We all end up with a hobby, sometimes they come naturally with the skills we have in life, or what our passions are. It's something that helps us get away from the day to day hassle or the stress of our day to day jobs. Our hobbies turn us into artists when we really think about it. We think less of the monetary value of what we are doing, and make concessions for it because of the sheer love we place in it.  

If you love cars enough, maybe you toy with the idea of owning a car you could enjoy on the weekends. Undertaking a project is a deceptively long process. Project cars are what separate a car lover from an auto enthusiast. It requires a level of commitment that some persons are either not willing to take on, or develop through finishing if they make it to the end.  

It was amazing to meet Jan-Yves in his element. He's a project car veteran. Things didn't really start out that way though, the origin story (if you want to call it that) of his car was really interesting. He bought this car on his birthday, as a present to himself and really loved it. His goal at the time was to make it his daily but things had a turn for the worse, when it was involved in an accident. It was during the repair process, that the thought of upgrading the car came to mind. Eight years later, it's no longer the same car he started out with but this is his project. 

Jan-Yves is building a Ford Sapphire Cosworth. Usually, when we hear Ford coupled with the word "Cosworth" we sit up and pay attention. Here in Barbados, owning a Ford is a rarity, owning a Ford from the early 90's that isn't a rust bucket, that's even rarer and let's not even talk about owning a Cosworth.

In the pursuit of perfection, he has rebuilt his car from the ground up. In fact, this isn't even the same chassis with which he started. He was able to acquire another chassis and swapped the internals after doing some bodywork on it.

The 2L 16v Cosworth Turbo engine also got some love, after being fully overhauled and cleaned up. The wiring is all new, need feed hoses and cables. The engine carries the Ford Escort MK5's big turbo, that makes about 15 psi, which helps the engine get up to 300 bhp quite easily. A stage 3 Clutch and a  Fidanza Flywheel were added.

The engine is now managed by an ECU MASTER EMU and the instruments in the dashboard were changed to a Stack tachometer. The Stack fuel level gauge and the other gauges are managed through the car's Asus tablet

He's added Honda k20 coils , a Cosworth kevlar timing belt to the engine, an  Anembo Engineering fuel rail, a Grahame Goode breather system, as well as an Airtek rs500 inter-cooler and radiator. Internally it's still the same Cosworth engine, coming from the factory.

Being a work in progress meant the interior was pretty messy, with wires and diagnostic cables everywhere. The top of the dashboard was cleared to add space for the tablet that now connects to the car and monitors everything that's going on while the car is on. It's nice to see this merger of old and new.  

He's pretty excited about his custom shifter knob.

The exhaust has not been changed, it's standard 3-inch exhaust. However, the sound, from the brief time of hearing the engine running, does not let you down one bit. At the moment, he has a fuel pump issue preventing the car from really working it's best. The fuel system uses a Bosch 044 fuel pump, Protec Fuel Systems 340 surge pot and Fuelab Fuel Filters.

The suspension was built using Gal Gold Coilovers and Powerflex Black Bushes, making sure bushes would not have to be changed for quite a while. Pro grade bushes are always a little pain to go in but in the end are always worth it for the time saved in maintenance. That's building with a view to the future.

Brakes were also upgraded, increasing the car's stopping potential with some Ksport 8 pots. Tying everything together cosmetically were some Sparco Pista wheels and some pretty rare Morette quad light conversions for the Sapphire.

Jan-Yves is an Auto Enthusiast, and he really has placed a lot of value and emphasis on the "just right" feeling, of knowing every aspect of his car has come together exactly how he envisioned it. He mentioned sometimes he does a once over the entire car and engine bay to make sure all the bolts are tightened just in case. 

I'm definitely looking forward to the end of his Project Car, look out for the next article, until then, happy motoring!

- Alex

Take a look at the progression of the entire project HERE.