ESCORT COSWORTH
Purists will hate it, but anyone who enjoys modifiying will love it!
Purists, look away now. You’re not going to like what follows. If you’re the kind of owner that likes to bang on about how fast your Ford appreciates in value rather than how fast it accelerates, this Escort Cosworth is probably not for you.
We’re not saying there’s anything wrong with leaving your car exactly as Henry intended, but the fast Ford scene has been built on the back of owners modifying their cars for years. And at a time when high resale values seem to be overpowering the grin factor of owning a fast Ford, it’s refreshing to see guys like Kevin Johns still exist. Guys that couldn’t give a toss about resale values, or what other people think; guys that are in it purely for the fun factor, and will singlemindedly forge ahead to make their vision become a reality.
But this particular story doesn’t start with a factory-original example. This EsCos was already wearing a few well-placed modifications when Kevin first saw it: a set of old-school 18in Azev As, loads of underbonnet bling, and perhaps most interestingly of all, a Garrett T28 turbo.
Kevin remembers, “It was the exact colour and spec I wanted. It belonged to a mate; just sat in his car collection, under a cover in the corner of his unit. After months of trying to convince him to sell, I finally twisted his arm, and I bought the car in January 2019.”
At that point, Kevin was just about to start preparations for moving his family and his business to Wales, so the plan was simply to stick the EsCos in a shipping container and forget about it until the move was complete.
It’s funny how things pan out, though, isn’t it? Thanks to Covid delays, Kevin is only just finishing up the move to Wales – and the car clearly hasn’t been locked in a container for the last two years.
“It did live in the container for about six months,” Kevin confesses, “but my wife and son convinced me to drag it out and start messing with it. I’d just recovered well from surgery and was a bit bored, so this gave me something to focus on.”
The first thing Kevin did after unloading the Cossie was drive it straight to a car show. But it wasn’t all roses, as the trip highlighted a few areas that required further investigation.
“It felt like the front wheel was going to fall off,” Kevin laughs.
Thinking it would be something simple like bushes or a wheel bearing, Kevin asked to borrow his mate Matthew’s workshop for a weekend to check everything over.
Kevin groans, “The car ended up being in there for over three weeks. We ended up changing everything you could imagine.”
Sitting for so long hadn’t done the car any favours; all the rubbers had perished, plastics were cracked, and seals had dried out.
“I just didn’t trust any of it. Even when we filled up the power steering fluid, it just poured straight out of the ends of the rack.”
In the overhaul, Kevin replaced the original hubs for a set of five-stud parts from a Granada 4x4. He explains, “The car now has a 5x112 PCD rather than the original 4x108, and that opens up a world of wheel choices from the German tuning scene.”
Fitting the new hubs was surprisingly easy; it all bolts together nicely, and the only modification necessary was redrilling the brake bells with the correct five-stud PCD.
At the same time, Kevin fitted a host of upgrades to the underside, including billet rear hubs, Gaz Gold coilovers, rose-jointed TCAs, longer front driveshafts (to cope with a lower ride height), polyurethane anti-roll bar bushes, AP Racing four-pot callipers with 330mm discs, new fuel lines, fuel filter, and an uprated fuel pump.
Under the bonnet, Kevin turned his attention to replacing every gasket and seal on the car: “The only one I haven’t done is the rear crank seal, because I haven’t taken the gearbox out yet. But that’s on the list of jobs to do, and when it’s out, the crank seal will
“I’ve gone for 19in fitment because people said it couldn’t be done... The car now has a 5x112 PCD, and that opens up a world of wheel choices”
get replaced too.”
Performance upgrades came in the form of a chargecooler and intercooler setup from an early big-turbo EsCos, twin oil breather system, Pro Alloy header tank and water swirl pot, billet fuel rail, Group A air filter, adjustable Sytec fuel pressure regulator, billet fuel rail, and T28 turbo upgrade. It’s all controlled by a chip from Motorsport Developments, which serves up a very useable 350bhp-plus.
With the mechanical stuff sorted, Kevin could indulge in his fetish for carbon fibre. The Cossie is now covered in the racy weave: bonnet vents, twin headlight covers, front grille, front splitter, Wolf rear spoiler extension, hockey sticks, door handles, coil pack cover, and cambelt cover.
Kevin says, “I’ve gone for a two-tone theme, using carbon fibre against the factory Auralis Blue. Not everyone likes it, but I don’t care because I do.”
If you thought the carbon bits might divide opinion, just wait until we start talking wheels. “I’ve gone for 19in fitment because so many people said it couldn’t be done,” laughs Kevin. This EsCos has been seen sporting several different sets of 19in wheels over the last year-or-so, including a set of controversial Fifteen52 R34s. The Rotiform SIX style currently on the car seems to get a better response from onlookers, but Kevin still has a soft spot for the Ken Block design. Whichever set is fitted, Kevin cites the wheels as his favourite upgrade. “I love having the ability to fit wheels that not many other Escort Cosworths can have,” he smiles.
Since being wheeled out of the shipping container, the EsCos has undergone quite the transformation. But there’s still more to come; the next job is to fit a big-tooth gearbox and hydraulic clutch conversion (“I always carry a spare cable at the moment, just waiting for it to snap,”), followed by a set of bigger rear brakes. Oh, and then there’s the small matter of building the engine up to 500bhp too.
Now it’s broken cover and started making a few show appearances, what have people made of it? Well, most love it, but there’s always going to be a handful who disapprove.
“It’s pretty funny when I hear everyone’s opinions on what should and shouldn’t be done. The car’s mine: I never wanted a standard one,” smirks Kevin.
“I enjoy driving the car, and I drive it as much as I can – even to the chippy on a Friday night to get my tea. And when I do, I drive it like I stole it. And I tell you what, I enjoy every second of it.”
Now, there’s a parting statement from a man who does what he likes and likes what he does. Good on ya, Kev’. Keep going your own way, otherwise the world will start to look very bland, very quickly.