There is very little I need or want to change about my Mk1, I feel it has the balance of things just right. There is however one thing that has niggled me from the start: the steering wheel. The original Ford effort was just too large and too skinny for it to give the nice grip and feedback I need when I am pumping my crazy arms to make the car dance a little.

The old wheel kinda had a certain charm about it because it was very retro and had a standard feel about it, so it tied in with the car’s old school yet standard-style interior and helped to fool people into thinking the car was packing less heat than it does. But all this style only goes so far with me, I need my performance goodies and I definitely craved a smaller wheel.

Problem is, while I am focused on all things fast, I can’t ruin the carefully-considered interior. I couldn’t have anything horribly chintzy and modern. I didn’t want to be predictable and choose a run-of-the-mill Mountney wheel or an OMP one. I wanted something a little special, something that was built for vintage style, yet had a very ‘racer’ feel about it.

A tall order? You would think so, but I sat down and started to think and one name popped right up into my petrol-soaked mind. Moto-Lita! Moto-Lita has been around since the ’50s and in that time little has changed! Started and still run by owner and craftsman Simon, I had to get involved. They offer a range of hand-made wood or leather steering wheels – perfect!

The prestigious brand is the wheel of choice for old school legends like Stirling Moss, and now modern-day ones like me! After much deliberation I opted to have Simon make me a gorgeous, dished, three spoke, hand-stitched leather one, with an old-style Ford logo. It feels totally perfect and I am glad I took my time in choosing the Moto-Lita, try and tell me it doesn’t look at home. It feels class in my hands and I have to admit there is a hint of smugness when I stare at my unique steering wheel when sat in traffic.

When it comes to driving, that has improved too. It sounds obvious to say you need your steering wheel when driving, but I find the car much more controllable with this fitted, it just feels so positive and ‘right’. I have the grip and slip I need for when I am throwing the lock on or letting it self-centre when exiting a corner. I love it.

The Mk1 is now going to enjoy a much needed break in my folks garage back ‘oop north’. I am going to focus my attention for the next month or so on a sneaky imported Ford I am having brought in, my track car, a Ka, and breaking the Focus. So, as you can tell, there really is no rest for the wicked.

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To give the big build a huge shove forward I sent the car over to Forge Motorsport so that their team and the clever bods at Hose Technik could sort out a full braided brake system and some hard boost pipes. I was well impressed when it arrived, not least because possibly the most dodgy ‘tow-man’ in history took my rather expensive rolling shell down to Forge. But besides the car arriving safely, what impressed me most was that the M&J lads had worked all night to get it painted, and on arrival at Forge the team just set about it!

Hose Technik relished the challenge of making up a proper race-spec system for it in record time too! They make some seriously nice off-the-peg replacement hoses, but can make things to suit your requirements, as they have done here. It really is slick and with them being proper lines, I know they are safe and strong so will last forever. The Forge fellas mocked up some boost pipes and will be sending them over shortly. When looking at the boost and water pipe layout, I was left scratching my head. The water pump to lower rad hose is often a big issue on ZT-converted cars. I previously ran an abortion of a hose that was chopped up and joined in around four places. Not ideal and certainly not pretty!

As luck would have it Roose Motorsport have a perfect solution for this, they stock a Zetec Turbo rad hose and besides the obvious Roose quality, it fits perfectly with no nasty kinks or bends. Problem solved and something you probably need to consider if you’re doing a ZT conversion yourself.

It really is a case of tying up loose ends now. The battery was originally mounted in the boot and on one side – I never really liked it and when I removed it, the plastic cracked. To save this happening again I got a neat alloy one from OBP. It fits in perfectly with the rest of the alloy parts on my interior and is now mounted behind the driver’s seat.It’s positioned at the lowest point of the car, so it will help weight distribution and the centre of gravity – especially with most Ford owners (i.e. my passengers) having an obvious love for pies, it helps even out the weight differences between my ‘race-spec’ athletic frame and the more chunky chaps on the Ford scene. In further anticipation for the succession of shakedowns and trackdays I am intent on doing, I have ordered some new rubber: some highly rated Yokohama A048, and more on those next month.

When the car returned back to SRMC from Forge, I went up for a big weekend of finishing the final bits. Matt and John did the painting, but I mucked in as best as I could. The finish was exactly the way I pictured it in my mind. I don’t know why people complain about watching paint dry, I found it incredibly exciting! The next stint saw the kit and doors back on. I stayed on my own one night, fiddling with the rad and cooler. Around 4am in the morning I stood back, feeling very content with my work. A real sense of pride and achievement. The pictures tell a story themselves – dig out your copy of Fast Ford issue 310 to see.

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I’m sure some of you noticed that a fire decided to wipe out my daily drive workhorse when I took it on track. These things happen, or at least they happen to me. I took it in my stride but I did decide to punish my Focus by letting it sit in the naughty corner for a while, or what I refer to as ‘dead car alley’ on my drive, where all the broken or wounded cars lay until they are reborn.

On first glance, bar a few sensors and melted wiring, it looked a doddle to sort. I did some very keen bargain hunting and bagged myself a new cam cover, oil cap, ignition leads and wiring loom. I had to go to Ford for the induction hose but all in all it cost me around £100 so I was well pleased, considering all of this is brand new Ford stock.

Getting it looking like an engine and cleaned up again was easy. My lady-shoe wearing housemate Simon helped out with stripping some of the wires back and it was looking good. Fire extinguisher dust really burns though, even more so when you get it in a cut on your hand! When fired up it smoked a little and sounded a bit lumpy but it soon seemed to all settle. Felt like a lucky escape, especially as it could have been so much worse as the fire was crucially near to the fuel lines. I gingerly did some careful testing, which basically involved me cruising around until it was up to temperature and then flooring it. Me putting my foot down would happen sooner or later, so I figured I may as well do it while I was local.

It survived the test, but it did feel incredibly flat low down and to be lacking a touch of power further in the revs. I also traced the horrible knocking I felt towards the end of its death at Anglesey to a knackered gearbox mount. The car was instantly put back into workhorse mode as I had car parts to ferry about and my Mk1 has been in almost non-stop daily use and commuting. Within a week I think I had chalked up 1000 miles on my usual crazy car missions, the only real mishap was losing the gears because the linkage popped off on an aggressive gearchange, thanks to the tired gearbox mount. After getting covered in grease as well as the highly irritating fire extinguisher dust at the roadside, it was back running again.

Besides the obvious burning on my hands from the dust I missed, the car seemed fine. It was returning good mpg too, which was a surprise considering the flat spots. But the question is, will it be alive for another update? You’ll find out soon…

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October has seen a heavy amount of use and abuse for my Mk1. I have been doing the daily slog to work in it, commuting up to do work on the FRST in it, and of course I’ve been letting my obscene right foot run riot every step of the way.

Besides terrifying the locals – including a couple of, shall we say, ‘larger ladies’ one night while kicking flames out as I passed them – I took it to the Fast Ford Fight Club at Santa Pod. I did my usual thing of no mercy driving, and was amazed that I didn’t kill the tired CV or the clutch, which has been hanging on by a thread for some time.

I was bang on it for quite some time, and what made me chuckle was the amount of onlookers who thought the car was rear-drive! While at Fight Club, I had Jonny from Carpromos.co.uk shoot a little sequence of me doing some of my antics. It’s a cool video if I say so myself – if you want to take a look, just click here.

After a serious amount of spanking, I drove home but that day really did highlight the need for a proper steering wheel though, so in-keeping with the retro style interior and retrim, there was only one wheel I was interested in. A handmade, small dished item from classic specialists Moto Lita. These things just ooze pure class.

Ford Fair was coming up fast and I was ignoring the clearly shot-to-pieces CV, and the belt that was recently changed had started to squeal again. It was obvious that one of the pulleys was ruined. So once again Mark Hudd of M Hudd Autos helped me out. Having sorted it with ease last month, I dropped it in for a fresh belt and pulley. I keep a spare belt in the boot now: you never know! Mark gave it a good spanner check for me and sorted the issues in no time and I collected it just in time to head to Ford Fair.

I was gutted not to have the turbo ready for the show, but I wasn’t going to miss out on track action. I was relatively well behaved but it highlighted what I already knew: I need a catch tank and an oil cooler. Not to mention the weak clutch that made it impossible to go full throttle, especially in the corners. With a few tweaks it could be an epic track car, but passing noise regs would be tricky, and I honestly don’t want to track it. It’s a road car, and always will be. It helped me vent some stress though!

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This is a £20 belt, but due to the amount of ancillaries it covers, you can drive the car in N/A form but it’s a question of which dies first, the headgasket or the battery.

I had the car recovered and I was convinced it was an engine out job, it was always something I expected at some point and it’s the price I pay for having a nutty one-off car with a crammed engine bay.

Superb (and bright!) Fiestas, in Mk1 and Mk2 varieties.

I really couldn’t even attempt it on the driveway and living in the South West means I’m short of local garages that I trust. Then I got chatting to Mark Hudd who runs M Hudd Auto Specialist. I’m certainly no fan of just leaving my car places because I don’t want a random mechanic taking my cars for a “test drive”. I had no worries with Mark, he is the Swindon RSOC chairman and he has two monster Cossies and a seriously quick Mk2 Fiesta with a ZT engine, so I know he knows how to look after cars, how to respect them and what they mean to the owner.

Mark and Dave Pritchard (another RSOC regular and ex-FF feature car owner) collected the Mk1 and had it turned around and on the road in an afternoon. I was pleasantly surprised, more so when he told me he managed it without moving the engine! If you look at my set-up, this is an impressive feat! Especially because I made the job tricky by not having the correct size belt and a map of which way it routes… Mark and Dave sorted that for me, drawing a neat little map for me and giving me the part number for the next time. Top boys! That’s proper service right there!

So with the car running again in quick time I was well happy and bombed over to see Darren from Orbital Motorsport to finally fit my wicked Compbrake stoppers. I think the hours he has put in with this may have cost him a marriage, but from a selfish point of view, it has been worth it!

I took delivery of some EBC brake discs. I had the choice of standard or uprated, I went for the standard style 1.6 Mondeo ones as they are a 260mm disc. EBC have always proved themselves a decent choice on my daily use cars. The wheels hide them a little but these brakes are huge! Getting four pots and 260mm discs inside the 13s is a serious task, but he has managed it. This was all the day before the Classic Ford Show as I was due on stand with the CF lads. Pleased to say I made it. Now I really need a clutch…

For once in my life though, common sense prevailed. It hurt me a lot and was a heartbreaking decision to make, but I chose to have a much-needed break from the car and just leave it at home.

This allowed Matt and John to get busy on the final bodywork stages on the exterior. My crusty old fuel cap is now smoothed off totally and they have prepped the body for the final coat of primer and paint. I cannot wait to see it gleaming in all its glory!

Neil has a go at finishing off the inlet.

One major arrival this update is my glorious Performance Trim carbon fibre roof. You may remember that I’d ordered it and now it has arrived, it was worth the wait. As usual it is up to the top-notch finish that Performance Trim have on all their carbon products, it will contrast so well against the fresh red paint and be a real feature to the car.

Besides the obvious beauty, it is a genuine performance part as it will help shed a few vital kilos and will help to get weight from high up on the car, so should lower the centre of gravity and make the car more nimble in the bends.

Neil was gutted that the Fiesta missed out on Gatebil, but surely the end’s in sight now?

On the subject of weight, I relocated my battery box to behind my driver’s seat. I did this on the basis that on track days, most Ford owners are quite, shall we say, well fed! This will help counter balance my ‘race-spec’ slim figure against the more chunky passengers I sometimes carry. I needed a new one in alloy and OBP have a few different sizes, the one I chose is a snug fit for my battery and matches the rest of the alloy parts in my interior. Just the job, and cheap too!

I have been busy test-fitting my huge Pro Alloy intercooler – it’s a beast! I’ll never have to worry about ACTs with this mammoth single-pass ’cooler now. It was custom made for me and the trademark beautiful welding is there for all to see, I had it coated in stealth black by the PA team too. This led me on to placing another order with Roose Motorsport for all the necessary silicone boost hoses for it. With a dummy fit underway I called Auto Specialists. I run an Airtec radiator and Alan specced me two fans to get the hot air out when I’m in traffic or pit lanes, and while I was on the phone I started to enquire about power steering. I’ll be running a new power steering rack and in the pursuit of beauty and reliability I ordered a Sierra Cossie PAS tank to fit.

It doesn’t look like it’s nearly finished, does it?

There really isn’t much outstanding on the spec side of things now so Gordon from SRMC has been busy sorting out the interior loom and switch panel for me which will make everything 
neat and functional. The engine loom was in need of a good sorting out as well, and Lee from Devil Developments very kindly offered to drive up to SRMC for me to make me a lovely new engine loom. Having two top tuners work together on the electrical side of things has been a privilege, thanks lads.

This was all last-minute panic stuff, and at the time of writing I’m packing my stuff for the last session of ‘car tramping’: one big weekend will hopefully see the final coat of paint on and the car towed down to Forge for them to make up some one-off boost hoses, plus the brake system to be done by Hose Technik. Then it will be a mad scramble and panic to have it built for Ford Fair. Wish me luck!

(Well, we know how that went don’t we? – Craig)

Basically, I needed a car to keep my promise of doing charity passenger rides at Anglesey for the Lancs RSOC with the Fiesta RST still out of commission. So up stepped the Focarse!

I fitted some Hose Technik braided brake lines and the BC Racing coilovers. The brakes felt much better for it, especially as I topped them up with Motul fluids, and the coilovers changed the car on the road and track. I was revelling in the new-found ride and roadholding abilities.

Members of the public put their lives in Neil’s hands…

I borrowed a seat from my mate Lee and headed on my way to Wales. The 160bhp I’ve now got thanks to Jamsport, Jamie’s mapping and the Cat Cams, really woke the car up so with some drift tyres fitted I started doing some laps. I was being rough with the car on purpose as I tried to make that fat back end swing round, it was really enjoyable for me and hopefully for the bulk of the passengers. Towards the end my usual ‘flamboyant’ driving style was hampered by increasing understeer, followed by a slight knocking. I expected to blow out a left side hub, bearing or balljoint.

I needn’t have worried about that because on collecting another passenger I set off out of the pits with a smokescreen behind me – it didn’t look great, but I adopted my usual approach of ‘foot on the floor and see what happens’. What I soon saw happening was smoke, lots of it, coming through the vents into the interior. It meant only one thing: fire!

Neil in smoking car shocker.

I trundled into the pits with smoke bellowing, apologising to my lady passenger for the rubbish lap and then with a silly grin I popped the bonnet for the waiting marshals with fire extinguisher. So, that meant another Sunday with me on a trailer. Oh well, it was fun while it lasted, I kept my promise and raised a couple of quid for charity so not the end of the world.

The car remains dead on my driveway, parked in what we call ‘dead car alley’ because at any one time it has around three wounded vehicles laid up – oh yeah, I’m a classy guy. I need to hatch a plan and they vary in terms of ease of completion, cost and outcome.

I could break and scrap the car, repair it to how it was, build a cheap Zetec Turbo engine or go mental and buy a Japanese car, then transplant all of the running gear, engine, ’box, suspension basically everything into the Focus shell. That way I would have a daily drift car and one that can actually go drifting in standard form unlike spending a fortune on uprated Cosworth stuff. It tempts me, but I really shouldn’t take on another big project, my hands are full. I need to sleep on this one…

In my absence the M&J lads really got busy; they traced any remaining rot areas and sorted them all out. When I saw a couple of pictures they sent me, I expected the lads to try and convince me to scrap the car. It looked bad to me. They didn’t, instead they simply said, “don’t worry mate, we can sort it out”, and when I saw the end result of their work I have to say I was very impressed! They have kept a genuine RS Turbo on the road and made a stressed-out Mancunian very happy. The shell is in the best condition it has ever been and will be solid for years to come.

Underside is stonechipped and treated to last.

I raced up there for some more silly shifts on the car. The shell prep was finally finished off, I crawled underneath with the stonechip spray and the chaps got busy using the Lesonal etch primer and then the build primer. I think the 400+ hours of shell prep has really paid off, I just need to get busy with the rebuild.

To spur me on I treated myself to a lightweight gearknob from Motorsport Tools. This not only saves a few grammes, it looks and feels great to use. Especially when it is mounted on the snazzy gearshift column that my skilful mate Mike made for me.

Neil and Paul fit the crossmember to make it a rolling shell again.

My back brakes were very tired, so I called Tar-Ox and took delivery of a new set of RS2000 discs and pads. This matches the Tar-Ox six-pots I have on the front and are set to take serious abuse and haul off the speed. To make the most of the rear discs, I will be running a CompBrake hydraulic handbrake, with an ASBO child like myself behind the wheel this can only mean one thing: big skids!

Mock fitting of all the essentials.

Matt and John from M&J Motors have really grafted hard on this project and the real payoff was when I saw it coated in that lovely Magnum Grey paint, it was like a weight was lifted, I was at the point of a mental breakdown with the bodywork prep stage and it’s nice to see it has turned a corner. A rapid rebuild over a few days with some pals helping saw it look more like a car, check the many pictures to see the progress and where we’re up to: they say more than I ever could. This build has damn near killed me, but the  satisfaction and the elation of seeing the paint really makes it worthwhile.

Having had a proper play with them, I’m very impressed. Besides the obvious caster and camber top mounts, they’re length adjustable. So when you raise or lower the car, you don’t needlessly compress the spring. That is done on an entirely different platform and the 30-point damping adjustment allows me to quickly tweak things for either motorway cruising or flat out blasting along.

I’d promised to do some charity rides at Anglesey and with days to spare before the event, I realised the Fiesta had no chance of making it. So I hatched a plan – make the Focus more trackworthy and take that out. It shows I made the effort and it’s a laugh all the same. I did have to have a word with myself and stop myself from trying to fit the Fiesta Zetec turbo engine and FRS ’box – it would have just been mental, too insane, even for me!

With a charity ride promise to keep, Neil track-preps his Focus.

I contacted Jamsport to help with my track prep. The clutch was hanging on for dear life to the point that the studs and springs were the only things offering a clamping load – not cool. So a new clutch, cover and flywheel was thrown in and Jamie very graciously worked late into the night with me. Jamsport have the facilities to map the standard ECU, something I have struggled with since fitting the Cat Cams. Now that the clutch was up to it, it was strapped to the rollers where it made what I feel is a very strong and pokey 160bhp and 150lb/ft! Not bad for just cams, exhaust and a Jamsport map.

I headed home exhausted and the following night did a random one to Leicester to borrow my mate Lee’s passenger seat and to change the old brake fluid for some high-rated Motul stuff and some much-needed Hose Technik brake lines. The last thing I wanted was fade on track.

I’m a big fan of Motul fluids, having proven them on my two highly-strung Fiestas. The Hose Technic stuff was spot on, a perfect fit, and the most troublesome part was getting the old hoses off. Matt at M&J was on hand to help me with the brake bleeding, and I even ordered some Eibach rollbars, but the clock ran out and I’d to head to Anglesey.

The car drives much better with the extra power from the Jamsport map and the BC Racing coilovers, and on track it was definitely a laugh and the coilovers were very easy to set up and get used to. The day went very well, but let’s just say things got hot out there…

I have developed a new lifestyle. I call it Car Tramping. Last month I ‘car tramped’ for seven days, this time it was a hardcore session. I recently took some time off, but rather than relax on a beach like a normal person, I spent 10 days working 20-hour shifts on the FRST and any sleep I got was either curled up like a drunk tramp in the unit, or in my Focus. I had my toothbrush so I wasn’t a total savage! The single saddest night of my life was when I was screwed up like an empty packet of crisps, squeezed onto the tiny back seat of my Mk1. My knees folded into my armpits and my head and neck bent round at 90 degrees while trying to sleep! It was so cold that I woke up several times and had to use a blowtorch to warm the air and interior of my car. It very nearly crippled me!

It was all in a vain effort to make the Lancs show at Anglesey. After working all-nighters on the car at SRMC and M&J Motors I couldn’t have done more.

Matt finishes off the cage in the Fiesta.

I discovered my paints from Lesonal were waiting for me on arrival so that got me all fired up and ready for the attack. I’m glad I had the car assessed by them as it needed lots of materials to make it how I want it. I concentrated on the final shell prep, cutting and shaping the rollcage tubes, cleaning the underside for more stitch welding, and cutting the rear floor out for a lighter plate but with a stronger support bar. Gordon and the M&J lads helped me with making bulkhead strengthening plates, chassis rail strengthening and making a seriously strong gearbox mount. My pal Super Aly up in Scotland kindly sent me down some strut tops, so I owe him a favour as he was a lifesaver.

Vibra-Technics sent their top man John over to look at the engine mount because he was local. It is a serious bit of kit and John looked at the gearbox mount and agreed it should be going nowhere, even with my hard driving style.

The car has had countless hours of motorsport-spec shell prep now, and after the week from hell I was pretty much sick of the sight of the car. But when I sit back and look at it, I know there is very little else you could do to this shell to make it a serious track car, so I’m happy.

Care required as the engine goes in – it must be dead level.

With the mounts sorted, it allowed me to mock up my engine. Lee at Devil Developments posted me a fresh cylinder head up – standard port size with Cat Cams, verniers and three angle valve seats. Meanwhile John and Matt started to sort out the few areas of rot on the arches.

With the engine mocked up I started to rethink my braking. I’ve been making several back and forth phone calls to the ever-patient Liam at Earl’s. I want to run full braid system and all the fittings – it’s expensive, but it’s quality. To make the most of this I called up Compbrake and placed an order for a hydraulic handbrake.

The month was sweetened with the arrival of my one-off Pro Alloy intercooler. I had the skilled chaps there make this up for my spec and size. On arrival I went weak at the knees – it is glorious and charge temps will definitely not be an issue for me. I can’t wait to get this all bolted up, it will look imposing that’s for sure!

Hopefully the paint will be done and the lightweight loom sorted out in time for the next update. If not, I can see me living in a bin like a motorsport-mad Oscar the Grouch.