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Two's company,
three's a crowd apparently...so what is it when you have three and a
half Anglias? Well, who knows? But that's the number of Angleboxes Jed,
the owner of this freshly built wide-arched South London screamer, has
in his collection. As well as the subject matter for today's photoshoot,
his garage holds an up-together Estate and a 1200 Super for which some
very special plans have been drawn up.
"The
Estate is the cruiser," says Jed, "you get in, turn the key
and it goes, no fuss. The reason i'm into my Anglias is because of George
Polley. I've been watching racing since eight years old, and driving
at 13. Polley always did it for me, so the 1200 is going to be done
up as a replica of one of his racers. That'll be done for my son, Lee
to mess about in. " And the half? "Well that's one i've got
stored up in another yard, but it's so far gone it only counts as a
half...not really worth talking about but will do for spares. "It's
not just Anglias though. You name it, i've probably owned it. Fords,
Austins, Yanks, Jags," says Jed. "I also spent many years
banger racing, so have been through a lot of cars!"
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Back
to the matter at hand, a certain XE'd Anglia... "It came
from a mate, Rodney, late in 2007," says Jed. "He'd
found it laid up in a garage with the last tax disc showing 1996,
bought it and passed it on to me. The shell was in a shocking
state; very, very poor. Fortunately I knew where to take the car
to be sorted. I've been friends with Wayne at WPE (Wacky Performance
Engines) in Croydon for 20 years... oh and some bloke he set up
WPE with last year, called Kev who I've known 25 minutes... we
ain't mates!"
Er...
we think that's what's known as 'light-hearted banter'... one-nil
to Jed.
Slippery
When Wet
Mates
or not, Kev joined Wayne and Jed out on the day of the photoshoot
to take the mick back and help fill in the story of the build.
And fair play to all involved - the day was crap with freezing
rain pouring all day long. Good for showing how the finished Anglia
can spin the wheels up and powerslide, but not the best for standing
around in...
The
story begins with Wayne, whose task was the bodywork. "What
didn't I do?" he says. "Basically I stripped the whole
thing back to bare metal and started again. The arches were already
on but weren't well done, the front panel looked like someone
had attacked it with a hammer, plus it needed floors, sills, a
new rear panel, work to the bulkhead, inner wings and in the boot,
then I had to make up a new gearbox tunnel for the Type-9 to fit
under." The finished body was then
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coated with Old English White that Jed wanted, and the silver roof that
Wayne gave him no choice over. "It's a mix of a Mercedes silver/grey
called Levant with some black in to tone it down," he says. "I'm
actually colour blind, so people don't believe I can decide what makes
a good colour scheme, but I can picture the correct colour in my head
and people just have to trust me."
Kev was
in charge fo the spanners, and the mayor decision for Jed was what engine
to go for. "The original plan was to do a 1650 rebuild on the Crossflow
that came with the Anglia," Jed says. "But then Kev has an
XE in his own car, plus I've seen the Vauxhall engine Kev Jenkins' Escort
taking him into the 10s in the Old Skool Ford Drag Championship, so
figured I'd have one of those. It's good to go different to what you're
used to sometimes."
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Getting
To Work
So
Kev built up a motor, sourced from an OSF advert, with forged
pistons, steel rods, special grind race-spec cams and ARP bolts.
All the spinning bits were lightened and balanced and a set of
matched 48DCOEs bolted up with MBE management and a WPE map set
on the 3D mapping. With SBD tubular manifolds and a custom exhaust,
Kev's reckoning on about 220bhp, and the lot is chassis-mounted
with a modified SBD kit.
The
rest of the mechanicals were then done, including a straight cut
Type-9 (matched to the engine with a SBD bellhousing) thats spins
up a JW Engineering custom prop and plate-type LSD housed in the
original English axle. WPE uprated the stoppers with a Wilwood/2.8i
Capri kit at the front, and a Cossie calliper/Fiesta rear disc
conversion went on the ends of the axle.
Finally
the Anglia was dropped to the floor. "It looked like a cart
when I first got it," says Jed. So the leafs were decambered,
lowering blocks inserted and the with the new coil-overs wound
down the total is about 4 inches lower. "That goes down to
about 6 inches when he gets in it though," Kev laughs...
one-all!
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Totally
Dental
All-in,
the WPE lads spent about five working weeks over six months on Jed's
Anglia. "I'm over the moon with it," he says. "What an
awesome little car. And I've seen off quite a few of the 'more talked
about' cars around here. The XE is really smooth with a powerband that
kicks in about 3000 rpm and there's no vibration even though it's chassis
mounted, but the suspension is set up for a hard ride, so the fillings
are taking some damage."
Jed is
obviously infatuated with his new toy and keen to show it off, and Wayne
reckons it's come in at a lot less that an Escort with similar spec
would be - and that, he reckons, is why the UK Anglia scene is growing
rapidly. "For a couple of grand you can get a half-about Anglia,"
he says. "The same money will buy an Escort that needs several
thousand spending on it." Seems like a good reason to own not one,
but three Anglias then... not sure about the half though.
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BODY
1967 Anglia 1200 Super shell, wide arched, fibreglass bonnet, polycarb
rear windows, glass 'screens and doors, roof rail-mounted mirror,
battery and Racing Fabrications allow tank in boot. Paint: Old English
White, Mercedes Levant Silver roof.
ENGINE
WPE-built Vauxhall 2-litre XE red-top, chassis-mounted, lightened
and balanced, steel rods, forged pistons, ARP bolts, race cams, SBD/Kents
Cams vernier pulleys, 1800 Manta sump, twin Weber 48DCOSPs, MBE Management,
3D mapping (WPE map), SBD/BTB four-branch manifold (wrapped), stainless
steel custom exhaust system, Facet fuel pump, Filter King fuel pressure
regulator, Stant pressure release rad cap, alloy oil catch tank. Power:
approximately 220 bhp
TRANSMISSION
Type-9 five speed, SBD bellhousing, straight cut gears, JW Engineering
one piece prop, English axle, plate-type LSD.
SUSPENSION
Front: Gaz Gold adjustable coil-overs, Milton Race Preparation eccentric
top mounts, compression struts, adjustable TECs, steering rack conversion,
all Rose-jointed.
Rear: Spax dampers, decambered/tempered Anglia leafs, tramp bars,
all polybushed, lowered all round 4 inches.
BRAKES
Front: Wilwood four-pots, cross-drilled/vented 2.8i Capri discs.
Rear: Cossie callipers, Fiesta discs.
WHEELS AND TYRES
9J x 13 inch Minilite alloys, with 20x9 Hoosier H10-W tyres
INTERIOR
Rollcage with cross brace behind seats, reclining bucket seats, Luke
harnesses, Momo steering wheel, TIM gauges for amps, water temperature
and oil pressure, dash-mounted rev counter, chrome dash panel with
ignition switch and start button, no carpet or door cards.
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Thanks
WPE South Croydon (www.wpe.gb.com), mate Mark who's our scout and a
great source of spares, and last but not least, my son, Lee and family.
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SBD
Motorsport Ltd, Unit 15, Red Lion Business Park, Red Lion Road, Surbiton,
Surrey. KT6 7QD. Tel: 0208 391 0121.
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