A monumental rebuild
and a sorted 16-valver help make this Fiesta Super sport one of the finest
around.
Ford Fiesta Super sport
red
The Mk1 Fiesta is now
firmly entrenched as a bona-fide classic Ford, something that has its plus and
minus points. The bad news is that they’re no longer the bargain they were five
or so years ago, and thanks to their alarming propensity to rot, any clean
shell will be worth a decent sum of cash.
The upside though is
that they’re no longer viewed as lesser cars than their Escort predecessors,
plus the restoring and tuning scene that has grown up around them is one of the
most accessible, friendly and forward-thinking around.
The hot models of the
first-gen Fiesta have always been held in high regard, and it’s one such car
we’re looking at here, a beautifully restored and tastefully tuned Super sport.
It’s owned by Tom Newlands — a long-term Fiesta aficionado — and has been built
by Jo and Paddy Millar, owners of the Fiesta Farm. It might look flawless now,
but it certainly wasn’t like that when Tom delivered it to Jo and Paddy in
early 2010. “Yes, even for a Mk1 Fiesta it was pretty rotten! The floor-pans
weren’t really there, the sills, strut tops, boot floor, inner wings and front
panel were all totally rotten — standard Fiesta stuff and then some,” recalls Paddy
with a wry grin.
Ride on time
Some bits were in
good enough condition to be patched and welded, but wherever possible Jo and
Paddy sourced replacement panels, something that’s getting harder to do by the year.
A scout around eventually turned up a pair of NOS front wings and a pair of
sills, while a dead Mk2 XR2 donated its boot floor to the Super sport. The
whole process was, as you might expect, a time-consuming one, though it did
allow Tom time to source the bits needed for the Fiesta’s mechanical
transformation.
“Much as I like the
1300, I really wanted a reasonably powerful engine that’d cope with being used
on a daily basis, so fuel-injection was pretty much a must,” explains Tom. Though
he originally planned to fit a 1600, an 1800 Zetec popped up locally and for a
good price. Money exchanged hands and Tom had the 16-valve removed from its
Escort home and dropped off at the Fiesta Farm. Now fitting Zetecs to Mk1
Fiestas is a core part of Jo and Paddy’s business, so the prospect didn’t faze them.
One thing that did slow the swap down was the need to fit a Mk2 XR2 engine
cradle. “If you put a Zetec in on a standard Mk1 one, then you’ll eventually rip
the engine mount off of the driver’s side wing — they’re just not able to handle
much power.”
Ford Fiesta Back view
Getting the XR2
cradle to fit perfectly entailed a lot of trial and error and plenty of careful
measurement taking, but the end result was certainly worth it. Mk2 Fiesta bits
are easier to track down than Mk1 parts, so from Jo and Paddy’s perspective
it’s a good thing to know, and it allowed Tom’s engine bay to look simply stunning.
“I always wanted the engine swap to look as professional as possible, ideally
like it’d always been there. The Mk2 cradle meant that I could keep the timing
covers on, and they really help make the Zetec look right at home there,” Tom
explains.
Jo and Paddy’s
attention to detail, plus their use of OE Ford parts wherever possible (they found
that Mk3 RS1800 hoses are a near perfect fit for the swap), have resulted in a
very well finished engine bay, and though it’s perhaps something of a cliché,
the engine really does look like a factory fit.
“You’ll spot two
things right away; the RS arch kit and the iconic shade of sunburst red”
Ford Fiesta Mk1 Super
sport Badge
