When faced with the challenge of explaining where I'm at or what I've been up to with my retro Fords, my first thought was,"Where do I start?!" I guess the Mk1 van is as good a place as any. Built up by myself, my dad and a few other helpers along the way for the 2005 show season... we did kinda leave it a bit late! The gap from the paint drying to the first show was about six weeks. But we made it, just. My aim with the van was to build something a bit different that would maybe stand out from the crowd. I reckon I came close with an XE-engined, five-linked, turreted, caged, Le-Mans green 1969 Mk1 van! The signwriting was done in a similar style to that of my late Grandfather's first Morris Minor van in the 1960's, when he set up Morley Auto Services. This was in part a tribute to him and also a thank you to my dad for his help.

The engine has been "tickled" by OAP race engines(01342844566) - it's 2.1 litres with forged pistons and a fully lightened and balanced bottom end. Top end it remains standard for the minute, (although camshafts are definitely in the pipeline), running a mildly ported head and SBD's (0208 391 0121) fantastic tapered throttle body kit. I am very much into my naturally aspirated power, and love the response and drivability that the throttle bodies give you.. oh yeah and the noise, I love the noise!

There are a few bits and bobs that I want to get sorted though. It runs a lowered rack mount crossmember and it suffers badly from bump steer, so I need to have a look at that. the brakes are good, but I can't help but feel they could do with beefing up.

For 2006, I will be turning the bulk of my attention to the Mk1Cortina that is now part of the ever-growing Morley fleet! When the 'Tina came up (an unwelded pre-Airflow model) complete with twin cam engine on 45s, we just couldn't turn it down. Plans are perhaps a rack and pinion conversion, a fresh paint job and some sensible stopping power.

Being the busy bee that I am, I will also be building an XE-powered Mk1 Escort for one of my pals, hoping to see progress with my RS, tinkering with my girlfriends's Mk2 and all this while planning my next project! However, hanging around with Mr Birch has me questioning all of my morals - he's got me toying with the idea of turbo power. That presents me with a problem; me being me means that whatever I decide to do, it's gonna have to be different, and different can often mean expensive! 'Til next month...

TECH SPEC

Engine: 2.1-litre Vauxhall C20XE, fully lightened and balanced bottom end, ARP bolts, Accralite high intruder forged pistons, Coscast head, standard cams, SBD TP208 tapered throttle bodies, MBE management

Transmission: Quaife five-speed professional gear set, rose-jointed quick-shift, Helix paddle clutch, 3.7:1 plate type LSD

Suspension: Front Bilstein 360 struts converted to coilover, 200lb springs, adjustable TCAs, concentric top mounts, spax rear coilovers, 160lb springs, five-linked

Brakes: Bias pedal box, Austin princess four-pot front calipers, 257mm vented discs, Granada Scorpio rear calipers, Ka vented discs

Wheels & Tyres: 7 x 13" Minilite style wheels, 175/50 Yokohama tyres

Exterior: Front and rear quarter bumpers Teflon-coated black, fibreglass front Mexico wings, carbon fibre door mirrors

Interior: Front section of rear bulkhead removed to allow link boxes to be fitted, full custom cage, pillar gussets, Sparco Rev bucket seats, modified 2-dial clocks fitted with Smiths classic gauges, custom centre console, push-button starter, snap-off steering wheel