Bob Homewood Escort Sports Sedan

[bob homewood]

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Steve you asked me to add some photos of my sports sedan ,a couple of chassis photos will add more later

[Steve Holmes]

Great! About time too. Will really look forward to this Bob. Period racing shots would be great too, if you have any.....

[bob homewood]

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[Steve Holmes]

Fantastic! So when did you start building the car Bob? Did you start it from scratch as a space-frame car, or was it something that evolved from a monocoque car to eventually become a space-frame car, such as, for example, Graeme Addis' Charger?

[bob homewood]

No it was built from scratch from my own design by me and Kevin Weston in 1982 ,I did further devolpment on it over a period of time in the late eighties,remember it hasn't raced since around 1990,what little remains of the Escort body shell came from the old ex Mark Rutherford Shellsport car ,you may remember that I raced it in its original form for a couple of meetings with my 1850 Hart 416b based twin cam engine way back around 81/82

[Steve Holmes]

Ahh, I didn't know the Rutherford Escort was used as the basis for the body. Was this the brown MkII Mark raced?

It was a bloody ambitious car, to have been created from scratch as a space-frame car. Even though US space-frame cars first appeared in NZ in late 1975 and the merits for building cars this way was obvious, even by the early '80s the popular method was still for taking a road car and modifying it for racing. Most Sports Sedan and OSCA cars at this time were still being built this way when you built your space-frame car. So it was a really ambitious project.

[bob homewood]

Yes it was the old brown car ,Cook Motor Racing built for Warren Steele ,then to Mark and finally Mike Moore,as you will see from later photos not much of it is retained,what is, is severly modified,it was L/H drive originally when I first raced it as a Escort ,yes It was a clean sheet of paper idea ,we used McLaren uprights ,everyting else we built ,there were a couple of radical ideas for those days ,they all worked and I don't think the design has really dated .I recently had a respected overseas designer look at it and he could'nt believe it was concieved in 81/82

[Steve Holmes]

I recently had a respected overseas designer look at it and he could'nt believe it was concieved in 81/82

Thats exactly what I was thinking when looking at the bare space-frame. Amazing piece of craftsmanship. What did it weigh Bob?

[bob homewood]

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What retained was modified and lightened,many hours were spent with a belt sander on the exterior of the panels ,completed weight was 600kgs without driver

[Steve Holmes]

Stunning Bob. Amazing it was so light too. Its really a beautiful piece of work.

Why did you buy the Rutherford Escort rather than a stripped out bodyshell when you only needed a portion of body section? Would that have made it a bigger job for you?

[bob homewood]

Steve it was the screwing round with the rules that have plagued my whole racing career ,round that time firstly I was going to buy the ex Barry Vuyk Stilleto and put my engine and Hewland transaxle in it ,but that run a foul of the rules with what I wanted to do ,then I brought the ex GM dealer Chevette that Cook built ,inteding to put my components in that ,but once again there was dramas with what I wanted to do ,which was to run one hewland in the rear as a diff unit only with irs and modify the front one so you could change the ratios in it as some of the Aussie cars did which was my interpretation of the rules ,but that was a no go ,so then I got fed up with the whole drama and just brought the Escort so I could at least run .The North Island Sports Sedan Association was then formed with what I thought was clear rules ,so I built the Escort using some of the bits that suited our purpose and the rest is history
As a matter of interest Bryan Bate later brought the Stiletto from Barry and got me to put a 13b Mazda engine in it for him ,believe me thare are a lot of untold stories out there

[Steve Holmes]

Yep, that sounds about right Bob. How many cars were still-born because of chopping and changing of rules? George Shewiery still has a De Tomaso that was 90% complete in the early 80s when the rules were changed.

[bob homewood]

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This used the Hart 416b head on a Ford block .The crank,rods and pistons were all NZ made in the engine at this time

[Greg Stokes]

Bob that's an outstanding race car! Full credit to you - that is one piece of art.

[bob homewood]

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The Alloy panel work shortly before painting,as you can see very little was retained of the old body shell,the doors were fibre glass and I had used them to the Yellow Twin cam Mk 2 before .They were reputed to be off the Leo Leonard Ashley Rally sprint Mk2 Escort,interesting fact ,we had to import the material for the screen back then specially
Waiting for that was one of the hold ups we had when building the car

[Steve Holmes]

I hadn't realised the panel work was all alloy, I assumed it was fibreglass. That is amazing to see the fabrication work on the body in bare metal, its really beautiful work, and almost too nice to cover with paint. The curves on the rear quarters are particularly beautiful. There must be hundreds of hours work in the body alone!

[nigel watts]

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[bob homewood]

Thanks for that Photo Nigel,I actually have very few of that car,it would have been great to have seen that photo back then as it would have confirmed how well we had the wing and underfloor working ,it was all well before data logging etc ,but over the years I used a crude system of measuring what the suspension etc was doing ,simple but effective ,it did at least supply some answers

[bob homewood]

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[Rod Grimwood]

Like the red Bob, you going to have a play at all.

[bob homewood]

Yeh Rod I do want to run it ,really just got to finish putting the engine together ,its all there ,prob is I don't really want to leave it sittting around on the valve springs with out using it regulary as thats the reason I pulled the engine apart ,a set of springs is like $2200 ,but I would like to try and do the OSCA reunion meeting and the HD January meeting next year ,or at the minimum do a demo anyway

[Rod Grimwood]

Be good to see her go again its a neat car. Got some photos tonight of another thats all but rebuilt/finished from Rotorua and it will be great to see him back out for some fun. Starting to put my escort back together slowly and i think will have to look at engine even though it has only sat on the floor in a bag for about 15 years, all new never fired a shot yet, wind it over but don't know, will maybe pull them and check anyway. I will put new wheels, fuel cell etc. Can not find my bloody log book, so imagine dramas with cage etc. If gets too awkward theres still fish out there. I am not going to play with the brakes as i want it to be as it was in Shellsport, it stopped most the time.

[kiwi285]

I agree with Rod - that is a stunning car and I love the colour scheme. Do you still have the Hart 416 engine and is that the power plant for this car ?

[bob homewood]

No the engine is now a 2 litre Alloy Block BDA which I used for the last couple of meetings in the car when I ran it ,the 416B after a lot of soul searching I sold to Rayden Smith to put in the ex Williment Escort which is where it is now ,but running on carburetors,I thought that was a good home for it

[kiwi285]

Yes Bob that was a great home for the engine. I love to see Rayden three wheeling that car around corners just as Jimmy used to do.

Do you have any time set for getting the Escort back on track ?

[rogered]

Where did the hart engine come from originally?

[Chris Kitzen]

Pull your finger out Bob. I want to see it going again. :)

[bob homewood]

Where did the hart engine come from originally?

I brought the engine from Bryce Platt who had ran it in his Escort in 1600cc form at one stage ,before that from what I found out it raced In Australia F2 in a car that Geoff Brabham drove ,but I am open to correction on that one.I used the cylinder head etc in a 1850 cc engine in the Escort for the first season,I then ran a 2litre Alloy block twin cam in it briefly before taking that engine out to convert to a BDA ,this took a lot longer than I intended after getting totally mucked around with a couple of people doing work on it and the motor only finally went back into the Escort for the last couple of club meetings before I parked the car up The season before the BDA went back in ,unbeknown to most people I only ran a 1600cc short stroke Paul England engine I had ,actually the car went surprisingly well with that little engine and still gave a good account of itself, ( I just drove it harder ) that Paul England Engine which had also been a Aussie F2 engine went into my classic Escort TC for awhile ,its now retired to my engine collection.The BDA I have totally rebuilt myself and awaits final assembly

[nigel watts]

Saw this tidy Mk1 escort engine bay at the 2009 All Ford Day in Tauranga

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[bob homewood]

Ahh That was the engine we built for Derek Cecil

[bob homewood]

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Here In Rayden Smiths Escort ,Rayden in the green shirt ,the rest a lot of old faces from the past,Mary Carney,myself,Alan Boyle,and Barry Phillips

[Steve Holmes]

Bob, the car is looking stunning! Well done. Where did the alloy BDA come from? Would this be similar to what used to be used in the works MkII Escort world rally cars in the late 70s?

[bob homewood]

Yes the same ,not sure of the exact history of the block now ,but I know I brought about four of them before I got a decent one ,the late Murray Walker and I brought up a lot of them between us back around the eighties and we sort of went through them and kept the best,cylinder heads we did likewise

[Steve Holmes]

It'll be great to hear this little car scream again Bob. When are you hoping to have it back on the track?

[Steve Holmes]

Bob posted this request in the For Sale section, but I think it should be posted here also, so hopefully someone here can help?

"I am wondering if any one has a under bonnet photo of my Escort with the Paul England Twin cam engine in it .It would have been in the time it carried the Whakatane Auto Spares signage or the Lees Ford signage ,its possible that the word "England "on the cam cover may be visiable
Thanks, Bob"

[bob homewood]

Thanks Steve,yes just realised the other day it would be nice to have one of that engine in there,its been in a few different cars in its time

[bob homewood]

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This photo with the Auto Spares signage would have been with the Paul England Engine

[Steve Holmes]

That car is completely wild Bob! When does it get its first outing?

[bob homewood]

That car is completely wild Bob! When does it get its first outing?

Steve.I am just waiting on the last of my engine parts to arrive as we speak ,so I will get back there as time allows,I have given up mentioning dates as something always crops up at work to take my time away

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Bob. Are you excited about getting it back out again?

Where and when was the photo in post #37 taken? I'm trying to figure out what that white thing in the top left corner is. Sort of looks like a Late Model speedway sedan, but it can't be if its in the pits with you.

[Steve Holmes]

Just out of interest Bob, the Rutherford Escort you used for part of the body on this car, why was it left hand drive?

[bob homewood]

Just out of interest Bob, the Rutherford Escort you used for part of the body on this car, why was it left hand drive?

I am not sure but I believe it possibly was to give more room around the carburetors etc on the R/H side of the engine,one of the problems I had when I ran it in its original body shell form ,was getting enough room for a decent exhaust system on the L/h side of the engne compartment to suit the Lotus Twin Cam engine.I never really noticed the fact that it was L/H drive when I raced it ,it might have been better at Bay Park for seeing the apexes etc ,hard to say as I always went good there anyway

[Steve Holmes]

Thanks Bob, I figured it must have been something like that. I know there were a few OSCA cars in the South Island that were built in lhd, but that was because all the SI tracks are anti-clockwise, not a problem for anyone running the full ShellSport series.

[Steve Holmes]

Couple of neat pics supplied by Warwick Clayton. Too bad we don't have sound-o-vision! I bet the little Escort is screaming.

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[bob homewood]

Thanks Steve ,much appreciated ,please hand on my thanks

[driftwood]

Interesting reading this thread and seeing the photos
I wonder how much info kiwis had on special saloon cars from the mother land
there was a low line space frame mk2 escort that raced here built by Derrick Walker
he called all his cars ladybird 1 2 3 4 and raced late 70's into the early 80's
he built his own cars and raced Fiat 850 sport 1 litre skoda 2 litre and the escort

[driftwood]

Interesting reading this thread and seeing the photos
I wonder how much info kiwis had on special saloon cars from the mother land
there was a low line space frame mk2 escort that raced here built by Derrick Walker
he called all his cars ladybird 1 2 3 4 and raced late 70's into the early 80's
he built his own cars and raced Fiat 850 sport 1 litre skoda 2 litre and the escort
look here for many photos of escorts and UK special saloons in general
ttp://www.racing70s.pwp.blueyonder.co.uk/racing70s/menus/carlistmenu.htm

the website is a bit out of date and note been updated the webmaster seems to have changed his email address
but you will get to see some interesting cars
another forum to look at is 10 tenths for special saloon threads

[bob homewood]

Interesting reading this thread and seeing the photos
I wonder how much info kiwis had on special saloon cars from the mother land
there was a low line space frame mk2 escort that raced here built by Derrick Walker
he called all his cars ladybird 1 2 3 4 and raced late 70's into the early 80's
he built his own cars and raced Fiat 850 sport 1 litre skoda 2 litre and the escort

In my own case there was no outside thinking or influence ,it was a common sense approach to build something that fitted with in the rules we had back then.Actually a lot of the thinking behind that car would have surfaced in a Anglia away back in 68 if All Comers had kept going .I have always been a innovator rather than a copier ,in fact I believe a lot of my thinking andi ideas have predated things which have happened offshore,and that thinking is still being projected into the present times where we are still comimg up with better solutions and resuilts for stuff that has been run "that " way for years overseas

[driftwood]

LOL Bob typical kiwi statement!!!!
The thing is to read the rule book and see what you can do to stretch the definition and interpret them to what you want to do
The UK main rules where
1 wheel base plus minus 1 inch
2 engine has to remain at same end of the car as originally built
3 silhouette had to remain the same
4 car above axle line be the same
So as time went by the cars evolved from street cars modified to having wide arches big engines light weight panels rolling thru to semi space frame front rear ends to full space frames and then sports car chassis with glass fibre bodies fitted all of
this happened over a 5-10 year period
The Germans had Gp2 cars then Gp5 DRM Japan had similar concept as did the Swedes/Fins Ozzies and South Africans all with varying degrees of regulations on mods allowed and budgets plus any manufacturer input

In theory we could have bought a car from any of these nations to race in UK an they would have been eligible but how competitive remains another matter depending on the year
I would imagine budgets in NZ where restricted due to being small nation fewer people and high importation duties back then so you had to be self sufficient and build your own cars and motors.
The likes of you Mick Hill in UK were "pioneers" doing it first and others followed once they had either learnt the mechanical skills or had budgets to build cars to the next level of rules.

[Dave Silcock]

I brought the engine from Bryce Platt who had ran it in his Escort in 1600cc form at one stage ,before that from what I found out it raced In Australia F2 in a car that Geoff Brabham drove ,but I am open to correction on that one.I used the cylinder head etc in a 1850 cc engine in the Escort for the first season,I then ran a 2litre Alloy block twin cam in it briefly before taking that engine out to convert to a BDA ,this took a lot longer than I intended after getting totally mucked around with a couple of people doing work on it and the motor only finally went back into the Escort for the last couple of club meetings before I parked the car up The season before the BDA went back in ,unbeknown to most people I only ran a 1600cc short stroke Paul England engine I had ,actually the car went surprisingly well with that little engine and still gave a good account of itself, ( I just drove it harder ) that Paul England Engine which had also been a Aussie F2 engine went into my classic Escort TC for awhile ,its now retired to my engine collection.The BDA I have totally rebuilt myself and awaits final assembly

Hi Bob, If my memory is not too stuffed, I think this engine was ex Steve Millen from the Schollum Bros B29 Chevron. I worked on this car in Asia and NZ. It became surplus after the car was fitted with an ex Ken Smith FVC. I remember fitting the .500" lift cams out under the verandah at the Schollums house in Singapore, with my right foot swelled up like a balloon. Silly Kiwi boys walk on the lawn in bare feet. Great engine right on the limit for its time. Quoted at 210 bhp in 1600 form on Lucas injection.
Cheers Dave

[bob homewood]

Hi Bob, If my memory is not too stuffed, I think this engine was ex Steve Millen from the Schollum Bros B29 Chevron. I worked on this car in Asia and NZ. It became surplus after the car was fitted with an ex Ken Smith FVC. I remember fitting the .500" lift cams out under the verandah at the Schollums house in Singapore, with my right foot swelled up like a balloon. Silly Kiwi boys walk on the lawn in bare feet. Great engine right on the limit for its time. Quoted at 210 bhp in 1600 form on Lucas injection.
Cheers Dave

Thanks Dave In 1850 form the best I saw was 223@8800 on injection,which I believe because the cylinder head flow figures were 225 hp ,that at the end of the day is the limiting factor,and is as you know what honestly governs it ,the larger capacity did however give it a lot more torque and the longer stroke I believe gave it the ability to carry the bigger cams better The biggest gain in torque and tractability we found was when we built and fitted the anti reversion exhaust system to it,it transformed it

[Dave Silcock]

Hi Bob ,interesting about the anti reversion exhaust, as fitted to the Chevron the primary pipes where quite a bit larger than the ports and had a short tapered piece to join the two. In the light of your experience the last thing you would need.
Cheers Dave.

[bob homewood]

Dave,
Yes I found by running the short stub inside the bigger bigger diameter part of the exhaust with a definate step to be the answer,also choking the tailpipe down with a small transition also helped ,you have to remember this is mid eighties when I did this we do it all the time now ,just built one recently for a single seater with a Lotus TC ,showed a big gain in both torque and power on the dyno

[Steve Holmes]

Do you think you'll get the chance to give the Escort a run this season Bob?

[ERC]

Was the dark blue 1983? I need a date for this if anyone can help.



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[Milan Fistonic]

At the March 1983 Pukekohe meeting Bob's Escort was number 76. There could be a 7 hiding behind the flare

[ERC]

Thanks Milan. That figures. I had no programme for that event but I did wonder.

[Milan Fistonic]

Sports Sedans and Clubmans Saloons at Pukekohe March 27, 1983.

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[ERC]

Thanks Milan. Some great names on that grid - and the organisers could afford to offer prize money as they knew they'd get people through the gate and yet entry fees were modest.