Shine of the Zodiac
16-07-08, 10:07 PM
Hi there
My name is Mike Moffoot (full name adde by moderator) and I'm one of the more.....ahem....mature members of the forum. Like almost everyone else who posts here, I seem to have been massively influenced by reading CC from my teenage years (back then it was produced on parchment by Holy Isle monks with articles on how to channel ox-carts and repair alloy wells; told you I was old).
I was lucky enough to have been brought up in a family where faster Fords were the family transport - Mk 1 Lotus and GT Cortinas, 3-litre Capris and XR4is etc. After an early fling with a succession of dodgy motors, I progressed to more interesting stuff. A 390ci AMC Javelin was my first yank; well someone had to own it. Lairy mirrorflake paint, huge white lettered Kelly Superchargers on chromed Cragar 5-spokes, well you get the picture. Oh, and it had a dollar bill lacquered into the bonnet, which the local scrotes regularly tried to remove. The council I was working for then even gave me the money to buy it under their employee car loan scheme!
After that it was more subdued motoring pleasures: a Carlos Fandango r*lly Anglia with full-house big-valve 1760cc Lotus power and 2000E 'box. That made way for a crossflow-powered Mk 1 Escort van and a Mk 2 Escort, before I saw the light an bought an immaculate Mk 2 Zodiac: 2-tone grey, bench seat and whitewalls. Far too sedate, so I pulled the straight six and popped in an Essex V6 and four speed, finished off with lovely Cragar 5-spokes. We moved from Wiltshire to North Yorkshire in 1988 and the Zodiac came with us on a trailer as it was again in bits. In 1992 the Zody went to Yorkshire Street Rods (remember them?) for the pro-street treatment, returning with big tubs, nice chromy 4-bars and panhard rod and 12 x 15 Centerlines.
After that I lost interest and bought the ex-Roger Grundy '39 Ford Coupe from Wisbech Engineering. I had it for a few years, had the sick SBF rebuilt by a good mate, lunched the 'box and had numerous other problems with it; I had the the AA on BT's 'Friends and Family' rate. I sold the car a few years ago to a guy who has since lavished the care and attention (and no doubt money) it deserved. You might have seen it in it's latest incarnation in CC last year. Or was it the year before?
I then bought a Rover V8-powered Escort Mk 2 from the same mate who rebuilt my '39 Coupe engine, so that provides a bit of fun whilst I get down to some serious work on the Zodiac. It was resurrected from the car port next to my garage after an 11 year sleep looking surprisingly sound. Same mate is shortly to commence building a bespoke front suspension/steering set up for me; I freely admmit to being clueless when it comes to mechanical engineering at this level. Once completed, I'll get on with fitting the supposedly 'built' SBF motor with ally heads that I bought on eBay in a moment of 'rodder's blindness'. I'm having a hell of a job getting a good C4 for the car though, so that is delaying the project. I want to make it as stock looking as possible ie 2 tone paint, bench seats and original chromework. Centerlines may be a bit of a giveaway though.
Enough of this waffle. You've just wasted 5 minutes of your life reading this carp when you could be buying tat on eBay. Must go, bidding for that tartan paint ends soon.
My name is Mike Moffoot (full name adde by moderator) and I'm one of the more.....ahem....mature members of the forum. Like almost everyone else who posts here, I seem to have been massively influenced by reading CC from my teenage years (back then it was produced on parchment by Holy Isle monks with articles on how to channel ox-carts and repair alloy wells; told you I was old).
I was lucky enough to have been brought up in a family where faster Fords were the family transport - Mk 1 Lotus and GT Cortinas, 3-litre Capris and XR4is etc. After an early fling with a succession of dodgy motors, I progressed to more interesting stuff. A 390ci AMC Javelin was my first yank; well someone had to own it. Lairy mirrorflake paint, huge white lettered Kelly Superchargers on chromed Cragar 5-spokes, well you get the picture. Oh, and it had a dollar bill lacquered into the bonnet, which the local scrotes regularly tried to remove. The council I was working for then even gave me the money to buy it under their employee car loan scheme!
After that it was more subdued motoring pleasures: a Carlos Fandango r*lly Anglia with full-house big-valve 1760cc Lotus power and 2000E 'box. That made way for a crossflow-powered Mk 1 Escort van and a Mk 2 Escort, before I saw the light an bought an immaculate Mk 2 Zodiac: 2-tone grey, bench seat and whitewalls. Far too sedate, so I pulled the straight six and popped in an Essex V6 and four speed, finished off with lovely Cragar 5-spokes. We moved from Wiltshire to North Yorkshire in 1988 and the Zodiac came with us on a trailer as it was again in bits. In 1992 the Zody went to Yorkshire Street Rods (remember them?) for the pro-street treatment, returning with big tubs, nice chromy 4-bars and panhard rod and 12 x 15 Centerlines.
After that I lost interest and bought the ex-Roger Grundy '39 Ford Coupe from Wisbech Engineering. I had it for a few years, had the sick SBF rebuilt by a good mate, lunched the 'box and had numerous other problems with it; I had the the AA on BT's 'Friends and Family' rate. I sold the car a few years ago to a guy who has since lavished the care and attention (and no doubt money) it deserved. You might have seen it in it's latest incarnation in CC last year. Or was it the year before?
I then bought a Rover V8-powered Escort Mk 2 from the same mate who rebuilt my '39 Coupe engine, so that provides a bit of fun whilst I get down to some serious work on the Zodiac. It was resurrected from the car port next to my garage after an 11 year sleep looking surprisingly sound. Same mate is shortly to commence building a bespoke front suspension/steering set up for me; I freely admmit to being clueless when it comes to mechanical engineering at this level. Once completed, I'll get on with fitting the supposedly 'built' SBF motor with ally heads that I bought on eBay in a moment of 'rodder's blindness'. I'm having a hell of a job getting a good C4 for the car though, so that is delaying the project. I want to make it as stock looking as possible ie 2 tone paint, bench seats and original chromework. Centerlines may be a bit of a giveaway though.
Enough of this waffle. You've just wasted 5 minutes of your life reading this carp when you could be buying tat on eBay. Must go, bidding for that tartan paint ends soon.