This car was owned by a local racer, who has moved on to bigger and better
(I wonder) things. He gave the car to another fellow hobbyist. This person
drove it for 1 season and then parked the car for 3 years. My friend, Tony,
found out about this car through the local Solo 2 club, and managed to pick
it up for $100.
At this point I got involved and helped Tony fix er up for
the soon approaching '92 Solo season. We discovered that the car was lowered
1-1/2 inches, had Chevette front springs, spax struts, a staged rear anti
roll "system", a Cortina GT intake, 4-1 header, 2" exhaust, 13" mags, and a
modified cam sprocket...not a bad deal, we thought.
Anyway, the first run of
the first race became an embarrassment when the whole exhaust fell off! We
stuffed it into the hatch and drove back to the staging area for a remount.
The next run went well until the long right hander deprived the main bearings
of oil ( a problem I understand is well known to seasoned Fiesta racers).
Well, we packed up and headed for the garage..... Tony decided that the car
was more fun as a commuter, so, for the next year he drove it (viciously) to
work. The lack of any amenities took it's toll, and Tony eventually reverted
back to driving his Dodge GLH turbo.
The car remained parked for 2 years
until the day that my wife rolled her car. At that point I convinced her
that the Fiesta would a great little run about ( the price was right...$0).
Of course I really wanted to rebuild and race it, but hat would be a hard
sell.
The first thing I did was order a BAT catalogue and Kent rebuild book. After
drooling for a month, I pulled the engine and began upping the horse power
(with the help of a local FF 1600 builder). 3 months later and many bad
experiences, I ended up...er, my wife ended up with a sweet sounding little
hauler.
New additions are:
9:1 hepalite pistons .03 over
Kent BFC3 cam
Pre uprated head - ported, polished, and decked
Over sized valves
New free flowing exhaust