HOMEBUILT HERO
For his first project, Ben wasn’t about to take things easy — the Fiesta was a full rebuild.
Scouring the classifieds turned up this low-miles 1.1L — standard, but not for long.
The body was basically sound, needing a replacement wing and a few small repairs.
Mk1, however: “I wanted it white with gloss black trim from the outset, and settled on Frozen White which was applied by Nathan and Ady at Ringmer Car Care.”
Head start
While the shell was away being painted, Ben was able to concentrate on building up the running gear, and he gave himself a head start by buying an old XR2 rally car. “The body was trashed, but I got loads of really good bits off it,” he reveals. For the engine though, there was only one option — the Zetec.
“The 2-litre Black Top engine the car is currently running is almost identical to the one in my Dad’s Ginetta” explains Ben. “We knew it was a great set-up so it made sense to replicate it. He helped me with the build of this one, but when we got snowed under with other work, I took it to my friend Jon at Jon Wood Race Engines in Eastbourne for the final assembly. Jon did the machining and head work and it’s running his own-spec cams. The throttle bodies are from a GSX-R1000 controlled by a Megasquirt ECU — in fact, it’s temporarily the one out of my Dad’s car — and the manifold is a tubular ST170 one that I modified to fit the Fiesta, which leads into a stainless-steel system that Longlife at Berwick Service station made for me.”
Cooling duties are taken care of by a bespoke aluminium radiator, with an oil cooler mounted on the side, both fabricated by Colin Reay. “I sent him a diagram of what I wanted, and it fitted in perfectly,” says Ben.
With the Fiesta ultimately heading for the race circuits, sprint and hillclimb venues of the UK, you won’t be surprised to hear that the suspension is all-adjustable, based around GAZ’s fully-tweakable coil-overs and dampers, along with pretty much the full complement of early Fiesta specialist, Orbital Motorsport’s catalogue including adjustable front and rear arms, an adjustable Panhard
rod for the rear beam and an adjustable rear anti-roll bar. Although Ben’s only done 150 road miles since the car was finished and is yet to dial in the suspension completely, so far he’s more than pleased with the handling.
Main event
Speaking of which, Ben and the Mk1 have managed one pre-lockdown event so far — the Firle Hillclimb Revival on the south coast (“It’s meant to be non-competitive, but everyone goes for it,” he grins), and with fingers’ firmly crossed it goes ahead, the postponed Le Mans 24 Hours (now in September) is next in his sights. “We go to watch it every year, and I’m desperate to take the Fiesta this time,” says Ben. “It’s one of the reasons I didn’t strip the interior out completely, and still run a front carpet — La Sarthe is a long way to go with no sound-deadening! Those RS Recaros are great by the way. I retrimmed them in leather and alcantara and not only are they supersupportive, they do a great job of soaking up the stiff suspension.”
The Fiesta could well have a new engine by then, too — Ben is clearly not one to sit around staring into space. “I’ve been collecting the parts needed to build an ST170 turbo engine for a while,” he admits. “In fact, when I had the radiator fabricated, I made sure there was room underneath to mount an intercooler, and you’ve probably already noticed the extra intake holes in the front panel and bumper...”
Future-proofing at its finest.