Larsongs Posted September 26, 2023 Share Posted September 26, 2023 3 hours ago, Farnsbarns said: USA made cars simply couldn't be sold over here back then. Plenty of manufacturers found their way over but almost exclusively with different models for the European market. Your petrol was cheap and had low octane ratings so you guys weren't worried about a 5 litre V8 making 200 bhp and dragging half a ton of chrome about, mostly in straight lines. In Europe we were busy extracting 100+bhp/litre, efficiency being important. The cars were lighter and most importantly, had to corner fast like European cars on our twisty, tree lined, country lanes. Just 2 markets with different needs that didn't suit each other. These days American cars and particularly trucks from the 50s have a pretty good following and resto scene. Hot Rod Culture started in California after WWII. Straight Roads were a dominant theme in this wide open Country. Back in the 60’s & 70’s we had 4 Cylinder Compacts.. Ford Falcons, Chevy Corvair’s & such.. A guy named Ralph Nader single handedly destroyed that market! Later we know he was mostly wrong.. The Ford Escort appeared here later.. Back in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s & beyond 16 year old Guys Cruised Town which had straight Streets.. Most of our Highways & Freeways were straight lines. Seeing who had the fastest Car was an obsession. It still is.. The 1/4 mile was a perfect test.. We weren’t worried about 409’s, 427’s & 454’s either.. Science & Technology have evolved to Ultra Low Emission with 500, 600, 700 HP & more Modern Muscle Cars that can be purchased off the Showroom floor… We loved the European Cars too Austin Henley, MG, Triumph, Jaguar, were favorites.. I had an MG & loved it.. Unfortunately Parts were impossible to get & finding a qualified Mechanic in So Cal was impossible.. So I sold it.. I’ve had many Cars & Trucks over the years.. I currently have a Chevy Silverado Pickup & a 2005 Chevy Corvette which I special ordered new.. Big or Small I love them all.. Your’s is very Cool! Enjoy.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted September 26, 2023 Share Posted September 26, 2023 34 minutes ago, Larsongs said: Hot Rod Culture started in California after WWII. Straight Roads were a dominant theme in this wide open Country. Back in the 60’s & 70’s we had 4 Cylinder Compacts.. Ford Falcons, Chevy Corvair’s & such.. A guy named Ralph Nader single handedly destroyed that market! Later we know he was mostly wrong.. The Ford Escort appeared here later.. Back in the 50’s, 60’s, 70’s & beyond 16 year old Guys Cruised Town which had straight Streets.. Most of our Highways & Freeways were straight lines. Seeing who had the fastest Car was an obsession. It still is.. The 1/4 mile was a perfect test.. We weren’t worried about 409’s, 427’s & 454’s either.. Science & Technology have evolved to Ultra Low Emission with 500, 600, 700 HP & more Modern Muscle Cars that can be purchased off the Showroom floor… We loved the European Cars too Austin Henley, MG, Triumph, Jaguar, were favorites.. I had an MG & loved it.. Unfortunately Parts were impossible to get & finding a qualified Mechanic in So Cal was impossible.. So I sold it.. I’ve had many Cars & Trucks over the years.. I currently have a Chevy Silverado Pickup & a 2005 Chevy Corvette which I special ordered new.. Big or Small I love them all.. Your’s is very Cool! Enjoy.. I always believed the hot rod scene, and as such, NASCAR, came about during prohibition when the booze runners needed fast cars. I think it's interesting that in a country with mostly wide and much straighter roads than ours, and cars built for them, racing in straight lines over short sprint distances evolved where as over here, the perimeter roads of air force bases became tight twisty circuits and circuit racing became the people's thing. We have a huge number of circuits for such a small place, now I think about it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted September 26, 2023 Share Posted September 26, 2023 (edited) In the South & back Hills Moonshiners souped up Cars to run Shine.. They were trying to outrun the Man.. After WWII Hot Rodding as a Culture & a Scene is So Cal was something else. Souping up Old Cars yes but beyond that making them Cool.. They took old cheap Cars, made them light & fast. Then added things like Custom Paint & Interiors, Flames, Pin Striping, Custom Wheels, Chrome Parts for Engines, Drive Trains, Suspensions & Exhaust. It hasn’t stopped yet.. It’s spread all over the World… This is Part 1 of a Series hosted by Chip Foose about the Hot Rod Culture… Edited September 27, 2023 by Larsongs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHenry Posted September 27, 2023 Share Posted September 27, 2023 22 hours ago, Farnsbarns said: I have to admit, while I know I'm against the grain, I preferred the mkII with a flat front. The pointy front just doesn't get on with my eyes. Obviously I prefer a MK1 given that I have bought one. The flat front RS's were either the RS Mexico (1600) or the RS1800, a very rare and temperamental beast. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted September 27, 2023 Share Posted September 27, 2023 22 hours ago, Larsongs said: Big or Small I love them all.. Your’s is very Cool! Enjoy.. I should just add... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 14, 2023 Share Posted October 14, 2023 (edited) This has escalated. I was offered what is called a BDA engine (Belt Drive series A (belt drive refering to the cam shafts)) designed by Cosworth around the Ford Crossflow engine. Takes the engine from an 8 valve, single cam (not overhead) to a DOHC 16v, 10,000 RPM screamer. The original cam remains in the crank case just to drive the oil pump, as a point of interest. The crossflow has no combustion chambers in the head. Ford put the chamber in the top of the piston and the valves are flush with the head surface. The BDA puts the chamber in the head so it uses different pistons as well as uprated crank and rods. They became a go-to engine for motor sport, with Formula 3 being their home and lots of historic motorsport applications. They usually start at about £15k used or £25k for a freshly built unit. I have found one for SIGNIFICANTLY less than that. Ford built escorts with the engine (the RS1600) and I have decided to make my car an rs1600 in every way. I was already uprating the shell to RS spec (type 49, strengthened, as per twin cam, Mexico, Rs1600, rs2000) but now we're going all in. (Despite having a 2l Pinto the RS2000 is nowhere near as desirable as an rs1600. Nowhere near as quick, either. The BDA is a serious engine, the 2L pinto is cheap, extra displacement in a heavy, lazier engine. We're not only swapping in the BDA, but also the venerable 2000e rocket box gearbox, original master cylinder pedal box (hydraulic clutch), original remote brake servo and moving the battery to the boot with an original NOS boot mounting kit. The engine currently produces around 200bhp (yes, you can get that much power from 1.6L and yes, that's plenty in a 750KG car 265bhp/tonne, about the same as a 2022 5.0 V8 Mustang GT) but could be tuned to around 300bhp. Rs1600 BDAs in the wild... https://youtu.be/lPSc3LnVRBs?si=eUzSULhPZjbmcWlI Edited October 14, 2023 by Farnsbarns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHenry Posted October 14, 2023 Share Posted October 14, 2023 Yes Farns, the BDA is quite an engine, they also put a version of it in the mark2 RS1800. They are known for being a tad temperamental though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 15, 2023 Share Posted October 15, 2023 (edited) 19 hours ago, IanHenry said: Yes Farns, the BDA is quite an engine, they also put a version of it in the mark2 RS1800. They are known for being a tad temperamental though. They are. Thank goodness my older brother's company builds race engines. On that basis I could build one from scratch, but, the parts to build one come to £20k. The one I've been offered was built 9 years ago by a reputable builder in South Africa. Worn, but by no means worn out. The BDA was ultimately developed and developed until a close relative became an F1 engine. From the "Cosworth" Wikipedia page... "The Hart 420R and the Zakspeed F1 engines owe much to the BDA series, being essentially an aluminium-block derivative using similar heads". Edited October 15, 2023 by Farnsbarns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 16, 2023 Share Posted October 16, 2023 (edited) I've decided on a new colour. Lagoon Blue. It was an original colour, has a hint of the traditional lariness of fast fords but also slightly more "restrained" or "tasteful" than the dayglow green, blue, orange or yellow shades. Those in the UK might remember it as the colour of Ford police cars in the 60s and 70s. Edited October 16, 2023 by Farnsbarns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IanHenry Posted October 18, 2023 Share Posted October 18, 2023 On 10/16/2023 at 3:42 PM, Farnsbarns said: I've decided on a new colour. Lagoon Blue. It was an original colour, has a hint of the traditional lariness of fast fords but also slightly more "restrained" or "tasteful" than the dayglow green, blue, orange or yellow shades. Those in the UK might remember it as the colour of Ford police cars in the 60s and 70s. Yes, they called them "Panda" cars, but I've no idea why. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 18, 2023 Share Posted October 18, 2023 (edited) 10 hours ago, IanHenry said: Yes, they called them "Panda" cars, but I've no idea why. Neither did I. I googled and Wikipedia says it's because City of Salfords Police ran black Hillman Mynxs with white doors in the 60s. It also reminded me of the later white cars with red strips (decals) that most forces changed to for cost reasons which were referred to as a "jam sandwich". The same article also refers to the lagoon blue Ford Anglias (pictured above) which were the precursor to the MK1 and mk2 escorts they ran in the same colour scheme. Edited October 18, 2023 by Farnsbarns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 18, 2023 Share Posted October 18, 2023 I had word this morning that they have capacity for mechanical work next week so the initial installation of the BDA engine will be done then, ahead of stripping the whole car again for body work/paint. Very excited! Laying the keystone, as it were. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 18, 2023 Share Posted October 18, 2023 (edited) On 9/27/2023 at 12:20 AM, Larsongs said: In the South & back Hills Moonshiners souped up Cars to run Shine.. They were trying to outrun the Man.. After WWII Hot Rodding as a Culture & a Scene is So Cal was something else. Souping up Old Cars yes but beyond that making them Cool.. They took old cheap Cars, made them light & fast. Then added things like Custom Paint & Interiors, Flames, Pin Striping, Custom Wheels, Chrome Parts for Engines, Drive Trains, Suspensions & Exhaust. It hasn’t stopped yet.. It’s spread all over the World… This is Part 1 of a Series hosted by Chip Foose about the Hot Rod Culture… Unfortunately this video is blocked here. That said, my experience of Chip Foose is that he's an irritating pretender who can draw cars and tell capable people to make it look kinda like that, but couldn't engineer his way out of wet paper bag. Didn't he simply screw over Boyd Coddington to get famous? I don't really know. You know what it's like with TV people. I just know I don't enjoy watching him. Edited October 18, 2023 by Farnsbarns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ceptorman Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 14 hours ago, Farnsbarns said: Unfortunately this video is blocked here. That said, my experience of Chip Foose is that he's an irritating pretender who can draw cars and tell capable people to make it look kinda like that, but couldn't engineer his way out of wet paper bag. Didn't he simply screw over Boyd Coddington to get famous? I don't really know. You know what it's like with TV people. I just know I don't enjoy watching him. I'm not a Foose fan either. I think he's an arrogant creep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 I like the blue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 (edited) 6 minutes ago, Murph said: I like the blue. I saw that first example pic when the car was listed for sale. Looked it up. Not only a hint of the 70s, and an original colour, and stand out but not lairy. Not only that but fender guys will know lagoon blue is also one of their colours. Edited October 19, 2023 by Farnsbarns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted October 19, 2023 Share Posted October 19, 2023 Gawd, don't get them started. They'll never shut up... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 5, 2023 Share Posted November 5, 2023 Parts have been trickling in at the restorer and they've sent a few pics of panels and flitch plates which aren't particularly exciting. This arrived though. Also not very exciting but it is a visible part. It's the bracket that holds the remote brake servo to the inner wing (what do Americans call the panel between the 'fender' and the engine bay? Any way, inner wing to us Brits). It's a repro part (and about £80/$100). I absolutely love that they put the FoMoCo stamp from the 70s on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Larsongs Posted November 5, 2023 Share Posted November 5, 2023 2 hours ago, Farnsbarns said: Parts have been trickling in at the restorer and they've sent a few pics of panels and flitch plates which aren't particularly exciting. This arrived though. Also not very exciting but it is a visible part. It's the bracket that holds the remote brake servo to the inner wing (what do Americans call the panel between the 'fender' and the engine bay? Any way, inner wing to us Brits). It's a repro part (and about £80/$100). I absolutely love that they put the FoMoCo stamp from the 70s on it. We call them Fender Liners… Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pippy Posted November 8, 2023 Share Posted November 8, 2023 (edited) On 10/16/2023 at 3:42 PM, Farnsbarns said: I've decided on a new colour. Lagoon Blue. It goes well with your front door... P. Edited November 8, 2023 by pippy 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 9 hours ago, pippy said: It goes well with your front door... P. Wow, good to see you here. That's neither my car, nor my front door. Just a pic I nicked to illustrate the colour. It was actually the pic that made me choose the colour. It was several days before I remembered lagoon blue is not only a classic fender colour, I even had one briefly, which I returned. None left so chose an orange replacement. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fortyearspickn Posted November 9, 2023 Share Posted November 9, 2023 Beautiful car - I'm sure your's will be even better. Great to 'pay forward' classics like this. FWIW - I think I used to call them the "Wheel Well"... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted December 1, 2023 Share Posted December 1, 2023 (edited) An original, reconditioned, hydraulic pedal box has arrived. The last thing needed, waited for ages with various small delays. £500 (~$600) but necessary if I'm going to have a BDA married to a 2000e gearbox. The current one has a clutch cable, not a master cylinder. Real work can start soon. Edited December 1, 2023 by Farnsbarns Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted December 1, 2023 Share Posted December 1, 2023 On 11/5/2023 at 8:40 AM, Farnsbarns said: what do Americans call the panel between the 'fender' and the engine bay? Any way, inner wing to us Brits). We call that the fender skirt. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Murph Posted December 1, 2023 Share Posted December 1, 2023 And so should you...... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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