It was all going well, far too well in fact,
and fate decided it wanted to throw a spanner in the works just as Pete finished
off the paintwork. A box of carbs made a bid for freedom and ended up crashing
down onto the freshly-painted bonnet, resulting in a big dent and a furious Pete.
“It was like a Looney Tunes cartoon — they seemed to fall in slow motion and I
tried to catch them before they landed,” chuckles Pete.
Period perfection is
the order of the day inside, and we think this Anglebox is all the better for
it!
Engine, transmission and bodywork were all sorted,
but Pete still had work to do to improve the Anglia’s handling and braking
capabilities. It now runs a mix of Bilstein uprights converted to coil-overs,
plus adjustable top mounts, while at the back you’ll find Gaz coil-overs and
lowering blocks. All of this means that though built with a nod to old-school
tuning, it handles in a way that a ’70s Anglia owner could only dream of.
Wheels of steel
As we all know the right wheels really make,
and the wrong ones certainly break, how a car looks and it was an area that
Pete put a lot of thought into. “I ran RS four-spokes for a while, then went
for these Lotus steels. It’s what everyone ran back in the day when they were
still easy to get hold of, and you can’t beat a bit of old school, can you?”
George Polley had a
hand in this Cross flow’s birth, and it might even have served time in his own
Anglia stock car
Pete’s gone to great lengths to weave the aforementioned
old-school influences into this car, and when you see how well it has turned out,
you can’t deny that it was the right thing to do. The Lotus wheels are
timeless, the Fire blade bike carbs sound just as evocative as old-school Webers,
and that paint finish (and the chrome work with original patina) is simply flawless.
It’s only going to get better too, with plans afoot to have the suspension and
geometry professionally set up. This car has giant killer writ large all over
it.
It’s hard to argue
with Pete’s decision to use Lotus steels — they’re a timeless design, and suit
the car perfectly
Specs: ·
Body ·
Anglia
in Lagoon Blue with Ermine White flash ·
and
roof, seam welded and restored ·
Engine ·
1600
Cross flow with KCGP1 George Polley ·
camshaft,
ported and polished big-valve head, ·
unleaded
seats, 105Speed exhaust manifold ·
and
stainless steel system, Bogg Brothers inlet ·
manifold,
Honda Fire blade carbs with ·
re-drilled
jets, H&H ignition system ·
Transmission ·
Type-9
five-speed gearbox converted to run ·
with
Cross flow, OE clutch ·
Suspension ·
Front:
Bilstein legs with coil-over conversion, ·
adjustable
top mounts, Rose-jointed ·
compression
struts ·
Rear:
Gaz dampers, poly bushes, lowering ·
blocks ·
Brakes ·
Front:
Capri 2.8i discs and callipers. ·
Rear:
XR4i discs and callipers ·
Wheels
and tyres ·
5.5x13
inch Lotus Cortina steels, Yokohama ·
185/60R13
tyres ·
Interior ·
Standard
Anglia interior, Vauxhall Victor oil ·
pressure
gauge
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