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.....expanse of bodywork, as do little, cut-down black corner bumpers.
The Mkl Fiesta's suspension is pretty simple and robust, but Richard was careful to replace anything that looked even a wee bit dodgy, as he knew the undercarriage would have to work hard.
The few remaining bits were thoroughly shotblasted and powder coated into better than new condition, as the Ford parts originally only had a cursory dusting of semi-gloss black paint to protect them from the elements.
Willing though the 1.3-litre crossflow that originally sat in the engine compartment is, its 67 bhp was never going to push it all that impressively around a track festooned with turbocharged RS machinery from a later era. Still, Richard reckoned that a little traditional engineering could work wonders in the peeled biscuit tin shell. The 1600 tall-block crossflow from a Mkl XR2 would do nicely, he thought, especially if it were given a 90 thou' overbore. The resulting 1700cc should do the trick, he grinned to himself. While the innards were at the machine shop, the bottom end was comprehensively lightened and balanced. The head was also worked over, being ported and polished, and the valve seats machined out to take the much larger items enjoyed by an eight-valve Vauxhall Astra GTE. To feed these gaping orifices, Richard chose a brace of DCOE 40 carbs. Mind you, these are now sleeved down to 32, as the engine simply couldn't be made to slow-run as it was. An uprated electric fuel pump chucks plenty of petrol at it.
Further old-skool power modifications include a Piper BCF1 cam and the classic Janspeed 4:1 manifold. This is joined by a full, bespoke Tube Torque system in stainless steel with a 4 inch round tailpipe poking uncompromisingly from under the rear valance. Thanks to the cam, the easy breathing and the exhaust, peak power comes out at a frankly stratospheric 6800 rpm. In fact there's more, as the motor is happy to rev on to 7200 rpm. Utter madness. It's often asked to do this during Richard's track antics and seems perfectly happy to do so, a testimony to the quality of workmanship as well as the generally bombproof nature of the crossflow unit. A recent session on a rolling road revealed that the engine is throwing out 128 bhp. "The dyno operator said there are no flat spots and it gives it large right from the bottom of the rev range." Splendid.
The gearbox Richard had cut his suspension leg apart to clear is a five-speed unit from a Mklll Escort 1300. Supporting the gearbox was no problem thanks to the Fiesta Centre's excellent mounting kit. This provides a crossmember to make up for the weakening effect of the bodywork mod-ding. The box has juicy low ratios, which allow Richard to slingshot the car to 60 mph in under 7 seconds.
Of course, there's a trade-off in that top speed is only about 110 mph. But this.....
Captions -
Middle - "The dyno operator says the engine gives it large right from the bottom of the rev range"
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