BDG MK2 ESCORT

There are many ways to build a Mk2, but for Jake Swann there’s only one...

One of the stars of The Great Unveiling, Jake Swann’s Fast Road Mk2 is sublime .

With so many well-modified Mk2 Escorts having been built in recent years, it’s hard to create something stand-out that isn’t just different for the sake of it. Yet Jake Swann has managed it in bucketloads with his latest project — this incredible BDG-powered two-door that caused more than a few open mouths at this year’s Great Unveiling — simply by building a car to suit his own particular set of requirements rather than ticking off a wishlist of parts.

You may be familiar with Jake. We featured his Machine Silver Mk5 Cortina in the April 2017 issue — a proper sleeper that just happens to run a full-race Pinto. But as much as he loves the Cortina, Jake’s always had an Escort-shaped itch just waiting to be scratched.

“Like with a lot of people, it’s all my Dad, Kevin’s fault. He used to race Escorts years ago, and still owns a Mk2 road and track car. I never thought I’d be able to afford one, but I decided to give up stock car racing a few years back as it was taking up every evening and most weekends, sold the race car, and the money from that went into helping to fund the build of this.”

‘This’ being one of the nicest, most-thoughtthrough Mk2s we’ve featured for some time — thanks in part to Jake being particular about every aspect of the build. “I wanted the best possible base for the project,” he recalls. “I’d looked at a few for sale, then saw a beige one that Car Cave had available, so we went over with a trailer… and came home with this one instead! Car Cave’s Alan had only got it in that morning, and reckoned it was the cleanest one he’d ever had. He wasn’t wrong, as although it was a little beaten up, we couldn’t find a pinprick of rust.”

The left-hand-drive 1.1L had spent all its life in Croatia, and being silver, was the perfect colour for Jake, too.

“As soon as I got it home, I sent off for it to be registered then when the logbook turned up, took it down to the MoT station on the Saturday morning — by Sunday night it was a bare shell... I’d hardly driven it at that point, just off the trailer into the MoT bay, then into the workshop. I still managed the obligatory burnout, or one-tyre fire, though!”

Jake was adamant that he was going to do as much of the build on the car himself and set about stripping all the paint off the shell by hand. With the naked metalwork proving to be every bit as good as Jake and Kevin had initially thought, it meant he could crack straight on with the shell prep, adding link boxes and a diff tunnel as well as the rear turrets plus the right-handdrive dash. “I’d never done anything like this before, but I found a few diagrams, carefully measured everything, took a few deep breaths and started cutting, and luckily it all worked out fine.”

“Fitting the roll cage was particularly difficult — it just wouldn’t go in without some serious tweaking. In the end, I decided to bolt it in when the shell was in primer and then mask it up, because I knew that if I tried to fit it when the body was in paint, I would have scratched it.”

“That wasn’t the worst job, though — that award goes to rubbing down the bodywork and

getting it ready for paint — it took forever.” Speaking of which, the stunning Machine Silver finish is down to local bodyshop, Cawthorn Accident Repair with help from Diane Green. “Cawthorn is run by my Dad’s best mate, Max and they’re really good. They straightened out a few panels that had had some knocks in the car’s previous life, and ended up putting a door skin on one side because it was a bit too battered. The colour is the same as on my Mk5 Cortina — I don’t like shouty colours, I wanted something more subtle — and both cars look great when parked up together. I got Cawthorn to add the satin black to the rear panel at the same time, and took over a pile of parts, including the radiator, strut brace and loads of brackets, for the same treatment.”

High and dry

Jake had wisely done a dry build of the car prior to the shell going off for paint, so the fit-up process went relatively smoothly — even with the added pressure of getting the car ready for The Great Unveiling (see boxout). It’s an impressive spec, all designed to complement and make the most of Jake’s choice of powerplant, but there’s nothing there that’s too over the top.

“I spent a long time thinking about the running gear,” he admits. “It was never going to be a Group 4 copy — I didn’t need to get carried away, and instead chose the parts I thought would work best for a Fast Road and track spec.”

With this in mind, Jake saw no reason to switch to the heavier, expensive Atlas axle, retaining the original English casing but narrowing it 0.5 inches each side to allow the planned 8 inch wide wheels with decent 185-section track day tyres to comfortably fit. Beefed up with two-piece 16-spline shafts and an LSD, it’s more than up to the job, with turret-length dampers, a Panhard rod and link bars keeping it in line when Jake presses the loud pedal.

At the business end, GAZ coil-overs work with offset top mounts and adjustable bottom arms located by compression struts (retaining an anti-roll bar on drop links) — a well-proven and effective set-up, with Wilwood brakes sitting inside those Compomotive MLs.

Bay watch

To just point out the glorious BDG under the bonnet (see left), wouldn’t be doing justice to the amount of time and effort that Jake has put into the engine bay. The loom now runs inside the offside inner wing and enters the engine bay through the front panel, and Jake’s mounted the ancillaries in a symmetrical pattern where possible — all designed to direct your attention to the engine.

Inside, it’s a similar story with the satin black and Machine Silver theme continuing, Jake even making himself buy the same-brand seats, harnesses and steering wheel so that they all matched. The gauges are all the same make, too — including a digital speedo needed as the RX8 six-speed gearbox (Jake would have loved a ZF ’box but the budget wouldn’t stretch to it) has no speedo drive — the majority sitting inside the flocked dash which he did himself using a kit.

“I made up the loom for the extra gauges and engine bay too — probably one of the hardest

jobs. In the end I had it all laid out in the car with cable ties, tested it to make sure everything worked, then took it out again to wrap it before installing it properly.”

Next in line

Seeing the car in the metal at the Classic Ford Show, we couldn’t get enough of the amount of though and detail Jake has put into this build — he’s created a truly memorable Mk2. And as soon as the show was over, he was out enjoying the roads in it around his Fenland home.

Now with the Escort (and Cortina) exactly how Jake wants them, his thoughts are turning to his next project. “I’d love to build a Mk1 Cortina with a Lotus twin-cam,” he enthuses. “Do you want it for The Great Unveiling 2020? Or have I just let the cat out of the bag...”

“AS SOON AS THE GREAT UNVEILING WAS OVER, JAKE WAS OUT ENJOYING THE MK2”

Neatly-mounted brake and clutch fluid reservoirs lead to a Rix bias pedal box Jake opted for traditional Weber DCO/SP carbs instead of throttle bodies, controlled by a modern take on the rigid, works-style throttle linkage Uprated alloy radiator was painted satin black to work with the rest of the silver and black underbonnet theme. Unusually for a BDG engine, Jake converted the block to run a traditional wet sump — though with a remote oil filter, in this case.

Modern English: Jake deemed an Atlas was unnecessary, and five-linked and beefed up the original axle instead ‚ narrowing it 0.5 inch each side to allow the 8x13s to comfortably fit.

Loom? What loom? All of the engine bay wiring has been hidden where possible, running inside the inner wings and in through the front panel

Some front: the Mk2 looks purposeful — and well set-up.

Jake spent an age researching which gauges to use, opting for Racetech ones, with the speedo a digital one as the gearbox has no drive take-off.

Towing eye hints at the Mk2’s track credentials. Hopefully it’ll never be needed, though...

Jake expertly flocked the original dashtop himself using a kit bought off the internet Despite the lookalike tower, Jake’s budget wouldn’t stretch to a ZF gearbox, so he used the wellproven Mazda RX8 six-speed instead, bolted up to the BDG block with an adaptor plate Not much of the existing L-spec interior could be reused, but Jake was able to salvage the doorcards Seats, harnesses and steering wheel are not just the same colour, but the same brand, too, to keep the overall theme of the interior consistent

MLs have been finished in graphite for the stealth look.

With the Escort now ready for road and track duties, Jake’s looking to start a twin-cam Mk1 Cortina project.

Satin black rear panel is a nice nod to the RS models, while the graphite grey Compomotives aren’t too flashy.

Jake’s not gone over-the-top with the motorsportthemed interior — and it’s all the better for it.

Plumbed-in fire-extinguisher is mounted on the diff tunnel.