This ballistic 250bhp ST170-powered Escort Van has been years in the making, and you can see the recently crowned Classic Ford Magazine Car of the Year at Classic Ford Show this May!
Finding a reason to build a project can be hard, but for Wayne Powell it was a matter of tying up a loose end. Having been into old Fords from an early age, Wayne had previously owned a Mk2 Escort van but sold it before he got it on the road, so he felt he still had a bone to pick. “When I was 18, I had one and started fitting a 2-litre Pinto in it, but stupidly sold it before finishing it,” he explains.
Although he always regretted the sale, Wayne went on to own plenty of classic Fords in his youth, from Mk1 Escorts to Anglias. Later came Mk3 and Mk4 Escorts, including vans, as well as Orions and then Sierras, as Wayne tells us he has owned his three-door Cosworth for nearly 20 years.
But despite this, Wayne took a break from the classic Ford scene for around 20 years, as he delved into the world of modified Vauxhalls but when this van came up for sale, he felt he had a score to settle. “I’ve always had a soft spot for vans generally, there’s something about them and I just love the look of a Mk2 van,” he confirms.
Returning to Ford
It felt right to pick up where he left off years before and Wayne also figured he would save a lot of time and effort by buying a van already done when he bought it back in December 2021. He actually already knew of the van before he saw it advertised and it seemed perfect; an Australian import shell that Wayne reports still has its original sills, arches and rear panel. Built back in 2019, it was also resprayed and fitted with an ST170 engine on throttle bodies, but by the time Wayne got hold of it, sadly it had passed through a few owners and was a bit abused.
“It looked nice from far, but was far from good,” he tells us. “There was rust the length of both roof gutters with dents and damage on each and every panel.”
Undeterred, Wayne cracked on and chose to redo the bodywork, as well as revamping the interior, as he reveals. “I think it must have had some kind of roof rack fitted in its past life as the roof rails needed replacing, but as I’m a bit detail-obsessed I nearly ended up taking it back to bare metal. So it had a full body rebuild and was repainted in Ford Nitrous Blue, which is the colour of a Mk3 Focus RS. The fag-burnt seats were also chucked and some Recaros added.”
A good friend who worked at a Lexus dealership painted the car to a very high standard and Wayne built the car up around some 7.5×13 RS-style wheels, which meant he had to narrow the axle by 40mm each side to accommodate them.
Starting over with the ST170-powered Escort Van
Wayne tells us it was back on the road for the summer of 2022, or so he thought, as it was then he found out there were more issues than just the bodywork and interior, as every time he took it out, he found himself stranded by the side of the road. After the fifth time getting caught out, Wayne got the van home and pulled the engine out. “It all just seemed all wrong,” he recalls.
“The mechanicals were nothing but problems and it was always broken down, slow and rubbish. So the ST170-powered Escort Van was back off the road, stripped and all that stayed this time were the front coil-overs and radiator. But I stuck with the ST170 engine as it’s cheap to start with, readily available and was already dripping with Retro Ford conversion parts.”
Rebuilding the ST170 engine
Being an experienced mechanic, Wayne started building the new engine himself with a huge spec in mind. But lack of time and questionable machine work from outside sources forced him to turn the job over to Nick Watling at Automotive Machine Services, who took over where Wayne left off.
That meant the 12.5:1 compression bottom end with forged pistons and steel rods that Wayne built was joined by a specially-developed cylinder head combination Nick created and it breathes through a set of huge 50 mm throttle bodies. Behind it is a Quaife Type-9 gearbox with a clutch to suit and in the rear end is a Gripper diff, although it wasn’t quite that simple to put together.
“The first gearbox had a long first gear and it was horrible, so that’s been changed,” tells Wayne. “And the LSD has been replaced twice, as first I tried another but that made the car push on too much, so I bought a Gripper diff that was custom built to my specification. The four-pot brakes that were on it also wouldn’t stop it, so I took a trip to Burton Power and bought some Hi-Spec six-pots.”
Interior modifications on the ST170-powered Escort Van
Inside, Wayne also brought the interior up to standard by retrimming genuine RS2000 Recaros along with new door cards and carpet, while a change to a set of custom 8×13 Image split-rims fill the arches perfectly and complete the look.
Daily driver?
The result is a van that’s great fun to drive and does exactly what Wayne wants from it, which largely involves being a hooligan. “Apart from the clutch, it drives unbelievably well,” Wayne reports. “It’s so nice, I would be happy to use it as a daily driver, even with the mental engine. I’ve been told Escorts with this kind of power should run into the 11s at Santa Pod, but I don’t go drag racing anymore.”
That’s not to say the ST170-powered Escort Van doesn’t get driven hard, as the pictures show. “I let it warm up and then give it some,” he tells us.
Having rebuilt the van almost entirely, it’s unsurprising to learn that the only plans left now are for a few extra interior touches. “I want to retro-fit all modern but period-looking gauges into my clocks, so I have a speedo and rev counter that work as they should.”
Other than that, Wayne plans to keep using the van just as he intended, which means the Mk2 Escort van box has been officially ticked off.
Words: Simon Holmes. Photos: Adrian Brannan.
Don’t forget, you can see this car at Classic Ford Show this May 11th as part of the Classic Ford Top 50 Display. Head over to Classic Ford Show website here, or tap the buttons below.
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