www.charles-shaw.com and www.andrewgallacher.com
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www.charles-shaw.com and www.andrewgallacher.com
In case you have not seen these vids before you need to look at them cos these guys can really drive.
www.andrewgallacher.com
www.charles-shaw.com
www.andrewgallacher.com
www.charles-shaw.com
PassionFord Post Whore!!
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From: Baltic Place
Yep those 2 are seriously crackin drivers ,drifting kings etc etc ,cars are all home build for racing only !!
Charlies focus is a proper rs shell with tunnel fitted in etc for 4x4 transmission ,think its a harvey gibbs built engine 450bhp with all the right stuff plus nos aswell iirc
proper dog box aswell
watched him drag race a 1000bhp skyline and other jap stuff but as usual they take ages to spin up and focus is off and just keep throwing it gears and its well away
Charlies focus is a proper rs shell with tunnel fitted in etc for 4x4 transmission ,think its a harvey gibbs built engine 450bhp with all the right stuff plus nos aswell iirc
proper dog box aswell watched him drag race a 1000bhp skyline and other jap stuff but as usual they take ages to spin up and focus is off and just keep throwing it gears and its well away
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Originally Posted by millsyscossie
Yep those 2 are seriously crackin drivers ,drifting kings etc etc ,cars are all home build for racing only !!
Charlies focus is a proper rs shell with tunnel fitted in etc for 4x4 transmission ,think its a harvey gibbs built engine 450bhp with all the right stuff plus nos aswell iirc proper dog box aswell
watched him drag race a 1000bhp skyline and other jap stuff but as usual they take ages to spin up and focus is off and just keep throwing it gears and its well away
Charlies focus is a proper rs shell with tunnel fitted in etc for 4x4 transmission ,think its a harvey gibbs built engine 450bhp with all the right stuff plus nos aswell iirc
proper dog box aswell watched him drag race a 1000bhp skyline and other jap stuff but as usual they take ages to spin up and focus is off and just keep throwing it gears and its well away
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Engine
Harvey Gibb 450bhp engine
200 Motorsport Block
WRC studs
WRC Head Gasket
Low Comp Pistons
Ported Head
Up-rated Cams
T34 Turbo with cut back blades
-36 Actuator
Pectel full car wiring loom
P8 ECU
Pectel injector control board
Air to air boost control
Anti-lag chip
8ltr big wing sump
Four Grey injectors
3bar map sensor
Ramair competition air filter
Scorpion S/s exhaust customised into single box.
Running Gear
AP Competition Clutch
R&D 6 Speed dog box
Quaife 50/50 spilt centre diff, 60Nm viscous coupling
Quaife Automatic torque biasing 6.5 inch front diff
7.5inch plated Gripper rear diff
Suspension
3 Way adjustable Bilstien Coilovers
Brakes
330mm AP Racing 4 Pots (front)
4x4 cosworth front brakes on rear
Hydraulic handbrake with bias valve
Wheels
18 Compomotive MO
Interior
R&D WRC Roll Cage
Sparco Evo bucket seats
Sparco 3 Racing Harnesses
Momo Race Steering Wheel
OMP Fire Eater (FIA Spec)
Jazz Fuel Tank
Bosch 044 Group A fuel pump
Group A Style dash panel and switches
Exterior
Standard Focus RS Bodykit
Twin headlights with angel eyes
Smoked rear lights
WRC Style bonnet vent
Thanks
Andrew Gallacher
Harvey Gibb 450bhp engine
200 Motorsport Block
WRC studs
WRC Head Gasket
Low Comp Pistons
Ported Head
Up-rated Cams
T34 Turbo with cut back blades
-36 Actuator
Pectel full car wiring loom
P8 ECU
Pectel injector control board
Air to air boost control
Anti-lag chip
8ltr big wing sump
Four Grey injectors
3bar map sensor
Ramair competition air filter
Scorpion S/s exhaust customised into single box.
Running Gear
AP Competition Clutch
R&D 6 Speed dog box
Quaife 50/50 spilt centre diff, 60Nm viscous coupling
Quaife Automatic torque biasing 6.5 inch front diff
7.5inch plated Gripper rear diff
Suspension
3 Way adjustable Bilstien Coilovers
Brakes
330mm AP Racing 4 Pots (front)
4x4 cosworth front brakes on rear
Hydraulic handbrake with bias valve
Wheels
18 Compomotive MO
Interior
R&D WRC Roll Cage
Sparco Evo bucket seats
Sparco 3 Racing Harnesses
Momo Race Steering Wheel
OMP Fire Eater (FIA Spec)
Jazz Fuel Tank
Bosch 044 Group A fuel pump
Group A Style dash panel and switches
Exterior
Standard Focus RS Bodykit
Twin headlights with angel eyes
Smoked rear lights
WRC Style bonnet vent
Thanks
Andrew Gallacher
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Feature in Fast and modified-
With a one of a kind, 450bhp, four wheel drive Focus Cosworth running anti-lag and a dog box drift king Charlie Shaw is back on track with a bang.
When you are known around the country for being one of the most spectacular drivers in the country you need a car that is up to the task. Well how about the first and only Cosworth powered Focus in the country? Yeah we thought that would do the job too!
If you have ever seen Charlie in action at Knockhill or Crail you will appreciate his spectacular driving style. Huge drifts when he wants to show off or just plain ballistic when he is out to set a fast lap time. His reputation at has grown so much over the last year that there is now a Challenge Charlie competition at Knockhill track days to see if anyone can come close to his spectacular show.
The decision to build this car only came a couple of months ago after an unfortunate incident with his old Escort Cossie, a car the majority of us will be familiar with. A fuel leak led to a fire which totally gutted the car and sent the nitrous bottle out through the rear quarter. It was a sad end to what was one of the most well known cars in the country. But Charlie wasn't put off and after a quick conversation with his friend Andrew Gallacher the decision was taken to build the Focus.
Andrew always had an idea in his mind how to go about this conversion so we bit the bullet, bought a car bench and built a jig for a Sierra Cosworth around it. That was it, there was no going back now. Charlie bought a brand new Focus RS shell from Ford and he and Andy then placed it on the jig and set about lining up all the relevant parts. We lined up the engine and gearbox mounts and the diff's etc along with the suspension points which allowed us to place the running gear from a 4WD Sierra Cosworth straight in. The tunnel which runs from the front to the rear of the cabin and houses the centre differential and gearbox was taken from a Sierra. The Focus floor pan was cut and this section was welded in.
The front and rear strut tops are from a Sierra and had to be extended towards the centre of the car by a couple of inches either side. Looking at it you would never guess but a Focus RS is actually four inches wider than an Escort Cossie! The welds on the strut tops are immaculate and look like they were done by Ford themselves.
This ingenious idea to create the custom jig made the job significantly easier than was expected. With all the mounting points lined up it was literally a case of dropping in the relevant running gear. As the only parts that were salvageable from the burnt out Escort were the gearbox internals Charlie had to go out and buy a new engine and all the running gear necessary. The decision was made to go for one of Harvey Gibbs low comp motors which makes a whopping 450bhp at the crank. The motorsport block has been treated to WRC spec studs and head gasket while low comp pistons and rods allow it to handle the significantly increased boost.
The turbo is a T34 which has been modified with a 360 degree bearing to improve reliability and cut back turbine blades which aid the spool up to reduce lag. This combination creates good top end power along with a quick spool up and loads of torque. Exactly what Charlie wanted.
When he was building up the car Andrew used a full Pectel wiring loom while a P8 ECU controls everything from the injectors to boost pressure and also has the added benefit of anti-lag. The anti-lag set up is relatively mild in order to keep the life of the turbo to a maximum and works from a temperature sensor which cuts it off if the turbo is too warm, the reason for this being that the majority of damage caused by anti-lag is when it is used on an excessively warm turbo. As we watch Charlie propel his car down the back roads of Ayrshire the dull afternoon is lit up with flames as he steps off the accelerator and the anti-lag kicks in. The accompanying pops and bangs send the local wildlife running while our very own Eddie managed to jump about 2 foot off the ground with the first bang!
With all this power and torque on tap it was going to be a hard job getting it down on the tarmac without things starting to break. First in line is the clutch, which was up graded to a AP competition paddle item. This allows for launches and cuts slipping while still leaving the car driveable on the road. As was mentioned earlier on the only parts recoverable from the charred wreckage of the Escort were the internals of the R&D 6 speed dog box. The fire had managed to melt the gearbox case so Charlie had to source a replacement item as well as replacing all the gearbox bearings to be on the safe side. However, typically one of the bearings never appeared in the kit so the gearbox was built up with one old bearing in it. Unfortunately this then decided to pack in a couple of days before the shoot. The rush was then on for Andy and Charlie to get their hands on a replacement bearing and re-build the gearbox in a matter of a couple of days. This was no problem to the lads who have been seen to change diff's and gearboxes in a matter of minutes at Crail before.
The centre Quaife diff feeds a 50/50 split of the power to the front and rear differentials. Charlie opted to go for a 6.5 Quaife Automatic Torque Biasing diff at the front and a Gripper 7.5 plated rear diff. This should hopefully stop him blowing them up at regular intervals!
When you are heading towards Duffas Dip at in excess of 120mph you need to be sure that you are going to scrub off enough speed to get round the corner. A huge set of 330mm AP 4 pots sit behind the 18 Compomotive MO alloys. These have the stopping power to tame the 450 wild horses that lurk beneath the bonnet. It wasn't all plain sailing with the brakes though. Charlie bought the callipers from a mate but when he went to buy new discs for them he found out that they were a strange size and couldn't get them. Resigned to putting standard brakes on Charlie was in a garage later on when he happened to mention his brake woes. Much to his delight the owner appeared with a couple of the hard to find discs in his hand. Result!
As the car is for track use the suspension had to be sorted so that the handling was spot on. A set of 3 way adjustable Bilstien coilovers were fitted all round and while the camber needs some fine tuning to be just the way he likes it Charlie is already gaining in confidence and starting to throw it about like he used to throw his Escort about.
Moving to the inside and you can see plenty of hints of Andy's past experience of building rally cars. The full R&D WRC cage serves a couple of purposes. First and foremost it is there to protect Charlie and his passenger if anything goes wrong, but secondly it helps to strengthen up the entire shell and the resulting lack of flex in the chassis greatly improves the handling.
In the boot a Jazz fuel cell along with a Bosch 044 external fuel pump sit along side each other while the battery has also been relocated to this area. A set of 3 Sparco race harnesses are joined to the cage and keep Charlie held tight into the Evo bucket seats.
The dashboard takes the view of function rather than form and you certainly wont find a CD player sitting in there! A Group A style dash panel was fabricated and fitted with switches for the Anti-lag, heater, lights and fan among others. The panel also houses the fuse box which allows Charlie quick access to find out if any of them have blown.
After the fiery end to the Escort Charlie has opted to include a FIA spec fire extinguisher set up. This OMP Fire Eater can be initiated from both inside and outside the car with the water in the canister behind the seats feeding nozzles both behind the dash and in the engine bay.
On the outside of the car there is little to make you think that this is any different from every other RS Focus out there. Finished in Imperial Blue and with a standard RS Focus bodykit the only hints to the beast that lies beneath are the WRC bonnet vent and the huge brakes hiding behind the wheels. Charlie has however made a couple of subtle changes including a set of quad headlights up front and smoked rear lights. There isn't even any Cosworth badges on the back to give a warning to potential prey. Only the text on the registration plate gives it away, but the chances of anyone getting close enough to read it are slim.
This is one car and driver combination that is sure to cause a stir throughout 2005. And if anyone from Ford is reading this, please take note, this is THE car that you should be building!
With a one of a kind, 450bhp, four wheel drive Focus Cosworth running anti-lag and a dog box drift king Charlie Shaw is back on track with a bang.
When you are known around the country for being one of the most spectacular drivers in the country you need a car that is up to the task. Well how about the first and only Cosworth powered Focus in the country? Yeah we thought that would do the job too!
If you have ever seen Charlie in action at Knockhill or Crail you will appreciate his spectacular driving style. Huge drifts when he wants to show off or just plain ballistic when he is out to set a fast lap time. His reputation at has grown so much over the last year that there is now a Challenge Charlie competition at Knockhill track days to see if anyone can come close to his spectacular show.
The decision to build this car only came a couple of months ago after an unfortunate incident with his old Escort Cossie, a car the majority of us will be familiar with. A fuel leak led to a fire which totally gutted the car and sent the nitrous bottle out through the rear quarter. It was a sad end to what was one of the most well known cars in the country. But Charlie wasn't put off and after a quick conversation with his friend Andrew Gallacher the decision was taken to build the Focus.
Andrew always had an idea in his mind how to go about this conversion so we bit the bullet, bought a car bench and built a jig for a Sierra Cosworth around it. That was it, there was no going back now. Charlie bought a brand new Focus RS shell from Ford and he and Andy then placed it on the jig and set about lining up all the relevant parts. We lined up the engine and gearbox mounts and the diff's etc along with the suspension points which allowed us to place the running gear from a 4WD Sierra Cosworth straight in. The tunnel which runs from the front to the rear of the cabin and houses the centre differential and gearbox was taken from a Sierra. The Focus floor pan was cut and this section was welded in.
The front and rear strut tops are from a Sierra and had to be extended towards the centre of the car by a couple of inches either side. Looking at it you would never guess but a Focus RS is actually four inches wider than an Escort Cossie! The welds on the strut tops are immaculate and look like they were done by Ford themselves.
This ingenious idea to create the custom jig made the job significantly easier than was expected. With all the mounting points lined up it was literally a case of dropping in the relevant running gear. As the only parts that were salvageable from the burnt out Escort were the gearbox internals Charlie had to go out and buy a new engine and all the running gear necessary. The decision was made to go for one of Harvey Gibbs low comp motors which makes a whopping 450bhp at the crank. The motorsport block has been treated to WRC spec studs and head gasket while low comp pistons and rods allow it to handle the significantly increased boost.
The turbo is a T34 which has been modified with a 360 degree bearing to improve reliability and cut back turbine blades which aid the spool up to reduce lag. This combination creates good top end power along with a quick spool up and loads of torque. Exactly what Charlie wanted.
When he was building up the car Andrew used a full Pectel wiring loom while a P8 ECU controls everything from the injectors to boost pressure and also has the added benefit of anti-lag. The anti-lag set up is relatively mild in order to keep the life of the turbo to a maximum and works from a temperature sensor which cuts it off if the turbo is too warm, the reason for this being that the majority of damage caused by anti-lag is when it is used on an excessively warm turbo. As we watch Charlie propel his car down the back roads of Ayrshire the dull afternoon is lit up with flames as he steps off the accelerator and the anti-lag kicks in. The accompanying pops and bangs send the local wildlife running while our very own Eddie managed to jump about 2 foot off the ground with the first bang!
With all this power and torque on tap it was going to be a hard job getting it down on the tarmac without things starting to break. First in line is the clutch, which was up graded to a AP competition paddle item. This allows for launches and cuts slipping while still leaving the car driveable on the road. As was mentioned earlier on the only parts recoverable from the charred wreckage of the Escort were the internals of the R&D 6 speed dog box. The fire had managed to melt the gearbox case so Charlie had to source a replacement item as well as replacing all the gearbox bearings to be on the safe side. However, typically one of the bearings never appeared in the kit so the gearbox was built up with one old bearing in it. Unfortunately this then decided to pack in a couple of days before the shoot. The rush was then on for Andy and Charlie to get their hands on a replacement bearing and re-build the gearbox in a matter of a couple of days. This was no problem to the lads who have been seen to change diff's and gearboxes in a matter of minutes at Crail before.
The centre Quaife diff feeds a 50/50 split of the power to the front and rear differentials. Charlie opted to go for a 6.5 Quaife Automatic Torque Biasing diff at the front and a Gripper 7.5 plated rear diff. This should hopefully stop him blowing them up at regular intervals!
When you are heading towards Duffas Dip at in excess of 120mph you need to be sure that you are going to scrub off enough speed to get round the corner. A huge set of 330mm AP 4 pots sit behind the 18 Compomotive MO alloys. These have the stopping power to tame the 450 wild horses that lurk beneath the bonnet. It wasn't all plain sailing with the brakes though. Charlie bought the callipers from a mate but when he went to buy new discs for them he found out that they were a strange size and couldn't get them. Resigned to putting standard brakes on Charlie was in a garage later on when he happened to mention his brake woes. Much to his delight the owner appeared with a couple of the hard to find discs in his hand. Result!
As the car is for track use the suspension had to be sorted so that the handling was spot on. A set of 3 way adjustable Bilstien coilovers were fitted all round and while the camber needs some fine tuning to be just the way he likes it Charlie is already gaining in confidence and starting to throw it about like he used to throw his Escort about.
Moving to the inside and you can see plenty of hints of Andy's past experience of building rally cars. The full R&D WRC cage serves a couple of purposes. First and foremost it is there to protect Charlie and his passenger if anything goes wrong, but secondly it helps to strengthen up the entire shell and the resulting lack of flex in the chassis greatly improves the handling.
In the boot a Jazz fuel cell along with a Bosch 044 external fuel pump sit along side each other while the battery has also been relocated to this area. A set of 3 Sparco race harnesses are joined to the cage and keep Charlie held tight into the Evo bucket seats.
The dashboard takes the view of function rather than form and you certainly wont find a CD player sitting in there! A Group A style dash panel was fabricated and fitted with switches for the Anti-lag, heater, lights and fan among others. The panel also houses the fuse box which allows Charlie quick access to find out if any of them have blown.
After the fiery end to the Escort Charlie has opted to include a FIA spec fire extinguisher set up. This OMP Fire Eater can be initiated from both inside and outside the car with the water in the canister behind the seats feeding nozzles both behind the dash and in the engine bay.
On the outside of the car there is little to make you think that this is any different from every other RS Focus out there. Finished in Imperial Blue and with a standard RS Focus bodykit the only hints to the beast that lies beneath are the WRC bonnet vent and the huge brakes hiding behind the wheels. Charlie has however made a couple of subtle changes including a set of quad headlights up front and smoked rear lights. There isn't even any Cosworth badges on the back to give a warning to potential prey. Only the text on the registration plate gives it away, but the chances of anyone getting close enough to read it are slim.
This is one car and driver combination that is sure to cause a stir throughout 2005. And if anyone from Ford is reading this, please take note, this is THE car that you should be building!
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Joined: Sep 2004
Posts: 374
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From: Lancashire
Me and "Sonic" went up to Charlie's place last year and bought his 3 door cossie off him,which has been lovingly restored now
Bitch of a place to find though in the middle of nowhere,had a glance at his Focus project back then.
Bitch of a place to find though in the middle of nowhere,had a glance at his Focus project back then.
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Unfortunately, some 'minor teething troubles' (his dad's words, not mine!) with the wheel studs and spacers, led to the loss of one of the rear wheels at it's debut outing at Knockhill, only 12 hours after being 'completed' (read: still some playing to be done yet).
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Joined: Jan 2005
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From: Motherwell, Scotland
Charlie is impressive, but the way they go on about him at KH is unreal, it's like he's the be all and end all of getting the arse out around that hairpin.
I've seen a load of people pull off just as good and better than Charlie and the commentators at KH just say "Oh, no where near as good as Charlie...."
I'm not doubting how good the guy is, just that the commentators at KH are murder!
I've seen a load of people pull off just as good and better than Charlie and the commentators at KH just say "Oh, no where near as good as Charlie...."
I'm not doubting how good the guy is, just that the commentators at KH are murder!
thats a fappin lot of work!!, loving the build, looks a really neat job, I really want a step ny step guide to how to DIY build it my self. Shame about the teathing troubles but sorted now? was that due to excess leaverage from wheels and spacers or just drifting a sierra rear end?? 
