The Anglia previously wore
Alleycat wheels, but Connor’s since
fitted some 6x13 steels — and the
car looks all the better for it.The 1700 Crossflow sits in a super-clean engine bay —
thanks in part to hiding most of the wiring.Lowback bucket seats
really look the part.Wooler remote is a
neat period extra.Go low
“I started doing some research, and found
Kejja Motorsport just 10 minutes’ drive from
my house,” Connor recalls. “I called the
owner, Kevin Wray, and we started to talk
because I wanted to lower the car to start with.
He said ‘No problem,’ so the first part of
transformation was a go: GAZ suspension all
round and 2 inch lowering blocks, plus a set of
Minilites. It looked ace, I was happy — but still
the engine was an issue...”
By September, further conversations with
Kevin had yielded the kernel of an idea:
swapping in a hot Crossflow was clearly the way
to go, namely a 1700 on twin 45s with a Stage 3
head and 105speed manifold. While the motor
was being built up at Kejja Motorsport, Connor
figured that he might as well do things properly
and perfect the bodywork, too.
“It had some heavy pimples along one side
where it must have been sat against a wall,” he
says. “Luckily I know a great painter, David
Downie — he used to spray all my bodywork
when I was younger. The car was taken down to
bare metal and actually only two spots were bad
— the tops of wings up where they meet the
window pillars. Dave made a brilliant job of
saving the wings, so every panel on the Anglia is
still original from the day it was built.”
This was never intended to be a concours
restoration to factory spec however, and having
grown up with an eye on the VW scene, Connor
was keen to give the engine bay some special
treatment to really make it pop on the
showground, so the bay’s now been smoothed
and all the wires hidden, which is a refreshing
treatment seldom seen on 105Es. It really makes
a statement.
Fast-forward to early 2018 and the car was
painted and enjoying a few further upgrades
from Kejja, such as a Blackline LSD and
braided brake lines, and it was ready for the
1700 motor to go in. A few issues presented
themselves, but everything went largely to
plan. The engine was in, the Anglia was
wearing a fresh set of Alleycats, and Connor
was readying himself to unveil the fruits of his
labours at the Classic Ford Show.
“When I’d read in the magazine of people
saying ‘Yeah, I was on the car until the night
before the show’ I’d always thought ‘Surely
not’... but at 10 pm on the Saturday evening
before the Classic Ford Show, Kev and I were at
the workshop trying to get a better brake pedal,
as it was very soft,” Connor recalls. “We finally
got a good enough one to get it there; I drove
home, gave it a quick clean, then was up early
the next day to meet Dad and the guys at the
Kejja yard. That’s no more than 6 miles away
— I probably made 2 before the car cut out.
Once we got it to the yard we removed the fuel
filter and it was clogged up; I’d never removed
the tank and it had rusted inside and wasn’t
going to work. So the car was rolled into the
garage and didn’t make the show. I was gutted.”
Second try
An infuriating and disheartening setback for
sure, but Connor’s the sort of fella who comes
out swinging. Bloodied but unbowed, a
replacement fuel tank was ordered and sights set
keenly on the future. Unfortunately, the tank