Good Afternoon,
I am currently changing the running gear on my Ford 100e as the sidevalve and 3 speed gearbox just don’t work for my enjoyment unfortunately. It will have a ford Angli rear axle and potentially escort front end, although I may leave it on the steering box for the moment. The engine I am thinking of putting in there is a Zetec to give me reliability and a good selection of parts in the future if I have issues. This would be on a carb set up rather than an aftermarket injection or even the original injection and modified ecu. My question is what events would this road based car be eligible as I think it would be fun to use it for more than driving around in the summer.
Thank you.
Hi. You are wise to think about events and eligability before you start buying bits and spannering them on to the car. I'm coming at this from a Rallying perspective - I think you will see that there are 2 basic formats (and a bewildering number of less basic).
Typically cars run under 2 formats:
1. Stage Rally. This is pretty much open to any modification (within reason - I think there is a maximum engine capacity uplift) but you do walk into the need for all of the expensive safety kit. You will need the right cage, seats helmets harnesses and overalls all in date, etc. Very fast and furious but not without expense.
2. Road Rally (don't be misled by the name - these are seldom on the public roads anymore. This is much simpler. The key rules that I remember are that the engine must not have more throttle flaps than the original (original top / sport model by the way), must not have more than 4 cylinders, no turbos, no 4wd. The suspension I think should retain the original mounting points - meaning you can fit an updated part but it must fit to the same places (which might be a snag if you are changing the front end. Safety systems are optional under these rules (though some events call them out anyway), but I would recomend you fit them for anything with a component of speed.
I'd recomend a read of the blue book (scary at first sight but if you persevere you will find that there are only 2 sections relevent) - available from motorsport uk online, and a brouse through the club events types. Once you get that far it's probably worth turning up to a club night for a gossip - you will learn a great deal in a short time...
Welcome - by the way.