-configuration engine is complete without a proper belt-driven blower.

You know what? They could be right.

If a Clubman Estate and an ERA Mini Turbo were allowed to have babies, this would be the result.

This NATO-inspired drop-top certainly has the firepower to back up that DIY paintjob. One of the most common turbo conversions ever - it’d just be rude not to!

Editor’s Wild Card: Jap Diablo 092 It’s okay, we wouldn’t want to drive this horrendously ‘Max Powered’ supercar either!

Then again we don’t live in Tokyo where it takes this sort of caper to turn heads.

Out and About: IFS

Our very own ‘proper’ automotive road test. This month we send JJ out to test a British icon - it’s no wonder he then went out and bought one!

There’s nothing better in life than bagging some new stuff for your car, that’s scientific fact!

The most powerful cordless impact wrench on the market you say? We’ll be the judge of that.

Getting the gasses out of your lump is just as important as getting plenty of air in. “Better out than in” as my old Dad used to say.

We ask the audio gurus at VIBE why some speakers are cheap and others cost a mint.

THE OILY BITS

030

The Ford-focused season officially kicks off with a storming indoor weekender.

Staff Projects

064

Readers’ Rides

072

Buying Guide

078

The good, the bad and the rusty (mostly rusty, obviously). Our very own retro builds.

We’re getting more and more every week - keep those emails and Facebook posts coming!

More advice on bagging a soon-to-be modern classic. This month we look for a bargain Japanese icon. One with a Wankel!

RETRO RIDE:

TOYOTA 1000

WORDS: Daniel Bevis PHOTOS: KEVVE.BE

COLONEL MUSTARD There’s a killer on the loose.

You’ll find him lurking in the garage with the lead pipe… oh, and a turbo’d Wankel.

8 RETRO CARS

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/RETROCARSMAGAZINE

@RETROCARSMAG

SEPTEMBER 2016 9

RETRO RIDE:

TOYOTA 1000

‘Subtle’ intercooler gives the game away somewhat…

“M

y inspiration comes from the cleaned Belgian style, bosozoku, and Mad Max,” grins Greg Sandras, bullishly laying out a mission statement for his unique style of kamikaze modifying. And judging by the aggressive nature of this formerly rather cutesy Toyota, you can see that he’s a man who lets his actions do the talking.

Now, the theme of this issue of Retro Cars is all about home-blown heroes, cars that have been wrangled into the sinister ways of forced induction by oily-fingered enthusiasts in their garages. So are we cheating here by including something that’s clearly the work of a professional outfit, Kamikaze Garage? Well, no, not really; the fact that this operation has mutated into a business is merely a happy accident of circumstance, as its founding brothers – Greg and John Sandras – are bona fide self-taught retro fiddlers. The fact that they’ve monetised their hobby doesn’t make them any less credible as have-a-go heroes.

These fellas are steadfastly refusing to grow up, instead working together in a business of their own devising to ensure that they remain forever young and Peter Pan-like, ticking off their childhood dreams and aspirations one by one.

“Kamikaze Garage was born back in 2000,” Greg explains, “with my bro John taking care of the mechanical side of the projects and me doing the bodywork and paint. We’ve always been interested in Japanese cars, and Japanese culture as a whole, in fact.

And ‘kamikaze’? ‘Divine wind’, hell yeah, that name is us all over!”

10 RETRO CARS

They’ve built many and varied unusual projects over the last decade-and-a-half, boasting such glittering highlights as a Honda CRX with a Type R B18C6 motor, an EG Civic with a bruising H22, and a CRX Del Sol with a B18C4, along with many other Hondas. Oh, and countless Skylines, Corollas, Supras… you may be sensing a theme here. These guys like Japanese cars with unexpected engine swaps.

So, what’s this ugly duckling we’re gawping at here today? Had you heard of the KP30 before? You’d be forgiven for answering in the negative, as it’s an obscure little poppet: the Toyota 1000 (designated ‘KP30’) was originally a JDM-only model in 1976,

which slowly bled out into various European markets – Germany, Switzerland, the Benelux region… but it was all over by 1978, with the Starlet arriving and forging its own global dynasty.

“I wanted a car from my birth year, 1976, for my next project, and this KP30 appeared at the right time,” Greg explains.

The car as-found was totally bone-stock – low mileage, straight body, a sufficiently subdued horsepower figure to ensure the rice puddings of the Sandras household needn’t fear for the structural integrity of their skins, the works. Perfect for someone who likes to shock and amaze with unexpected Japanese

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/RETROCARSMAGAZINE

‘ROTARY MOSTERD’ Colour choice is vital with cars like this, it can make or break a build if you decide to go ice white, matte black or chromatic purple without considering the overall form.

With a mid-seventies Japanese car, opting for the sort of colour you’d have found on your grandma’s bathroom suite is often a winning strategy – olive green, ointment beige, blancmange pink, or mustard yellow.

“I call my car ‘Rotary Mosterd’,” says Greg.

“The ‘Mosterd’ [or ‘mustard’] is actually its original paint colour.” At an early stage in the build, he resprayed the KP30 in its factory yellow shade, colour-coding a few bits and bobs like the Celica mirrors, but keeping that link to its OEM roots is a masterstroke. It just makes the overt naughtiness of the AE86 arches and frontmount intercooler all the more aggressive.

The rear - not a view you get to see very often!

DRIVERS: GREG SANDRAS What are your favourite things about the car?

“It’s unique. It’s faster.

And it sounds nuts.”

Any future plans for it?

“Engine rebuild, perhaps, and a street port – although it’s pretty good as it is.”

What if money were no object?

“I’d have a missilelauncher on the roof.”

@RETROCARSMAG

motors… it’ll come as little surprise that Greg started tearing into the thing straight away.

“The car was a purist’s dream, in really nice condition,” he smirks. “But a stock KP30 is… well, I have no words for it. Let’s just say that things needed to change!” Without any mucking about, the asthmatic 993cc fourbanger was hoisted out and thrown into the corner of the garage, with the diminutive engine bay soon finding itself bursting at the seams with the bulbous heart of a Mazda RX-7 Turbo II. This, as you’ll no doubt be aware, is a Wankel rotary motor, harnessing the mysterious power of triangles to howl and shriek into existence some really quite muscular performance figures, all bolstered SEPTEMBER 2016 11

RETRO RIDE:

TOYOTA 1000

here by Mazda’s own mighty turbo setup.

Poor little KP30 never saw it coming, huh?

“The Toyota was running about 45bhp as standard,” Greg explains. “Now we’re looking at somewhere north of 200bhp.” Which is more than enough to provide a lot of bounce to the ounce, given that the little 1000 weighs about as much as twenty Bensons and a packet of pork scratchings – the resultant power-to-weight ratio is up there in the supercar firmament.

Naturally it’s not the work of an afternoon to wang this manner of shove into such a car, with the build taking Greg and his bro the best part of a year to complete, John taking care of the bulk of 12 RETRO CARS

the mechanical stuff while Greg focused on paintwork, aesthetics and custom modification. A bespoke engine cradle was knocked up, along with a fresh trans tunnel and a welded-in rollcage to stiffen the dinky shell up a bit. The car’s running the stock Mazda gearbox, which runs through to a Frankenstein’s monster of a back end comprising various butchered FB and FC RX-7 odds and ends, sending the rampaging horses to a rather surprised set of rear wheels which, incidentally, also speak volumes about Greg’s desire for the offbeat. “They’re Delta Mics Nida wheels,” he says, anticipating the inevitable raised eyebrow. It’s an old-school rim often found

in three-stud form on classic Alpines, but it works beautifully here with the bastardised JDM+ aesthetic.

Greg’s custom touches abound throughout the build, from the Corolla AE86 arches to the custom bonnet that’s had the vents from a VW Type III Fastback’s rear quarters welded into it. The wing mirrors are from a TA22 Celica, while the interior features an ejector seat button. Probably best not to ask about that one. He’s mad enough for it to actually be functional. Greg’s certainly got an interesting approach when he’s out and about in the thing. “People don’t tend to like the KP30, which makes me smile,” he deadpans. “They tend to think it looks pretty horrible. But it’s WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/RETROCARSMAGAZINE

Compact 1.3 rotary isn’t too much bigger than the original 1-litre

fairly unusual to see them out on the street, it might as well be a UFO. To me, that’s part of the charm.” Well, yeah – that and the fact that he’s shoehorned a loopy rotary with a sodding great turbo in there, obviously.

The historical associations with the term ‘kamikaze’ are, of course, impossible to ignore, and that’s something that you can’t help bearing in mind when inspecting this loopy little streetracer. Having smooshed all of that horsepower into the titchy ’76, how much attention do you think the Sandras brothers paid to the brakes? “Oh, very little,” shrugs Greg. “Brakes are all stock. We did do a little work on the suspension, with Gaz shocks out back and custom coilovers at

the front, but the car’s more about going than stopping.” As he utters this disturbing sentiment, we realise that the Belgian nutjob hasn’t blinked in about four or five minutes, he’s just been staring intensely into our very souls as he chews over the dazzling minutiae of his belligerently peculiar creation. It’s a car that only he and his brother could have built, as crazed as a box of superheated frogs and as unbothered as Catherine Tate on a Christmas Day special. The Belgian/Mad Max mash-up is deliberately ugly and that, in essence, is what makes it beautiful to people like us. Because where’s the fun in being like everybody else? RC

TECH SPEC: TOYOTA 1000 TUNING 13B Mazda rotary (from FC RX-7 Turbo II), HKS mini-me boost controller, frontmount intercooler, HKS XL mushroom filter, custom stainless steel exhaust system, fuel regulator, gold heat-reflective tape on intercooler pipes, Mazda FC RX-7 transmission with stage 1 clutch CHASSIS 7x13-inch (front) and 8x13” (rear) Delta Mics Nida wheels with Nankang Super Sports, stock brakes, custom front coilovers, Gaz rear shocks, FB RX-7 rear end with shortened half-shafts, hybrid FB/ FC driveshafts EXTERIOR Respray in original Mustard paint, AE86 Corolla arch flares, aero bonnet with VW Type III Fastback vents, eBay-sourced front lip, TA22 Celica wing mirrors INTERIOR Blitz turbo timer, eBay-sourced seats and pedals, Takata harnesses, Autogauge oil and water temp gauges, ‘Eject’ and ‘Back to the Future’ buttons, Japanese voice controller, Nardi steering wheel

@RETROCARSMAG

SEPTEMBER 2016 13

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Enter the Ford Run:

The Summer Festival:

! ENTRY FOR ONE CAR, DRIVER AND UP TO ONE PASSENGER ! ROUTE BOOK ! RALLY PLATE ! AFTERNOON AND EVENING ENTERTAINMENT ! PRIZE GIVING ! FINISH LINE PHOTOGRAPHS

! CAMPING ! FORD DISPLAYS ! RETAIL VILLAGE ! LIVE ENTERTAINMENT

Book online now at www.fordsummerfestival.co.uk Early Bird tickets £10*. Tickets on the gate £15. Run Tickets £60* Additional Passengers £15. FREE entry for TWO children aged 14 and under when accompanied by a paying adult, any additional children will be charged at £5 each. *Booking fee applies. All attractions subject to change. Warning motorsport can be dangerous.

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SPEAKING OF TURBO CONVERSIONSâ&#x20AC;Ś

I

n an issue all about forced induction conversions it would have just been wrong not to dig out an old skool ad from the British turbo maestros that have been developing aftermarket kits since the 80s.

With a particular penchant for big Ford and Jaguar cruisers, along with more than a couple of European hot hatches, Turbo Technics led the way with the idea of blowing your naturally aspirated @RETROCARSMAG

engine here in Europe long before the Japanese cars ruled the roost for DIY bolt-on kits. That was before oriental imports were even a common sight on the UK streets for that matter.

And theyâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;re still going too. To this day the famous Northampton-based brand are developing tuning applications for a whole new generation of boost-craving turbo-nutter. We say long may they continue!

SEPTEMBER 2016 17

IN

G

WHAT’S ON?

OUT THERE THIS SEASON

COMING UP…

The Ford Summer Festival Brighton Racecourse Saturday 16th July Tickets: From £10 (in advance) www.fordsummerfestival.co.uk

THE FORD SUMMER FESTIVAL

16th July Brighton Racecourse www.fordsummerfestival.co.uk

GRAVITY

17th July Stoneleigh NAEC www.slammeduk.co.uk

The Ford Summer Festival is shaping up to be a mighty special, not to mention brandspanking-new, event for 2016 but what’s most unusual here is that it also kicks off with a traditional London to Brighton run. Starting in two locations, including the famous Dagenham Plant, a whole convoy of Ford’s finest will take the trip to the south coast, culminating in a huge show at Brighton Racecourse.

Whether you choose to take part in the run, or prefer simply to see what’s on offer at the show, it’s an event not to be missed by any fan of the legendary Blue Oval.

THE FAST CAR FESTIVAL

30th-31st July Donington Park www.thefastcarfestival.co.uk

FORD FAIR

Gravity

Stoneleigh NAEC Sunday 17th July Tickets: £10 (in advance) www.slammeduk.co.uk

7th August Silverstone www.fordfair.co.uk

MINI IN THE PARK

14th August Santa Pod www.minishow.co.uk

JAPFEST MOTORSPORT HEROES 11th September The Hopfarm www.japfest.co.uk

FORDFEST

18th September Santa Pod www.fordfestshow.co.uk

TRAX

25th September Silverstone www.traxshows.co.uk

18 RETRO CARS

Gravity is a multi-marque event that concentrates on one thing – the best of the best. In fact, display cars are by invitation only so, if you think your retro creation has what it takes to be on display, now would be the time to log on and get that application in!

Put together by the team behind lifestyle clothing brand Slammed UK, it’s the first year for what we can see being one of Europe’s most prestigious events in the future. Suffice to say we’re already expecting big things. Unlike most indoor, static shows this one isn’t limited to VAG or Japanese entries either – all are welcome at Gravity. They’ve also lined up everything from 1960s Jags to Supercars, drift cars and racers of all models and ages for a multitude of different displays. Expect to be treated to the lowest and loudest Europe has to offer.

WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/RETROCARSMAGAZINE

WHAT’S ON?

• Ford Run and Ford Run Displays • • 40th Anniversary Fiesta Display • Retail Village • Camping • Entertainment Stage

WHAT’S ON?

• 450 Immaculate Display Cars • Best in Show Trophies • Huge Trade Arena • Live DJ • Detailing Demos • Famous Racecar Display @RETROCARSMAG

SEPTEMBER 2016 19

DRIVEN

AUTOMOTIVE LEGENDS

WORDS: John-Joe Vollans PHOTOGRAPHY: Jon Burgess

LOADS OF TURBO USUALLY SONOROUS

O

ne wedge to rule them all. The Lotus Esprit was the first (to make it to production) and arguably remains the most influential of the geometrically dramatic, triangular sports cars to emerge from the drawing boards of Seventies and Eighties stylists. It was a bold and beautiful design that first did the rounds of the world’s motor shows in 1974. It was pivotal for the Norfolk firm as it represented its first foray into the world of supercar manufacture. The Esprit would deliberately, for better or worse, redirect Lotus away from its roots of making stripped out, ultra-lightweight kit cars and would instead shift the focus toward luxury and high performance.

Though the Esprit had the lines of a supercar and the trademark Lotus handling that had become the benchmark by which all other sportscars were measured, it took a while before the headline performance figures matched the car’s visual promise. In 1980, a full four years after the Esprit’s introduction, the 2.2-litre Lotus twin-cam engine powering the car finally got a turbocharger bolted onto it and finally graduated into the supercar premiership.

ORIGINAL SPEC ENGINE & TRANSMISSION: 2.2-LITRE 16-VALVE LOTUS TWIN-CAM FOUR-CYLINDER TURBO, TWIN WEBER CARBURETTORS 215BHP, MANUAL FIVE-SPEED TRANSAXLE, 3.88 FINAL DRIVE CHASSIS: LOTUS ‘BACKBONE’ CHASSIS WITH TUBULAR EXTENSIONS FOR REAR SUSPENSION, OZ ALLOY WHEELS WITH 195/60 VR15 FRONT, 235/60 VR15 REAR, POWER ASSISTED RACK & PINION WITH 3 TURNS LOCK-TO-LOCK EXTERIOR: STEVENS RE-STYLED ‘ROUNDED’ PANELS, POP UP LIGHTS AND GENERAL ‘80S MAGNIFICENCE! INTERIOR: LEATHER INTERIOR WITH EMBOSSED ESPRIT SCRIPT TO GLOVEBOX LID, FLY-OFF HANDBRAKE HANDLE, THREE SPOKE STEERING WHEEL, AIR-CONDITIONING AND OPTIONAL FOUR-SPEAKER STEREO SYSTEM. 20 RETRO CARS

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THE DRIVE...

The Esprit we borrowed for this feature is the dream car of its lady owner. I should explain, Lisa Hutchins saw Richard Gear being embarrassed by Julia Robert’s skilful mastery of the Esprit in the Hollywood blockbuster Pretty Woman and ever since wished that she could have her own Esprit.

Her other half Julian eventually found one and they rode it off into the sunset.

It’s clear that this Esprit is a very good one right from the off. As I approach there’s none of the age-related damage that can plague composite cars and the black paint still has a mirror finish. In fact I’m a little star struck as I approach and am handed the keys by Julian.

There’s a slight double take as I’m told to adjust the choke as, ‘it hasn’t been started recently.’ A choke on a turbo supercar made in 1987! Then I remember that this is an Eighties Lotus after all and comes with an ‘if it ain’t broke don’t fix it’ mentality.

Once the engine is up to temperature this Esprit is an absolute joy to fire through the gears. There are some concessions of course (it is an Eighties supercar after all). The pedal tunnel is comically narrow.

You can’t rest your left foot anywhere but have to simply linger above the clutch pedal that soon becomes tiresome. The brake and clutch are nicely distanced for heel and toe downshifts however. These are all acclimatising niggles however and once you master it, the Esprit becomes a comfortable and extremely enjoyable car to pilot. On full boost the car really moves even compared to a modern performance

car this Esprit Turbo can still hustle! As you’d expect from Lotus however, the Esprit really comes alive in the corners!

THE VERDICT I’m a sucker for an Esprit, I’ve always loved the lines and every time I drive one I remember why older and lighter always means more fun for me behind the wheel.

In fact I was so bowled over by this Esprit that I went out and bought one myself! It’s a very long way from this one but you can see the my dream build in the projects section over the coming issues. The turbocharged version of the Lotus 912 2.2-litre engine finally gave the Esprit the performance it was lacking up to that point. It was finally taken seriously as a supercar and rightly so, these are genuine 150mph+ cars. The blow off from the induction system in between gear changes makes your spine tingle and is made all the better because it’s all happening just over your left ear!

Bringing my head out of the clouds and being objective for a moment (well this is a road test after all) the braking is only adequate and if you want to see the gauges you need to have either no neck, or be 5ft with 4 of those feet being your legs! Oh and of course the interior fixture and fitting quality isn’t up too much but then again it’s a lot better than the early Esprits. You swiftly forget all of these annoyances though the second a good clear section of twisty A road appears and you mash the throttle into the pile and grin from ear to ear.

PRICE NEW: £50,000 PRICE NOW: £175,000+ PRODUCTION: 1984-86 POWER: 250BHP (ROAD SPEC) INSURANCE: IF YOU HAVE TO ASK… @RETROCARSMAG

SEPTEMBER 2016 21

DRIVEN

AUTOMOTIVE LEGENDS

BACKGROUND The Lotus Esprit went through a myriad of changes in its near thirty year production run from the earliest Giugiaro wedges to the final Stevens and Thomson curves, very few aspects of the car remained the same. Early Esprits were plagued with quality and reliability issues and suffered from Colin Chapman’s weight saving obsession.

Lower rear suspension components were directly bolted to the gearbox to form the bottom wishbone, but without appropriate rubber insulation, this caused excessive cabin vibrations. Fine for a racing car driver, but the Esprit was aimed squarely at affluent Porsche and Ferrari buyers who weren’t at all impressed.

Where the Esprit always excelled was with its handling prowess.

In fact it was safe to say that for almost all of its long production life it was the benchmark for its class. That aforementioned weight-saving obsession of Chapman’s paid dividends here of course and meant that the Esprit embarrassed many a fellow supercar, making the most of its (not so super) four-cylinder engine. Turbocharging arrived in the Eighties and finally granted the Esprit the ‘go’ to match its ‘show’. Post October ’87 saw the angles of the Esprit softened and an all Lotus eight-cylinder engine (essentially two twin-cam fours sharing a flat-plane crank) kept the venerable old Esprit soldiering on until 2004!

Pub Ammo – Lotus Esprit

The word ‘Esprit’ is French meaning lively and vivacious The first turbocharged Esprit was the Essex Turbo of 1980, complete with lairy gold livery and Compomotive alloys For the film Pretty Woman both Ferrari and Porsche refused to provide a car because the plot involved a hooker, Lotus had no such moral qualms!

An Esprit was used not once but twice as James Bond’s chosen transport TV series Fifth Gear attempted to homebrew a 200mph+ Esprit V8. It blew up… twice!

IN POPULAR CULTURE…

The Esprit has had a much deeper impact on popular culture than its limited production numbers would suggest. It’s been a Bond car twice, first appearing famously as a white S1 that plunges into the Mediterranean and transforms into a submarine in The Spy Who Loved Me, and then as a bronze S3 Turbo with Skis on the roof in For Your Eyes Only.

In addition to the big screen appearances the Esprit appeared in living rooms across the world in 1990 with the release of the Amiga game Lotus Esprit Turbo Challenge. This 16-bit marvel was responsible for placing the Esprit in the subconscious of a whole generation (the author included) and begun the tie-in between car makers and computer games, which is stronger than ever today.

THANKS: LISA HUTCHINS AND JULIAN HUNT 22 RETRO CARS

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RETRO RIDE:

GOLF MK2

WORDS: Tom Willcox PHOTOS: Jon Davis

HOME BLOWN There’s so much more to this superclean Mk2 than a straight-up resto. In fact, the DIY supercharger conversion is just the tip of the iceberg…

O

wning a piece of history can do wonders for your street cred. Vintage racing bikes are now a must-have in the trendy suburbs of London, and any self-respecting interior designer wouldn’t be seen dead without at least a couple of antique artifacts in their immaculately-styled abode, even if it’s just to show off at dinner parties.

As we all know here at Retro Cars, the ‘older equals better’ rule applies to what we drive too. In fact, even the wider majority of petrolheads will have a dream car line-up filled with motors from decades past. Nostaga rules and there’s no doubt the thought of owning a classic sends shivers down our spine, but living with one on a day-to-day basis is what separates the proverbial men from the boys.

Our man Ross here gave it a try a few years ago after taking a punt on perhaps one of the most universally adored of all of the old-school rides: a MK2 Golf. His first proper retro car. He soon learnt that the best way to enjoy this already VR6-swapped beauty was to ignore the scene’s haters and apply his own youthful style into the mix. After all, it’s his car, and he’s the one driving it every day, so why worry about what anyone else thinks?

“Let’s just say it’s had a really mad life!” Ross laughs as he begins to tell us the story of how this very special hatch came into his life. In its 26 years on this planet, this once-GTi has been stolen, stripped for parts, and been through at least 12 owners. But there were some good points, too; “I had a MK3 GTI at the time, and was looking for something with a bigger engine. This car looked tidy and already had the VR6 conversion, which was great as it meant that I didn’t have to do it myself!”

The deal was struck, and Ross enjoyed a year of blissful MK2 ownership, with the VR6 lump providing plenty of grunt and that delicious burble to waft him from A to B. “And then the problems started,” Ross grimly recalls. “The engine packed in, and from then on it was problem after problem” The undeniable curse of classic car ownership.

DRIVER: ROSS TOBIN So you’ve certainly got some helpful mates then?

“I’ve got to say they’ve really helped out on this one. It can’t have been easy, especially when we hired a unit for the engine build, it didn’t even have running water or electricity. No mod cons, but you have to make do with what you’ve got.”

That’s hardly what you’ve done with the car though.

“Yeah I suppose this one was quite a bit more than a straight restoration. The idea was always to bring plenty of the usability you don’t normally associate with the more classic stuff. With an added bit of luxury and style, naturally.”

Nothing stuff like air ride and plenty of extra grunt can’t sort out right?

“Exactly, now I can use it every day, or much more importantly I actually WANT to. I guess that’s the real beauty of it. I just can’t wait to take it out.”

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SEPTEMBER 2016 25

RETRO RIDE:

GOLF MK2

Not deterred, Ross accepted that the Golf would no longer be his daily driver, and took it off the road for a no-holds-barred re-working, culminating in the replacement of the knackered engine. First, though, the bodywork was addressed. Panels were smoothed, badges were deleted, all the plastic was binned and Porsche door handles were carefully crafted onto each side, all in the aim of bringing the car slapbang into the 21st century.

By this point, those newly-sculpted lines were in desperate need of some new paint. “I wanted the car to be black, but to stand out from the crowd,” Ross runs us through his thought process. The solution?

Hitting up Custom Classics in Barry and getting several layers of the relatively modern Black Magic Pearl professionally slapped onto those angular panels.

Things remain equally as standard inside, and by that I mean not very.

Ross had a clear vision of what he wanted and two Recaro recliners from a Sierra Cossie now sit where the tartan GTI jobs were once placed. The whole inside was then stitched up with quality Bentley cream leather to complement that immaculate exterior. Well, that was the idea, anyway.

“The car had the optional green-tinted windows when I got it,” Ross tells us. “They made the cream leather look dirty! I had to replace them all with clear glass.” Not a job for the faint of heart, but it did give him the excuse to add some super-rare Happich pop-out rear windows into the mix. You certainly can’t knock this proud owner for going the extra mile.

The time soon came to replace the broken V6 engine, something which could’ve daunted Ross was it not for the fact that his friends had once again stepped in to offer vital assistance. As well as swapping motors, Ross had another trick up his sleeve too. “About a year previously I was on eBay at about 2am and came across a Z Engineering supercharger kit. So, naturally, I had to snap it up.” A week of re-building bits and bolting on the blower, Ross and his friends had nailed the swap. A quick visit to Stealth 26 RETRO CARS

“

I came across a supercharger kit so I had to snap it up

”

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THREE TOP MODS SUPERCHARGER: What’s the best thing to do when you’ve blown your engine? Replace it

and blow that one in an entirely different, but thoroughly exciting, way. Ross managed to get his hands on a bolt-on Z Engineering supercharger kit for plenty of extra grunt, more than enough to embarrass plenty of modern ‘performance’ motors. Home-blown hero?

You got that right.

CHASSIS: Air ride, while still something of a controversial choice on a Mk2, is nothing new on the Dub scene, and that’s with good reason. These BBS RM wheels though, are not only a genuine work of art, they’ve been bolted together in some pretty special sizes.

9.5 and 10.5x15-inchers are certainly not something you see every day, not on a Golf.

TRIM: Classic, and highly sort-after, Recaros come from the Ford Sierra Cosworth camp and the cream leather is straight from the height of luxury that is Bentley. Having to swap out the OEM windows for clear items, just because of a retrim, is something of an unusual dilemma too.

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SEPTEMBER 2016 27

RETRO RIDE:

GOLF MK2

TECH SPEC: MK2 VR6 TUNING:

2.9-litre ‘OBD1-spec’ VW VR6 V6 engine; Z Engineering stage 1 supercharger kit; 6psi pulley; Raceland 6-branch exhaust manifold; Pro-Speed 2.5-inch racing exhaust system; MK3 Golf VR6 radiator with twin 10” universal slim-line fans; up-rated fuel pump; braided fuel lines; Mocal oil cooler; Roose Motorsport hoses throughout; polished strut brace, supercharger, inlet manifold and top mounts; custom map and ECU from Stealth Racing, VR6 gearbox.

No expense spared on the Bentley cream leather!

Racing for guru Vince to tweak the car’s ECU to handle the extra oomph, and the Golf was almost ready to drive again.

The final piece of the puzzle was getting this boosted boxy beast sitting pretty. “I try to stay away from the static vs air debate, but at the end of the day I wanted a car I could use with wide wheels and at the same time would look good,” Ross justifies his wise move to opt for a Air Lift suspension system. Propped up on some super-wide and fully re-built BBS RMs (Ross says these wheels, in those widths, are another first on his car), and that clear vision he had in his head a few years previously was now looking right back at him.

CHASSIS:

With full-on classic car status but still being relatively ‘young’ compared to many a retro motor, you see endless concours examples of MK2 Golfs nowadays, many painfully restored to factory condition. And although there’s no denying they’re all superb little machines, if you slapped a standard car next to Ross’, which one would you spend more time gawping over? By being daring enough to break those strict molds which dominate car trends and scenes, our proud owner here has been left with an extremely unique retro ride that can be driven stressfree every day. And isn’t that what owning a modified car is all about? RC

9.5x15-inch (front) and 10.5x15-inch two piece BBS RM split-rims with VW cream centres and polished lips, 195/45/15 Yokohama S.Drive tyres all-round, gold BBS centre caps, gold spike nuts, Air Lift air-ride suspension system using bags (front) and struts (rear), AccuAir e-Level management with iLevel app controller, five-litre gloss black air tank, VW cream 0.5-inch copper lines, 996 Porsche 911 brake conversion with Black Magic Pearl calipers.

EXTERIOR:

Smoothed front bumper, front number plate recess filled, smoothed G60 arch extensions, rear VW badge delete, rear wiper delete, colour-coded Porsche door handles, twin-lamp front grille with custom VW cream strip, smoked indicators, Happich pop-out rear windows, resprayed in VW Black Magic Pearl.

INTERIOR:

Full re-trim in Bentley cream leather, Sierra Cosworth Recaro reclining seats, 350mm Isotta steering wheel, custom MK2/Porsche gear knob, Porsche glove box lock, Kenwood head unit with hidden iPod attachment.

THANKS:

All my friends who helped out, Jon Davies from Phokus Photography, Sinclair Volkswagen Cardiff for use of the showroom, Rothink for the continued support and for always creating a great atmosphere at shows.

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All our systems are custom built in Stainless Steel, with a LIFETIME GUARANTEE ALL Vehicles Welcome Performance Systems Induction Kits Multiple Exits Catalytic Converters

Meet Charlie and the team at

Unit 9, Alexandra Ind Est Wentloog Rd, Rumney, Cardiff Cf3 1EY

www.pro-speedexhausts.com 029 2036 4457

THE INTERNATIONAL FORD SHOW A brand new star-studded show for 2016… Words Midge

S

trictly speaking Ford may be an American brand, but it’s one of the very few, if not the only, ‘foreign’ marque that’s become an undeniable British institution. In fact, they may build Hondas in Swindon and Toyotas in Derbyshire but we don’t look on these Japanese models as anything like as home-grown as Dagenham’s finest. Perhaps that’s because we get our very own Ford models here in Europe and the Ford Motor Company (England) Limited sprang up as far back as 1909.

Anyway, the point is both classic and modern Fords are still infinitely popular here in the UK, with restoration buffs and modifiers alike. And that’s probably why they seem to have more dedicated car shows than any other.

But what makes IFS different? Well, this brand new event is not only (mostly) indoors and a full-on weekender, but it’s now the official (and weather-proof) season opener for Blue Oval fans too. Taking place at Sandown Park, for their very first time out, it went pretty damn well too!

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Four door and one bike engine equals awesome!

Cosworth - still the daddy!

The Classics

sister With the boys and girls over at our the on mag, Classic Ford, thoroughly n of case, we always knew the selectio . We ense imm be ld wou modified classics mix y head the for ared prep e quit weren’t case show of retro models though, their restored featured scores of immaculately s, ster mon d tune and old skool cars ully) mef (sha we that two or one including had forgotten even existed.

Highlights for us were an 180mph or Mk2 Capri, motorbike-powered 4-do Cortina re 3-lit ate acul imm an and Escort their in d XLE from South Africa we foun ine’ Eng x Esse the special ‘50-years of century display. Has it really been half a ey.

Blim dy? alrea V6 for the

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SEPTEMBER 2016 31

They were all honoured to meet J.J.

Lemon, but no lemon Tiff started his racing career in Formula Ford

1988 RS500 BTCC car, still rocking!

Famous Faces

As with all good shows there were a couple of celebrity guests in attendance and, even better, none of them happened to be from the cast of TOWIE. That would have certainly ruined the Essex V6 display, right?

Instead we were treated to appearances from a few proper car nuts including Ant Anstead from Channel 4’s For the Love of Cars, Touring Car legend Barrie ‘Whizzo’ Williams and Fifth Gear presenter Tiff Needell. These fellas were surprisingly down-to-earth regaling the crowds with stories of motorsport glory, checking out all the cars on display and praising owners for their restoration skills and modifying ingenuity. There’s nothing like a proper celebrity endorsement to get you inspired!

Face-Off

The Face-off competition (know to us mere mortals as the show ‘n’ shine) was a big hit.

Being sponsored by Autoperfekt Detailing there were some top prizes to be had too. Even if you’re not into breaking out the polishing pads and toothbrushes, you just have to respect the amount of time and effort these guys put into getting their cars immacul ate. With so much shiny glitz and glimmer on offer, next time we’ll be bringing a welding shield to protect our peepers… some sunglasses at the very least. In the end the trophy was lifted by Gary Norris for his super-buffed Cortina. A well-deserved win.

Go next year…

The dates for next year haven’t been announced just yet, but we have a sneaking suspicion IFS will take place on the May Bank Holiday Weekend at Sandown Park… let’s just say we could be physic. In any case, for more info on 2017’s All-Ford season opener keep an eye on www.theinternationalfordshow.com for updates.

32 RETRO CARS

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SRS

ENGINEERING Specialise in all makes and model engine reconditioning work such as Ford Fiat Jaguar Triumph & VAG group Unleaded seat conversions, Cylinder head work, Full engine builds.

Crankshaft grinding.

Rebore cylinder blocks.

All parts supplied.

Work on car and bike engines.

Free Quotes or even advice given

0208 642 5685 www.srsengineeringsutton.com

FRONT WINGS Each A30 / A35 / A40 / Alllegro . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 A55 Farina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£102.90 A60 Farina . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£93.45 A55 / A60 Van & Pickup . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£102.90 Allfasud & Sprint . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 Allpine Sports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£111.75 Angllia 100E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£94.50 Angllia 105E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 Angllia / Popullar E93A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 Avenger Mk 1 & 2, Imp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 Bedford CF Mk 1 & 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 BMC 1100 / 1300 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 BMC 1800 Mk 1 & 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£102.90 Capri Mk 1 RS 3100 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£109.50 Capri Mk 1 / 2 / 3, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£93.80 Cavallier / Chevette / Carllton . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 Cellica TA 22 / 23 / RA28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 Cllassic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£102.90 Consull Mk 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£110.25 Cortina Mk 1 /2 / 3 / 4 / 5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 Dollomite / Tolledo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 Escort Mk 1 / 2 / 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 Escort Mk 1 Mexico . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£94.25 Escort Mk 1+ Works (Bubblle) Arch . . . . . . . .£103.15 Fiat X19 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£97.30 Granada Mk 1 & 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£94.50 Hunter / Horizon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£93.45 Jaguar XJ6 series 1, 2 & 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£122.00 Lancia Beta Salloon / Coupe . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 Lancia Monte Carllo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£94.50 Lancia Gamma . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£120.75 MGA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£113.90 Marina / Itall / Maxi . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 Manta B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 Mazda RX7 Mk 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£95.30 MG TF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£116.95 MGB and GT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£108.25 Midget / Sprite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£102.75 Minx Series 1-5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 Morris 1000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£78.75 Rapier -68 on . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£93.45 Renaullt 15 / 16 / 17 / Fuego . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£99.75 Rover 2000 P6 / SDI . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£94.50 Rover P4, P5, P5B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£147.00 Saab 95, 96 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 Samba . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 Scirocco Mk 1 / 2 / Gollf Mk 1 . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 Simca 1000 / 1100 / 1301 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 Sunbeam . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 TR 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£101.60 Toyota MR2 Mk 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£126.00 Transit Mk 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£110.25 Transit Mk 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 Triumph 2000 Mk 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£94.50 Vauxhalll Cresta PB / Royalle . . . . . . . . . . . . .£104.90 Victor FB, FD, FE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£94.40 Viva HA, HB, HC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00

Vollvo 120, 144, 145, 240 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£95.50 Westminster 110 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£126.00 Wollselley 1500 / Rilley 1.5 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 Wollselley 16/60, Rilley 4/72 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£102.90 Zephyr Mk 2 / 3 / 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£115.50

REAR WINGS

Angllia / Popuar E93A . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£78.90 MG TF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£116.85 MGA . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£94.50 Morris 1000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£63.00 Morris Travelller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£52.00 Rover P5, P5B . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£103.15 Rover P6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£107.95 Saab 95, 96 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.00 Spitfire Mk 1 / 2 / 3 / 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£63.40 TR 2 / 3 / 4 / 5 / 6 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£101.60

BONNETS With interior frame

Angllia 100E / 105E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£141.75 Bedford CF earlly . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£147.00 Capri Mk 1 / 2 / 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£186.90 Cortina Mk 1 & 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£168.90 Escort Mk 1 / 2 / 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£141.75 Escort Mk 4 RS Tubo (with vents) . . . . . . . . .£169.30 Fiesta Mk 1 & 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£143.75 Gollf Mk 1 & 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£156.00 MGB RV8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£189.65 MGB & C / Midget/Sprite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£157.50 Peugeot 106 / 205 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£168.00 Sierra Mk 1 Cosworth (with vents) . . . . . . . .£197.95 TR 4 / 5 / 6 / 7 / 8 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£189.00 Transit Mk 1 Diesell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£157.50 Transit Mk 1 Petroll . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£141.75

BODY KITS

Ascona 400 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£620.00 BMW M3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £1,365.00 BMW E30 M Tec 1982-1990 . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£725.00 Capri Mk 1 Broadspeed . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . £1,000.00 Capri Mk 2 & 3 X pack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£700.00 Capri Mk 2 & 3 Cartel / Profile . . . . . . . . . . . .£590.00 Chevette HS Group 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£380.00 Chevette HSR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£995.00 Escort Mk 3 Turbo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£505.00 Escort Mk 2 X pack From . . . . . . . . . .£450.00 RS 2000 to RS 2001 From . . . . . . . . . . .£470.00 Escort Mk Cosworth stylle . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£980.00 Fiesta Mk 1 X pack . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£400.00 Fiesta Mk 1 XR2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£295.00 Fiesta Mk 2 XR2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£405.00 Fiesta Mk 2 Wide Arch . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£915.00 Fiesta Mk 3 Turbo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£610.00 Manta 400 From . . . . . . . . . . . . .£755.00 Metro 6R4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£1,575.00 MGB Sebring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£545.00 Sierra X pack to 87 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£670.00

FRONT VALANCE

100E Front Panell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£106.80 105E Front Panell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£204.75 Capri Mk 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£59.60 Capri Mk 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£79.80 Capri Mk 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£95.45 Cortina Mk 1 Front Panell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£204.75 Cortina Mk 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£75.95 Granada Mk1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£72.95 Heralld / Vitesse . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£49.50 Morris 1000 Bumper Vallance . . . . . . . . . . . . .£37.80 MGA / MGB / MGC . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£42.60 MGB / MGC Sebring . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£73.10 Rilley 1.5 front panell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£173.25 Spitfire Mk 1 / 2 / 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£49.25 Spitfire Mk 4 each . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£43.00 Transit Mk 1 Diesell Front Panell . . . . . . . . . . .£203.15 Wollselley 1500 front panell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£173.25 Vollvo 120 Front Panell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£155.00 Zephyr Mk 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£77.95

REAR VALANCE

Angllia 105E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£37.00 Cortina Mk2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£42.70 Morris 1000 Bumper / Vallance . . . . . . . . . . . .£37.80

BOOT LIDS with interior frame

Angllia 105E . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£127.60 A40 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£98.70 Capri Mk 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£136.50 Capri Mk 1 with spoiller . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£178.50 Capri Mk 2 & 3 Taillgate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£182.10 Cortina Mk 1 & 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£132.85 Escort Mk 1 & 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£141.75 Escort Mk 2 with RS spoiller . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£176.95 Gollf Mk 1 & 2 Taillgate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£150.00 Hilllman Imp (front) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£164.85 MGB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£128.10 MGB GT Taillgate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£155.00 Midget / Sprite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£90.20 Morris 1000 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£99.85 Peugeot 106 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£150.25 Spitfire Mk 1 / 2 / 3 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£100.40 Spitfire Mk 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£115.65

WING EXTENSIONS

Capri Mk 1 RS 3100 (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£83.50 Capri Mk 1 Bubblle (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£110.25 Capri Mk 1 Collogne (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£310.00 Escort Mk 1 Mexico front (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . .£43.25 Escort Mk 1 Mexico rear (2) . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£43.25 Escort Mk 1 Works (4) (Bubblle) . . . . . . . . . .£110.25 Escort Mk 2 (4) From . . . . . . . . . . . .£110.25 Fiesta Mk1 & 2 Rallly Arches (4) . . . . . . . . . . .£128.25 Rover SDI (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£134.00 Sierra Mk 1 Cosworth (3 door) (4) . . . . . . . .£235.00 Sierra Mk 1/2 Cosworth (5door) (4) . . . . . . . .£270.00 Sunbeam GP4 (4) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .£119.70

1 wing £10.25, 2 wings £11.50, Bonnet or boot £15.00, Bodykits £45.00

LIKE US ON

Brake Upgrade Kits 13 FABULOUS CHOICES

to suit every driving style and budget.

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Redstuff premium fast street pads and Geomet® black OEM (non slotted) style discs

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Yellowstuff highest friction pads and Geomet® black OEM (non slotted) style discs

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Greenstuff sport pads and USR slotted black Geomet® discs

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Redstuff premium fast street pads and USR slotted black Geomet® discs

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PD040K Kit Ultimax daily driver pads and Geomet® black OEM (non slotted) style discs - this full vehicle kit includes 2 sets of pads and 2 pairs of discs Kits include 100% British made ECO friendly quality high efficiency EBC brake pads, fully tested and approved to meet or exceed all known standards, plus premium Geomet® corrosion resistant G3000+ iron discs of your pattern choice. Geomet® is the NUMBER ONE brake disc anti corrosion surface coating used by OEM builders (they use silver, we prefer black Geomet®). Coating withstands severe salt spray tests for corrosion resistance. Kit prices from £45.

www.ebcbrakes.com

COOL STUFF

THE REASON THEY INVENTED CREDIT CARDS

Bola B1, From £550 (set)

We like the classic styling of the new Bola B1 and are in no doubt that they’ll make an awesome addition to many a retro motor – assuming of course you have the arches to accommodate sizes between 17 and 19-inches. But what’s particularly special about these is they can be made to fit just about any PCD out there. If you look really closely you’ll see the mounting holes are contained within special elongated ‘PCD pockets’. These crucial additions mean that Bola can custom drill their wheels in 99-percent of the 4 and 5-stud applications on the market, while machining the offset to meet even the most specific requirements. A seriously clever idea that, and all at a decent money too! www.bolawheels.co.uk

Home of Retro Tees, From £14 The guys at Home of Retro have just launched a whole new collection of old skool car T-Shirts and, although we obviously love those in particular, it’s not just the automotive selection that’ll blow your mind here.

There’s simply a huge amount of nostalgic designs ranging from computer games to football, to Back To The Future, to all sorts of other cool stuff we’re pretending not to be old enough to remember. There’s even some of those heat-sensitive, colour-changing Global Technicolour items from the ‘90s –remember those? You just can’t go wrong. www.homeofretro.com

RACY STUFF… Rota Vios, £530 (set)

Japspeed Alloy Rads, from £80

Available in bronze, black or white finishes, the new Vios from Rota not only comes in at an excellent price, but the simple motorsportinspired styling is spot on too. With a 4x100PCD (ET30) and one size (7x15inches) on offer it’s clearly aimed at the smaller and mid-sized retro cars like Golfs, MX-5s and Civics.

That said, with the addition of a set of wobble bolts, we’ve no doubt they’ll look amazing on many a 4x98 Italian stallion too. Simple but effective. www.rarerims.co.uk

What with summer finally turning up it certainly makes you wonder what all this hot weather is doing to the cooling system on your motor, especially if it happens to be a tuned Japanese street monster and you’re partial to getting the hammer down.

Luckily Japspeed are now offering some simply silly prices on a huge range of high-flow alloy rads that give around 40-percent greater cooling than your OEM item. Grab ‘em now while they’re hot… er, I mean cool. www.japspeed.co.uk

34 RETRO CARS

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Momo Competition Evo, £210

It looks like Italian styling gurus, Momo, have gone right back to their roots with the timeless design of this new wheel. There’s definitely a retro kind of feel to this one, with all the lush perforated leather and brushed alloy, but perhaps what we like the most is simply the size. Unlike the vast majority of aftermarket jobs these days, this one comes in at a suitably small 320mm in diameter, making it almost as tiny as the cult-classic Momo Team 300 and easily on par with plenty of the other wheels that made them famous. Nice. www.b-gdirect.com

Sealey E/Start600, £120

Another month, another jump pack - we are in the classic motors game after all. Still, here’s a novel idea – a portable item with no built-in battery at all. The super-compact, 1.4kg E/Start600 uses a series of super-capacitors and clever electronics meaning it’ll start anything up to a 3-litre petrol (or 2-litre diesel) car where the battery is holding more than 5Volts. That’s spot on because the vast majority of starting problems are caused by the power dipping just below the magical 12Volts.

If the battery is totally discharged however you can also juice up the capacitors from a healthy car battery or via a USB/Lighter socket lead.

Every retro car owner should have one. www.sealey.co.uk

Caliber RMD020 headunit, £25

You may think we’ve made a mistake on the price here but no, this new headunit is actually just 25-English pounds! It’s also supershallow (just 35mm deep) enabling fitment in all sorts of places, which is especially handy if you’re planning on keeping a period dash look on your retro project.

What we like most though is that the price hasn’t stopped it being

packed with features designed for our digital music age. This one offers playback via USB, SD card and a 3.5mm auxiliary jack. There’s also an RCA-out for system expansion and even a powerful 4x55-watt built in amplifier, more than enough for most standard (and plenty of aftermarket speakers). Oh yeah, and did I mention it’s only 25-quid?

Bargain hunters look no further! www.celsusice.co.uk

PowerMaxed Interior Dressing, £7 The guys at PowerMaxed are definitely at the forefront this year with regards to developing new detailing products. In fact, we can’t think of anyone who can match the speed that these guys seem to get them on the shelves – maybe it’s because they develop all their new gear in conjunction with their own BTCC team. Maybe being fast is part of the deal.

Anyway, their latest offering is this well-priced interior dressing designed to restore and revive interior plastics along with rubber and vinyl surfaces. Now, we don’t know quite how clean they like to keep their racecars but it certainly does the job for us. www.powermaxed.com

@RETROCARSMAG

SEPTEMBER 2016 35

TOOL TEST

Tested by Midge

SEALEY CP2600

CORDLESS IMPACT WRENCH

PRICE: £400 WWW.SEALEY.CO.UK

FEATURES

• ½-INCH SQ DRIVE • 450NM (335LB/FT) TORQUE • 26V LITHIUM-ION BATTERY • 1-HOUR MAINS CHARGER

I

n an ideal world everyone would have a huge workshop with a big compressor and a professional air-powered impact wrench. When it comes to trackdays, road rallies and a spot of drifting everyone else would have the same kit on a lorry following them around – unfortunately life isn’t like that. Where most cordless impact wrenches fall down is their lack of ability to take of the more stubborn nuts and rusted bolts. After all the reason we’re looking in the first place is to get all the power of a professional compressor with the portability of something the size of a hammer drill. Changing wheels quickly and easily is usually the a huge attraction too, especially on the side of the road in the rain.

Anyway this is where this 26Volt impact wrench from Sealey comes in, they claim it’s one of the most powerful on the market.

In the box…

Using Lithium Ion technology rather than the usual Ni-Cd batteries, this item is built to give maximum power with minimum discharge, for as long as possible. There’s clearly no compromise on construction either featuring a chunky half-inch drive adaptor (ideal for deep wheel and impact sockets) and a super-tough, grippy outer casing.

You also know you’re getting plenty of quality because this one is extremely heavy. In this case that’s a good thing.

36 RETRO CARS

Midge’s Verdict For this sort of application it’s all about torque and this particular bit of kit has bags and bags of it. You have to consider the fact that you usually torque on wheels at around 130NM (95 lb/ft) but this will pull off nuts at over 3-times that - it’s rated in excess of 450NM (335 lb/ft).

What’s more the huge 26-Volt Lithium Ion battery lasts forever and, even when it doesn’t, you’ve only got an hour to wait for a full charge. It’s a great tool that’s not just aimed at the DIY market but also ideal for professional garages and body shops who need their gear to last a couple of lifetimes under heavy use day-in and day-out.

While it’s pretty up there on the price scale, it’s worth remembering this one is the flagship model - Sealey also stock three of four at more entry-level prices. These come with the same build quality and range from 12 to 24-Volts with varying maximum torques. If you’re looking to make short work of wheel nuts and rusty bolts check out their range – if you’re looking for the ultimate workshop helper, save up and get one of these!

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RETRO RIDE:

CLUBMAN ESTATE

WORDS AND PHOTOS: Stephen Colbran

HOME BLOWN There’s so much more to this superclean Mk2 than a straight-up resto. In fact, the DIY supercharger conversion is just the tip of the iceberg.

O

wen’s Clubman Estate can’t grow facial hair, sadly, but if it could, its moustache would surely teach Tom Selleck a thing or two.

This one is pure 1980s, and for that reason alone it’s undeniably cool. The ‘80s was a decade tainted by mullets and men in makeup, but one that should also be remembered for its love of the turbo, and with that, some truly iconic cars. Think Ferrari 38 RETRO CARS

F40, Sierra Cosworth, Renault 5 GT Turbo, anything from the Group B rally era and, closer to home, the ERA Mini Turbo.

The ERA’s bodykit was seemingly designed with a set square and the engine had to be de-tuned for the sake of the archaic gearbox, but it remained the fastest production Mini ever and one of the most coveted limited editions, too. When Owen Fletcher decided to customise his Clubman Estate project, the

ERA-style bodykit just sort of slotted into his turbo-charged masterplan. He’d never seen such a ‘kit fitted to a long-wheelbase squarefronted Mini before, yet that didn’t deter him from giving it a go, with help from his dad Allen. Six years and much hard graft later, the build has evolved into an ‘80s-inspired custom and is finally complete.

It was inevitable that Birmingham-based Owen would have a Mini for his first car.

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What happens if you cross a 1980 Clubman Estate with an ERA Mini Turbo?

A custom car, with true ‘80s style, that cranks it right up to 11.

“When I left school I started an engineering apprenticeship with Rover and they’d not long finished building the Mini,” he says. “I was more into the business side of things, but we did get hands-on with machining and suchlike, and I sometimes worked at the Longbridge factory. There were still remnants of Mini production at the time.” The first Mini was more of an on-going project, so when this 1980 Clubman Estate came along @RETROCARSMAG

it looked like the perfect daily drive. Owen learned all sorts of mechanical skills from his dad and says he’s always been hands-on, which must have been essential here.

“We saw it for sale in the bargain pages, a standard white 1100 with the brown stripes, and I never even knew what a Clubman Estate looked like until then,” Owen continues.

“It had a coat hanger for an aerial, mud flaps made from door mats and a tow bar

strengthened-up with half a bicycle sprocket.

The interior light was even made from an old pie tray with a sheet of Perspex over the top!”

Sometimes the rough ones are the cars we get most attached to, however, and that was certainly the case for Owen. With a smile he recalls the time when he and seven mates squeezed inside and drove around a pub car park. Then there was the day the battery shorted-out, his rear seat passengers SEPTEMBER 2016 39

RETRO RIDE:

CLUBMAN ESTATE

ERA Turbo engine was something of a lucky find!

DRIVER: OWEN FETCHER So it’s been a long time coming but you got there in the end?

“Yeah it was one of those projects that got repeatedly shelved because of other things. But it was always in the back of my mind, I knew it’d be back on the road eventually.”

What was the spark that put it back on the agenda?

“Originally it was the London to Brighton Rally a couple of years ago. But as that came and went, in the end our main mission was to get it back on the road and show my mates.

And what did they say?

“Well, I’ve taken a few friends out since it was finished and they just couldn’t believe it was the same car we used to bomb about in as teenagers! It’s like the faster 2.0 version and I love it now more than ever!”

disappeared into a cloud of white smoke and everyone had to bailout sharpish. “Luckily it didn’t completely go up in smoke,” he says. “We had a load of good times and I just kept it alive basically, so I’ve quite a connection with it. It was in various shades of white Hammerite as it had been patched up along the way and I drove the car until it pretty much fell apart.” When it did fall apart, Owen couldn’t just get rid of it, so he decided to store it away in a lock-up as a future project.

Owen had a look at the Estate every couple of years, but other projects got in the way and he didn’t make a huge amount of progress. “Then I had a phase about six years ago when I started buying loads of parts for it,” he says. “If I saw something useful at the shows it went towards the project. There was a rollcage, the wheels and a Metro Turbo engine for example.” With that he took time to have a proper look at the condition of the body. With a view to restore it completely, the level of repairs went deeper and deeper, to the point where the whole car has now been repaired. “The subframes were both replaced and it’s had brand new suspension and brakes,” says Owen. “We did the restoration bit by bit, fixing the 40 RETRO CARS

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Those Sparco harnesses are kind of essential here!

bodywork underneath, the wheel arches and floor and then the subframes could go back on.

There’s been a huge number of new panels, as we thought we may as well do the job right.”

The plan was to sort the bodywork, upgrade the standard 1098cc engine to a turbo motor from a scrap Metro and then get it back on the road again. It sounds simple, right? But these things seldom go to plan. “We’d even thought about fitting chrome trim like on an old Traveller,” Owen recalls. “It was never intended to be a daily driver again, but a weekend road car; I still wanted some elements of comfort.

We spent a few months on it, then it went back to the bottom of the project list again.”

The purchase of an ERA-style bodykit soon had things back up to speed. Owen saw the kit and mapped-out the idea of building an Estate version of the ERA Mini Turbo. It seemed to fit in with the MG Metro Turbo engine, and the bodykit was as boxy as the Clubman Estate’s chiselled styling, so why not? “We soon realised it would be a ridiculous amount of work to get the kit to fit though,” he says.

“The front and rear bumpers needed to be

Not exactly your average Mini Clubman is it?

@RETROCARSMAG

SEPTEMBER 2016 41

RETRO RIDE:

CLUBMAN ESTATE

reshaped to suit and the arches widened by 20mm. Then we had to make new moulds to recreate the side skirts, as they were obviously too short for the longer wheelbase.

We made the new parts sectional, so there’s captive bolts hidden behind each part to get it fitted securely. In the end it was an insane amount of work - the ‘kit nearly got scrapped at one point – but we’d never seen it done before so we kept at it.”

With that mammoth task complete, things started to fall into place. The rollcage went in and Owen warmed to the idea of stripped-out look to make the most of the comparatively cavernous interior. Before long, the race influence took over and he started to reconsider using only a standardspec MG Turbo engine.

The bulkhead had already been modified for turbo clearance and the engine, which Owen rebuilt himself, was looking good to go. “Then another turbo engine came along,” he says. “This one already had the straight-cut gearbox and some performance upgrades, so I sold the original engine to a friend and did a turbo conversion on his Mini instead. Again, my project was shelved while I helped him out, but it effectively meant I had chopped and changed to give a higher spec engine.” The new motor was rebuilt using the best of everything Owen had in the garage. The head has therefore been modified with larger chambers, ports and valves, the standard Garrett T3 unit rebuilt and paired up with a modified Metro manifold. “The turbo side of things was selftaught,” Owen says. “I read-up on the Metro setup and there was a hell of a lot to learn.

Then I bought a solenoid switchable boost controller that bleeds off boost pressure from the activator. If you want to pop the 42 RETRO CARS

head gasket like my mate just has, you can wind the boost right round, but I’ve resisted the temptation so far and stuck to 10psi.”

The car has never been put on a rolling road, so there’s no final power figure, but having been out for a spin we can confirm it is savagely fast. It’s also very loud, and a very hard ride. “I never like to nail it through first and second,” Owen shouts over the straightcut gear whine. “The speed really builds up through third and fourth so I barely need to floor it and it still feels really strong, just feathering the throttle up hills. This is what I always wanted – usable power for the road that puts a smile on your face and an engine that doesn’t blow up every time you floor it.”

Over the winter months Owen sprayed the car himself, keeping with the white shade but this time Ford Diamond White – a colour quite reminiscent of ‘80s turbo Fords. “I worked on it at my dad’s place, as wanted to keep it top secret so no one else would copy me,” he says. “When it came to finishing off the interior I went through a lot of designs for the dash. Originally I went for the super-square Metro type, cut it all down to suit but in the end I wasn’t feeling it.”

Instead there’s a centre-clock speedo, which admittedly is more ‘60s than ‘80s, but the steering wheel brings the theme right back.

The little Mountney was actually fitted to the Mini when Owen first tore around the streets of Birmingham as a 17-year-old. It’s one of many parts he’s kept on the car in an effort to retain its spirit and sentimental value.

“It’s really come out better than I ever thought it would and I’m glad I stuck with the bodykit idea, despite the amount of work involved. It’s been a crazy journey, but now the hard work is a distant memory and I can properly enjoy it again.” RC

TECH SPEC: MINI TURBO TUNING

1293cc turbo, ported head with large valves and 29cc chambers to lower compression ratio. Modified HIF44 turbo carburettor and actuator, 10cc dished Omega pistons, lightened/balanced crank, centre main strap, uprated oil and water pumps, electric fuel pump, oil cooler, intercooler, uprated radiator, additional wing-mounted electric fan, rebuilt Garrett T3 turbo, twin-stage boost control, 2-inch Maniflow single-box exhaust system, straight-cut transfer gears, straight-cut four-speed gearbox, centre oil pick-up, cross-pin diff, lightened flywheel, uprated clutch and diaphragm.

CHASSIS

6x12-inch Superstar alloy wheels, Yokohama A539 165/60x12 tyres, suspension Fully rebuilt dry suspension set-up, with poly bushes all round and GAZ adjustable dampers, Metro Turbo four-pot calipers, vented 8.4-inch discs, bulkhead-mounted servo.

EXTERIOR

Fully-restored 1980 Mini Clubman Estate, one-off bodykit based on ERA Turbo, custom steel bonnet, Frenched-in from repeaters and sidelights, tinted rear sliding windows, Ford Diamond White respray.

INTERIOR

Cobra Monaco bucket seats, Sparco threepoint harnesses, bolt-in rollcage, custommade tacho mount on steering column, Smiths 80mm tacho, Splitfire boost gauge, modified centre console, custom switch panel, custom headlining, carbon-fibre style trim, Mountney steering wheel.

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www.minispares.com Supporting the Mini owner since 1975

Evolution Billet Oil Pumps

Mini Spares Forged Crankshaft

Forged Steel Lightweight Con Rods

Mini Spares....

At the of your engine No one knows more about keeping your Mini on the road (or track) than Mini Spares after all, we’ve been doing it since 1975. ...And what happens when original parts become obsolete, or when the aftermarket doesn’t produce a product that’s up to our high standards? We make our own - and that’s just what we’ve done with our new range of engine internals.

Take our range of Evolution Oil Pumps for example. Most other manufacturers have sacrificed precision in their quest for production volume - but not us. Our pumps have been CNC machined from alloy billets with sintered internals and assembled to very exacting standards enabling them to consistently produce high oil pressure even at high engine speeds.

Our own crankshafts are forged rather than billets, as forgings are known to be stronger than billets because the grain pattern follows the shape of the webs and bearings in contrast to billet type cranks which are machined across the grain. Mini Spares crankshafts feature large counter balanced webs and bored holes for the big ends to reduce the reciprocating weight and naturally come nitrided as standard.

Our forged steel, lightweight con rods are made from 817M40 steel and incorporate an ‘I’ type section rather than an ‘H’ section to ensure the best performance under the harshest race conditions.

These are just some of the original Mini Spares branded components that you can find on our website along with genuine Mini parts, so if you’re serious about keeping your Mini on the road, talk to the people who know how to do just that.

Parts available online at www.minispares.com or by mail order on 01707 607 700

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TECHNICAL

WORDS: Midge

RC Tech: Exhausts Go on, make your car breathe better!

WHY CHANGE YOUR EXHAUST? Apart from the obvious fact that a nice shiny stainless system looks and sounds better than standard, a performance exhaust is there to get your engine breathing more effectively, it’s that simple. Engine tuning is all about flowing gasses quickly and efficiently. To make more power you need extra air in (so you can bung in more fuel) and to get those increased waste gasses out as fast as possible – the latter is where your exhaust system comes in. A performance system is designed to flow better than standard, helping to draw more air through the head. Getting rid of standard restrictions increases power, and that’s the name of the game.

The Basic Exhaust System SYSTEM VARIATIONS

Because of their shape, all exhaust systems are vehicle specific. Whether you go for a custom made or off-the-shelf item, the basics are the same – most exhausts come in sections, and it’s all about upgrading the component parts of the system.

MANIFOLD A manifold (or header if you happen to be American or Australian) is the part that takes the exhaust gasses from the cylinder outlets on to the rest of the system. Typically there will be an individual ‘head pipe’ flange (or runner) for each cylinder and these will join together to form the ‘collector’– a single outlet which goes on to the exhaust or turbo.

Your engine will dictate the makeup and how many manifolds you need. Typically in-line engines have a single exhaust bank (all their exhaust ports in the same place on the same side, or on the bottom of the cylinder head) so will need one manifold. A V-configuration or W-configuration engine will have multiple exhaust banks so will need a manifold for each. The manifold is also where you’ll usually find the turbocharger.

CATALYTIC CONVERTER For pre-90s cars it’s not something to worry about, for the more modern classics (and all modern cars in general) the ‘cat’ is an emissions control device. It’s made up of a high-surface-area, honeycomb core containing a catalyst (generally a mixture of precious 44 RETRO CARS

metals like platinum). The job of the catalyst is to promote a reaction between carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned hydrocarbons (HC) to produce water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2). They also reduce nitrogen oxides. In other words they don’t actually reduce emissions, they make harmful emissions into less harmful emissions.

SILENCER

DOWNPIPE

RESONATORS

Generally (all cars are different after all) a downpipe will direct the gasses down from the manifold (or turbo outlet) to the cat.

As standard these can be restrictive and a popular target for replacement – it’s not uncommon to see a decent power gain simply by fitting a high-flow item.

Although these are more often found in aftermarket systems, particularly downpipes and centre pipes, some standard items will run resonators. This is a part of the system that is expanded to a bigger diameter. The idea is to disturb the flow, bouncing sound waves off one another, cancelling them out and making the system slightly quieter. These produce much less backpressure than silencers.

The silencers (or mufflers) in the system are sound proofing devices designed to reduce the volume of the sound pressure created by the exhaust gasses. They contain a series of restrictive passages lined with fibreglass insulation designed to baffle the sound as the gasses pass through.

CENTRE PIPE On most cars the centre section is a simple piece of pipe bent to pass under the car, which joins the backbox to the front of the system. This can contain resonators and silencers or even a cat and, on fuel-injected cars, will often be the place where you’ll find a lambda sensor (which is designed to monitor exhaust gasses for the ECU).

BACK BOXES As the name suggests this is quite literally the ‘back box.’ Most of the time it’s basically a big, fat silencer. More importantly though, it’s attached to the tail pipes – the very reason many of the more style-conscious look for an upgrade in the first place.

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Aftermarket Upgrades MATERIALS

Some high-end manufactures will use stainless steel right off the bat but, for the most part, standard systems are made from mild steel which, while pretty resilient to knocks and scrapes, is cheap and rusts over time.

Most aftermarket exhausts are made from high-quality stainless steel which is lighter, doesn’t rust and will usually last longer than the life of the car. There are of course more exotic options too. Full titanium exhausts are ridiculously light, and some exhausts have integrated carbon components too. It all depends on what you can get for your specific fitment and, of course, how deep your pockets are.

HOW NOISY? As the resistance decreases, the noise goes up – there’s a reason they call those restrictive boxes silencers. For flow purposes, having no silencers or resonators at all would be best but, don’t forget, you’re the one who has to live with it.

You may think a stupidly loud exhaust okay for track-days too but, that’s not the case either.

Most tracks place noise restrictions on cars and you will be tested before being allowed on the circuit. It’s a trade off between optimum performance and actually being able to drive it.

WELDING You’ll always be looking for quality workmanship so it’s worth checking out the welding first. Obviously you’re after nice neat welds and not a blotchy, splotchy mess. Most exhausts will be MIG (metal inert gas) or, better still, TIG (tungsten inert gas) welded for a strong permanent seal. Some posh units are also ‘back-purged’ shielding the inside of the weld to prevent oxidation as well as the outside. It takes skill and experience to get these spot on (or sometimes robots) but remember smooth on the outside usually means smooth on the inside - that’s what you want for less disturbances in the gas flow.

HOW BENDY? In an ideal world, exhausts would be a straight pipe, front to back, with no bends – unfortunately this is rarely possible. It’s still something to bear in mind though, performance systems are designed to be as free from contortions as possible, often re-routing the standard location for optimum flow. It’s also advisable to look out for quality workmanship in the bends – all good systems will be ‘mandrel bent’ on a special machine meaning the tube will hardly change diameter as it twists and turns. This prevents any ‘pinching’ in the pipe which will cut down the potential airflow. @RETROCARSMAG

SEPTEMBER 2016 45

TECHNICAL HOW BIG? You’ll find that aftermarket systems will usually be a larger diameter than standard, cutting down massively on backpressure, so you’d think the bigger you can go the better. Unfortunately it’s not that simple.

Smaller-diameter pipes, while more restrictive, do mean higher gas speeds, which help the scavenging effect needed on normally aspirated cars. It’s a complicated scientific process dealing with high and low atmospheric (and internal) pressures but basically you’ll notice the gas pulsing when it exits the pipe helping to suck the following gas out faster than it would naturally. It’s this that makes designing n/a exhausts a balancing act between a bigger, lessrestrictive diameter pipe and something that’ll have the desired scavenging effect.

For turbocharged lumps it’s much simpler; larger diameters are generally better because there’s less resistance slowing the spinning compressor wheels. For supercharged engines, which need a little scavenging while off boost, it’s somewhere in between.

It always makes sense to seek advice for the best size for your particular application.

Luckily, with plenty of off-the shelf units available they’ve usually done the research for you. As a rule of thumb though, for up to 300bhp a 2.5 or 2.75-inch bore is usually sufficient. Up that to 3-inches if you’re looking at 500bhp and a whopping 5-inches if you’re building something utterly bonkers.

BACK BOX UPGRADES

HEAT MANAGEMENT Exhausts work better when they’re hot simply because warmer gasses move faster. With that in mind there are a few aftermarket processes that help keep the heat inside exactly where you want it.

Most commonly, you’ll see heat-wrap – an inexpensive thermal bandage that’s wrapped around as much of the system as possible.

Then there’s high-end ceramic coatings that do an impeccable job that’s more than reflected in the price. Keeping the heat in the pipes not only promotes faster gas flow but, it helps keep engine bay temperatures down, meaning less induction heat-soak and yet more power.

46 RETRO CARS

If you’re on a budget, a specific-fit uprated backbox can be a good choice. It’s true, you’ll only see a very mild performance gain because they’re designed to be slightly less restrictive than stock but, you’ll get a nice shiny tailpipe and a throatier noise. After all, it’s the only bit you can actually see, so if you’re not fussed about power, it can be a winner.

Unlike the rest of your system, there are also a few universal items on the market, many of which seem universally designed to fit bugger all. Unless you’re a competent welder or willing to get a pro to install it, we’d always recommend paying the extra for one that fits first time.

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Choosing Your Upgrade….

TAILPIPE It’s not just the exhaust bore or the amount of silencers in the system that changes the note of your exhaust, the tailpipe design is pretty important too. Generally speaking, larger pipes give more noise, and that also makes it worth considering exactly where you point them. Think of it as a trumpet sticking out of the back of your car - choose your style with your ears, as well as your eyes!

THE CAT Legally, to cat or not to cat, is one of the biggest dilemmas in engine tuning. Being the most restrictive part of the system, dumping it can see big gains. But, the downside is all petrol cars since around 1992 (1994 for imports) need one to get through an MOT emissions test. It’s not a problem for the older retro cars, but it’s easy to get caught out.

There’s also the option of a sports cat, which will be less restrictive but still MOTfriendly or, a de-cat pipe which can be swapped for your catalyst when you’re off the track and in the MOT centre, if you’re feeling unscrupulous. Some people even hollow out their stock cat or weld a straight pipe through the middle to fool inspections.

We’re not condoning it of course, but you have to praise innovation in any form.

MANIFOLDS

Standard manifolds on most cars are made of cast iron, and are not only notoriously restrictive but, pretty heavy too. Most don’t have equal length runners (singular header pipes) either. A tubular manifold will not only smooth out the gas flow and offer less restriction, but the equal length runners on many can give an advantage in performance and engine life. It might not sound important but, it’s all down to the science – equal length runners are designed keep exhaust gas temperatures equal in each cylinder which can be essential for the health of your engine, especially when running big-power. Having longer runners on some cylinders creates higher temperatures because the hot gas will stay in those particular pipes for more time.

On some cars they drastically change the sound too, smoothing out any pulses and rumbles. With equal length headers, the distinctive boxer engine sound, made famous by Subaru, has a different note, more akin to a normal in-line 4-cylinder. For this reason it’s always a debate whether to swap for the more hardcore Scooby fans.

Manifolds also have other performance characteristics due to their construction. 4-2-1 manifolds will go from 4 runners to 2 and then on to the single collector where, as the name suggests, 4-1 units will go straight from 4 to 1. The key is to do your research as to what’s best for you.

@RETROCARSMAG

PORT SMOOTHING To be honest, an aftermarket tubular manifold is more of a Stage 2 tuning mod, and if your budget doesn’t stretch that far, there’s no harm in whipping off your standard item and grinding out any imperfections in the ports. De-burring and polishing anything that disturbs the airflow can be a top budget mod, and a couple of hours on the bench could be enough to give you the edge.

THE LAW There are loads of things to consider when deciding what sort of upgrade you’re looking for but, perhaps the first is the simplest - do you want to drive your car on the road?

Contrary to popular belief in the UK, there’s no maximum noise limit for exhausts on production cars (that’s reserved for kit cars and motorbikes) but, technically, it is an offence to modify your exhaust to be louder than standard, so don’t go too mad. If the gentlemen at the local constabulary can prove that yours is louder than it should be, you can be made to sort it out or face a hefty fine. If you’re sensible though, it’s unlikely that you’ll get into any trouble. After all it’s hard to definitively measure just how loud every standard exhaust out there is and then test every modified car. We’re sure they don’t need the extra paperwork.

TOP CONTACT: WWW.PIPEREXHAUSTS.CO.UK SEPTEMBER 2016 47

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PRODUCT FOCUS

SPEAKER SHOWCASE

WORDS: Midge PHOTOS: CJM Photography

Audio Focus – Component Speakers All speakers are not equal but why? We go to VIBE Audio to find out…

Speaker Anatomy

Even if you’re not into massive amounts of audio gear, chances are you’ll still be wanting to swap out the speakers on your retro ride. After all, it’s not as if the standard hardware back in the day was amazing. One of the most commonly asked questions in car audio though, is how some speakers can come in at 30quid or so and others run into thousands.

Well, generally speaking, and aside from all the research and development involved, it’s mostly down to the materials used and the production costs.

With that said. it’s still pretty hard to illustrate exactly where your money is going, so we went along to the UK’s biggest manufacturer, VIBE Audio, to ask how the differences between their various models affects the price.

These guys sell in excess of 8000 speakers every day so they know a thing or two about what it takes to engineer different units for a wide variety of users.

They also have a huge range which perfectly demonstrates how an entrylevel speaker can develop right through the categories into a peace of impeccable sonic engineering.

We got them to break out a selection of their 6.5-inch component kits and tell us all about them…

The first thing to understand about speakers is how all the parts go together to reproduce sound. At the heart of a speaker is the voice coil (a winding of metal around a cylindrical former), which is placed in front of a permanent magnet (motor). The permanent magnet is fixed firmly into position whereas the voice coil is free to move up and down. As AC electricity passes through the voice coil, it becomes magnetically polarised and is in turn attracted-to and repelled-from the permanent magnet. As it moves back and forth it creates vibrations. Attached to the voice coil is a cone that amplifies these vibrations, which your ears and brain interpret as sound.

Cone (diaphragm) Can be constructed from many different, stiff, lightweight materials, but most commonly plastic, paper or composite.

Basket (frame) Attached to the outer edge of the cone it houses the driver system. Usually made of metal to be as rigid as possible.

Terminals These are the electrical connection for the voice coil.

Suspension system Keeps the voice coil centred in the motor and ensures linear excursion of the cone.

Voice Coil Becomes an electromagnet, when the signal is applied from an amplified source.

FROM ENTRY TO EXPERT LEVEL… PULSE, FROM £24.99 PULSE6C-V4 80Watts RMS, 240Watts Peak

Key Features: IMPP Cones Silk Dome Tweeters (Component) PEI Tweeters (Coaxial) Separate Crossover When it comes to the most basic speaker setups, most people will simply run them directly off their headunit so that’s why these entry-level Pulse items are designed specifically for high-efficiency.

Put it like this, there’s no point in having ridiculous power handling if you’re not using an external amplifier and that’s the premise these entry-level speakers takes advantage of. Although they’ll still eat up a healthy 80-watts RMS. They also feature a rigid injection moulded polypropylene (IMPP) cone for low, smooth bass and great vocal response and (with the component version here) a separate crossover to separate the high and low frequencies.

What’s pretty surprising is these components also have silk dome tweeters for smooth high-frequency reproduction.

54 RETRO CARS

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SLICK, FROM £39.99

BLACKAIR, FROM £59.99

SLICK6C-V3. 90Watts RMS, 270Watts Peak Key Features: IMPP Cones, Silk Dome Tweeters (Component), PEI Tweeters (Coaxial), Separate Crossover, Rubber Surrounds

BLACKAIR6C-V1. 115Watts RMS, 345Watts Peak Key Features: Fibreglass Cones, Silk Dome Tweeters (Component and coaxial), Separate Crossover, PU Surrounds

The Slick range comprises of higher power speakers for even greater sound reproduction, with a whole load of different sizing options chucked in to boot.

Ease of fitment has been a big consideration in the design phase with these, the whole range features ‘Euro-fit’ baskets and super-shallow mounting depths for simple instillation – and to make sure they go into the maximum number of cars possible.

Again, just like in plenty of good quality home hifi speakers, silk is used in the component tweeters to achieve a balanced, lifelike tone in the music. Along with the PEI (polythermide) tweeters in the coaxial versions they offer extended high frequency response for added depth and sound quality. Learning some of the lesions of the previous (higher-end) ranges you’ll also find a hefty rubber surround for increased bass response.

Okay, now we’re really getting into the specialist audiophile pleasers and this range, BlackAir, is designed as an upgrade in every sense of the word, especially when it comes to power handling. The range even includes and extra 1.5-inch, 60Watt RMS (180Watts Peak) tweeter should you wish to add that to your system separately. As for the rest? Well, both components and coaxials come with higher-quality silk dome tweeters and the mids have been upgraded with fibreglass cones for exceptional clarity of bass and mid-range capability. These also offer far tighter response and, just because they’re lighter than IMPP cones, better transience too. The range benefits from rather special PU (Polyurethene) surrounds for fast, precise damping. You’ll definitely be needing a good quality amplifier to make the most of these.

BLACKAIR BLACK EDITION, FROM £TBA

BLACK DEATH, FROM £199.99

BLACKAIR6C-V68. 120Watts RMS, 360Watts Peak Key Features: High-grade fibreglass cone, 28mm Silk Dome Tweeters, 2 Way Passive Crossover

BLACKDEATH6C-V6 140Watts RMS, 420Watts Peak Key Features: Carbon Cone, 28mm Silk Dome Tweeters, 2 Way Passive Crossover

They may share at least part of their name, but the Black Air Black Edition speakers are an entirely different animal to the standard BlackAir kit. Apart from the rather posh alloy gasket they share no parts at all. It’s a bit like comparing a Mercedes AMG to an AMG Black, these are all about enhanced performance. In fact, BlackAir Black Edition speakers are almost mechanically identical to the high-end, competition class BlackDeath speakers.

The only real variation is the all-new, high-grade fibreglass cone for fast bass and clear vocals. This makes more difference to the sound quality than you might think.

In basic terms these are a pure SQ version of the BlackDeath range, offering serious power handling but with pure vocal clarity. They also come with the highest-quality 2-way passive crossovers featuring MKT capacitors and all the trimmings. It’s super quality, and then some.

Our tech wizard at VIBE described BlackDeath as “SQ, but with massive balls” and we’re not sure if that’s the technical term or not, but we can see the point. BlackDeath is the meanest audio in the VIBE line-up. We’re talking ultra high performance here, serious grunt derived from their current range of expert-level competition speakers. In other words these are the loudest components you’re gonna get, but they also offer exceptional sound quality. Impressive considering they’re essentially SPL-class speakers.

They share most of the mechanicals as the BlackAir Black Edition items too but are built for a different type of end game - an extremely loud one! All this extra bass response comes form their hand-layered carbon cones which are designed to withstand a serious spanking. These are all down to the ‘loud and proud’ application.

Serious boom-boom.

CVEN (2 WAY), £349.99

CVEN (3 WAY), £449.99

CVEN62C-V4. 120Watts RMS, 240Watts Peak

CVEN63C-V4. 130Watts RMS, 290Watts Peak

Key Features:

Key Features:

FEA Composite Cones, 22mm Wide-band Silk Dome Tweeters, Mundorf Reference Capacitors

FEA Composite Cones, 22mm Wide-band Silk Dome Tweeters, 3-way Passive Crossover, Mundorf Reference Capacitors

Here we’re talking the absolute best that can be achieved with regards to realistic reproduction of high-quality sound. These are a ‘because we can’ product and easily comparable to car and home hifi speakers that cost thousands of pounds. Developed by the VIBE Research Team each part of these components is designed to be perfectly matched and balanced. In fact, the wide band tweeter and mid are so well matched they don’t even need a normal frequency correction crossover - all you get is an expert-level capacitor to protect the tweeter from the low frequencies.

They’re also hand made in a temperature/humidity controlled environment and marked with a unique reference number so they can track every last detail all the way through. Basically if you want to know the temperature of the glue on the day they were assembled, they can find out for you. That’s how they ensure strict quality.

If the 2-way is amazing, this 3-way kit is the absolute pinnacle of what can be done.

It’s basically the same setup but with an added component midrange speaker for adding particular focus to the vocal frequencies. Again the cones are FEA composite to ensure maximum rigidity to weight and deliver outstanding clarity. With these there’s also a ultra-high-end 3-way crossover to split the frequencies. This contains a separate 90Hz high pass filter and the essential capacitors for the tweeters. Like the 2-way version the tweeters also have magnetic grilles that can be whipped of so they don’t get in the way of the treble. In other words, they’re pretty bonkers.

The thing about the whole CVEN range is the attention to the balance and how all the elements work together. Alone the mids and tweeters are absolutely amazing but put together they’re exceptional.

@RETROCARSMAG

SEPTEMBER 2016 55

RETRO RIDE:

MX-5 TURBO

WORDS: Dan Goodyer PHOTOS: Dan Sherwood

CRUISE MISSILE

This NATO-inspired drop top certainly looks ready to do battle on the streets - but it’s the fire-power under the bonnet that’ll blow you away…

56 RETRO CARS

C

onnor Horton’s lightened and turbocharged Mk1 MX5 is a testament to grass roots DIY modifying, it really is that simple.

Even the shoot here has a deeper meaning than you might imagine. In fact, you’d be totally forgiven for thinking we’ve simply plonked our star car in by some garages outside a block of flats in Harlow, because you’d be right, we have. My point is that this location is the most important place in the world to Conner and his little Japanese roadster because this is exactly where he put the whole project together. It certainly makes you realise that it doesn’t matter whether you have a tiny garage, a bit of driveway or a borrowed patch of garden to work on, if you have the enthusiasm for a build you’ll find a way.

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The project started over five years ago when Connor bought his MX-5 on eBay. He explains; “It’s a UK model, so slightly cheaper to insure than an imported Eunos.

More importantly, the spec was right. It had the 1.8-litre engine, a hardtop and manual everything - no power steering, no air-con and wind-down windows. That might have put other people off but for Connor it was spot on. “I wanted to start with the lightest, most driver-focused car I could find so in that sense it was perfect.”

After years of constant modifying, this MX-5 is a bit like Trigger’s broom. It’s had six different cylinder heads, three blocks, several naturally-aspirated tunes, and finally a custom turbo conversion made from bits of an HKS turbo conversion. “Every part has been off the car at least once,” claims @RETROCARSMAG

Connor. As more parts have been added under the bonnet, less of the bodywork has remained on the outside. Huge chunks are missing behind the front wheels and hardly anything remains of the rear bumper!

It’s all in the pursuit of making this car as light and nimble as possible. “The front wing cut-outs are the result of spraying the car NATO green. I bought the paint from a local specialist and it didn’t need any primer. Thing is, it kept chipping off behind the front wheels as stones got flicked up at it. I tried to re-paint it but it kept happening. I’d seen some race and Time Attack cars with the wing cut-out behind the front wheels, so I just chopped it off!”

He continues; “I tried to bend the inner metal inwards slightly to help air escape down the side of the car easier. It’s supposed to relieve air pressure under the wheel-arch

and increase front-end grip. The rear bumper I cut out because it looked like a bit of a parachute to me. To be honest, I just think it looks much better this way. It’s hard to say how effective these mods have been from a aero perspective, I don’t have my own windtunnel! I can definitely feel the car has less drag at motorway speeds though.”

That’s an important word, feel. It’s how Connor has tuned his car. He fits a new item, let’s say an anti-roll bar, drives the car for a while and if he doesn’t feel any difference, off it comes. “I think the only original part on the car now is the gearbox.”

Popping the vented bonnet that Connor bravely cut himself, he reveals a 1.8-litre BP engine with a top-mounted turbo. “I’m not keen on turbos to be honest,” says Connor, dropping a bombshell halfway through the SEPTEMBER 2016 57

RETRO RIDE:

MX-5 TURBO

shoot. “I like naturally-aspirated engines, always have done. The only reason this ended up turbocharged was money. When you sit there and work out how much money each route costs, the other route is far more expensive. I still like the idea of the noise and throttle-response of a full N/A build but I couldn’t justify the expense. Plus this pops flames now, which is a nice bonus.”

Connor goes on to explain how he had already ventured a fair way down the NA tuning route before fitting the metallic snail; “I’ve been lucky by meeting Dan Elias at Ardler Automotive. He specialises in making MX-5s go faster but he does other high-profile stuff too, like mapping Monster Energy drifter Steve “Baggsy” Biagioni’s drift car. Dan is such a nice bloke and he’s helped me out numerous times, gone out of his way to drive a few hours to meet me when I’ve needed his expertise. I’d recommend him to anyone.”

58 RETRO CARS

“My N/A setup evolved over the years but it’s final spec included a Megasquirt MS-2 ECU that I bought from a guy who makes them in Greece that was mapped by Dan. I replaced the intake cam for an exhaust cam before eventually going for a pair of Piper blink-spec cams, drilled a couple of holes in the front bumper and routed pipework into the front of the airbox, fitted an AK Automotive exhaust and skimmed the life out of the flywheel.”

He continues; “I also had 40-thou shaved off the cylinder head to raise the compression ratio. This is quite a lot to be honest, it’s more common to have 25-thou or so taken off instead. That was done with the help of my friend Alan Wilde at DTW Engines. His dad David specialises in Fords and their workshop has some serious machinery, so that came in handy.

We blueprinted the engine using original Mazda parts, fitted adjustable cam pulleys

and the like. It was making around 160bhp at the flywheel. Which doesn’t sound like much but it went well.”

“It was like this for around two and half years. I did loads of trackdays in it, mainly at Bedford and Brands Hatch. The lightweight flywheel worked really well. I milled it down to around 6kgs, which is beyond the limit most people go to but it’s held up fine. I could really feel the improved engine response from doing this. I also took the crown wheel and pinion from a Kia Sportage front differential and put it in the original MX-5 diff case. This gives a 4.675 final drive ratio which really improved acceleration and is still in the car. It’s one of the most effective modifications I’ve made.”

You might be surprised to learn the diff in Connor’s car is welded. So is it a drift car? “I get asked that all the time!” he laughs, “I’ve done far more trackdays in it that drift days, although I do enjoy

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Traction problems create bigger smiles!

DRIVER: CONNOR HORTON So just about every modification is tried and tested to see if it makes a difference?

“Exactly, and if it doesn’t off it comes.

That’s the whole point of a car like this.”

What’s the most surprising result of testing for you?

“There’s lots but one would be the tyres.

One of the the biggest improvements I’ve made to the handling has been to use stickier tyres on the front than the rear, the opposite to what most people will tell you on a rear-wheel drive car. It wasn’t until I spent a few days swapping them around that I found that out.”

And who are Calsey Motorsport?

“Ah that’s not a company, it’s just a tongue-in-cheek decal me and my mate Alsy run on our cars. He has a hard-topped MX-5 that looks pretty similar and he’s helped out no end with this. That’s what it’s all about, getting your mates round and improving your cars, there’s nothing better!”

Does my bum look big in this? No actually!

skidding. The bottom line for me is it’s all about fun, and I wasn’t keen on the way the factory TorSen LSD unlocked – it wasn’t consistent but a locked diff is. If I’m at a trackday I’m not chasing lap times, I’m just pushing the car harder and harder with a big grin on my face. The same goes for drifting. Sometimes you just want to chuck the rear-end out and hold a massive slide, smoke coming off the rear tyres. Not to win a trophy but because it’s a laugh. It’s still @RETROCARSMAG

fully road-legal and I drive it on the road a lot, so that probably explains how it’s used the most.”

So what pushed an N/A fan into a turbo build? “The engine felt strong but I couldn’t stop cylinder 2 from burning oil. After twice replacing the valve seals I decided to fit a replacement cylinder head, so I got my hands on a 50,000 mile head from Autolink. In a rush, I fitted the head gasket upside down.

Looks very similar but the wrong way up it

blocks the oil supply to the head. Shortly after the result was a wrecked head and it took one of the Piper cams with it.”

Connor began to price up a replacement head with a more aggressive set of cams; an eye-watering £800 for the cams, added to all the extras like solid lifters and he was looking at around £2,000 for roughly an extra 15bhp. Then he saw a turbo kit for sale on the MX5Nutz forum.

To cut a frustrating story short, he fitted yet SEPTEMBER 2016 59

RETRO RIDE:

MX-5 TURBO

There’s some serous firepower in this arsenal

another replacement head in factory spec to his freshly rebuilt and blueprinted bottomend, along with the turbo conversion. Connor adds: “I later discovered the turbo kit actually came off a car owned by HKS themselves.

It had a thick-walled log-type manifold with relief cuts and a brace to the cam cover. Even so it kept cracking and I got Doug at G19 Engineering to fabricate me a new one.”

With all the trouble and expense behind him, Connor could enjoy his newly turbo’d five. “I thought so… but 4 days later I was filming a video of the launch control in action and it went bang! It threw a rod out of the block and when we stripped the engine down the rest of the rods were bent. We’re still

not sure what happened but I don’t use the launch control any more because I suspect it was the cause.”

So now the engine is a factory-spec 80,000 mile replacement. Nothing fancy about it but it’s been making a reliable 176bhp at the wheels (205 lb/ft torque) for months now.

He hasn’t had time to go back for another trackday since the turbo conversion but it gets driven hard. As you’d expect it’s pretty quick too. Once you’ve got used to being down so low, the most obvious thing is how urgent it is. With the relatively small T25 turbo there’s virtually no lag. Coupled to the shortgeared differential and the grip provided by the welded diff and Yokohama tyres, it really

grabs the road and goes. Then when you do get to a corner you have the bite from those AD08s to change direction with and if it all gets a bit much, big brakes from a Mk2 Sport to pull the car up faster than you’d expect for a set of factory brakes. Connor admits he’s not massively bothered about the looks. He’d rather spend the hours testing modifications that make his car perform better. It shows.

It’s been a long journey for Connor and it’s not over yet. He’s now working towards building a fully-forged engine with even more grunt.

With all the weight cut out, proper suspension and that short-geared rear-end, this NATO green weapon will soon be hitting the racetrack with even more firepower. We can’t wait! RC

TECH SPEC: MX-5 TURBO ENGINE 1.8-litre 16v inline 4-cylinder Mazda BP engine, Megasquirt MS2 ECU mapped by Ardler Automotive, custom G19 Engineering exhaust manifold, Garrett T25 Turbo, 2.25in custom one-box stainless-steel exhaust system by TX Autosport, large front-mounted intercooler, Nomad bullet dump valve, EV14 550cc fuel injectors, Iridium spark plugs, Magnecor ignition leads, large alloy radiator, oil cooler, oil filter relocation kit, IL Motorsport engine mounts, 5-speed manual gearbox, Helix 6-puck paddle clutch, heavily lightened OEM flywheel (6kg), welded rear differential with 4.65 final drive ratio, manual steering using power steering rack CHASSIS 7x15in-inch BuddyClub replica wheels, 195/50-15 Yokohama AD08r front tyres, 195/50-15 Yokohama Parada Spec 2 rear tyres, HSD coilovers, custom fast-road alignment by Connor, Jass Performance braces, NB Mk2

60 RETRO CARS

Sport big brake conversion, grooved discs, EBC Yellowstuff pads, brake master cylinder stopper, custom copper lines, ATE super blue race fluid INTERIOR Stripped interior, JK Composites bucket seats, OMP 4in driver seat harness, aftermarket steering wheel mounted on snap-off boss, Vindi double-hoop rollover bar, HKS boost gauge, AFR digital light gauge EXTERIOR Garage Vary front lip, custom bonnet vents, side-repeater indicators in front bumper, lower section of front wings cut out, single-seater drivers door mirror, passenger mirror removed, factory hardtop roof bolted on with Jass brackets, rear bumper cut out, ducktail rear spoiler, sprayed Satin NATO Green THANKS Dan Elias at Ardler Automotive, Alan Wilde at DTW Engines, Alsy for the countless nights laying on the floor under my car.

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The Oily Bits

We like to get our fingernails dirty too, and here’s the part of the mag that proves it. In these pages you’ll find the fabled RC Staff Projects and a whole load of other hands-on content.

066

068

070

072

REGULARS 072 READERS’ RIDES

Another great selection of your own projects.

We can’t get enough, so keep them coming!

078 BUYING GUIDE

Another chance to bag yourself one of the retro cars of tomorrow or, depending who you talk to, today. Anyway it’s the RX-7 FD.

082 CLASSIFIEDS

If there’s one universal truth it’s that there’s always room for a new project. Am I right or am I right? (You’re right - Sander).

@RETROCARSMAG

THE STAFF RIDES 064 J.J.’S GOLF GTI The RC track car gets a chassis setup with all four wheels pointing the right way. Nice.

068 ADE’S VOLVO

078

The snapper-ready workhorse gets carbon cleaned. It’s what’s on the inside that counts.

070 DAN’S SAAB Those three letters that strike fear into the heart of any retro car owner - M, O and T.

MIA MIDGE’S MX-5 Midge very generously gave his pages to J.J. this month… well that’s his excuse anyway!

SEPTEMBER 2016 63

RETRO PROJECTS

STAFF RIDES

John-Joe’s Golf GTI The VW track monster gets a geometry lesson…

A

lthough sorting the chassis should be the first job on any track car to-do list, we opted for more power instead because, well - it’s more power innit!

So after saying that, imagine we’ve rewound the Golf GTI project and we’re now at step one.

With its grunting great 2.0-litre Audi engine making 175-180bhp we knew our little Golf had the grunt to perform with the big boys on track but it was safe to say that we’d approached the chassis in the way most trackday types had.

We bought the best coilovers we could afford (GAZ Gold) and got the ride height to look ‘about right’ and then slapped some sticky tyres on mashed the right pedal while giggling like idiots! What we’d failed to do of course was understand what we were bolting onto our car, why it wasn’t performing as well as it could, and crucially how we could maximise the gear we’d spent so much blood, sweat and beers fitting.

64 RETRO CARS

This is where a specialist like Brunswick Motorsport comes to the rescue. These guys were recommended by a mate who used them on his Mini and said they’d worked wonders. They’re based in Ely in Cambridgeshire and spend most of their time working on everything from classic Alfas,

BMWs and even endurance racing Aston Martins! The small but knowledgeable team at Brunswick is headed by company owner Dave Ashford. A phone call to Dave puts you at ease right away, he’s a no nonsense oldschool motorsport engineer who’s clearly seen it all.

JOHN-JOE VOLLANS – CONTRIBUTING EDITOR Spent this month: I haven’t got the bill yet Workshop/drive time: Only half a day On the road: 1988 VW Golf GTI 16v, 1990 Mercedes-Benz 190E 2.6, 1999 Alfa Romeo GTV On the go: 1974 Opel Manta A, 1982 Porsche 944, 1984 VW Scirocco Storm, 1987 Lotus Esprit S3, 1992 Range Rover Vogue Thanks to: Thanks to: Dave Ashford and his team at Brunswick Motorsport for sharpening up our track Golf no end!

Brunswick Motorsport, Unit 1, Ashley Park, CB6 2HZ, Witchford. www.brunswickracing.co.uk 01353 668840. Email: brunswickracing@gmail.com

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Up on the ramp ready for the science to begin

SQUARE ONE When we delivered our Golf to Brunswick it was clear right away to Dave’s trained eye that something wasn’t right. As he raised the car on the four-post lift and stood back he noticed that the rear of the car was noticeably higher than the front. This made sense as we’d literally just taken the coilovers out of the box and slapped them on; lesson number one is that you never do this apparently!

Oops! No, you’re supposed to count the coils and wind them all to the same level and then adjust to the desired ride height, at least then you’ve got benchmark from which to start.

They don’t just make tyres and socks! @RETROCARSMAG

In fairness to my slightly slapdash approach to the coilover fitting, I knew we were getting the car setup properly. The handling with the coilovers on their default setting was a little scary, especially as I’d slammed the car way too low and this resulted in nearly 3 degrees of negative camber! Great for turn in but not so good for tyre life. Also that rake front to rear, due to not setting the height before fitting, made the rear very light under hard braking.

So the first thing to do was get all of the coilovers back to a steady equal level and raise the car up a little, bringing the camber

Dave didn’t waste any time correcting our mistakes SEPTEMBER 2016 65

RETRO PROJECTS

STAFF RIDES

back to a sensible figure and allowing the steering to operate correctly. Then the toe in/ out setting was adjusted for the best results while still keeping tyre wear sensible. On these old VWs the rear axle is a trailing beam and therefore there’s no factory adjustment for the rear wheels they just track straight… or they should do anyway.

LOW TECH SOLUTION When Dave put his shrewd measuring equipment around our Golf (steel poles on axle stands attached by fishing line) I must admit I was a little underwhelmed.

It looked more like he was off to the local

66 RETRO CARS

carp lake rather than setting up a car for high-speed handling. I shouldn’t have been so quick to judge of course, Dave knows his stuff. The poles and line are used to measure out a box around the car that in turn gives you a fixed point of reference to take measurements of each wheel’s relative location. This is taken with a steel rule and gives you an accurate assessment of how much toe in/out, camber each wheel has, and therefore allows you to adjust until the ideal figure is reached.

With this complete it revealed that three of the car’s wheels were now pointing in the right direction but the nearside rear wasn’t.

Because of the aforementioned lack of adjustment this could only point at one thing, accident damage. Stripping down to the hub was the only way to be sure, so that’s what Dave did. Then we were able to confirm with a straight edge, that the hub surface wasn’t at all straight. The solution was actually blissfully simple, and as it wasn’t too far out in the grand scheme of things, a pair of washers behind the hub bolts would take in the difference. In practice though the 26year old nuts and bolts weren’t playing ball.

The oxyacetylene torch was needed to free up one of the stubborn bolts but, once off, the reassembly was straight forward.

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TIPPING THE SCALES Now all the wheels were tracking correctly and the ride height was nailed, the final step was to weight each corner of the car. Now a lot of people might not know what’s involved in corner weighting, but as with most things technical and car related, it’s best described using a pub analogy. That wobbly table that you place your pints on and find it’s spilling them because one or two legs are slightly higher than the others, that’s the same principle as corner weighting. Coilover suspension can adjust how much pressure each tyre is putting on the road and therefore adjust the weight that’s balanced across the car.

@RETROCARSMAG

Placing the car on scales, one per wheel, tells you how heavy the car is and where its placing that weight down. Adjusting the collars on the coilovers to change the ride height subtly adjusts the weight placed on that wheel. Through constant fine tuning Dave was able to bring the Golf into a much better balance but this, as with everything in motorsport, highlighted room for further improvement. As the Golf was designed to be a left-hand drive vehicle and as it’s frontwheel drive, the engine is place over to the right hand side of the engine bay, which nicely balances out the driver in LHD cars. As mine is a right-hand drive model however, it

makes the matter worse. Also the rear weight differential is now glaringly obvious and calls for a battery relocation.

With these little niggles remaining I wasn’t expecting miracles back out on the road, but when I first took it out for a quick blast, I couldn’t believe the difference! The car was balanced to perfection and allowed me to push far harder into corners and power out with confidence! If you’re not sure how much value there is in setting your car up completely, including weighting the corners, don’t even finish that sentence, just go and book a session now! It’s a half day that will transform your ride into a scalpel sharp track weapon!

SEPTEMBER 2016 67

RETRO PROJECTS

STAFF RIDES

Jamie and Fraser on location

Ade’s Volvo

This month Ade is looking into the workhorse’s efficiency, and getting a carbon clean.

I

am generally quite a cynic when it comes to quick fixes and gimmicks. I’m not the guy who you’ll find pouring in additives, or filling up with premium fuel unless it genuinely is for a car which specifically has been mapped for it. A few years ago when a fuel system cleaning service became the big talking point, and even big-upped on TV, I didn’t really see the appeal. Most of the time if you get inside for a real close up look a fuel system is very clean. Especially on cars which are in current use, and have no specific problems.

So, why did I choose to have Engine Carbon Clean Scotland come out and 68 RETRO CARS

see to my Volvo? First of all I knew that it wasn’t quite as economical as my last 850 for unknown reasons, even though the last one was on double the miles (307k!).

And also that I’ve only been using it for 6 months, compared to the last one’s 2 years of soot blasting miles! The main and most important reason for choosing these guys though is that their service is completely different to the big name fuel cleaner. This one is hooked up to the air inlet tract, not the fuel supply! This is the crucial point, as going in the air tract means that so much more is affected by the clean. Areas which would not be touched in a fuel system clean

such as the inlet manifold, intercooler, boost pipes and throttle assembly get seen to. Plus, arguably, the combustion chamber is far more likely to be affected thoroughly too.

This H2Gogo machine was developed by the company’s main man Den in 2007, who even though now has franchises reaching out globally still to this day goes out and performs cleans. The machine he developed basically allows a mixture of hydrogen with an excess of oxygen to be drawn through the engine by way of the car’s natural vacuum. As the mixture hits the soft loose carbon it will help to clear it

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The nozzle is slipped in just after the AFM

The UK-designed H2Gogo machine in action thorough giving an instant and noticeable effect on performance and MPG. Over the next week or so a continuing effect from the carbon in the engine being softened means that, as you drive, more of that nasty build-up will be cleared.

The process with Jamie and Fraser takes half an hour, and is mostly spent with the car on idle, interspersed with them doing a few rev cycles at timed intervals. All pretty painless and simple.

On their travels they’ve treated every possible kind of engine, from supercars, to tractors, to boats to HGVs. Plus some of their best results have been from cars @RETROCARSMAG

which have had a very sedate life, and are being considered for full rebuilds, or at least an expensive strip down and decoke, as they just cannot pass an emissions test.

After the treatment the Volvo certainly seemed a bit perkier, but I didn’t want to be fooled by any placebo effect, so I reset the fuel computer and did my best to forget anything had been done! One month later I can report that there has been a 4 MPG gain! This may not sound dramatic, but given the miles I do, and that it surely means the car is now performing better allround it seems a no brainer! Engine Carbon Clean Scotland gets the thumbs up here!

ADE BRANNAN – RETRO CARS SNAPPER How much spent: Under £99 Workshop/drive time: Half an hour off/the rest in non-stop use!

On the road: Volvo 850 TDi, Alfa Romeo 155 Q4, Chrysler Horizon, BMW 328i, Sapphire Cosworth, Alfa Romeo 166, Escorts Mk3&4 On the go: Escort Mk3, Drift Capri Thanks to: Carbon Clean Scotland 07490 824259

SEPTEMBER 2016 69

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STAFF RIDES

Dan’s SUPER SWEDE

Handbrake woes come back to haunt Dan as the Saab emerges from storage…

R

egular readers will recall me banging on about the fantastic ‘seven countries in seven days’ tour of Europe that myself and many other Retro Cars followers joined in last summer. In the Euro Rally road reports that followed, I mentioned the peculiar handbrake failure that my Saab suffered while I was leaving our hotel in Paris. To recap, I was stuck on a steep ramp while trying to make my way out of the hotel’s car park when I lost the ability to keep the super Swede from rolling backwards without relying on heavy footbrake action or much riding of the clutch. I thought that the handbrake cable had snapped, but an inspection (following our arrival in Lyon later that day) didn’t present anything untoward, and the car seemed to have regained its stopping power without the need for repair work. Happy days.

I’d forgotten all about this unfortunate episode until the turbocharged two-litre drop-top arrived at Donna’s MOT and Tyre Centre in March, Cambridgeshire, for its annual health check a couple of weeks ago.

70 RETRO CARS

The car had been in hibernation since the end of 2015’s sunny season, and I had no cause for concern until Donna’s mechanic, Mark Peachey, told me that the 16-valve’s nearside rear caliper was refusing to apply handbrake power. Ah, that’ll be the source of my problem in Paris, then. Actually, it had become a problem all over again because Mark was left with no choice but to issue the car with an MOT failure. Bah! The faulty item was installed alongside new Saab 9000 Turbo front anchors, EBC Ultimax slotted discs and Yellowstuff pads in the days leading up to aforementioned European road trip. Fortunately, I hadn’t taken time out to advertise the car’s original braking equipment on eBay, meaning that I was still in possession of a perfectly serviceable nearside rear caliper.

It’s not as tidy as the nearly-new shiny painted silver stoppers that can be seen nestling in every other corner of the black beauty, but it was perfectly capable of succeeding where the newer part had failed.

I returned to Donna’s place whereupon Mark fitted the 900’s original (and working)

rear caliper before giving the car a clean bill of health. Hoorah for fresh MOTs! I can confirm that tricky hill starts are no longer of any concern, unlike the rapidly perishing vacuum pipes that inhabit the super Saab’s engine bay. I think it might be time to invest in more SamcoSport joy…

DAN FURR – CONTRIBUTOR Spent this month: Just the MOT bill.

Workshop/drive time: Not too long, a couple of hours at the most.

On the road: Rolls-Royce Silver Shadow II, Saab 900 S 16-valve turbo convertible, Saab 95 Aero HOT estate, Vauxhall Vectra VXR On the go: Two Vauxhall Cavalier Turbo 4x4s, 3.2-litre Irmscher MV6 Thanks to: Donna’s MOT and Tyre Centre, Units 4&5, Marina Drive Business Park, March, Cambs. PE15 0AU. 01354 658800 www.donnasmotandtyrecentre.co.uk

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Roller just kept on rolling!

Mark had it licked in no time

Out with the new and in with the old

Only a few need replacing thenâ&#x20AC;¦

@RETROCARSMAG

Starting with this one!

SEPTEMBER 2016 71

READERS RIDES

NOW THE MOST IMPORTANT CARS IN THE WORLD - YOURS!

Darren Whitfield’s Mk1 Escort RC Says: It has to be said there’s not a lot of Darren’s 1972 Mexico left in its original guise. With a bonkers (and totally custom) aero-kitted body bolted around a custom space-frame chassis, not to mention the addition of a 4.6-litre Mustang Cobra V8, this 340bhp monster has to be one of the wildest we’ve ever seen here in Readers’ Rides.

Everything from the wiring to the paint, to the tin work has been done by Darren himself too. You don’t have to be a scientist to work out that’s no mean feat!

What we like even more though is, despite its rather hardcore appearance, Darren doesn’t restrict outings to track days, hill climbs and drag races – he actually gives it a regular thrashing on the road, even if it’s just to go shopping. Just imagine this turning up at your local Marks and Sparks! We love your style mate.

We’re currently scrambling the photographers, so you’ll be seeing a lot more of this here in RC very soon. Pure British beef!

Top Mods: Whitspeed designed and built custom tubular space frame chassis, 1998 SVT Cobra Mustang (1998) 4.6L 32-valve V8 crate motor, Emerald K6 engine management system, Mk1 Ford Capri 3.0L rear axle, Gaz Gold fully adjustable coilovers, HiSpec Monster 6 callipers (6-pot) & 285mm discs (front), Cosworth rear disc conversion, custom 20-point CDS tube rollcage,9x15 and 12x15 Image wheels.

FACEBOOK RIDES: SHARE YOURS* ON WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/RETROCARSMAGAZINE Paul Valentine

Grant Kennaird 72 RETRO CARS

Janko Vukovic WWW.FACEBOOK.COM/RETROCARSMAGAZINE

Ben Creasey’s Saxo

Dave Murphy’s Audi RC Says: Dave has owned his 1.8E for over 22 years now but, after a 190,000 mile stint as a daily driver, he took it off the road a few years ago for a full on engine build and plenty of extra grunt. As these things go, it ended up with a lot more besides, including a whole load of chassis components and some of the most intense detailing that man has ever seen. It’s certainty stood the test of time this one – and it’s picked up more than a couple of VAG show trophies along the way. It couldn’t be any more mint if it was a Polo. Stunning.

Top mods: Rebored to 1900cc with KS pistols, bottom end fully lightened and balanced,TSR pack A head with a TSR 203r camshaft,g60 metal head gasket,5 cylinder warm up regulated, ported throttle body, Jacobs high power coil + leads, 8x15 Schmidt Modernline wheels, Black Diamond brakes, Kamei front bumper and eyebrow.

David Maxwell

@RETROCARSMAG

RC Says: The original Saxo is 20-years old now and starting to gain more than a smidge of retro status. It’s a controversial car we know, definitely THE motor of the Max Power generation a decade or so ago and easily one of the most modified cars in Europe back in the day. In short there’s still some monsters out there and, although finding a good stock base car isn’t the easiest, it’s good to see that Ben’s here never fell into the trap of the Lambo doors and Lexus rear lights brigade. This subtle, home-built example has been created by Ben using a simple few touches and a spot of light tuning. Has the little French hatch’s rather tarnished reputation been saved here? It’s certainly a good start.

Top mods: 7x15-inch Ford alloys; coilovers, smoothed front bumper with custom splitter; smoothed rear bumper, shaved engine bay, tubular manifold, induction kit, custom dash and interior.

*Submitting your car on Facebook or by email says you own the copyright to the pictures and that we can print them in the mag. Please don’t upload professional photographs without express consent of the copyright holder.

WHAT’S ON YOUR DRIVE? Getting your project in RC couldn’t be easier. Just open up an new email, put Readers Rides in the subject line, attach a few large format jpgs*, along with a brief spec and send the whole lot of to retrocars.ed@kelsey. co.uk We’ll pick our favourites every month and pop ‘em in. Simples!

SEPTEMBER 2016 73

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BUYING GUIDE

WORDS: Jimmy Willow

Almost Retro: FD MAZDA RX-7

Production Run: 1991-2001 How much?

From £6000

Our guide to bagging an up-and-coming modern classic

T

he legendary 3rd generation Mazda RX-7 celebrates it’s 25th Birthday this year so, technically, it’s already bona fide classic.

That said, it’s always been a controversial car for us, not to mention one that always splits opinion. Life, as they say, isn’t always black and white, especially in the car world.

For some the FD variant of Japan’s famous Wankelpowered coupe is still seen as a little bit too modern (or possibly just too ahead of it’s time) to be considered genuinely retro. Personally I blame Vin Diesel and a passenger seat full of nitrous oxide for that. For others though, it’s an absolute no brainer, one of THE definitive modern classics.

Whichever side of the fence you sit on, there’s just one thing to remember - if you want to find one at reasonable money, you’d better act fast.

The FD is something of a victim of it’s own popularity nowadays and it’s suffering the same fate as many other Japanese RWD cars (not least those of the Nissan S-Body variety) coveted by the drifting community. With the big Mazda that seems to be at a vastly increased rate too – prices are rocketing fast.

Put it like this, they’re not cheap to buy today, but they’re a damn sight cheaper than they will be tomorrow.

If you’re in the market to buy, now is very much the time!

HISTORY The original (and rather stunning) RX-7 FB replaced the rotary-powered RX-3 in 1978 and this was followed by the RX-7 FC seven years later. Both models went through various changes over the years, so much so that the first FDs (from 1991 to 1995) were classified as Series 6 cars. Series 7 came along in 1996 and the JDM-only Series 8 cars lasted from 1999 to 2002.

Now, obviously there’s plenty that can be said about the Wankel engine in the FD, so much more than we could ever can fit in this little box! The 13B-REW twin-rotor is a descendent of the scores of rotary lumps that Mazda had been putting into cars and trucks (and the odd aircraft) since it launched the Cosmo in the early 1960s.

Basically rotary engines are famous for being extremely small, light and powerful, but at the expense of fuel efficiency.

Strictly speaking, the displacement of the sequentially twin-turbocharged engine in the FD is only 1.3-litres – but it drinks like a big-block V8! Many say this one was the last good Mazda Wankel too, and that includes the 13B-MSP Renesis variant in the RX-8.

The important thing is that these physical attributes allowed engineers to mount the engine low and far back under the bonnet giving neigh-on 50/50 weight distribution. It’s universally agreed that this is what gives the FD such supreme handling characteristics.

The rotary engine may be infinitely tuneable but, arguably, it’s the handling that has always given these the edge.

78 RETRO CARS

MODELS Over 20 different models including 9 limited editions and a couple JDM-only ‘special editions’ (called the Bathurst R and R Bathurst respectively) have hit the street since 1991. When it comes to the UK though, only the Series 6 and early Series 7 cars were officially imported. In fact, there are more grey imports here in the UK (usually badged with Mazda’s Efini brand) than actual ‘UK cars’ and this means that the latter tend to be rare and sort after, despite being less powerful.

UK cars were imported until 1996 and came in one spec which included luggage but only for the models with a manual compartments instead of the ‘occasional’ rear transmission. Series 8 came with further seats, twin oil coolers, an electric sunroof upgrades but was only officially sold in Japan. and an extra catalytic converter (hence the All the variants in Japan also had a number reduced output). It has to be said the FD of different specs including a sought-after wasn’t initially the biggest seller either, with lightweight ‘Type RZ’ model. a price tag of around £34000 it was competing All UK cars and most imports were with all the pedigree of the Porsche 964. Even equipped with a five speed manual gearbox, when Mazda significantly dropped the price to although a few of the import models around £26000, sales were still slow. (including the Touring X, Type RB 4AT and the Series 7 cars were all right-hand drive and limited edition Spirit R Type C) come with a were also sold in Australia and New Zealand.

4-speed auto. Unlike the manual cars these These came with a 10bhp power upgrade will only rev to 7k (rather than 8k) too.

Examples of what you can get… (if you can find them) Model (1992-1995) Series 6 UK (1991-1995) Series 6 Import (1996-1999) Series 7 Import (1999-2002) Series 8 Type RS

Power 237PS 255PS 265PS 280PS

0-60 5.1 5.0 4.9 4.7

Top Speed 156 159 162 155 (limited)

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LOOK OUT FOR… High mileage engines aren’t really a major problem for the FD RX-7, there are many running perfectly well beyond the 200k mark. The key is maintenance, and plenty of it. Evidence of oil changes every 6000miles is an absolute must and most people recommend a rebuild every 60-80k, just as a matter of course. These rebuilds cost upwards of £3000 at a specialist, so it’s imperative you check any work has been done by a reputable firm. Many have had one or two in their lifetime and, usually, that’s a good thing. The engines have a reputation

for being unreliable but that isn’t really fair, most failures are due to neglect or bad modifications. If it’s been well looked after, there’s no reason why it shouldn’t be solid.

It’s always a good idea to do a compression if you can, especially if there’s any trouble when starting from hot. The engine internals are pretty simple but the outsides are complex with about 60 vacuum hoses, solinoids and all sorts of other stuff dotted around the bay. Take your time checking for splits or degraded hoses. On the bright side there’s no cams and that means no cambelt.

The OEM temperature gauges have been known to fail and very often are slightly

over-weighted. This means that, even when the engine is overheating, they’ll climb only slightly over the normal mark. Any sort of overheating is devastating for a rotary, more so than a piston engine, so make sure the gauge is working an it reads normal.

Smoke should also set alarm bells ringing.

There will usually be a puff of condensation as the engine warms up, but if there’s any smoke after 5 minutes or so walk away.

Finally import models are not known for their superior rustproofing so checking if the car has been under-sealed is always a good bargaining tool. At the very least knock off the price of a can of Waxoyl.

EDITOR’S CHOICE – ANY OF THEM, EVEN IF IT’S BROKEN!

Aside from mechanically neglected or badly modified examples (and arguably the automatics), there’s no such thing as a bad FD. They’re relatively expensive to buy and pretty horrendous to run granted, but that’s always been a given, so it shouldn’t come as any sort of surprise. Besides they’re just so damn pretty and for many the looks are the main attraction. Even if it’s usually these people (myself included) that get a little put off by the fuel consumption.

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If your mind can get over the 15 or so mpg (25 is the official figure but good luck with that), the rotary lump is a masterpiece, especially when it comes to tuning potential. That said, although I’ve always been a fan of the Wankel, there is another (some may say sacrilegious) school of thought that appeals to me too. It’s common for people to look specifically for an FD with a knackered engine so they can pull it out and replace it with something else. While this will no doubt change the sort of handling

that Mr Mazda intended, the addition of an SR20 from a 200SX, Skyline RB26 or even the odd Corvette LS Motor has become popular in recent years. It’s definitely worth a thought, non-running RXs can actually be picked up for reasonable money. If you do your sums (and all the work) a conversion can work out far cheaper than a good standard model.

Whatever route you pick, the legend is well justified. Choose your base car carefully and you won’t be disappointed.

SEPTEMBER 2016 79

BUYING GUIDE MODIFY IT! IT’D BE RUDE NOT TO! Bolt-on Tuning

If you’re keeping the rotary motor, the first thing we’d do is change the oil. Just in case.

Then it’s always a good idea to spend the next fortnight swapping all those vacuum hoses for good quality aftermarket items.

The thing to remember about tuning a rotary is that fuelling upgrades are essential at every stage. Just slapping on free-flowing filters and leaning out the fuel mix can be detrimental, so make sure the ECU software is upgraded too. Simple tuning like a free-flowing exhaust, filters and software can yield impressive gains.

Watch out for the pre-cat on the downpipe, these can break down over time blocking the exhaust and causing unwanted backpressure.

Most people remedy this with a straightthrough downpipe. If you need to stay MOT friendly the catalysts can also be changed for high-flow sports items and, on some early imports, you don’t need any cats at all. The standard gearbox is generally good for around 480bhp (although it always makes sense to upgrade the clutch as you go) but to achieve that sort of power you’ll probably be looking at a single turbo conversion to get the boost up.

As for the stock twins, some prefer to run them non-sequentially for under-bonnet simplicity and to stop a huge boost spike when the second turbo kicks in.

engine (the idea is to improve airflow) but it also comes with the added bonus that it has a similar effect on how long the ports are ‘open’ as fitting a performance camshaft.

There are several common types of porting, all with different variations, but a street port is generally regarded as a mild process designed for a useable (around 10-percent) power increase in road cars.

Bridge porting is more extreme process designed for big-boost, race tuning where an additional intake port is added to increase duration. Unfortunately this comes with a similar trade-off as using a lumpy (high-lift, long-duration) race cam in a piston engine.

Low-end torque, smooth idling, and general driveability can often suffer and that’s why most recommend bridge porting for cars that never see the street… although many do.

There’s also the rarer peripheral porting which is seen as the most extreme for any rotary engine. This is a lot more involved and comes with an even more serious trade off.

Although you’ll get massive horsepower and the engine will rev to around 11000rpm, there will be next to no low-end performance. In fact, it probably won’t idle below 2000rpm.

Chassis

The same goes for brakes, which may be regarded as pretty good on the majority of models, but obviously an upgrade never goes a miss, especially after serious tuning.

As for the wheels you choose, the world is quite literally your oyster. We wouldn’t recommend fitting 20s of course, but it can be done. Instead just think ‘girth equals grip’ and you won’t go far wrong.

Exterior The FD is one of the few cars out there where you can get away with going absolutely nuts. Body kits and aero modifications have always gone hand-inhand with the RX-7 and the motorsport look will always inspire some amazing creations. Some purists prefer an OEM+ look using upgrades like ’99-spec (Series 8) bumpers. Others may be looking for more of an impact with one of the newer kits on the market. Yes, that’s right, after all these years there’s been a huge resurgence in designing kits for the big Mazda, again that’s probably due to their huge resurgence in popularity both on and off the track.

You can go mad, keep it subtle or look for a balance somewhere in between but, either way, you can pretty much guarantee it’s been done before. The RX-7 will always be a cool car so just do your own thing and you won’t be disappointed.

Engine Porting

As for engine internals, rotary lumps have no valves so the intake and exhaust timing is controlled by the shape and size of the ports.

Porting a rotary, in it’s most basic form, is just like porting the cylinder head on a piston

80 RETRO CARS

Suspension upgrades, coilovers in particular, are a common modification and there’s plenty on the market. But always try to go for an established brand with a reputation for quality.

One advantage of being a popular drift car, is that getting the perfect chassis geometry, with a multitude of adjustable components, won’t be a problem. There’s not a lot underneath that can’t be replaced.

Where to start looking: Rotary Motion www.mazdarotaryenginerebuilds.co.uk Ametech – www.ametech.co.uk Japspeed – www.japspeed.co.uk Rota UK – www.rarerims.co.uk Rocket Bunny – www.6666cutoms.com Exedy – www.exedy.co.uk BC Racing – www.bc-racing.co.uk

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WILDCARD: LAMBORGHINI DIABLO

WORDS: Midge PHOTOS: Connor Surdi

WHEN IN ROME The crazy Italian styling of the Diablo may still wow the crowds here in Europe, but in Japan things are a little different.

92 RETRO CARS

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EDITOR’S WILDCARD

The Ed’s Wildcard gives us the chance to feature those off-the-wall vehicles you may not normally see in Retro Cars. This classic (some may say ‘chavved up’) supercar is a controversial one… but it’s all about the context. We never said we liked it!

@RETROCARSMAG

SEPTEMBER 2016 93

WILDCARD: LAMBORGHINI DIABLO Even by Lamborghini standards this one is a bit strong!

T

he first question I normally ask when looking at any feature car is if I’d feel a bit of a plum driving it. Well dear reader, with this particular motor it has to be a resounding yes! On the face of it this Italian thoroughbred has been modified in such a way that you can almost feel the designers at Lamborghini spit out their continental breakfast in disgust. Even I have to admit, it’s awful… and I mean SERIOUSLY awful. But the important thing about this pink and gold beast isn’t so much the chunk of neon-lit madness you see before you - it’s the context. This rather questionable style is all about where it’s actually from.

You see, drive a car like this through London, Paris or Milan and quite frankly, you’ll look a proper spanner. The pitchforks would be out from both the supercar-loving public and the more car-cultured modifying fraternity alike. And rightly so. There is of course a certain ‘live and let live’ approach here at RC, and although I’d normally say “each to their own” I have to admit I’d probably be right at the front of the angry mob. But then again, the fact that it’s not my particular cup of tea is totally missing the point.

In Japan the rules are different. And by that I mean there aren’t any. When you live in Tokyo the streets are quite literally rammed with crazy tuner cars, kanjo racers and kei trucks. There’s a special kind of mentalism too when the Bosozuku-style cars are out in force. Pound for pound you’ll not see (not to mention hear) more wide-arched, neon-lit, brightly coloured craziness anywhere else in the world.

Of course there’s plenty of blacked-out Mercs cruising through Kabukicho, Tokyo’s red light district, but they’re not exactly there

94 RETRO CARS

At least it’s not the lump from a Prius. It still shifts!

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UNDERGROUND TOKYO: THE RC GLOSSARY BOSOZOKU: Literally translated as ‘violent running tribe’ the Bosozuku were traditionally a huge motorcycle gang until the 1970s when the cars came along.

Nowadays ‘Bozo’ is a separate tuning style in it’s own right. Until a police crackdown in 2004 the gang was known for general disregard of traffic laws and disturbing the peace while speeding through town in groups of over 100. As for the actual modifications? Both the bikes and cars are quite simply insanity on wheels!

YAKUZA: The world-famous organised crime syndicate bound to a strict code of conduct. Also known as the Japanese Mafia. A surprisingly mainstream thing with social roles far more prominent than other organisations, these guys are known for their intricate full body tattoos and for cutting off their little fingers when they’ve annoyed the boss. What does a Yakuza Drive? Whatever he bloody wants, and I’m not arguing, but most famously they are said to have started the home-grown VIP style.

MID-NIGHT CLUB: Not to be confused with the Midnight Club Computer games (which are still pretty amazing) the Mid Night Club was a Japanese street-racing gang which formed in 1985 and disbanded in 1999 after a huge fatal accident. You couldn’t even join unless your car could sustain 160mph but to be competitive on the Wangan, the public Shuto Expressway Bayshore Route, you were looking at more like 200mph. Famously quoted as saying “drifting and autocross are for the weak – we only do maximum velocity.” Suffice to say the police were far too slow to catch them!

@RETROCARSMAG

SEPTEMBER 2016 95

WILDCARD: LAMBORGHINI DIABLO The Mid Night Club reborn? Maybe.

to turn heads, much to the relief of the Yakuza gentleman they’re often carrying. I guess, the real point is in Japan you wouldn’t get so much as a second glance in a relatively sedate Euro-style cruiser and Shinichi Morohoshi, the man responsible for this particular piece of flamboyant exotica, is all about turning heads.

The whole car came about from the need to be noticed and that notion positively extends to the aura around the man himself.

Everything about Morohoshi-san is over the top, from his ridiculously diamond-encrusted trainers, phone and watch to his infectious enthusiasm about having the wildest motor on the block.

The craziness of the Bosozuku influence is clear, the limitless excess of the gang’s cars and motorbikes is a central theme for this 500-odd bhp Diablo Super Veloce and, considering Morohoshi himself used to run with the tribe, it’s hardly surprising. The gang-life may (apparently) be a thing of the past but giving up the ethos wasn’t quite as easy – he still wanted something louder, brasher and generally more insane than everyone else. Well, he certainly put that particular package together here, and then some.

Let’s just say his ties with the Bosozuku and Yakuza are well documented, he says he’s not part of any underground organisation and, to be honest, I’m not inclined to push the point any further. I certainly won’t be the one posing the question quite how he affords not just this relatively old skool Diablo, but an equally bonkers Murcielago Coupe, Murcielago Roadster and Aventador too. I don’t think he’s exactly a Lamborghini dealer either, but he’s definitely Lamborghini man thorough and through and that’s not exactly made him popular with the suited-and-booted Japanese businessmen in the local Lamborghini Owners Club. But then, this particular Lamborghini very much demonstrates how little he cares what anyone thinks and the fact that it’s pretty ridiculous, even by Japanese standards, has made 96 RETRO CARS

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This one even has Lambo doors!

this car a legend, a kind of cult hero on the both the Tokyo back-streets and the Wangan, the Mid Night Club’s old stomping ground.

Nowadays there’s plenty of wild modern supercars created around Tokyo but this retro tarmac destroyer was one of the very first. In fact, the concept of making supercars quite this vulgar was so new when this one rolled out that, not being a tuner or car dealer, Morohoshi-san had a distinctly hard time finding any garage willing to carry out the modifications in the first place.

With this car the minor details of the spec aren’t quite so important either, it’s the whole retina-burning, sense-insulting package. We can talk all day about strobe lights, LEDS, air-horns that play the theme tune from The Godfather and exhausts that make your ears bleed. We can say how they’re not such a good idea and how not to do it but, here in Japan, it works. It really does. In this context I’m even starting to respect it myself, and that my friends goes against every fibre of my being!

Would this madness work anywhere else on the planet? No. Does Morohoshi-san care either way? Of course he doesn’t. But is this car a strange automotive icon that deserves it’s place in the limelight? Oh yes. It deserves it with neon-lit bells on! RC @RETROCARSMAG

SEPTEMBER 2016 97

NEXT ISSUE…

ISSUE #100 ON SALE FRIDAY 5TH AUGUST

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