Unique parts

The first Spartans were produced in 1973, here is the cover of the first sales brochure :

Spartan Cars' first sales brochure — 1973 Brochure Spartan Cars

It is difficult but very pleasant today to give them lustre that they deserve.

For aesthetics above all, but also for technical reasons, or simply because some pieces no longer exist, a few pieces have been custom-made for The French Spartan and will remain unique copies.

Cylinder head cover

Originally on the Ford Sierra 2.0i DOHC EFI engine, the rocker cover is made of plastic.

We will have to find a solution to give this engine a beautiful look.

The engine of the Ford Galaxy 2.0i DOHC is equipped with an aluminum rocker cover.

It does not have exactly the same shape, it would have to be cut to make a part that will allow the head of the camshaft to come out towards ignition, weld this part, and machine the groove that will receive the seal of the upper engine.

The hardest thing will be to find a Ford Galaxy 2.0i rocker cache, it can't be found !

I will look for this piece, for months, in many countries where this model was commercialised, to finally find it in France.

Ford Galaxy 2.0i DOHC rocker cover before conversion for Ford Sierra 2.0i DOHC engine

We will now have to have this rocker cover modified, and give it another rendering.

Back from the precision mechanics workshop, the cylinder head cover is tested on the engine.

Converted rocker cover for Ford Sierra before polishing

About 25 hours of hand polishing will be needed to make the piece beautiful.

A touch of red to sublimate the part...

It will be most likely the only Spartan to be equipped with a polished aluminium rocker cover on a Ford 2.0i DOHC engine.

At the bottom left is the modification made.

With its placement on the engine, the final appearance of the latter begins to emerge.

Ford Sierra prepared engine for The French Spartan

An aluminum oil filling cap will replace the original plastic cap.

The thread has the right step, but the diameter is 2mm too much, it must be reduced with a lathe to fit perfectly, and become, too, an unique part.

Tachometer

The car will receive new Smiths metres.

Problem : the news lap counter is analogue, but Ford 2.0i DOHC engine is designed to receive a digital lap counter.

An automotive watchmaker will be in charge of removing the mechanism of the analogue rev counter, to keep only the chassis, dial and needle, and to insert the electronics of tachometer.

Again, a Smiths rpm count on a Ford 2.0i DOHC engine is probably unique.

Smiths speedometer and rev counter for the Spartan

Exhaust

2 chromed side exhaust outlets will take place behind a custom-made stainless steel line.

Realisation and upcoming pictures

The seats

The leather of the original seats is damaged, the seams are cracked in places, the fixing rails are oxidised...

To the question, should they be renovated or replaced, the answer is that above all they are black, and therefore far from allowing a resemblance to the model presented in the Spartan Cars salesbrochure of 1983, which, as it is said at the beginning of the renovation, remains the objective.

Spartan Cars brochure from 1983 — Excerpt from the 1983 SPARTAN sales brochure

Luckily, I found beautiful cream leather seats that had been made to order, and which, as a result, will also be unique pieces.

Heated, they will make the driving very pleasant on cool days.

> See other elements of the renovation...