<<< RALLY STYLE ZETEC MK1
MINT MK1 CAPRI
RARE GT XLR
EGRDP2 INMSPKIRE2D E P ZAKSTS UNNING ESCORT WITH BDG POWER ALSO…
DUNNELL ENGINED VAN MAKES ALL THE RIGHT NOISES
283BHP 183LB/FT 100%TUFF OLD FORDS INSIDE! OCTOBER 2017 / ISSUE 139 / £4.99
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OCTOBER 2017 / ISSUE 138
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PHOTOGRAPHERS RB Photography Andy Ellis, Gazza Hawkins
CONTRIBUTORS Rob Cheesmur, Martyn Morgan Jones, Rob Button, William Neill, David Ford, Andy Ellis, Rob Hughes
DESIGNER Keith Wood / Hype Creative
PUBLISHER Silverback Publishing Ltd Publisher: Tom Saunders Managing Director: Andrew Crispin
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F
or those of you who have picked up this month’s issue of RetroFord and are wondering where the familiar face of Mr Ben Morley has gone then please don’t panic – I can confirm that, contrary to some reports, he hasn’t been assassinated and is in fact alive, well, and boasting a very nice tan. Yes, after many, many years at the helm of RF, Ben, in his infinite wisdom, has decided to hand over the running of the mag to yours truly and I have to say, it’s a real honour and a privilege to have the opportunity to do so. As a long-time contributor to RetroFord, and a veteran of various other motoring titles over the years, I’m very much looking forward to the challenge. Let’s just say that if I produce even a tiny fraction of the effort and passion that Ben’s put in during his tenure, then we should all be OK. So, what have we got for you in the October 2017 issue of RF? Well, there’s the usual blend of old school
Fords that you’ve no doubt come to expect every month of course, including Andy Pyke’s fast road Anglia 105E, Nick Campbell’s Mk1 Capri GT XLR and Bill Corsair’s 2-litre Zetec powered Mk1 Escort to name just a few. Taking centre stage though, is a very special Group 2 Zakspeed inspired Mk2 Escort that is the result of an awful lot of time, effort and money from a man who wanted to create a car that was as close as possible to the original Works racers of the 1970s. And with a naturally aspirated, 283bhp 2-litre BDG under the bonnet, a host of Gartrac components and a simply stunning level of attention to detail, we think that owner, Malcolm Harding, has pretty much nailed it. In addition to that lot, you can read all about the trials and tribulations of my own Mk1 Escort build – a project that was started quite a few years ago alongside Mr Morley himself – and which has recently emerged from the D&A Customs’ bodyshop looking all shiny and orange. Enjoy.
LUKE WOOD / EDITOR / LUKE@RETROFORDMAGAZINE.CO.UK
DISTRIBUTION If you have trouble finding Retro Ford mag in the UK please contact: Warners Group Publications Plc on 01778 391171 Email: nikkim@warnersgroup.co.uk Overseas queries: Tel: 01778 391171 Email: nikkim@warnersgroup.co.uk Retro Ford, ISSN: 1364-2502, is published 12 times per annum by Silverback Publishing Ltd. Annual subscription price UK £44.50, EUR £59, ROW £79. While every effort is made in compiling Retro Ford the publishers cannot be held responsible for errors or omissions. Readers are advised to pay by credit card when ordering goods off the page as they are regulated under Consumer Act 1974, unlike debit or charge cards, which are not. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording or any storage or retrieval system, without the consent of the publisher. Registered at Stationers Hall Copyright. Direct Input by Silverback publishing Ltd.
ISSN: 1750-2942 © 2016 Silverback Publishing Retro Ford magazine, est. April 2006, is published by Silverback Publishing
Steve McCann Veteran RF snapper, north of the border
Rob Button Took the pics of this month’s cover car. Hero
Andy Ellis Reporting back from the Notts RSOC show
Gary Hawkins Last seen somewhere near Goodwood circuit
William Neill Irish correspondent and awardwinning journo
Martyn MorganJones Always goes a bit wobbly at the knees for a V8
Rob Cheesmur Wants to hear about your projects
Paul ‘Windy’ Miller Former RF staffer and now a Fiesta lover
Ben Morley Gone to live in man shed at bottom of garden
David Ford He paid good money for that surname
Andy Pyke His Anglia is on page 20. Take a look at it
Dan Bevis Very, very good at making words happen
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SEPTEMBER 2017
R E G G I B THE E R U T C I P . SO GOOD, WE HAD OT SH T OU DAN ST ’S TH THIS MON
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TO USE IT TWICE…
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NEWGo check PRODUCTS! out new stuff on page 52
FEATURES 10
GENERATION Z It started life as an average Mk2 Escort race car. It’s still a Mk2 Escort race car, just a much better one.
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ONE FOR THE ROAD When Andy Pyke isn’t racing, he likes to enjoy himself behind the wheel of this very tidy Anglia
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NOTTINGHAM RSOC SHOW Andy Ellis reports back from the Notts RSOC show at Ferry Farm Park in Hoveringham.
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WHITE VAN MAN Jim Balmain couldn’t find a buyer for his Dunnell 2-litre Zetec. So he put it in a van instead.
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GLACIER MINT Not just any old Mk1 Capri GT XLR – but one in a very rare and original shade of blue
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RATES FORD ALL FORD EVENT James King went to the Rates Ford show in Essex. This is what he found.
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WINNING COMBINATION Powered by a 2-litre Zetec and inspired by the original Escort Works rally cars, this Mk1 certainly looks the part.
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REGULARS 52
NEW PRODUCTS Some shiny new bits for your RetroFord.
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GREAT DAYS We take a look back at the identity of STW 201R. A very special Mk2 Escort that seemed to live three very different lives.
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FAMOUS FIVE Rob Cheesmur’s mission is to make five people with old Fords, famous. And here are the results.
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YOUR PROJECTS As well as making people famous, Rob also enjoys sniffing out interesting projects. This month, he finds a rather nice Mk1 Fiesta.
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MOTORSPORT Rob Hughes tells the story of Classic Hot Rod’s ‘Mr Consistent’, Gary Goodswen.
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OUR CARS It’s taken a long, long time – but Luke’s Mk1 Escort has finally been painted. And it looks epic.
114 ON THIS MONTH... A misty-eyed look back at issues of RF from this month in history. So many misty eyes.
SUBSCRIBE Find page 102. Fill out the form. Send it off. Get the magazine delivered every month. Easy!
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TRACK DAY
DAY OF THE YEAR! KAC TR LY ON RD FO ST BE THE BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW ON es, that’s right, 2017 sees the return of the hugely popular Retro Ford Magazine Track day at the legendary Brands Hatch circuit in Kent. Get your old Ford out on track with like-minded Blue Oval fans without worrying about idiots in Clios crashing into things in front of you. Open pitlane format means you’ll get as much or as little track time as you can manage!
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14TH NOV 2017
WWW.MSVTRACKDAYS.COM/RETROFORD Track time is reserved only for retro Fords – Mk1/2 & 3 Escorts, Mk1 & 2 Fiestas, Anglias, Cortinas, Capris, 100es.
PRICE: TO BE CONFIRMED IF YOU’VE GOT A RETRO FORD AND FANCY THRASHING IT AROUND THE BRANDS HATCH INDY CIRCUIT, GO TO TO THE WEBSITE AND BOOK YOUR PLACE NOW!
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SPECTATORS WELCOME Got an old Ford but don’t want to take it on track? Feel free to bring it along, park up in the paddock and watch all the track action!
COVER CAR
WORDS: LUKE PICS: RB PHOTOGRAPHY
GENERATION Z WHEN MALCOLM HARDING SET OUT TO BUILD A GROUP 2 ZAKSPEED INSPIRED MK2 ESCORT, HE TOLD HIMSELF THAT HE WANTED TO FINISH IT TO THE BEST POSSIBLE STANDARD. AS YOU CAN SEE, THE RESULT REALLY DOES SPEAK FOR ITSELF
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MK2 ESCORT
hen it came to creating the fastest, most exciting Fords on the planet, you really had to hand it to the guys at Zakspeed. As the company tasked by Ford to take care of its motorsport ventures in the DRM championship in Germany in the mid-70s to mid-80s, a series that later morphed into the current DTM German Touring Car championship, it was responsible for some of the wildest cars to ever wear a blue oval badge. The most extreme were undoubtedly the Group 5 racers, such as the utterly mental Zakspeed Capri which came with a state-of-the-art spaceframe chassis, 600bhp and enough aerodynamic aids to put a Formula 1 racer to shame. Prior to the Group 5 monsters however, there was Group 2 and in the mid-1970s, this included cars such as the Mk2 Escort. And while these were relatively tame in comparison, they were still a sight to behold. In fact,
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COVER CAR
PUB AMMO The engine in Malcolmâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s car is about as close as you can get to the BDG engines used in the original works racers. Slide throttle bodies and Kugelfischer mechanical fuel injection help to produce 283bhp
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MK2 ESCORT
A prize to anyone that can send us in a pic of a more desirable engine bay
you could argue that because they were actually built up around an ‘off the shelf’ shell – as opposed to the Group 5 Capri that shared virtually nothing in common with its road going counterpart – the Group 2 Escorts were actually a little easier on the eye and possibly more desirable as a result. Certainly, when you cast your eye over Malcom Harding’s Group 2 inspired Escort – a car that’s been built to be as faithful to the original ‘101’ liveried machine of veteran German racer, Hans Meyer, as possible – it’s hard to imagine anything else that offers such a heady combination of muscular good looks and those classic Escort lines. And it doesn’t just look the part either, because thanks to an allsinging, all-dancing 283bhp 2-litre BDG under the bonnet, it’s got the performance to match as well. For Malcolm, this Escort is the result of an awful lot of time, effort and superhuman levels of attention to detail. And, without wanting to be too vulgar about it, quite a lot of money as well. Make that tons of money. But while he admits that it’s taken lorry loads of cash to get the Mk2 looking this good, we should also point out that Malcolm has been involved with a great deal of the build himself and it’s entirely because of his critical eye and determination to make sure every element of the build is the best it possibly could be, is the reason that the end result is so spectacular. But before we get to that, we should start at the beginning and explain the motive behind this Escort’s creation in the first place. “Basically, I’d raced in Super Silhouettes for many years but got into the endurance historic racing through my friend Tony Paxman, who has a blue Zakspeed Mk1 Escort,” Malcolm explained. “Racing the Silhouettes was great, but it was very cut and thrust and wild at times, and as I’m a bit older now, the endurance series offered something that was a little less demanding so to speak. Plus, Tony let me race his Mk1 on a ‘you bend it, you mend it’ arrangement and we did very well. “I raced in the Mk1 for around four or five years and it was very competitive – we had a third overall and first in class at Spa, beaten only by a pair of GT40s,” he continued. “At one point, I approached Tony about buying the car off him, but I think it had become so competitive that he decided he wanted to keep it for himself!” So, spurred on by his desire to compete in a car of his own – and with his mate Tony seemingly reluctant to part company with the front running Mk1 – Malcolm decided that the only answer was to build his own and promptly set about looking for an Escort that would serve as suitable starting point for his project. A solution soon presented itself in the form of a what Malcolm describes a ‘half tidy’ Mk2 race car. In theory, this would have been the ideal platform on which to base the Zakspeed replica because as a race car, it was not only already stripped of any road going trim but it had already been prepared for a life on track and as such, would be relatively solid. As we’ve already pointed out though, Malcolm was determined from the outset to build the Escort
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COVER CAR
This Escort is used for endurance racing. Which means a lot of fuel is needed and a big fuel cell, courtesy of AH Fabrications, to keep it in
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MK2 ESCORT PROJECT BUILD… to the best of his abilities, so after taking delivery of it, he had it stripped down to a rolling shell within hours and sand blasted back to bare metal not long after that. From there, it was dispatched to the bodyshop so that work could commence on the transformation from an average race car, to an outstanding one. In order to make his Mk2 anywhere near as competitive as Tony’s Mk1, a significant amount of fabrication work had to be done and the man tasked with doing this, was one Kelly Baverstock. According to Malcolm, Kelly was absolutely instrumental in making the Escort to such a high standard and without his fastidious attention to detail, it wouldn’t have turned out anywhere near as good as it did. “If there was one spot of rust on a panel, the whole thing was taken and out replaced,” he said. “As a result, and in addition to the fabrication that went into making the rear turrets, the six-link set-up, the prep for the roll cage and the tubbed rear arches, it also had a new floor, two inner wings, two new doors, a new front and rear panel, heater bowl and parts of the A-pillar were also replaced. The quality of Kelly’s work was so good though, when the panels were replaced, he unstitched them and then seam welded the new ones on, so the shell really was better than new once it came out his workshop.” Once all the fabrication was done then, the Escort was delivered to Malcolm’s own business, Creative Motor Sport in West Sussex, so that all the running gear, interior and the Zakspeed bodykit (which was supplied by MDV Specialist Engineering in Essex) could be built up prior to paint. Malcolm tells us that he spent a lot of time building up the axle, suspension, brakes and interior, and tried out various combinations of components before he was finally happy with it all. The Gartrac front struts for instance, are actually the second pair to be fitted, as the first items didn’t allow the Escort to sit low enough at the front, so they were sent back and replaced by a set that allowed the ride height to be adjusted until it was absolutely spot on – he even fitted an older BDG unit in order to get everything in the right place once the real engine arrived. Once he was happy with how everything would fit, only then was the Mk2 dispatched to the paint shop, although once this was done, Malcolm admits that he just wasn’t happy with the finish – so he had it all done again! “As it had been taken right back to bare metal, it was always going to need a lot of paint to cover all the minor imperfections, and while the first lot of paint was OK, it just didn’t come up to the standard that I wanted,” he said. “In the end, after using an epoxy primer, stone chip, more primer, paint and a lot of work to ensure the finish was perfect, I was happy with it the second time around.” But even then, that wasn’t the end of the paint session because rather than have a set of vinyl stickers made up, he actually had those distinctive red and green Castrol stripes painted on instead. Which meant masking the whole car up for the green stripes to be applied, before it un-masked and
Rather than start with a road going car, Malcolm sourced a half decent racer as the basis for his Zakspeed creation
The shell was stripped back to a bare shell, sand blasted and then sent away for fabrication work to begin
Any rusty panels were replaced and new ones seam welded back in
Malcolm has an eye for detail so the paint shop took two attempts to get it just right
Castrol stripes are not stickers, they’ve been painted on!
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COVER CAR
Period style Stack instruments and custom Castrol logo on the Corbeau seat are just a few highlights of this no-nonsense interior
TONY LET ME RACE HIS MK1 ON A ‘YOU BEND IT, YOU MEND IT’ ARRANGEMENT
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MK2 ESCORT
Below: ‘101’ livery is a homage to original Hans Heyer Zakspeed car
then re-masked again for the red stripes and then lacquered on top of that for good measure. All in all, a very time consuming, but very effective way of doing things and once again we come back to those three special words; ‘attention to detail’. With the paint now best described as being ‘immaculate’, Malcolm set about building the car up with the Gartac suspension components and Gartrac fully floating Atlas axle, ‘Monte Carlo’ tarmac spec AP Racing calipers and of course a pukka – and once again very expensive – 2-litre BDG engine. Essentially built to be as close as possible to the specification of the 2-litre BDGs that would have powered the original works Zakspeed Escorts all those years ago, it was built by Dave Avy of Bluesky Engineering and features Kugelfischer mechanical fuel injection with slide throttle bodies, a steel crank and rods, forged pistons and a dry sump system. Combined with a Matt Simpson 4:2:1 manifold and system it makes a highly convincing 283bhp and 183lb/ft, which perhaps unsurprisingly is pretty much exactly what Hans Heyer himself had to play with back in the day. Aside from the performance and looks, which are highly authentic of course, there are a few areas in which Malcolm has compromised on originality, with the interior sporting a pair of modern Corbeau seats (complete with Castrol logos), a new plumbed in fire extinguisher system and a choice of two gearboxes depending on where he is racing. Where regulations permit, he used a Quaife G60 sequential (why wouldn’t you, says Malcolm) but on events that demand a more original transmission, he swaps that out for a more traditional five speed ZF item. Those 10 and 12-inch Image split rims are also not quite as wide as those used on the original Zakspeed machine, but other than that, Malcolm’s Escort is a highly convincing – and above all else superbly presented – copy of the real thing. “On the first outing at Brands Hatch, I actually had someone come up to me and say that they were friends with Hans Heyer, and that my car was extremely close to his,” said Malcolm.” As far as a seal of approval goes, that’s not bad going! So what’s next for Malcom and his Zakspeed inspired racer? Well, other than enjoying it as much as possible on circuits such as Brands Hatch and Spa, he also has his heart set on taking it Stateside to compete at venues like Road Atlanta and Watkins Glen. And presumably, he’ll being doing all he can to beat his mate Tony in that old Mk1! Malcolm also tells us that he’s currently got plans to build another Zakspeed inspired race car, which will be based on one of the Works Capris. In fact he’s already started to gather all the components together so that he can build it up in one go. We’ll keep our eyes peeled for that one in the not too distant future, because if this Mk2 Escort is anything to go by, then the result will be absolutely spectacular. n
GET THE LOOK TECH SPEC THIS WAY!
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Ford Facts Engine: FIA spec 2-litre BDG built by Dave Avy of Bluesky Engineering, Kugelfischer mechanical fuel injection with slide throttle bodies, steel crank, steel rods, forged pistons, AH Fabrication fuel cell with internal collector and swirl pot, AH Fabrication dry sump tank with combined catch tank, AH Fabrication radiator, AH Fabrication brake and clutch reservoir, Matt Simpson 4:2:1 manifold and exhaust system with twin silencers, Gartrac World Cup Crossmember and engine mounts, 283bhp and 183lb/ft Transmission: Quaife 60G sequential or 5-speed ZF depending on circuit/event, fully floating Gartrac Atlas axle, with ZF plated differential Brakes: 4-pot Group 4 tarmac spec ‘Monte Carlo’ AP Racing calipers, 260mm discs, 2-pot AP Racing calipers at rear, Gartrac pedal box with AP cylinders, AP Racing adjustable brake bias Suspension: Gartrac front struts with Quantum race dampers at front, adjustable top mounts, Rix engineering TCAs and anti-roll bar, Quantum race dampers at rear, six-linked Interior: period Stack instruments, full Safety Devices FIA spec cage, Corbeau seats with period Castrol logos, plumbed in fire extinguisher Exterior: MDV Zakspeed bodykit, custom painted decals, heated front screen with poly windows Wheels: Image 3-piece alloys (10x15-inch front, 12x15-inch rear), Gartrac hubs Shout and thanks: Kelly Baverstock for his extreme attention to detail – without him the car would simply not be even close to the standard achieved; Dale Fewing, Matt Field and Jacek Zgrzebieniowski at Paint Dynamix in West Sussex for the prep and paint (01243641141); John and Alan at Quest Mead (questmead. co.uk); AH Fabrications (www.ahfabrications.com); Gartrac (www.gartrac.com); Pat Murphy for supplying the dampers; Harry at Image Wheels (www.imagewheels.co.uk); Santino at Think Automotive for pipe work and pumps (020 85681172); Rix Engineering (01379854387); Matt Simpson Race Exhausts (www. simpsonraceexhausts.com); Luke Bennett at Heron Work Wear for the sticker work (01227367177); Quaife Engineering (quaife.co.uk); Malcolm Harding Creative Motor Sport (01243649173); Tim Swadkin for all his help in running the car (www.connaughtengines.co.uk); Vic Lee at Corbeau Seats (www.corbeau.com)
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WORDS: LUKE WOOD PICS: RB PHOTOGRAPHY
ONE FOR THE ROAD AFTER REVEALING HIS RACING PEDIGREE IN LAST MONTH’S ISSUE, WE TAKE A LOOK AT WHAT ANDY PYKE LIKES TO DRIVE WHEN HE’S NOT ON A RACE TRACK
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FAST ROAD 105E ith two features in as many months, Andy Pyke is a man who seems intent on becoming RetroFord royalty – but then, when you’ve spent as much of your life as Andy behind the wheel of classic Fords, it’s perhaps not surprising that he’s getting so much exposure at the moment. Just in case you missed last month’s issue of the mag, Andy was the star of our True Blue feature, which outlined a remarkable racing career that started way back in 1979 at the helm of a 1300 Mk1 Escort, on a grass track circuit in Surrey. After cutting his teeth in Ministox, he moved up to sprinting in an RS2000 badged Mexico and tried his hand at circuit racing. Then, he turned the RS2000 back into a Mexico in order to compete in a number of Modified Production Car and Super Road Saloon races (earning a number of championships and race wins in the process) before switching to front wheel drive and a Mk1 Fiesta XR2, which he raced up until 1996. After a time out, he returned in 1998 to compete in V6 Eurocars with a Mondeo and after another hiatus, he took up Pickup Truck Racing with Steve Dance’s team, then linked up with old friend Tony Paxman who was in the early stages of a Retro Hot Rod build, and pursuaded him that he should turn it into a long distance, two driver, circuit racing car. After switching to classic endurance racing, which meant an upgrade to a 2.1-litre Tim Swadkin Pinto, the pair still race the Mk2 to this day, albeit with even more power courtesy of a 300bhp 2.3 Warrior. So, as you can see, Andy has spent the best part of 40 years peddling race prepped Blue Ovals and while we’ve talked at length about the cars he’s competed with on track, we should also point out that his love of old Fords is not just limited to racers. When he’s not strapping himself into something with a roll cage and set of slicks and chasing the top step of the podium, then he’s just as happy to get along to a club meet or a show and when he’s doing that, you’ll find him behind the wheel of an Anglia. Now, as you can imagine given Andy’s background, this is not just any old Anglia, and while it looks relatively inconspicuous when compared to one of his many race cars, it’s still a very capable and well set up machine. “I passed my driving test in 1977 and my very first car was an Anglia 105E,” Andy recalls. “I bought this one back in 2009 and the idea basically was to build a decent fast road car so that I could relive my youth! Although this time around, I wanted to be able to do all the things to it that I wouldn’t have been able to afford to do when I was younger.” According to Andy, this particular Anglia had been through several owners before him, all of whom had had different ideas of how they wanted it to turn out. It would seem that none of
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ANGLIA
PUB AMMO When Andy passed his driving test back in 1977, his first car was an Anglia 105E. That was 10 years after the model stopped production, by which time over 1 million had been made
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FAST ROAD 105E these previous attempts had gone particularly well (although we’re told it did actually feature in another magazine back in 2000 in a very mediocre spec) so when Andy picked it up it was essentially just a rolling shell. “I’d seen loads of photos of it before I bought it, so I was confident enough that it was a fairly solid shell,” he explained. “As it turns out, on
THE IDEA BASICALLY WAS TO BUILD A DECENT FAST ROAD CAR SO I COULD RELIVE MY YOUTH closer inspection, it was actually in pretty good condition so with regards to repairs, only a very small amount of welding was required. Although I suppose it would have been nice to treat it to a full bare metal re-spray, the paint was fine and as my plan from the beginning was to drive it and enjoy it, I just gave the engine bay a fresh coat of paint and that was it.” Not wanting to spend too much time or effort on transforming the Anglia into a concourse car then, Andy concentrated his efforts on gathering all the right parts instead, which essentially meant getting hold of a Milton Race Prep catalogue and working his way through the list of upgrades. He admits that it did take a little longer than he would have liked to get everything together, and that in an ideal world he would have sourced all the components sooner so that he could have got behind the wheel as quickly as possible – but all told, it took about five years, on and off, before the Anglia was up and running. All the work was done by Andy himself, (with a little bit of help from fellow Anglia owner Bob Button making tea and supplying biscuits) including any fabrication or welding that was needed to get all the parts to fit, apart from the gearbox which was sent away to be rebuilt and the engine, which was dispatched to Andy’s mate from motorsport, Tim Swadkin Racing. The engine is a 1700 crossflow, built up on a 711M block, with a CTM Engineering ‘fast road spec’ cylinder head and fast road cam. Breathing through a pair of twin 45s and fitted with a 105Speed exhaust manifold, it has been built specifically for fast road use and to be as driveable as possible, so while 163bhp at 6,000rpm is not to be sniffed at in a little old Anglia, it’s probably the torque figure of 136lb/ft at 5,200rpm that’s more important here. According to Andy, the result is very effective and very usable, although when you consider the credentials of the man that’s screwed it all together, it’s perhaps not surprising that this particular crossflow can pack an impressive punch. And thanks to a raft of choice modifications, including all the Milton goodies, none of that power or torque goes to waste either.
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PUB AMMO The 1700 Crossflow in Andy’s Anglia has been built by Tim Swadkin Race Engines at Connaught and while it has those big carbs, a hot cam and some nice headwork, it’s designed with torque and driveability in mind, not outright power.
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FAST ROAD 105E Using a BGH Geartech built 2000e ‘box, power is transferred to those 6x13-inch rear wheels via a 3.7 limited slip diff and Quaife two-piece half shafts. A Milton A-frame set-up with adjustable anti-roll bar and Gaz dampers ensure that everything is kept under control at the back end of the car, while Black Art Design struts – that feature two-way adjustable damping – are combined with a Milton double width anti-roll bar help to guarantee that the front end is as pointy as possible.Andy has even managed to squeeze a set of High Spec 6-pots and 275mm fully floating discs on bells under the front wheels, along with a disc conversion at the rear (made up of 4x4 Cossie calipers and Fiesta discs) so it’s safe to say that there’s plenty of stopping power in reserve should he need it. There are lots of other little touches of course, such as the baby oil cooler, baffled sump, adjustable bias pedal box and Milton steering rack conversion, but the end result is a car that has been built by a man with many, many years of competition experience behind him and with that in mind, it’s worth pointing out that while this Anglia is for road use only, you can be pretty sure that it’s all been set-up and fine-tuned with a degree of precision normally reserved for the race track. Andy is certainly very pleased with the result and while he tells us that he’s currently happy to take it club meets and shows, we have a suspicion that he may eventually end up reverting to his old habits. Let’s face it, aside from a more suitable seat, it could make the transition from road to track without hardly breaking a sweat. In fact, Andy hinted in last month’s True Blue feature that he was tempted to take it to some track days and maybe even some sprints as well. Considering his CV, we wouldn’t be at all surprised if he eventually sticks a cage in it and goes hunting for a few more trophies! n
GET THE LOOK Sitting on original Minilites, Andy’s Anglia has been built to be driven and enjoyed
TECH SPEC THIS WAY!
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Ford Facts Engine: 1700 crossflow built by Tim Swadkin Racing, twin 45DCOE carbs, CTM Engineering cylinder head, fast road cam, 711M block, 105Speed exhaust manifold with stainless system, red top fuel pump, ally fuel tank in boot, GT Radiators rad, baby oil cooler, standard baffled sump, Milton steering rack conversion, 163bhp @ 6000, 136lb ft at 5200rpm Transmission: 2000e gearbox by BGH, AP clutch, billet flywheel with integral ring gear, 3.7 limited slip differential, Quaife two-piece half shafts Brakes: Hi-Spec 6-pots with 275mm floating bells, Milton bias pedal box, 4x4 Cosworth Calipers on rear with drilled and grooved Fiesta discs, Wilwood adjustable bias valve, Think Automotive braided lines throughout Suspension: Black Art Design struts with 20mm droop, two way adjustable damping, 275lb front springs, Milton double width anti-roll bar, Gaz dampers at rear, Milton adjustable anti roll bar at rear, Milton A-frame Interior: re-trimmed seats Wheels: 6x13-inch original period Minilites refurbed by Premier Wheels, Redhill, 185/60/13 Yokohama Shout and thanks: Tim Swadkin Race Engines at Connaught, BGH gearboxes, Milton Race Prep, Top Marks Tyres, 105Speed, GT Radiators in Chertsey, Black Art Design, Hi Spec brakes, all the guys for their help and inspiration on the 105speed forum, Keith At Cubesport for his wizardry on the wiring, Bob at Hawkinsport for many years of logistics, man hours and set up advice.
Pretty much the whole Milton catalogue has been thrown at this car. Rear brakes are a combination of Cossie calipers and Fiesta discs
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Est ‘99
autofinesse W W W . A U T O F I N E S S E . C O . U K
EVENT REPORT
WORDS & PICS: ANDY ELLIS
NOTTINGHAM RSO KEVIN CANNON, RSOC PRESIDENT, AND FOUNDER OF THE NOTTINGHAM RSOC, REPORTS FROM THE NOTTINGHAM RSOC SHOW HELD AT FERRY FARM PARK IN HOVERINGHAM
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RSOC SHOW
OC SHOW Subscribe online at: www.retrofordmagazine.co.uk
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unday 16th July, Ferry Farm Park, Hoveringham Nottinghamshire was the place to be for the latest event in the RSOC calendar. Organised by the Nottingham branch of the RSOC, what a day it turned out to be. Over 300 cars turned up on the day, with a fantastic array of cars both old and new school.
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EVENT REPORT
As it was the 25th anniversary of the group being started, (by myself as it happens) it was tremendous to see so many of the club’s superb RS models on show and supporting the effort put in by all those from within the Notts group. There was also a great display of ‘cars of interest’ and, something else that was completely unique for this sort of event – a dancing JCB. I’d like to say a big thankyou and a well done to everyone who organised the event, there are too many to list here, but you know who you are. Also, thanks to everyone who turned up to make the day one of the best events of this year. And last but not least, a bit shout to Andy Ellis for the brilliant photographs of the day. n
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RSOC SHOW
ANDY’S CAR OF THE SHOW… There were loads of fantastic looking cars at the Notts show, but for me, Philip Warsop’s stunning RS2000 really did stand out from the crowd. According to Philip, it’s a very original example, and has been subjected to a full rebuild to get it looking this good: “I’ve had the car about four years,” he said. “I ran it for three months then took it off the road to do a full rebuild on the engine. That then lead me onto carrying out a nuts and bolts rebuild, including all the underside, and the body was stripped down for a full restoration and a re-trim on the seats. The car is very much original with regards to the body panels, I think that it has only had three or four panels in its life, (two door skins, one front wing and maybe a nose cone and bonnet) and it has had repair patches in places. In the future, my aim is to improve the car even more.”
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ESCORT VAN
WORDS: LUKE PICS: SMC
WHITE VAN MAN WHEN JIM BALMAIN WASN’T ABLE TO FIND A BUYER FOR HIS DUNNELL 2-LITRE ZETEC, HE DIDN’T PANIC – HE JUST DECIDED TO BUILD ANOTHER PROJECT CAR AROUND IT INSTEAD.
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DUNNELL ZETEC e’ve encountered all sorts of feature cars over the years here at RetroFord magazine, and we’ve unearthed countless stories of how and why those cars have been brought to life in the process. There are the classic ‘built not bought’ tales of
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late nights and scraped knuckles, of projects that have taken years to create in a lock-up the size of a shoebox. We’ve seen barn finds, late night purchases on eBay, cars that have been built, destroyed, and then built back up again, half finished projects that have been taken on and completed by a new owner and even cars that
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have been purchased all ready to go – only to be tweaked and adjusted to suit different tastes and styles further down the line. Until now though, we haven’t come across many feature cars that have been built in order to shift a spare engine. In fact, unless we’re very much mistaken, this could actually be a first…
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ESCORT VAN
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Which, in a funny kind of way, would make Jim Balmain, the owner of this cracking Mk2 Escort van, something of a pioneer. “I’ve also got a Mk2 Escort 1600 Sport and it used to have the engine that is now in the van,” he explained. “It’s basically a standard crate 2-litre Zetec apart from the throttle bodies, so while it’s a great package, I’d become bored of the power and wanted something with a bit more performance. “My first plan was to just sell it on, but I didn’t have any luck with that so I decided just to keep hold of it for a while longer and maybe try and sell it again at a later date,” he continued. “Then I spotted this van when I was browsing through the classifieds one day and I just thought to myself, I’ve got an engine, gearbox and most of the parts here to make that work! Better still, I thought that once it was up and running it would probably be easier to sell on afterwards.” So, with a plan of action in mind to make the use of his spare Zetec, a deal was done on the van, and Jim promptly set about taking care of a few jobs that needed doing before the engine could be dropped into the bay – which basically meant stripping the whole thing back to a bare shell so that it could be made ready for a fresh coat of paint. “I have a rule when it comes to buying cars that they must have good doors and good arches,” he said. “The doors were fine on the van, although some work was required to sort the arches as they had been messed about with. Other than a floor pan in the driver’s side and half a floor pan in the passenger side, plus a few other little repairs, it was a reasonably solid shell and once all the work was done it was sent away for a coat of Diamond white paint.” In addition to his guidelines on the bodywork of the cars he buys, another rule of Jim’s is that once he starts a project, he always aims to get it done as quickly as he can, and with as little messing about as possible. With this in mind he actually spent some time on a dummy build of the van before he sent off to the paint shop, so that he knew everything would be 100% sorted when it came back. And for anyone who has gone through the pains of a project car build, only to find that they needed to drill a load of holes and weld a load of brackets onto freshly painted metal work will confirm, this is definitely the right way to do things. It might seem like a chore at the time, but in the long run it nearly always pays to be as prepared as possible… So, with the freshly painted van gleaming and all the knocks, dents and patches of rust now a distant memory, Jim wasted little in bolting on all the components needed to get the Escort back on the road again, including the suspension, brakes, trim, interior and of course the faithful Zetec that had been the reason for the whole project kicking off in the first place. From the outside then, the van looks absolutely
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DUNNELL ZETEC
I JUST THOUGHT TO MYSELF, Iâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;VE GOT AN ENGINE, GEARBOX AND MOST OF THE PARTS HERE TO MAKE THAT WORK
After failing to find a home for his 2-litre Zetec, Jim decided it would be a good idea to keep hold of it and stick it in the front of this van instead
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ESCORT VAN
TO BE HONEST I’VE HAD ENOUGH OF PINTOS AND CARBS AND THINGS NOT RUNNING PROPERLY
Most of us would be more than happy with a van like this, but Jim’s also got a 1600 Sport that’s fitted with a 240bhp Dunnell Zetec. He’s a lucky man!
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DUNNELL ZETEC
The engine might be relatively standard, but it makes all the right noises...
pristine and with just a few simple highlights such as the powder coated quarter bumpers and 13inch Comps, it looks as good – if not better – than the day it left it rolled off the production line. On the interior, Jim has opted to delve into the Ford parts bin with a pair of seats from a 2-door Ghia (which tip forward to allow easier access to the rear), a set of Ghia clocks a three spoke steering wheel, a set of fresh carpets and a pair of new door cards. Concealed behind the rear panels are twin fuel pumps and a swirl pot, but other than that, Jim has opted for what interior designers like to call a ‘less is more’ approach. As for the rest of the spec, well, it’s certainly the not wildest Escort ever to grace these pages, but again, by using a number of tried and tested mods, it is a perfect example of how to build an eye catching and very well sorted retro Ford without having to resort to big horsepower figures or breaking the bank on expensive upgrades. Up front for instance is the classic combination of Capri struts and Bilstein inserts, combined with an RS2000 anti-roll bar and double width kit, with a set of good old M16 calipers and vented discs tucked away behind those 6x13inch Compomotives. At the back is a regular English axle, with drum brakes, and a regular 3.5 differential that Jim says is just the thing for comfortable cruising on the motorway. There’s no fancy half shafts, no expensive 4-pot calipers, no rally style fuel tanks or trick diffs in sight, just a great looking van with just the right amount of power required – 139.6bhp at the wheels to be precise – to have some fun. “To be honest, I’ve had enough of Pintos and carbs and things not running properly, these days I just want everything to be as driveable as possible,” admits Jim. “Even with my 1600 Sport, which has a 240bhp Dunnell Zetec, I wanted it to be a turn key package. I didn’t want to have to worry about setting it up, I just wanted to be able to drop it into the engine bay, start it up, and enjoy it – and that’s what I got.” To be fair, Jim is in the enviable position of having both a ‘sensible’ retro Ford with his van, as well as something a bit more lively in the shape of his 1600 Sport for when he feels like going a bit quicker. As for which is his favourite? Well, there’s no surprises for guessing that the 240bhp Escort wins that prize, but with that in mind, Jim tells us that he’s taken both on the Lakes Tours over the years and despite building the van with a view to selling it on, it also admits that he’s grown quite fond of it. So should he sell it? Well, the temptation will always be there to part way with it of course, but you know what, we reckon the ‘proper’ thing to do would be to squeeze a bit more from that Dunnell powerplant. Go on Jim, you know it makes sense…. n
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Ford Facts Engine: 2-litre black top Zetec, Jenvey throttle bodies, Emerald ECU, Dunnell alternator kit, RetroFord exhaust manifold with Powerflow system, Retroford pulley kit, mounts and sump, Retroford radiator, stainless header tank, standard fuel tank with concealed twin fuel pumps and swirl pot, 139.6bhp at the wheels Transmission: five speed Type 9, standard Pinto clutch, Dunnell flywheel, English axle with 3.5 diff Suspension: Capri struts with Bilstein inserts, RS2000 anti-roll bar, double width kit, anti-tramp bars and Gaz adjustable dampers on rear Brakes: M16 calipers with vented discs, drums on rear Wheels: 6x15 Compomotives, 195/50/15 tyres Interior: Ghia seats from 1600 2-door, Ghia dash, three spoke steering wheel, new carpets and door panels, Exterior: re-spray in Diamond white Shell: 1978 shell
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MK1 CAPRI WORDS: DAN BEVIS PICS: CHRIS FROSIN
GLACIER MINT THIS ISN’T JUST ANY OLD MK1 CAPRI GT XLR – THIS IS A MK1 CAPRI GT XLR IN AN ORIGINAL COLOUR YOU MAY NOT HAVE SEEN BEFORE. THANK GOODNESS NICK CAMPBELL CHANGED HIS MIND ABOUT PAINTING IT BLACK…
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1600 GT XLR
eacocks are interesting things. Their extravagant plumage of eye-spotted feathers exists solely to attract the opposite sex, and this works in two clever ways – the first and more obvious way, as outlined by Darwin, is that the showier males are more attractive to the females. The second and more cunning way, posited by Zahavi, is that the feathers serve as an honest signal of fitness, as less fit males wouldn’t be able to outfox predators while carrying such bulky appendages. And another key thing that peacocks share with the Ford Capri you see here, of course, is that they’re a nice shiny shade of blue. We’ll come on to that shade of blue shortly (Capri nerds will have already had their obscurity radars beeping), and focus now on the element of attraction. “Yes, when I was younger the Capris always seemed to get the attention from the fairer sex,” grins Nick Campbell, the car’s owner. “Like a lot of young people, my dad bought me my first car,” he elaborates, “and it was a Vauxhall Viva. It did the job, but I’d always preferred Fords, so the Viva was quickly changed for the best-looking car that I could afford: a Vista Orange Capri 1600 GT XLR – just like this one, in fact, although not in the same condition! “I’ve always been interested – obsessed, my wife would say – in cars, and pretty much always
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MK1 CAPRI
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had a classic, most often a Capri to tinker with. I’ve had more Capris than any other car, which really began when we all started driving back in the eighties; me and my mates from our small town of Marlow all had Capris, which looked pretty cool on a Saturday night when you’d spent all day cleaning and polishing.” And naturally that element of peacocking came to the fore here. If there’s one surefire way to hook a mate, it’s a Capri. That’s just science. It’s a lifelong passion for Nick, this enthusiasm for Mk1 Capris. While some may prefer the brawn of the later fuel-injected models or the underdog charms of the increasingly scarce Mk2, it’s always been the original coupé that’s flicked this fella’s switch. “I do love the Mk2 and Mk3 as well,” he assures us, “but the swage line down the side and the boot rather than hatch, it just makes it different. I’ve had other Capris, many Mk3s that I’ve worked on, but when it came to taking one right back to a shell and starting a complete restoration it had to be a Mk1.” One day, unexpectedly, the spectre of youth caught up with Nick. Sitting in unassuming fashion in a traffic jam on the A404 back in around 2002, his eyes wandered to that week’s copy of the Thames Valley Trader. (For our younger readers, let as assure you that we really did used to buy paper weeklies full of automotive for-sale ads, it was a thing then. No Googleing here, you needed scissors and a pencil and you’d always get inky fingers.) And what do you know? Advertised within five miles of Nick’s office, was a Mk1 GT XLR, just like he used to run in his salad days. Listed as requiring a full restoration, it called for a certain level of commitment, but that was evidently a quality Nick was willing to provide, and so the wheels began to turn. The figurative wheels of the project, that is – the actual wheels… well, let’s just say the car needed work. “I phoned the number as soon as I got to work, and shot round at lunchtime to put a deposit on it,” Nick recalls. “It really wasn’t in that bad condition overall – a runner, but not MOT’d, at first glance requiring a pair of wings, perhaps sills and a respray… The logbook showed two previous owners; the seller told me that the owner before him, an elderly lady, was still having it serviced at Curry Motors up until a few years before. It was showing very low miles, and it was a great colour.” We’ll return to the matter of the colour, but in the meantime – if only to build the suspense – let’s sidestep that particular detail and allow Nick to guide the story back on track: “I wasn’t in a position to even start on the car at the time, we’d just had our second child and car restoration wasn’t in the plan! But I knew I had to buy the Capri then, as I may never get another chance. Fast-forward to 2007, and I began to strip the car down to a bare shell, labelling everything as I went, because although I know Mk1s, I also knew this was a long-term project.
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1600 GT XLR
ME AND MY MATES FROM OUR SMALL TOWN OF HARLOW ALL HAD CAPRIS, WHICH LOOK PRETTY COOL ON A SATURDAY NIGHT
Nick is a life-long Capri fan, but after owning all kinds of different types, he always comes back to the Mk1 as his favourite
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MK1 CAPRI
ITâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S VERY POSSIBLE THAT THIS IS THE LAST MK1 CAPRI AROUND IN THIS ORIGINAL COLOUR
After being stripped back to a bare shell, Nick spent years re-building his Mk1 to the fantastic standard you see before you now
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1600 GT XLR
Thanks to a re-trim, new carpets and door cards, the interior matches the quality of the exterior
“The shell was carefully sandblasted to reveal a few holes in the footwells and outer sills, as expected. The front wings had been removed, as had the front panel, but the rest was really good – the rear wheelarches were perfect, as were the A posts, scuttle and top plates. So my hunt for panels was limited to front wings, two sills and a front panel, which I was very pleased about! And a chance meeting with a guy at the NEC around 2009 provided me with the wings and front panel.” All coming together very nicely, then – although don’t let Nick’s breezy tone fool you into thinking that this was an easy resto; the quality of the finish speaks volumes about the level of work that went into making this rakish old-school coupé sing. With the perfected shell sent away for paint, it was carefully reinstalled in the garage in its fresh new blue, ready for our man to tackle the reconstruction – something that ended up taking the thick end of five years, Nick being careful to use as many original parts as possible. Alright then, let’s talk about that paint colour. “When I first started stripping the car, I actually thought the colour was Sapphire Blue,” says Nick. “But it turned out that the car had been poorly resprayed many years earlier in that colour; when the dashboard came out, you could see a very different colour which I don’t think I’d seen before. A made a call to Kevin Folds at the Mk1 Capri Owners Club, who helped me decipher the VIN and work out the shade; I remember him saying to me at the time ‘Are you absolutely sure that’s what the VIN says?’ The original colour turned out to be Glacier Blue, which we think was only available for a year or so, and it’s very possible that this is the last Mk1 Capri around in this original colour. Kevin did recall seeing another one, but that was a fair few years ago; suffice it to say, it’s a rare colour – as is the interior, which is sort of turquoisey. I’d originally planned to paint the car black, like my Mk2 [as featured in Retro Ford – October 2014], but I’m glad I didn’t now!” Well, no – we reckon blue is the new black, and we could certainly find you a number of peacocks who’d agree with us. This obscure Glacier hue has the hook of being unique in the field of old Capris, with the added bonus of being utterly authentic, and that’s what makes it so special; the fact that Nick’s carefully restored it to mint condition just makes the whole story all the more heartwarming. “Future plans? Just to get out and about in it really, have some fun,” Nick enthuses, which sounds spot-on – this mixture of obscure spec options and rekindled childhood memories is exactly the sort of therapy the modern enthusiast needs. Just try to stop those randy peahens clambering all over it…. n
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Ford Facts Engine & transmission: 1600 crossflow, fully rebuilt, lightened and balanced flywheel, polished and ported head, Kent fast road cam, GT 4-speed gearbox 120bhp (est.) Chassis: 6x13” Capri Laser wheels – diamond cut, painted and polished, 185/70 tyres, front coilovers with roller top mounts, 2.8i calipers and vented disks, 2.8i anti-roll bar, standard rear leaf springs, 2” lowering blocks, Gaz adjustable shocks, polybushed, 2.8i front brakes, stock rear drums Interior: Stock GT XLR interior, retrimmed seats, new carpets, headlining, door cards, original period radio Exterior: Stock GT XLR, 3.0 bonnet, Glacier Blue
Where’s the sat-nav and telly? In car entertainment has come a long way since the period radio in Nick’s Capri...
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RATES SHOW
RATES FORD ‘ALL FORD’ EVENT 2017 WORDS & PICS: JAMES KING
ssex based Ford dealership, Rates Ford, held its fourth annual All Ford event in July. Billed as a fun filled family day out, the event attracted dozens of Fords both modern and retro, with everything from Mk1 Escorts to the latest model Fiesta on display.
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In addition to family attractions such as a bouncy castle and bull riding machine, plus a brace of driving simulators, the organisers also laid on refreshments with plenty of food and drink to keep everyone happy. There was also a good variety of club stands, with a great all-round atmosphere and some
nice looking cars on display. The organisers at Rates Ford also awarded prizes for the best club stand and best car of the day. All in all, it was a great day out and for only a £2 entry fee – the proceeds of which were donated to the Essex Air Ambulance – it was well worth every penny. n
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S T C U D O R P NEW
R YOUR OLD FORD FO S VE EL SH E TH ON H ES HAT IS OUT THERE AND FR OUR MONTHLY LOOK AT W
2 1 1: ADJUSTABLE STRUT INSERTS FOR MK2 ESCORT RS2000 AND MEXICO As we all know, Escorts are enjoying a surge in popularity – and value – at the moment, especially the most desirable models such as the RS2000 and Mexico. So, to keep these classics in tip-top condition and enhance the suspension and road holding at the same time, Burton Power is now offering these adjustable strut inserts from Gaz. The inserts can be adjusted for damping and driving style via a removable nob on the top mounting pin. According to Gaz, the inserts are set up for general road use, but they will also be suitable for the occasional track day or sprint. These are the long front damper inserts intended for use with original spec springs, and come complete with a zinc plated body to keep them looking good and a two- year warranty for peace of mind.
3 3. RUBBER TAPER ROLLER TOP MOUNT.
4. BURTON TITANIUM VALVE SPRING RETAINER FOR FORD SOHC PINTO, CVH AND ESSEX V4/ V6 ENGINES
A nice looking wheel this, and one that wouldn’t look out of place in any retro Ford. According to MOMO, the Prototipo Heritage is ‘the perfect blend’ of old and new, thanks to a combination of modern materials and classic styling. It certainly looks the part, thanks to the leather and white stitching, and we’re also a fan of the retro aluminium spokes – just the thing to freshen up the interior of any fast road or track car.
Group 4 Fabrications has built an enviable reputation for an extensive range of quality performance parts for old Mk1 and Mk2 Escorts, and this month it has added a new rubber taper roller top mount to its list of components, this one designed to suit small hole type strut tops. According to Group 4, this tested and proven rubber top mount now comes with a precision taper bearing which will give the ‘lightest steering possible’. Supplied with a 5/8” hi-angle nut and spacer to suit a Bilstein insert.
Burton Power, the purveyor of all things Ford, has announced that it can now supply ultralightweight titanium valve spring retainers for Ford SOHC Pinto, CVH and Essex V4/V6 engines. The retainers are said to be suitable for models that use these engines and include many of the most popular Fords such as the Capri, Mk3 Cortina onwards, Escort/Orion, Granada and Scorpio, Sierra, Transit, Fiesta including the Mk2 XR2, XR2i and RS Turbo as well as older classics like the Mk4 V6 Zephyr and Mk4Zodiac.
Who: MOMO Where: www.momo-uk.co.uk How much: £215.99
Who: Group 4 Fabrications Where: www.grp4fabrications.com How much: €99.45
Who: Burton Power Where: www.burtonpower.com How much: £12.50 each
Who: Gaz Where: www.burtonpower.com How much: £222.05 a pair
2. MOMO PROTOTIPO HERITAGE STEERING WHEEL
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5 6 5. AEROFLOW PERFORMANCE FITTINGS Do you fancy some fancy fittings? Well then look no further. According to Aeroflow, it has become synonymous with premium quality performance products and that its objective has been to incorporate ‘state-of-the-art manufacturing, aerospace quality materials and rigid quality controls to produce quality performance products at extraordinary value’. So, there you have it. These range of adaptors includes 1/8” BSPT male TO 1/8” NPT female, BSPP to AN straight male flare, BSPT to AN straight male flare, NPT to AN straight male flare, straight ORB male to AN female and many more. Sounds a bit like an online dating sight that caters for pretty much everything. Who: Aeroflow Where: www.aeroflowperformance.eu How much: from £4.19
6. ULTIMATE TUBE NOTCHER Mittler Bros. is a company that has been building metal working tools and fabrication equipment in the USA for over 30 years, and now you can get them over here, too. Dubbed the ‘Ultimate Tube (or should that be toooob) Notcher for ¾” to 2” tubing, this heavy-duty piece of kit is said to have over 25 years of proven use and according to Mittler Bros. at least, is a ‘must have’ for professional fabricators, vehicle preparers and roll cage specialists. Said to offer one of the quickest, quietest and easiest ways to notch tubing for that perfect TIG weld, you simply clamp your tube in the calibrated V Block swivel vice for an accurate and repeatable angle position. The vice can be set in 1 degree increments and there’s a ‘powerful’ 1bhp motor that runs at 120rpm to suit thin or thickwalled tubing. Who: Mittler Bros. Where: www.mittlerbros.eu How much: £4949.99
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7. DEI HEAT SHEATH GOLD SLEEVING This might be a little unnecessary for the average road car, but if you’ve just spent a small fortune on building a serious track car, then this heat resistant sleeving from DEI could be just the thing you need to keep those critical lines, wiring looms, air intakes and hoses nice and cool. Plus, it will look well bling under your bonnet. Made from high temperature resistant metalised polyimide lamination that’s bonded to a 20oz heat treated glass fibre base material, DEI heat sheath gold sleeving will reportedly reflect direct heat up to 427˚C and radiant heat up to 593˚C. Available in a range of sizes. Who: DEI Where: www.DesignEngineering.com How much: POA
GOT A PRODUCT? Do you have a product that’s exciting and will change the world of old Fords forever? Or just sometihng that is new and good? Get in touch!
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Northampton Motorsport The Performance Tuning Specialists
Here at Northampton Motorsport, we have over 20 years experience tuning all types of Ford engines. From Cross flow to Duratec, 4 to 8 cylinders, vintage to modern we have seen them all on our rolling road. As main dealers for Webcon, Dell’Orto SU and Stromberg carbs we have a huge range of Jets and spare parts plus we are Omex and Webcon engine management specialist’s and we map all other popular modern engine management systems. Whether it’s for the road or competition Why not call Northampton Motorsport today and get your engine performing as it should !
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Unit 52, Rothersthorpe Crescent Northampton NN4 8JD
northamptonmotorsport@btconnect.com
tel: 01604 766624 | fax: 01604 701126
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This kit will help get your Zetec conversion started. It will get your Zetec in the engine bay itted to a Type-9 gearbox with no need for removal to it further components.
This kit will help get your Zetec and a Type-9 gearbox itted in the engine bay, leaving just the induction and the cooling system required to get you up and running.
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MK1 ESCORT
WORDS: LUKE PICS: SMC
WINNING CO INSPIRED BY WORKS RALLY CARS AND POWERED BY A 2-LITRE ZETEC, BILL CORSAIRâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;S HOME BUILT MK1 ESCORT COMBINES STUNNING LOOKS WITH RELIABLE FUN
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2-LITRE ZETEC
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MK1 ESCORT
I REMEMBER WATCHING THE WORKS ESCORTS AND I WAS A HUGE FAN
Bill, who lives near St Andrews in Scotland, went all the way to Belfast to pick up this Escort. It was just a rolling shell at the time, and apart from getting a mate to help with the Colorado red re-spray, he has done all the work himself to get it looking this good
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2-LITRE ZETEC
O
ne of the many great advantages of old school Fords is that they can cater for a wide variety of tastes and interests. For instance, for those that get excited about originality, there’s nothing like a ‘matching numbers’, freshly polished and mint condition Mexico or RS to make the concourse contingent go weak at the knees. And if that’s not your thing, well, how about the sight of a Cortina on three wheels around Goodwood, or the spectacle of a Rat Rod Pop beating a supercar at Santa Pod, or a street sleeper Mk2 Escort drawing in the crowds at the local pub meet. From fast road to race and everything in between, the retro Ford scene is as diverse and interesting as any other – and let’s not forget that there’s not much else out there that looks as cool as an old Ford either, whether it’s glinting in the sunshine from under five coats of Meguires, or caked in mud and grime from a rally stage. And for Bill Corsair, it was very much the latter of those two scenarios that got him interested in Fords back in the day, thanks mainly to the legendary exploits of the Works Mk1 Escort rally cars. “I remember watching the Works Escorts in action and I was huge fan,” he recalls. “For me, the Mk1 is just the ultimate and while I’d been after one for a while I could never quite stretch to the asking price, or I’d find one on eBay but someone would always put in a higher bid. I bought myself a Mk1 Cortina about 10 years ago, which I still have, but ultimately I’d promised myself an Escort so kept searching until I found this one up for sale on Gumtree. It was a long way away, in Belfast, but the asking price was in my budget so I decided to go for it.” Now, while Bill had finally found a Mk1 Escort within his price range, he admits that when he first saw it in the metal so to speak, there were one or two things that needed sorting before it could look anywhere near as good as it does now in the photos in front of you. For starters, he had to make the trip to Ireland and fetch it all the way back to his home near St Andrews in Scotland, and once that was sorted, he was then able to take stock on what was needed to get the car back on the road again. Which, as it turns out, was rather a lot. “It was basically just a bare shell, with a bonnet, two doors, a boot lid, some glass and an axle,” he said. “On the positive side, there were no real nasty surprises because it had all been stripped back and the worst of the repairs had already been done, so all I had to do really was fit a door skin and then spend some time prepping the bodywork for paint. “The other plus point was that the previous owner had already fitted the rally style bubble arches,” he continued. “I was never going to be able to build or own a genuine rally car, so to have one that could at least look the part was for me, the next best thing.” And as you can see from the photos, Bill’s vision of a rally inspired Escort has now been realised with a Mk1 that combines the muscular looks of those original Works cars, but with the driveability and reliability of a more modern machine thanks to the
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MK1 ESCORT
After putting in some serious graft, Bill was determined to get the Escort finished and the result is well worth the effort, we say
THE WHOLE PROJECT WAS A REAL CASE OF BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS
Working in a cramped garage, Bill only had some axle stands and a trolley jack to move the Escort around. He had to take the doors off when working on it inside, as there wasnâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;t even enough room to open them!
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2-LITRE ZETEC addition of a lightly tuned 2-litre Zetec. And despite being in his 60s when he started the project back in 2014, Bill is proud to say that he did pretty much all the work to get it looking this good himself, apart from getting a friend to help with the re-spray, which was done in Ford Colorado red to match his wife’s Mk7 Fiesta. He even painted all the underside and interior himself! All of which is highly commendable it has to be said, and when you take into account the fact that he did all the work in a garage so small that he couldn’t even open the Escort’s doors, well, we would ask you to raise your hats even higher. “I used to be in the motor trade so I’m quite confident when it comes to working on cars, but it was hard graft doing everything myself in such a small space,” he admits. “I only had four axle stands and a trolley jack to move it backwards and forwards, and I had to take the doors off when it was inside. In fact, the doors were the last parts I fitted. After building everything up, I stripped it back down for paint, before building it back up again and after it was rolled outside the garage, the doors were the last piece of the puzzle. “The whole project was a real case of ‘blood, sweat and tears’, but I told myself that once I started, I wouldn’t stop until it was finished,” he continued. “I spent as much time as I could on it, until it was done. My wife even used to bring me my dinner out to the garage!” As we’ve already pointed out, Bill had a real task on his hands to get the Mk1 up to scratch, and he’s had to source pretty much every nut, bolt and washer required to get it running, including all new exterior trim such as the bumpers, grille and lights as well as new rubbers for the windows and doors. In order to save money where he could, he’s also custom made a number of parts here and there, such as the bracket for the water pump modification that’s required when turning a Zetec around to run rear wheel drive. And while he’s clearly a man that’s not afraid to get stuck into doing the odd modification here and there, one of the other great things about old Fords is that most parts are pretty easy to get hold of, so when it came to finding them, it was really just a case of giving the likes of Aldridge, GS Escorts and Zetec specialist Retroford a phone call. With that in mind, most of the kit required to fit the second hand black top was indeed sourced from Retroford, including the clutch and flywheel, which meant that the task of dropping the Zetec into the bay was relatively straight forward. Unlike some Zetec conversions we’ve seen, this one happens to be quite mild, but even with just a pair of 45 Webers and a four branch manifold, Bill is more than happy with the power it produces. “It’s plenty loud enough and there’s only a single silencer on the exhaust so it makes all the right noises, but it’s also nice and reliable,” he said. “I can tuck it away for the winter months when the salt comes out and I know that by the time I come to start it up again, it will do so without any issues.” And while it looks sensational from the outside, it must feel pretty special from the driver’s seat as
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MK1 ESCORT
Those big bubble arches are complimented by a full cage, period Cobra seats and a rally style, deep dish wheel
I TOLD MYSELF THAT ONCE I STARTED, I WOULDNâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;T STOP UNTIL IT WAS FINISHED
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2-LITRE ZETEC
No mud here, this one’s far too clean to take on a rally stage
well, thanks once again to the motorsport themed interior that features a full OMP cage, a pair of retro Cobra Classic RS seats and that awesome Works style steering wheel. Finished with chequer plate trim in the foot wells, carbon style door cards, some rally style flocking and an iconic Escort six dial dash – including a subtle Racetech rev counter – Bill’s attention to detail and hard work have resulted in a car that blends the style and feel of an original Works Escort, but with the driveability of something that’s much less highly strung. Does it matter that it’s not built to pop flames or hold a big smokey drift? Well, that might be an issue for some, but like we said earlier, the beauty of old Fords is that they can cater for all kinds of different wants and needs. And for Bill, the pleasure is in owning and driving a car that does a very good job of reminding him of the rally legends that caught his eye all those years ago. n
GET THE LOOK TECH SPEC THIS WAY!
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Ford Facts Engine: 2-litre Zetec ‘black top’, 45 Webers, four branch manifold into stainless system with single silencer, stainless header tank, original fuel tank relocated in boot with Facet pump Transmission: Five speed Type 9 with quickshift, Retroford clutch and flywheel, Atlas axle Suspension: coilovers with compression struts, upper strut brace (front), Gaz dampers at rear with anti-tramp bars Brakes: P16 calipers and Capri discs (front) standard 9-inch drums rear Wheels: 7x13-inch Superlights with 205/60/13 Toyo tyres Interior: full OMP cage, Cobra Classic RS seats with rear bench trimmed to match, 6-dial dash with Racetech rev counter, flocked dash top, ally chequer plate in floor wells with carbon fibre effect door cards, Works style steering wheel Exterior: re-spray in Ford Colorado red Shell: ’69 1300 shell with steel bubble arches, Grp 4 style tunnel
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FROM THE ARCHIVE
HOW MANY ‘STW 201R’ ESCORTS WERE THERE?
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GREAT DAYS The secondgeneration STW 201R, a brand-new car, first appeared in 1978, and was also used in 1979. This was Hannu Mikkola, on his way to finishing fifth in the 1979 Swedish.
T DAYS Subscribe online at: www.retrofordmagazine.co.uk
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FROM THE ARCHIVE
his is a very complicated story. We all know just how adept Boreham was at number-plate swapping, right ? (Oh really, you didn’t know …. ?). This, however, covers an identity – STW 201R, a Mk2 Escort which started its life at Boreham in 1977, and ended it in David Sutton/ Rothmans hands. But in those five years, it had at least three different ‘lives’, on three different cars. Or was it more ?
T
THE ORIGINAL ‘SAFARI’ CAR OF 1977 It all started with a newly-built left-handdrive car, one of four sparkling machines (STW 200R, STW 202R and STW 203R were the others), sent out to contest the 1977 East African Safari, where it was allocated to Ford’s
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wonder-boy, Bjorn Waldegard. It made a triumphant debut. Helped by an excellent piece of preparation, a huge amount of driver patience, the use of much Safari ‘bush-craft’, and a lot of previous Safari experience, this machine was not only the only one of the four Escorts to make it to the finish, but it won, outright, by the huge margin of 35 minutes from Rauno Aaltonen’s Datsun Violet. There were times on this event when Bjorn was driving so fast that he easily outpaced the various Ford ‘spotter’ and film-making private aeroplanes which were flying above him, but there were also times when he was stuck for many minutes in the face of impassable floods or deep mud-holes. It was one of those events where only a car prepared by super-humanly-
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dedicated mechanics could survive. Ford made an evocative film about the event and how it unfolded, as the capricious Kenyan weather tried its best to bring the cars to a soaking halt. One near-unbelievable sequence (no CGI here, I promise you) shows this Escort crossing a wide and raging torrent with the water swirling around above bonnet level, but somehow Bjorn kept it going, and finally made his triumphant way back to the finishing ramp in Nairobi. Not that the Escort was trouble free, for at one stage it had to undergo a complete front suspension strut change, and there was once a potentially serious electrical fire at a refuelling halt near Nairobi, while towards the end of the event the rear axle gave trouble when five bolts sheared off.
GREAT DAYS
No matter. Immediately after it had won the 1977 Safari, Ford brought it back to the UK, took it off the ‘active’ list, and turned it into a show car in the Heritage Collection, of which they were so proud. The further complication was that there was such a clamour from the RS dealer chain to show off the winning car that Boreham speedily put together a perfect (but brand-new) look-alike, which ensured that it could seem to be in two places at once. You don’t believe us? Then look at the image, reproduced here, and see if you are now convinced ? Even so, there was now more to come. Within months a highly-placed publicist within the company (who never let his identity be known because of the scorn which would have been poured upon him – but it was not
a motorsport staffer ….) decided to give this precious artefact a completely new paint job, to make it look like the more modern Escort (WTW 567S) which Bjorn Waldegard used to win the 1977 RAC rally. Because of the extensive sponsorship decals carried by that car, the original (and now this mock-up) became known as the ‘British Airways’ colour scheme. Immediately, therefore, the visual heritage of the original STW 201R had been destroyed, for this so-called ‘British Airways’ car would be retained in the Heritage Collection for the next 30 years and more. That story, however, is not complete, for in the mid-2000s Ford loaned it out to TV journalist Tiff Needell, who promptly rolled it in front of the cameras. The damage was soon repaired by rebuilding the car around a new
motorsport body shell (so yet more of the old heritage was effectively destroyed), keeping it in ‘British Airways’, and keeping it on the Heritage fleet. Bu there was more. For some quite inexplicable reason the original damaged bare shell was then sold off by the repairers to a private enthusiast without any pre-conditions. That individual then having it painstakingly repaired, re-livered it like the original Safari car, filled it with new running gear, and eventually came to claim it, at Ford club events where it was shown as ‘the 1977 Safari winner’ ....
THE SECOND CAR - BOREHAM 1978 AND 1979 In 1978, however, with very little warning,
David Sutton had bought STW 201R - the secondgeneration car, that is - from Boreham in 1980, and for 1981 rejuvenated it once again, as a newly-shelled car for Malcolm Wilson to drive. This was Malcolm on the Welsh rally, where he finished fifth.
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FROM THE ARCHIVE
Before the start of the 1977 Safari, four brand-new Escorts pose for the cameras. STW 201R would win the event outright a second car to carry the STW 201R plate was born. For the same basic reason as for the sudden appearance of a second ‘cloned’ STW 200R ( a story related in Retro Ford in 2016), the ‘works’ team at Boreham found itself short of cars for use in its intense World Championship programme, and decided to resurrect the STW 201R number plate. No doubt to ensure that any tricky registration details were not raised after this, Boreham did not use the re-born car in British events! The rebirth was achieved by removing the VIN plate from the Heritage machine (which therefore became a rather shadowy non-car ….), and applying it to a totally new STW 201R-labelled machine, which was completed in the summer of 1978. This was a typically stateof-the-art ‘works’ Mk2 Escort, which started its rallying career in August 1978, in the 1000 Lakes in the hands of Hannu Mikkola. Everything started well in Finland, with Mikkola setting fastest times on the first three stages. By SS11 he had been fastest, or second and third fastest, on all but one stage, yet suddenly the engine stopped in mid-stage with an obscure distributor/electrical failure, and
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Hannu was obliged to retire. Months later, in February 1979 (Ford, of course, had been embroiled in a major pay strike which immobilised the Motorsport operation for eight weeks during the late months of 1978). STW 201R and Hannu Mikkola were re-united, this time with sponsorship by Vaudhin Maailma (a Finnish motorsport publication) to compete in the snow-covered Swedish rally. In conditions which were not ideal for a powerful rear-wheeldrive car like this, Hannu spun out twice, losing a total of ten minutes, and was eventually relegated to fifth place. Yet another ‘life’ then began, for back at Boreham this reborn STW 201R was then used for testing and reconnaissance duties for some months, although it did not compete in any British events. Later, however, in September 1979 STW 201R ‘Mk2’ was sent out to contest the Cyprus rally. As this event was sponsored by Rothmans, (and they were paying the bills ....), it made sense to have the car liveried by Rothmans, and to have their star driver Ari Vatanen behind the wheel. The car was in typical Boreham ‘rough-road’ condition, with Weber carburettors.
It was a triumph, for after a long, hard, hot and dusty weekend, Ari recorded his first ‘works’ victory of the year. As a much used test and practice car, this edition of STW 201R might have been getting old, by then, but it won the event by a rousing 40 minutes. However, as far as Ford, Rothmans and every enthusiast who followed the fortunes of these cars were concerned, the story was still not over, not by any means. Immediately after the closure of Boreham’s doors at the end of 1979, STW 201R was sold off to David Sutton (Cars), and began a new career as a fully-fledged, newlivery, Rothmans Escort. That story is related below.
COMPETITION RECORD OF BOREHAM CARS: (Original car) 1977 Safari / Bjorn Waldegard / 1st (Second car) 1978 1000 Lakes / Hannu Mikkola / DNF (engine/distributor failure) 1979 Swedish / Hannu Mikkola / 5th (after two ‘offs’ totalling ten minutes) 1979 Cyprus / Ari Vatanen / 1st (in Rothmans colours)
THE THIRD CAR - SUTTON/
GREAT DAYS
The 1977 Safari was one of the wettest and toughest rallies on record, but Bjorn Waldegard drove superbly to win in STW 201R
ROTHMANS - 1980 AND 1981 Although the registration number was already famous among Ford rally enthusiasts, there was much more to come. After it had won the Cyprus rally in 1979 it was sold off, and ended up in the safe hands of David Sutton (Cars), for use in the Rothmans-Ford team of 1980 and 1981. Not seen in public for some months, STW 201R then re-appeared in September 1980, in modern Rothmans colours. Sent out to Cyprus to contest the rough and tough Cyprus rally, it was entrusted to Roger Clark to drive: to everyone’s joy, Roger brought it home the outright winner, a long way ahead of any of his competition. Much was made of the fact that this was the self-same car which Ari Vatanen had driven to victory in Cyprus in 1979, which indeed it was, but after Roger had finished with it on the rough stages of the island, it was overdue for a new bodyshell to be fitted. For 1981, the entire car was re-built around a brand-new right-hand-drive body shell (previously it had had left-hand-drive). Malcolm Wilson then drove it, starting an intensive British campaign by taking sixth place in the Mintex.
Two months later, Malcolm drove it on the Circuit of Ireland, still with a Weber-carburetted engine, and still with leaf spring rear suspension. Two accidents in the early stages, both at high speed, and on tarmac, did nothing for his confidence, an enforced gearbox change depressed it further, and a broken propeller shaft on SS41 put a final end to his misery. Malcolm, however, was in better spirits three weeks later, when his repaired car started the Welsh rally, which had wall-to-wall forestry special stages. After a steady run, in what was a star-studded entry list (there were three Rothmans Escorts in the event), he took fifth place. Once again, and only three more weeks later, the same driver/crew combination tackled the Scottish rally, which had thirty-nine stages. This time, the car not only needed a ZF gearbox change at one point, but it went off the road briefly (to avoid Airikkalas’s sister car!), and lost a little time. Even so, third place behind ‘works’ Vauxhalls and Opels was another good performance. The same hard-working car then turned up for the all-tarmac-stages Manx rally in September, where Malcolm Wilson had requested ‘Sutton-tarmac’ suspension, which
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featured rear ‘helper’ coil springs while retaining the leaf springs as usual, and ultra-wide rear wheel arch extensions were in evidence. In a four-way battle with ‘works’ Opel Ascona and Vauxhall Chevette HSR cars, and Walter Rohrl’s Porsche 911SC, Wilson performed magnificently and took another third place. This car’s final event in Sutton-Rothmans guise came in November, in the RAC rally, where Malcolm Wilson drove it in absolutely standard ‘British forestry’ specification. After starting steadily, he got the Escort deep into Keilder forest on the 18th stage, went off the track, and could not retrieve it. This car’s Sutton-Rothmans career ended at that point. Although this particular car was then sold off at the end of the 1981 season, its ‘history’ in later years became progressively more clouded, especially as the surviving Rothmans car had been re-created from the original in 1978, the original had a big accident many years later, the damaged body shell was sold off and .... need we say more? n
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MK1 Escort Centre Console
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Awesome replica C/W gaiter Priced at £225.00 plus P&P Unlike any other trim shop Did you know we manufacture more interior components than any other supplier of MK1 Escort Parts and we are constantly looking to release new rare or hard to find parts. We also do trimming, so if you have an interior that needs an overhaul – give us a call So whatever you need for your Retro – Ford, give us a call or take a look at the website for all our up to date offers including our newly released parts and prices @ www.classictrim.co.uk Discounts available for clubs purchasing in bulk and also discounts for individual club members Have a great show season
New for July New for June is our remanufactured MK1 Escort clock binnacle that will be available in either Mexico / RS2000 format or Twin Cam format Added to our excellent dash tops, these are going to go fast! Have a Dash with a Crack We can repair these and in most cases return them to near new condition – using specialist materials regardless of damage we can restore your dash top and re-colourise back to original finish. Want to know more, give us a call or send some picture direct to us via email
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ISSUE 30
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Redlands, Lindridge Lane, Staplehurst, Kent TN12 0JJ United Kingdom
W 0 E 3 E N U E GU S e O W n SI AL N O onli l y l T p a A o c T c C O U yo u r e u s a r v i e ro d or g
www.carbuildersolutions.com ToRedlands, order Tel: 01580Lindridge 891309 or 07964 336183 or online at www.cbsonline.co.uk Lane, Staplehurst, Kent TN12 0JJ
ISSUE 29 Page 1 United Kingdom
E V I F S U O FAM
FIVE RETRO FORDS THAT ND FI TO ET RN TE IN E TH EESMUR SCOURS PUT YOUR FINGER ON… E IT QU T N’ EACH MONTH ROB CHEX CA U YO NG HI A SOMET SEEM TO HAVE THAT TR
KODY PEARCE’S MK3 ESCORT It’s really great to see people starting young in the Ford scene, young Kody is 8 years old and already appreciates an old Ford. Once he is old enough he will be taking the wheel, but for the moment he’s happy to attend as many shows as he can with his parents. The Escort that they have built up started life as a 1300 Ghia called ‘Betsy’ it’s now running a 2.0L Zetec blacktop engine with EFI. There are now uprated springs and shocks on each corner, allowing the Escort to sit a bit lower over JR11 wheels wrapped up in 195/45/16 Toyo Proxies. The Ghia also has more than a hint of the RS1600i with the bonnet stripes, the front spoiler and the super cool spotlights! Looking at these pictures it seems a real shame that Ford didn’t make a 4 door 1600i, as this looks ace! I bet you can’t wait to be old enough to drive it Kody!
LUKE HARWIN’S MK3 ZODIAC FARNHAM ABBOT ESTATE Back in the day, if you wanted a big Estate, the local Ford dealer couldn’t just order one straight from the factory… Instead it had to be a special order! Ford themselves didn’t even build it, they would send a standard saloon car to companies like Abbott, who would work their panel-beating witchcraft. The result being a beautifully created estate car! The price of all this workmanship didn’t come cheap, hence the reason there were very few made. This makes Luke Harwin’s Z motor a rare beast. To top all this off, it’s only had one owner, only has 28,000 miles on the clock and is unrestored! Luke says he is more than happy to fill up the boot, and to pile in the car with his family. This is a car that gets used! Luke admits the car has earned a few battle scars, but in his opinion, this just adds to the character! Plans for the future are to use the car more and to add some period slot mags!
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YOUR FORDS MARTIN HAMMOND’S MK2 TRANSIT CLUBMOBIL Mk2 Transits are cool - end of! This one is even cooler as it’s retro as hell with its ‘Moondust’ paint and those 80s blue stripes! Owner, Martin Hammond, informs us that Ford’s SVO department built these vans to compete with American day vans, that only 150 ‘Clubmobils’ were ever built, and that only a small handful still exist! This one is the only one in existence in the UK, and has undergone a full restoration. It took two years to collect the parts needed, including the large side windows in the doors. Over a period of 18 months, with help from friend, Jim Mc Pherson, the van was put back together including a rebuilt 2.0L Pinto engine and the original 4-speed gearbox. The interior has seen a full re-trim, with any useable original trim retained including the original curtains and that super funky steering wheel!
STEVE MIRES’ ANGLIA 123E This is a well-travelled Anglia, having been imported from a dry area of South Africa to the UK. Steve then uttered the words that we all know and love ‘I won’t touch it, I will leave it as it is.’ So, no surprise when he started modifying it then! It was already fitted with a stout 1500cc pre-crossflow, but Steve decided to add ZX6R bike carbs for good measure. He then turned his attention to the suspension, by giving the Milton catalogue a good thumbing through... there are now coilovers with decent disc brakes up front, and 2” lowering blocks to bring the rear down a tad. For rolling stock there are Lotus steels ‘with caps’ wrapped up in 185/65/13 tyres. Once again Steve couldn’t resist doing something to add his personal stamp to the exterior, this time quarter bumpers at the front. The paintwork on the car was very tidy already, and so has been left alone, the white and chrome providing a great combo! Nice work Steve, this is definitely one to look out for at the shows!
ROBERTO BENENATTI’S TAUNUS SP5 If you have never seen one of these, we wouldn’t be surprised! Believe it or not this is how these Taunus’es’esseessseess (or is it Tauni?) rolled out of the Ford factory, with these mad as a box of frog’s stripes! The only non-original thing on this one is the modern styled white wheels, but to be honest they suit it to a tee! The powerplant is the Brazilian 2.3L Lima engine, and while this is often confused with the trusty Pinto
engine, virtually nothing is interchangeable. From the front, it looks all sensible like a MK5 Cortina, then from the doors rearward it all goes a bit crazy! The rear quarterlights look like they have been stolen from a Datsun 120Y, and there is a seriously large sloping rear end that would make a Granada Coupe jealous! Roberto, you are a lucky man! We wish we had these in the UK!
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T C E J O R P YOUR
HE LOOKS AT THIS... , TH ON M IS TH . TO UP RE GOOD LOOK AT WHAT YOU’ ROB CHEESMUR TAKES A
PROJECT BUILD: MARTIN BROWN’S MK1 FIESTA s time passes, the reasons that people gravitate towards this hobby of ours become more diverse. I mean think about it, in the past either your father, a close relative, or maybe a neighbour might have owned a Ford that left a lasting impression on you? Or maybe you were watching Grandstand on a Saturday afternoon
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newcomers to the scene. What is their motivation, and where does their love for these older Fords come from? They are not old enough to remember them from ‘back in the day’, so for them it doesn’t have the same feeling of winding the clock back to a time when a MK2 Escort was seen on every street corner. For these guys and girls, it has to be down to something else.
I WANTED TO KEEP THE CAR LOOKING FAIRLY FACTORY ON THE OUTSIDE, JUST A BIT CLEANER AND CLASSIER as an impressionable child, and saw some Fords winning at motorsport? Generally, it seems to be a case of re-living nostalgic moments, doesn’t it? But what this doesn’t account for, are the younger
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Well, the Fiesta on these pages that has been given a completely new lease of life is owned by Martin Brown and he admits that for him, the appeal is all down to the boxy good looks!
“This is only the second car I have ever owned, and I have been gradually building it up for the last seven years,” he said. “I bought the car off a little old lady who had it from new. One day she decided she couldn’t drive anymore, so she parked it up in the garage, and it didn’t move for about 10 years!” So, what did the garage yield after 10 years? Well, a pretty dusty and not too rusty 957cc Fiesta L with a fetching chocolate brown interior, that’s what. Mmmm, nice! “First up I stripped the Fiesta down to a bare shell, so I could assess what to do next,” continued Martin. “Once bare, I took a step back and looked at the shell and decided it needed new front wings, new sill panels and new rear arches. Other than this and a few patches underneath, it wasn’t a bad shell. So, first up were new panels and a few repairs underneath. Then I modified the passenger side chassis leg to clear the
YOUR PROJECTS
intended 5-speed gearbox.” Martin then sent the shell off to be sprayed in a custom mix blue, due to not really liking any of the paint swatches that he found. The exterior paint was one of the very few parts of the build that Martin did not attempt himself, although to be fair to him, he did spray the engine bay himself. “With the shell now looking better than new, there was no way I was going to let the wheezy 957cc crossflow back in,” said Martin. Instead he managed to get hold of a proper Mk1 XR2 1600 Kent engine and re-built it himself with a 1630cc capacity, armed with only basic tools and a copy of the good old Haynes manual! This is fed fuel by a twin choke Webber and breathes through a 2.5” Sportex exhaust system. This combo, hooked up to the 5-speed gearbox, is more than enough to give the Fiesta a reasonable turn of pace. The amazing thing throughout this build, is that it’s Martin’s first ever
attempt at anything like this, so you really must take your hat off to him for such a sterling effort! Continuing on this DIY theme, Martin got hold of some Capri Injection seats, took the headrests off and, with some help from his mother, re-trimmed them himself. He then turned his attention to the original rear seat, trimming it to match. The dash has also received a tap from the modding stick, with extra gauges and has been flocked for a touch of class. For suspension, Martin constructed his own coilovers for the front, and at the rear, fitted -60mm uprated springs. “Strangely, for most people, lowering the back of a Fiesta tends to push the axle to one side due to the panhard rod, yet with mine it only moved over by about 5mm, although this is still an issue that I plan to address,” he said. For the exterior, Martin has gone for some classic looks with no arches or body-kit, and is just letting the
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straight bodywork and chrome bumpers do the talking! “I wanted to keep the car looking fairly factory on the outside, just a bit cleaner and classier,” he explained. “One thing I really wanted was an American spec grille, but at £100 each I decided to make my own instead, and used the badge from the rear tailgate.” It’s small touches like this that make Martin’s car stand out. With regards to wheels, he’s running XR2 ‘Pepperpot’ rims detailed and wrapped up in 165/55/13 rubber to avoid the balloon look that 185/60s give, and he reports that the handling is better as well! Plans for the future include a bit more power from the Kent engine and possible Capri 7J rims for the rear. The idea with these is to add a bit of extra dish without looking at odds with the rest of the car. Martin would like to take this opportunity to thank his wife Kay for her patience throughout the build, (brownie points scored there, mate) and we would like to wish him well for the rest of his future DIY mods. n
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MOTORSPORT
A GOOD WIN FO
46 year old Gary Goodswen, from the picturesque village of Harleston right on the Norfolk/ Suffolk border, has been involved with hot rod racing for over 25 years. A family man with two young children, Chloe and Amelia, Gary is a garage proprietor by trade, a business which he shares with wife, Maria, and brother, Colin. This was naturally a line of work where the clientele, particularly in
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this East Anglian heartland, would introduce Gary to oval racing. Based in an area that was handily within an equidistant triangle of the established oval racing arena of Ipswich, Yarmouth and Swaffham, Gary found he was the right man in the right place, at the right time. The early 90s saw Goodswen cut his racing teeth in the budget stock rod class. A stint in the contact formula of 1300cc saloon stockcars soon followed, however Goodswen soon realised that
‘bash n crash’ wasn’t exactly his thing! Therefore, in the late 90s, Gary stepped up to the far more precise and exacting class of two litre hot rod racing and found this competitive hot hatch division to be much more to his taste. He rubbed racing shoulders with the greats of oval racing like Dave Longhurst and Malcolm Blackman and peaked when he became world champion in 2006, adorning his race car with the obligatory gold roof to symbolise his status and
RETRO RODS
WORDS: ROB HUGHES PICS: RAYMOND BRANT OF PETROLHEAD IMAGES
OR GOODSWEN CLASSIC HOT ROD’S ‘MR CONSISTENT’ AIMING TO BE THE NATION’S NUMBER ONE
went on tour, competing as far afield as South Africa on no less than two occasions. By 2013 however, with the demands of the garage business increasing and the natural responsibilities that comes with family, Gary was looking to still keep involved with oval racing, but at the same time ‘step off the gas’ a touch commitment wise. In selling on his two litre hot rod, Gary had been quite impressed with the impact the classic
hot rod racing scene had been making, after all, as a class with a smaller driver base, it still appeared to punch above its weight when it came to capturing the imagination and interest of the race fans and create the headlines. Towards the tail end of 2014, Gary chanced upon a newly built Ford Escort Mk2 CHR that was complete and ready to run. This suited Gary’s needs perfectly, allowing him the opportunity to prepare the car over the winter and be ready for
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the onset of the new season. March 2015 saw a resplendent red and gold Goodswen liveried race car take to the track for the first time as Gary attended the traditional pre-season practice night at Ipswich. This allowed Gary to dial in the car more precisely and set him on a path of a successful career in the ‘coolest cars on the ovals.’ In the three seasons so far that #TheNorfolkBoy (as Gary has been nicknamed by the CHR publicity
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MOTORSPORT
A LOT OF CONSTANT STRESS AND STRAIN IS PUT ON THE SHELL
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RETRO RODS team) has been involved with classic hot rod racing, Gary has progressed ever forwards with the Mk2; improving the handling, ironing out its weak spots and ensuring the car’s reliability. “One thing you have to remember,” Gary reveals, “is the very age of the Escort shell. A lot of constant stress and strain is put on the shell in racing hard in a clockwise direction, and then you have the rubbing, scuffing and occasional bangs that you are bound to get racing in a confined space, literally inches apart from the other competitors.” Sitting square in the centre of Gary’s strong and consistent showing performance wise in CHR has been his choice of engine. Gary’s choice for his number 72 car is a two litre Pinto prepared by Jamie Bryan of JB Race Engines who is based, perhaps surprisingly, some distance from Gary, way down in the West Country! “It was chance circumstances that resulted in my selection of JB,” Gary explains. “His sticker was on the rocker cover of the engine that came with the car! I knew of Jamie from years ago, as he used to race 1300 stockcars at the same time as me, so when I got the car I rang him up to learn more. I discovered he was interested in building this engine for a classic as it would be a good way to get his name noticed. Three years later, here we are, and it’s the same engine! Sometimes it’s better not to run with the crowd, and go with someone different.” Incredibly, in the three seasons Gary has raced in Classics, the engine has never yet been stripped down. Gary explains the secret to its longevity has been regular servicing, racing oil changed frequently and to race with a certain sympathy for the race car and the engine. “Even though it’s a racing engine – it has been bench tested to 190bhp – I certainly don’t believe in thrashing it beyond its limits. At the end of this season however, it will be going back to JB for a complete rebuild. Touch wood it has done me well.” Other features that make up the Goodswen Mk2 include the transmission, which is a two speed Tran-X hot rod ‘box housed in the standard Type 9 housing. The English axle is three link item, with a Panhard rod locating it at the rear. The links themselves are not especially long, perhaps going against the trend that has developed in hot rod racing in general in recent years, but Gary is very satisfied with the set up and how it performs, regardless of track size or weather conditions. The wheels on the car, shod by the regulation A10 Avons, are the Revolution type supplied by Sonny Howard. The choice of shocks are Gaz, a company that Gary has been highly satisfied dealing with. A firm believer in keeping things as simple as possible with the eye to ease of preparation and maintenance, Gary disregards the notion that a ‘little black book’ is needed to keep a record of precise settings for each any every track. “I keep the shocks as they are,” he declares. Indeed, the only thing he does change in the garage prior to racing is the differential, depending on the size of the track.
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RETRO RODS “I only use two types, 3:7 for the larger tracks and 4:1 for the smaller,” he says. “I find that my gearing is fine and I get plenty of pull out the corners.” Gary started his initial season in classic hot rods reasonably successfully in 2015, recording a number of wins, but 2016 proved a greater challenge as perhaps the ‘feel’ for the formula, and the finer points of its competitive edge, were more keenly recognised. Feeling a tad frustrated with a few results mid-season, Gary took a mini hiatus to assess the car, learn what were its weaknesses at the time and correct them. He returned in the November of 2016, to compete in the end of season championship at Wimbledon Stadium, The Best in Britain Title. Goodswen took the car to a track which, down the years, he had become extremely familiar with. In years past Gary had raced his two litre hot rod at the South London track every month throughout the winter season. He knew the nuances of the track; every dip, every crack, every layer of differing asphalt and its differing adhesive qualities. When he took the Escort to ‘The Smoke’ he hoped the car’s issues and his approach to driving it had been sorted. He aimed for a good night as a platform to work from to launch himself for a successful 2017 season. However, he did just a bit better than that – he won the title! With the car handling perfectly on the night, almost by surprise, Gary dominated his qualifying heats, scoring top points placing him on pole for the championship. From the drop of the green he was away like a scalded cat. Despite the best efforts of Lee Wood in his HB Viva and Dave Polley in his Pinto powered Austin A40, Goodswen had the legs on them all, and became the proud winner of his first classic hot rod title. This allowed Gary to prepare for this season with confidence. The car was stripped, all the running gear checked, refreshed where necessary and re-panelled. The car appeared for the start of this season looking immaculate. The familiar red and gold colour scheme was highlighted with fresh reflective brilliant white numbers and the roof was the crowning glory: a racy looking Union Flag which signified his ‘Best In Britain’ title status. He debuted the refreshed car where he had left off – at Wimbledon – in what turned out to be the last CHR meeting at the track prior to its closure (as the
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land the long standing venue stood on was ‘much needed’ for luxury apartments!). “In spite of it being a venue that got progressively more difficult to get to due to ever increasing traffic, I also enjoyed racing there, and I will miss it,” Gary admits. But from Wimbledon onwards, the JB powered Mk2 has enabled Gary to be this year’s #MrConsistent. “Yeah, without a win,” Gary says with a grimace! “The amount of second and third places I’ve had has been brilliant, but I’ve been so near and yet so far all season!” One of Gary’s near misses was the pinnacle title of the year, the national championship, that was held at Ipswich in July. In the chase for the Gold Stripes, his consistency again gave the Norfolk driver a row one start and the opening lap saw Gary sweep round the outside of A40 driver Craig Boyd to lead. Gary, however, had to concede to the faster man on the day with Boyd getting by on lap two. Goodswen refused to give up and chased hard, defending his P2 to challenges from Tick Steward and Hugh Weaver in their respective Anglia and Mk1 Escort. “I raced hard,” Gary reflects, “but I still brood on what might have been.” Casting disappointment aside, Gary considers his overall performance in 2017: “I suppose it’s good that I’ve got to this position this season. It shows that the work that I and the team have put in on the car has paid off. Of course, even though I do want to get a few wins under my belt, because after all,
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that’s what it’s all about, I have been delighted that it’s placed me in such a competitive position in both the English and international series points championships. “I enjoy racing wherever, I don’t especially have a favourite track. The secret to this is the Avon tyres, which have such grip and resilience. They allow you to race both the inside and outside lines with confidence. This is what makes CHR such a great formula both to race and to watch.” And watch is what the classic hot rod fans have been doing this year, with an ever increasing focus, as the ebb and flow of success has
can come off track with a graze or too, but such is the dedication of the drivers and their teams, the cars are brought back to a high standard ready for the next meeting. “The sport is in a good place,” Gary believes. “There has been a greater clarity surrounding the rules and the way they are cascaded to the drivers. There has been better consistency too, with race stewards far more in tune in with what are acceptable moves in classic hot rod racing, and what are not. The PR the formula has now is amazing and the promoter, Deane Wood, has now begun to fully appreciate the marketing potential of the formula
THE SECRET TO THIS IS THE AVON TYRES, WHICH HAVE SUCH GRIP AND RESILIENCE been mixed in almost equal measure between Gary and his three main protagonists for this season’s points championship: Northern Ireland’s Thomas Dilly, Scotland’s Kenny Purdie and fellow Englishman, Tick Steward. All four have wowed the fans this season with cutting edge driving which has, by and large, still been carried out with a underlying respect for these old race cars. True, they are raced on the limit round a four hundred yard oval or less, with literally inches to separate them in many races, so it is of little surprise that there is ‘rubbing’. But to quote Days Of Thunder, ‘rubbing son, IS racing’. These cars
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and is cross selling oval racing to a wider audience. Old cars, great looks, style, nostalgia and good news, publicising the characters that the sport has – it’s fantastic to be part of it all.” ‘Characterful drivers racing colourful cars’ certainly is as good a strap line as ‘the hottest stars in the coolest cars’, but what sort of character would Goodswen describe himself as? After all, in the old cowboy movies, the good guys wore the white hats, and the bad guys the black.... “Oh, I’ve gotta wear the white hat!” Gary laughs. “After all ‘good’ is in my name!” Yes indeed, all Goodswen has to do now is have a ‘good win’! n
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LUKE WOOD MK1 ESCORT
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OUR FORDS
AT & TEARS… AFTER MANY YEARS, LUKE’S ESCORT IS FINALLY OUT OF THE PAINT SHOP
here has been some considerable progress on the Escort in the last few weeks. After spending many, many years looking rather sorry for itself, it is safe to say that it is now in better than new condition thanks to the considerable efforts of Drew and Aaron at D&A Customs. What was once Olympic blue and very rusty, is now Vista orange and incredibly shiny, although to just say it is ‘shiny’ doesn’t really do it justice as the quality of the paintwork really does have to be seen to be believed. And while I’m absolutely over the moon with the finished result, I have to say that it’s been quite a journey to get it looking this good. As is often the case, hindsight is a wonderful thing, but if I’d known what was going to be involved in order to get the Escort to this standard when I first took it on – both financially and emotionally – then there’s a pretty good chance that I’d never have started in the first place! So, before I go into some of the detail on what has been done at D&A Customs, let’s start from the beginning…
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OUR FORDS THE BODYWORK – PHASE 1 The idea when I first started this project was to just clean up the rust, fix the big dent in the rear passenger side quarter and get the car on the road with as least amount of drama as possible. It was never going to be a show car, because I wanted the focal point to be the engine – which to start with was going to be a naturally aspirated Cosworth YB – and I didn’t want it concourse because I convinced myself that I wanted to be able to enjoy driving it, rather than have to worry about it getting dirty or rained on. So, with RetroFord’s very own Ben Morley tasked with replacing the rusty strut tops, wings, floor pans and various other bits of bodywork, I was given the glamorous job of removing decades worth of crud with a scraper, wire wool, some fire and gallons of Nitromors. It was a time consuming and ultimately pointless exercise, but we got the job done as best we could to the point where it was patched up with some fibre glass wings loosely in place and despatched to a body shop that could repair the big dent and make some new paint happen. All of which leads us to…
THE BODYWORK – PHASE 2 Now, I’m not going to say too much about the body shop that initially took on the job of finishing my Escort, because it didn’t go well and I’ll end up crying and shouting and punching things. However, I have to include ‘phase 2’ in this saga, because it’s at this point that the project started to take on a new direction. The engine was sold, and a new Cosworth YB was purchased, something that I blame on Morley after taking me out in his Mk2 Escort ‘Goldmember’ around Brands Hatch. As a result, some changes were made to the shell to accommodate this engine, changes that included the addition of a Group 4 style gearbox tunnel, some extra vents in the front panel and some major mods to the slam panel to allow the fitment of an Airtec radiator/intercooler. Also, I decided after all that it would be worth repairing the shell to a much better standard and as a result it was all sand blasted – which revealed a lot more rusty bits. The body shop successfully repaired the big rear quarter dent, patched up most of the holes and, after deleting and smoothing over the OE fuel filler cap, even fabricated a custom stand for my AH Fabrication fuel cell in the boot. A new heater bowl was fitted, compression struts were attached, the driver’s side door was repaired and a new Type 49 kit strengthening kit was added to the driver’s side front inner wing. While that all sounds very nice indeed, I have to stress that this took a long, long time and after it became clear that this body shop was never going to finish the job, I cut my losses and turned to the guys at D&A Customs for help.
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OUR FORDS THE BODYWORK – PHASE 3 Before the guys at D&A could even contemplate painting the Escort, there was still a fair bit of work to do to prep the shell. As it had been standing around for a while prior to arriving at their workshop, it had to be sand blasted again in order to remove the surface rust, and some of the repairs that had been done previously had to be re-done as they were basically coming apart at the seams. They also advised against fitting the fibreglass wings and bonnet that I had, as these would never really fit properly and in the long run, just wouldn’t stand the test of time. So, new wings were sourced from Magnum panels and a decent replacement steel bonnet was also found. In addition to fitting the wings and bonnet, they also fitted the remaining Type 49 kit to the passenger side strut top and inner wing and fitted a replacement passenger door skin as well. Last, but not least, they repaired all the mods that had been done to the slam panel as – by this time – I had decided against fitting the Cosworth YB in favour of something naturally aspirated again. But that’s a whole new story that I’ll cover in a future issue of the mag… With all the repairs and bodywork finally sorted then, and with the wings, bonnet and door shuts all lined up perfectly, it was finally time for some paint.
THE BODYWORK – PHASE 4 With the bodywork sorted and sealed, the engine bay prepped and smoothed, and with all the panels lined up, the first step to new paint was to mask up the exterior and give the interior and underside a coat of stone chip. The underside was given a going over with 80 grit paper first in order to make sure any last spots of surface rust were out the way, and then a total of six cans of stone chip were applied in order to ensure a decent level of protection. After a couple of hours, the first application of Vista orange was made and when that was dry, the interior was masked off so that work could begin on the exterior. To start with, 120 grit paper was used to ensure the surface was free from scratches, followed by 5-litres of Green TI high build primer that was then blocked back again with 320 grit. It was then guide coated to check for flaws and then blocked again before being giving a good going over with an orbital sander. In was then blocked back again three more times, with another session with the orbital sander, before Drew went over all the straight lines and edges with a 500 pad to ensure the finish was perfect. Only then could the Vista orange paint be applied, with 12-litres in total being applied to the Mk1s flanks. And after that, it was rubbed down first with 1500 grade wet and dry, then 2000 and then 3000 to ensure even the slightest
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Magnum Car Panels and its partner, Muscle Car GT, have over 40 years’ experience in manufacturing classic replacement car panels to OE specification. it only uses genuine panels, ensuring the form and fit are as accurate as the original panel imperfections were removed. Once Drew was happy that the finish was up to scratch (excuse the pun) he then used an electric mop with 3M fast cut to polish, followed by a finer cut to eliminate any swirl marks. The final touch was to apply a coat of satin black paint to the dash top. The end result of all this hard work is, put simply, absolutely stunning and I have to take my hat off to the guys at D&A Customs for their attention to detail and determination to ensure the Escort really is something to be proud of. All I’ve got to do now is build it all back up again, starting with the bumpers, trim, door handles, chrome, headlining and glass – so for the meantime, Drew and Aaron have got a few more jobs to do before the Mk1 can be released from their workshop.
THE WINGS Supplied by Magnum panels (magnumclassicfordpanels.co.uk), the first thing to say about the replacement Mexico wings is that according to the guys at D&A Customs, they went on very well and have definitely contributed to the overall quality finish of the Escort. The same could be said about the door skin as well, which is also from Magnum panels, as are most of the other replacement panels that have gone into the build. The second thing to point out, is that D&A have used Rivnuts to fix the wings in place in order that they can be easily removed in the future. The reason for this, is that I have had a custom header tank made up which is concealed inside the driver’s side wing and the idea was that the wings could be taken off if ever this needed to be accessed/repaired/replaced.
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OUR FORDS
RUNNING IN DAVID TREATS HIS LATEST PROJECT TO A SUCCESSFUL SESSION ON THE DYNO fter settling in with my new retro Ford, it was time to get the small running issue sorted out and have the Fiesta put on a dyno. A friend of mine, Keith Flynn, AKA ‘The Car Carer’, recommended me to a guy that he had recently used to set up his Zetec powered Mk1 Escort. So, with this recommendation, I spoke to Gary Sands who is based near Romford (07883 011989 ) to briefly run through the symptoms that the Fiesta was having. I had already decided that I wasn’t looking for high power figures, more for having a safe and reasonable amount of power on tap. The estimated figure was around the 160bhp mark, so we had that to aim for. On arriving at Gary’s workshop I was greeted with some very fine retro Fords including a bubble arched Mk1 Escort and a Cosworth powered, arched Mk2, –so it’s good to know Gary is a Ford fanatic, too! The first thing Gary did was to download the software for the KMS engine management, and once this was completed, he could plug a lap top in to the ECU. With the Fiesta firmly strapped on to the rollers the first couple of runs showed it to be at 120 BHP, with some minor flat spots and slight over fuelling. On speaking to the previous owner, John Bedford, I asked him if he had suffered any issues, but the only thing he had noticed was that the idling speed seemed low so he tweaked it slightly to bring the idle speed up. After a couple
A DAVID FORD MK2 FIESTA WHAT’S THE PLAN? Get to know the new car.
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of hours and a good few runs on the dyno, the final figure reached was 140bhp, which in a small car will make for some fun driving. The drive home was much improved, with a nice instant throttle response and no signs of any flat spots. Result. If you are thinking of a dyno session on your own Ford or any other make why not give Gary a call. Next month, I will be on the hunt for some trim, including a Ghia or XR2 front bumper. n
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ROUGH GUIDE WORDS: LUKE PICS: VARIOUS
A BASIC GUIDE TO…
N/A COSWORTH YB EVER THOUGHT ABOUT BUILDING A NORMALLY ASPIRATED COSWORTH YB? WE SUGGEST YOU TAKE A LOOK AT THIS FEATURE FIRST BEFORE TAKING THE PLUNGE…
n some respects, building an N/A Cosworth YB makes very little sense whatsoever. In its natural habitat, under the bonnet of a Sierra or Mk5 Escort, the fact that this engine has a turbo bolted to it is the main reason people invest in a ‘Cossie’ in the first place. We’re talking cheap, easily attainable, tried and tested horsepower, typically 300-500bhp but as much as 1000bhp if you have the budget to splash out on top quality components and some serious engineering. Remove the turbo however, and you’re left with what is essentially a flaccid and uninspiring Pinto (albeit one
I
with 16-valves, DOHC and an aluminium head) that would struggle to pull the skin of a cold rice pudding. So, why would you ever want to bother with a YB that’s missing its main ingredient? Well, the fact that it’s based on the good old-fashioned Pinto, does of course make it a very attractive upgrade for anyone with a Pinto powered retro Ford such a Mk1 or Mk2 Escort. Even so, the majority of people interested in retro fitting a YB into an old school Escort would do so for the power, because even if it was left completely standard, the combination of light weight, rear wheel drive and a bullet proof YB up front is one
that’s hard to beat. In some instances though, there is more to life than big power and while there’s no denying that a 300bhp Cossie powered Mk1 or Mk2 Escort is a sight to behold, some purists prefer the ‘feel’ and the noise of a normally aspirated engine. There are of course numerous options when it comes to sourcing an N/A powerplant for a retro Ford, and while a Zetec, Duratec, Vauxhall or even Honda Type R unit all make a good case, the kudos of being able to show off a ‘Cosworth’ emblazoned cam cover under the bonnet is hard to beat. That, and the noise. Did we mention the noise…?
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ROUGH GUIDE WHAT’S INVOLVED IN BUILDING ONE? Unfortunately, there’s a lot more to a decent N/A Cossie YB than simply removing the turbo. As is the case with the majority of engine builds, the exact cost and specification depends on what you’re going to be using the car for and how much money you have to spend, but as a rule there’s not much apart from the block, crank and rods that won’t need replacing or modifying.
INDUCTION With the turbo in the bin, the first and most obvious thing to consider is how you’re going to get air into the engine, and with that in mind you’ve got two choices, carbs or throttle bodies. In theory, both will give similar peak power figures, although there’s a case for big bore throttle bodies for 240bhp and beyond. Throttle bodies are also more expensive, but allow for greater driveability when combined with decent engine management. If you opt for throttle bodies, then as well as an ECU, you’ll also need to consider a bottom pulley with integrated trigger wheel, a coil pack, suitable ignition leads and maybe even a set of fresh injectors as the traditional Cosworth Bosch ‘yellows’ or ‘greens’ are very basic when compared to the latest breed of injectors.
EXHAUST MANIFOLD: A custom exhaust manifold will be required, of which there are various off the shelf items from the likes of Ashley or 105Speed, although for serious race applications a bespoke ‘equal length’ item will need to be fabricated to maximize air flow.
CYLINDER HEAD: The cylinder head will need some serious consideration as the ports are designed to work with forced induction. The key to big power in a normally aspirated YB is in the quality of porting and polishing that goes into the cylinder head, so even if you have all the other ingredients for a big power engine, if you’ve scrimped on the head, you won’t be able to release its full potential.
BLOCK: As with the head, there is a choice of 2WD 205 or 4WD 200 block. Either will do the job, so the most important thing is to make sure that you find one that’s in the best possible condition. Cossie engines are getting rarer by the day, and ones that haven’t been damaged or excessively worn are rarer still.
HEAD GASKET AND GASKET SET: A new head gasket is essential, and a regular GrpA item should do the job nicely, although there is also the option for more expensive multi-layer versions.
CAMSHAFTS, FOLLOWERS, VALVE SPRINGS AND VERNIER PULLEYS: If you’re after any sort of decent power, then the standard ‘turbo’ cams will need to be replaced as they just won’t offer enough lift or duration in
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a normally aspirated engine. Companies such as Piper offer a range of upgrades from fast road to full competition spec, using re-ground or custom profiles from blanks. For decent BHP, you’re going to need something that will allow the engine to rev and while some people might tell you that the standard hydraulic followers are supposed to be good for up to 8000rpm, for the sake of reliability you should really upgrade to a mechanical set-up for anything over 7,500rpm.
PISTONS: As with the cams, the standard low compression pistons just aren’t up to the job in an N/A YB, so unfortunately, a set of expensive high compression pistons will need to be towards the top of the shopping list. Burton, Accralite, Wossner or Cosworth all offer a suitable solution and again, if you want decent power, there’s also the option of race spec ‘slipper’ pistons.
CRANK, RODS AND BEARINGS: The standard Cosworth steel crank and rods said to be are good for up to 8000rpm which is fine for most fast road applications, but those wanting something more extreme will need to consider spending some money on modifying them to allow even higher revs.
SUMP: There are various options when it comes to a sump, and once again it depends on what you’re going to be using the car for, and also the model of car. An expensive dry sump is the ideal solution for competition use of course, but if you’re planning on keeping the original Cosworth item, then it’s worth pointing out that these will probably foul the cross member in Mk1 and Mk2 Escorts. An RS2000 sump solves this clearance issue, but this may need modifying further depending on whether you’re planning on driving hard on track or not.
MISCELLANEOUS PUMPS, PULLEYS, NUTS AND BOLTS: Considering that any donor YB will need to be completely pulled apart to make it suitable for N/A, you should really consider replacing all the original pumps, pulleys and belts before bolting it all back together again. After all, there’s no point spending a fortune on throttle bodies and high compression pistons, only for the whole package to fail on a faulty oil or water pump.
IS AN N/A COSWORTH YB WORTH THE HASSLE AND MONEY? If you’re after good old fashioned bangs for your buck, then no, it isn’t. After all, you could start with a regular 2-litre, or 2.1-litre Pinto and for achieve roughly the same output for quite a lot less expense and hassle. However, if you want something that sounds great, looks great, has ‘Cosworth’ prestige and is arguably the ultimate solution (short of a BDA) for a normally aspirated old school Ford, then yes, it is. n
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