Throughout the history of automobile-related rivalries, people nearly all the time come down to 1 camp or one other. I’ve all the time found the thought of devoting oneself to a single manufacturer or a selected region or style quite interesting.
None of us are born with these preferences; fairly, they’re developed and nurtured by our friends, family and social groups. If all your folks love Nissans and drifting, likelihood is that you simply’re going to follow an identical path. As your love and fervour for one marque flourishes, your dissent for the ‘other side’ grows. After all, that is, as a rule, a friendly rivalry. In any case, we’re all in it for the love of cars, right? Be that as it could, there are the more heated rivalries, too…
I would really like to think that in this contemporary age, most of those conflicts have fizzled out within the name of progress and harmony. Some still burn strong, though, and are kept alive by a generation who fought on the frontline. Few exemplify an automotive rivalry quite just like the one which exists between the suburb of Dagenham in London and the town of Luton not 50 miles away. That’s, Ford and Vauxhall respectively. There’s nothing quite like proximity to maintain a feud going. And although this discord will likely proceed indefinitely, there are the few who’ve chosen to step across the lines of combat and make peace with the opposite side, allowing them to enjoy one of the best of each worlds with a transparent conscience.
Considered one of those few is Paul Reene, and that is his Vauxhall-powered Ford Escort.
While he might say the alternative, I don’t think Paul decided the ultimate evolution of his Escort being Vauxhall-engined too frivolously. Over his ownership it has seen several iterations, including a Pinto and a more modern Zetec swap, before it was taken off the road for this, its ultimate incarnation.
As you’re about to see, that is anything but a simple engine-swapped track construct. That is the culmination of Paul’s experiences and how one can construct one of the best automobile he possibly could, while still retaining all of the things that make the automobile special in the primary place.
Paul had owned the Escort for a shade over 10 years prior to its big refresh. He knew the shell was in great condition, and he wanted to construct on this. With the automobile stripped bare, the work commenced by seam welding the shell and installing the FIA-compliant roll cage. Despite being a ’73 automobile, rust wasn’t a difficulty, and there was no must patch even an inch of the automobile.
With the shell at maximum stiffness and strength, Paul desired to try to cut back the burden of the added weight of the T45 cage. Anything non-essential was removed or lightened as much as possible without losing structural integrity.
It could have been easier to tube chassis or space frame parts of the automobile, but Paul was intent on it remaining an Escort and not only the silhouette of 1. The automobile still features its original chassis legs, and only a small section of the inner front wings having been removed.
With the Irish motorsport community being quite close-knit and very traditional, some were aghast at the thought of an ideal MkI being modified so heavily. “Some rallying locals went daft once they heard I had cut a lot out, saying that I’d ruined a great shell. In actual fact, I improved a great shell,” Paul told me.
With every thing that might be removed removed, it was then time to relocate every other weight to a more optimal location.
That starts with the engine, which has been moved back 9.0 inches (228mm) and sits roughly 1.6 inches (40mm) lower than the factory engine originally would have. This was made possible by completely fabricating a brand new bulkhead from scratch, which uses much thicker steel than Ford originally did, and adding a dry sump system.
In an extra effort to shift as much of the overhanging weight lower and closer to the centre of the automobile, the fuel cell was sunk through the rear floor.
Now lurking out of sight, the lowered tank is kept company by a Sytec fuel pump and an accompanying swirl pot. Also within the shadows is a 6-link setup with custom Fostek English axle and Tran-X limited-slip differential.
With such an obsession towards weight saving and weight location, there was only ever going to be a single seat on this proverbial house. After all, any old seat wasn’t going to chop it, so Paul ultimately cherry-picked a light-weight aluminium Kirkey bucket.
Fibreglass front wings, front panel, bonnet, doors and boot lid all do their part in reducing this Escort’s weight to a powerful 770kg (1,697lb).
Considered one of the important thing parts in retaining the very essence of the Escort was selecting the best engine for the job. As such, it was all the time going to be a high-revving and naturally aspirated motor. As we already know from above, Paul opted for a Vauxhall motor in the form of a JRE-built C20XE. What likely softens the blow for a Ford fan is that the C20XE shares a robust Ford connection in that Cosworth designed the XE for Vauxhall within the late ’80s. A tenuous link, but I’m sure it helps many sleep easy at night, so we’ll let that one slide.
What pushed Paul towards the Vauxhall motor though, was the sheer variety of options and parts available to him. It’s a proven engine with an enormous amount of data and expertise on the market, so there’s never going to be a ‘what if’ situation. It was a straightforward case of picking a mix of parts to construct upon the stock engine’s 150hp. 48mm Jenvey throttle bodies, an exquisite Tony Law exhaust manifold, together with fully forged internals and custom camshafts and valving brings the overall power output to 250hp and 189lb/ft (256Nm).
In a world where 1,000+hp has the norm for performance builds, 250hp may not seem to be an awful lot. Due to automobile’s low weight, the XE still provides this Escort with over 320hp per ton. That’s excess of is required to place a smile in your face and can help you post competitive times.
With the chassis sitting just 50mm from the bottom, clearance would have been a difficulty for a standard under-and-out exhaust system. Working its way alongside the gearbox and passing through the cabin, the custom side-exit system exhales into the atmosphere just behind the passenger door.
The shorter system also has the additional benefit of saving weight and an increased exhaust flow.
To make sure that there’s no let up in the ability delivery, the automobile has been equipped with a Quaife 60G sequential 6-speed with Bradley Motorsport matched ratios together with the required hardware for flat gearshifts. With its Dunlop slicks warmed up, the Escort is able to sprinting from zero to 60mph in 4.3 seconds.
Helping it to return to a stationery position are AP Racing brakes, each front and rear. Lightweight Compomotive wheels help maintain the bottom possible unsprung weight.
The suspension setup doesn’t fall in need of the mark either. GAZ coilovers each front and rear with distant reservoirs on the fully adjustable front end. The springs have been custom weighted to suit the lightweight Escort. As such, roll has been virtually eliminated with roughly 40mm of travel available. In case you haven’t guessed by now, this can be a track-only automobile.
Once I met with Paul to shoot his Escort, it was his first time driving it in any type of anger. Watching him unleash the XE down the relatively short back straight in Tynagh, Co. Galway, you could possibly immediately sense the happiness and relief the automobile brought him. All the pieces will all the time work in theory, but it surely’s not until you switch key and lay rubber that you may truthfully know if the tons of, if not hundreds, of choices you’ve made were the best ones.
The low-slung Escort absolutely ripped across the track, with the immediately identifiable pops on every flat upshift being accompanied by the incredible induction roar that only a naturally aspirated automobile of this ilk can produce. Aural perfection.
Before our time on the right track was up, Paul delivered the required amount of post-build celebratory donuts at the underside hairpin, shattering the peace of the Irish countryside in quite some fashion.
I feel there’s something we will all take away from a construct like this. Sure, there are the hundred small details which may be incorporated into our own cars and builds. What we actually all should learn from Paul’s construct is to aim to construct without compromise, follow your individual ideas and plans and that sometimes, it’s okay to step across the battlefield and get help from the proverbial enemy. You may be surprised to find what you’ve got in common…
Paddy McGrath
Instagram: pmcgphotos
Website: pmcgphotos.com
This Article First Appeared At www.speedhunters.com
