50 Shades of Grey!

Get your minds out of the gutter, because we aint going to delve into some British erotic romance novel, but into something more interesting from the very same country! This car has managed to stir up some real chatter and people are going bonkers at the mere sight of this glorious car, and I wanted a slice of the action. 

It has definitely been a long time since we posted some new material on the blog! So to start 2014 with a bang I thought I would feature Shane's ludicrously retro cool Mark I Escort. You do remember Shane? The man with the amazingly clean Accord Euro R we featured earlier, well this is his weekend warrior. So why is this car so special? It is a Mark I Escort for a start, a rally legend from the 60's that took Roger Clarke to win many titles at the RAC Rally. So its got pedigree, and it has become the darling of old school car lovers the world over!

While many prefer to go for the mad bubble arched Mexico route, Shane has stuck to the basics.I really didn't think that a first gen Escort would look cool without them until I saw this car. Trendsetting might be his side job because his Restomodded Escort is making waves amongst the car guys that many are following Shane's route with their own cars too!

So why an Escort I ask him? He coolly replies, that he fell in love with them ever since he saw one in a magazine. He is no stranger to classic cars either, his first purchase was an original Mini! He also runs the popular Angry Bomb Auto Parts store which means that sourcing parts he needed was no big task!

One look at the build sheet and you know this car is serious business. the amount of work that has gone into it is astounding. And the end results are true testament to this!  All new front wings were sourced and the RS style wing flares hand fabricated on to them, with the same treatment done to the rear end too. The battery has been relocated to the boot too! 

Another special feature are the square headlamps and grille that has been utilised on the front end. Oh and those extra holes in the front panel are not standard! They were punched and swaged for that perfect menacing look. 

No bondo there mate! The bodywork has been restored to concourse standards I must say.....

Wait what happened to the bumpers? See Shane wanted the car look like a race car, plus no bumpers means less weight. Which means you go faster, bumpers be damned! 

Sticking to his Mini roots, the Escort is running 7.5J x 13 Minilites with 175/50 Dunlop SP tyres. The addition of Motocraft Dampers, FoMoCo Bushings, Custom Anti Trap Bars and a Capri GT Anti Roll Bar vastly improves handling and a Works Strut Brace has been added to get the rear end to dance! 

Burton Power Lowering Springs in the front and Greystone Lowering Blocks at the rear handle the stance factor on the car. Reducing one inch off the height sure does do wonders to the looks! Girling 8 inch Disks with 2 pot callipers, a Speed tune Brake booster,8 inch rear drums all connected with Braided Brake lines helps to bring braking standards to a modern level! 

A custom straight through exhaust with a Cherry Bomb Glass Pack Muffler at the end of it makes the car sing a nice tune at full throttle! 

Shockingly enough, the car's colour even though grey is called Steel Blue! Shane picked it off the Subaru catalogue. Wasn't expecting that were you now?  

They might be quite useless when it comes to rear view visibility, but darn it these Stainless steel Bullet mirrors sure do look cool!

Stepping inside the car, Shane's attention to detail continues. The interior is quite in between spartan race car and standard trim. Only the bare necessities exist inside. Loving the deep dish OMP Corsica Steering wheel too but I was pleasantly surprised to see a radio though....

Gotta love old school dials! Note the padded and wrapped dash with custom red stitching. The whole interior is done in the same colour format. 

The gauges believe it or not have been nicked from a Lotus Cortina! 

 Custom Cobra seats keep you in place, mind you there are no seat belts in this car! So please do hang on! 

The interior is finished off with this billet aluminium Blitz Performance Gear Knob. 

 Now on to the most interesting bit, the Engine! 

Behold one of the cleanest engines bays I have ever seen! The 1600 Xflow 681F block has been pulled out from a Formula Ford Race car. Yup you did read that right! And no he did not leave it stock either.....

A Weber 32/28 Twin Choke Down Draft Carb (Custom Jetted),1600gt intake manifold, K&N chrome top induction,Luminition Electronic Ignition + Hi performance Coil, Silicone HT Leads,Lightened Flywheel and many other mods help improve Shane's standards of leaving! The full spec list is noted below. 

I will leave you with this. Shane's car sure has made a mark on me and the whole classic car community in Sri Lanka. Writing this post has made me want a Mark I Escort so much that it is driving me mad! There are lot of very interesting classic builds been churned out as we speak and its nice to see the direction change! Until the next feature.....

Charith Kulasiri

Build Sheet

Body
1300 L shell, All new Front wings + Rs front wing flares, Front Panel with extra holes punched and swaged, New rear arches, Battery moved to boot, new gearbox tunnel. OEM ford Badging, Tex Stainless Steel Bullet Mirrors, OEM Lucas Front Lights, Speed Shack indicators, Mk1 TwinCam Front Grille, OEM FoMoCo taillight clusters. Paint : Steel Blue (FHI/Sti-2000)

Engine
1600 xflow 681F block (Standard Internals),Weber 32/28 Twin Choke Down Draft Carb (Custom Jetted),1600gt intake manifold, K&N chrome top induction,Luminition Electronic Ignition + Hi performance Coil, Silicone HT Leads,Lightened Flywheel (-7kg),Custom Engine Mounts, Speed Shack Chrome Valve Cover, Ashley 4-2-1 Exhaust Manifold, Carbon Composite Exhaust wrap. Custom Radiator, Electronic cooling fan, Alternator conversion, Custom straight through exhaust, Cherry Bomb Glass Pack Muffler.

Transmission
Capri 1600GT Gearbox (Type 3) 4 Speed, Escort 1300 - 2 piece Prop, English Axle, 3.89 rear diff.

Suspension
Front: Escort Front Legs, Burton Power 145lbs Lowering Springs (-1inch), Monroe Shock inserts, Standard Lower Arms, Capri GT Anti Roll Bar (+2mm), FoMoCo bushings, Speed Shack Rubber Top Mounts, Works Strut Brace. Rear: Custom Anti Trap Bars, Greystone Lowering Blocks (-1inch), Motocraft Dampers + FoMoCo Bushings.

Brakes
Uprated front brakes - Girling 8inch Disks + Girling 2pot Calipers, Speed tune Brake booster, 8inch rear drums, Braided Brake lines, Standard Pedal Box

Wheels and Tyres
7.5J x 13 Minilites with 175/50 Dunlop SP tyres

Interior

Classic Cobra Bucket Seats (Custom Wrapped), Standard Escort rear Seats (Custom Wraped, Complete Customer Leather interior, OMP Corsica Steering, Blitz Performance Gear Knob, Custom 6 meter Dash with Lotus Cortina Dials (110mph Speedo, Rev, Oil Pres, Temp, Amp, Fuel)