Hi Everyone,
It’s high time I offered up a thread of my car. I’ve been lurking long enough, and chiming in here and there for a little while. It’s a biggie, so get a cuppa and come back and get comfortable.. Here we go!
I started this project so long ago I can’t remember when it was.. 3 or 4 yrs ago maybe. I bought a LHD 2.3D over from Germany for 500 euros. 1 owner, 75,000km. I work with a German lad, who drove it back for me after visiting home for a quick holiday. 1 pair of beam deflectors, and a cable to swap sides on fog light and the MOT was mine. Registration etc followed, and not long after I tore it to pieces.
Long story short it, went from this:
To this; with a fair bit of jiggery pokery and a few years in between.
This is a 5.8 (351w) V8 of a rebuilt but unknown spec, with Edelbrock Performer intake manifold, Holley 650. It’s got a C4 auto box and B&M Quicksilver shifter. Custom single piece prop; comp struts. All the other Cossie bits and pieces you see are original. A lot were new old stock items, like the glass and lights which were removed from their original boxes to be fitted.
The general theme was to go for a sunny Sunday cruiser that could take the family out for a spin or to a show or whatever.
As you can see I also had Compo CXN split rims (16’s). The exhaust is a nice job. That was custom from JP exhausts in Macclesfield at a very reasonable cost. I wanted it a little quiet for cruising, but with a bit of a bark when I put my foot down, and I would say it was spot on. Almost everything else was reconned or replaced as I went along.
Currently an external hard drive which housed most of my pics has gone to the wall, so most of my pics are unobtainable at the moment sadly.
Anyway, fast forward a few years and I finally finished it this summer and got it through the MOT. I had a few running issues to tidy up (eg keeping it cool) but pretty much got there.
All the way along in the background I was being distracted by this..
It is a Mk3 Escort with sierra floor plan, and a fair bit of additional rally influenced fabrication work, such as the cage, group A engine mounts, welded up crush holes etc, and of course as you can see an RS1700T kit. It was a bit rough when I bought it, but years later now looking a bit rougher around the edges. Nonetheless it’s solid, and the original work is good quality. This was always going to be ‘the big one’ for me and I’d been collecting bits for years. As you might tell from my forum name the RS1700T’s are a big passion of mine.
What put a spanner in the works was the fact that the Sierra turned out a helluva lot better than I expected.. ! I was expecting a bit of a barge to be honest, but it surprised me how good it was. It clearly had a bit of potential. As I wasn’t really using it with the family, I thought ‘what the hell’ I live 15mins from Oulton Park; why not track it?’ As you do!
So I’ve spent the last month or two passing on loads of YB, 909, Gp A type stuff I’ve collected and formed a bit of a budget to move forward with the Sierra, and I’ll abandon the RS1700T project instead.
So this brings me a bit closer to present day, and my current plans for the car...
I dropped on to a Tim Adams built 351w, which hasn’t even been used in anger yet, at a price too good to say no to, so I snapped that up. A fair bit of my other engine hardware will simply swap over.
You might wonder why I didn’t want to slide the YB in the Sierra. Well at the outset with this car I wanted a reliable and basic (ie cheap and easy to fix) project, devoid of electrics and so on. Once you hear and experience the thrill of planting your foot with something like an old school V8, it’s hard to go back! By contrast the YB scene is very expensive, and rebuilds seem the norm. Due to where I am in life I’m likely to only get one shot at this, so I want to build something I can afford, is reliable power, and can fix myself (preferably with a hammer). I admire you fellas that continually evolve the YB and show there’s plenty of life left in them, (and I’ve drooled over enough) but trust me I don’t think I could buy four decent YB forged pistons for what my engine stands me for!
In order to stay with the reliable theme, the Sierra diff has to go. The 3.36 unit was good ratio wise for a V8, but with in region of 400lb/ft of torque it’s a question of when, not if it will go! Reading what James90RS is doing with his Saph on here inspired me to go down the Jag diff route. The car is going to have a full cage anyway, so it will give me some liberty in strapping the thing to the car somehow.
£150 later and this big ol bugger was in my boot and I was heading home from the midlands.. It’s 3.54 XJS Powrlok unit (LSD). Inside it’s massive, and mint. A lick of paint and an oil change will do nicely. James put me on to Wilson Drive Shafts in Nottingham to sort drive shafts out. Not long after, these arrived in the post.. (Not cheap but I don’t want drive shafts to be a consumable..)
James, many thanks for your help on that mate, much appreciated.
So, I also needed to stop the thing if I’m on a track day, which means bigger brakes, which means bigger wheels.. The Comp CXN’s went (mixed feelings about that one, might regret it someday), and I got these..
I simply wanted motorsport pedigree, and brake clearance. Hopefully they’ll look ok when on. These are 18’s by the way. Any suggestions for tires and sizes? They’re 8” wide, so I’m thinking 205/40 on front and 225/40 on the rear – or should I be looking at 35 profile?
I’ve got some big AP 6 pots and discs from Dan Lacey this week to help slow the car.. Cheers Dan. I'll post a pic when they arrive. I’m really looking forward to trying those out! I need to look at upping the back brakes bit to help with balance now. That’s one for the list...
I’m also looking into suspension. I’ve been running basic Gaz coilovers with 550lb springs up front and 185lb on the rear. But once again, the ‘I’m only doing this once’ motto struck when I saw Tim Garrington offering some nice rear units for sale. Many thanks to Tim – they will sit under a V8 powered Ford afterall. All I need now is some fronts to match. I had a cracking set of Leda’s with remote reservoirs for 4x4 hubs, so something similar for 3dr hubs is what I’m after. I’ll go harder with the springs as well. I’m running comp struts on the front, and no ARB’s front and rear. It handled bloody well to be honest, so I’m keeping an open mind on that area at the moment, and will probably wait ‘til I get it on track to decide how things should evolve.
I’ve also been busy collecting the fun stuff:
And I’ve also recently picked up some 6 pt TRS harnesses, and a Sparco steering wheel from Garret on here, which is winging it’s way over from Holland. Many thanks Patrick for that.
As you can see it’s a sun roof model, so that’s going to go. There doesn’t seem to be many solid roofs floating around on the market these days, so I think Steve the Plumber, and Ronnie have inspired me to go carbon. I’ll enjoy hacking the old roof off! I’m waiting on a price from Phil at carbondelight – pull your finger out please Phil!
Sticking to the exterior for a moment, I was going Vitaloni touring car mirrors a la Steve once again, but rather than clone Steve’s car, I’ve decided against it. They only arrived this week, but I’ll happily shift them on at Europa Spares prices rather than Demon Thieves prices. (PM me)
Instead, I’m going for these babies.
The answer has been staring me in the face for years. These are boggo 82-83 Sierra mirrors. If they look familiar you might have seen them on Chris Hodgett’s Brooklyn touring car. They’re not as light as the others as the backing plate is metal, but I like the reference to the Brooklyn car. I’ll get the mirror cover painted white to match the car I think.
The whole touring car theme is an inspiration to me, as I grew up watching the Sierra’s leave everything in their wake. Obviously the engine is a major departure, but as I’m tracking the car there’s alot of influences creeping in. Chatting with Paul Linfoot whilst drooling over his car at the RS Owners day last month only reinforced the desire to go big with a touring car livery.. One thing I’m really tempted to replicate is this car.
Shaun Walker’s – a trakstar prepped car but never even raced in anger if my facts are right. I think official race practice was as close as it got, but it’s cracking livery and straight forward for me to do with graphics on a white base car. I could add in a couple of personal touches to boot. What do you reckon?
Also on the agenda, and an expensive one at that, is a new gearbox. I’ve got to get a TKO600 to nail behind the V8. If anyone’s got one to sell let me know, ha!
So there we go, that’s me up to date. I’m waiting now to hear from MDA motorsport up my way for the call to get me car in, so all of this can be put together! Unlike the first time round, spending 3-4years battling on the driveway no longer appeals, so it’s over to more experienced hands to move things forward. Hopefully we'll see a full cage, internal fuel cell and more besides.
I’ll keep you posted as the project moves on, and thanks again to the guys that helped me get this far already with parts, info and advice.
Cheers
Iain