Ownership Verified: My 44 -year old antique ['70 Cortina "GT"]

[Posmo]

At least in caterham forums I've often seen 6500rpm mentioned as the limit for cast pistons.

Well, im certainly going to exceed that, I've consulted some people who have raced kent engines, and I've been told that 7500 rpm is relatively safe for road use with lightened and balanced conrods and pistons. I'll most likely end up using 1300 pistons , lightened stock rods with YB conrod bolts, 244 camshaft and a self ported head. Hoping for 140-150 hp..

Anyway, today's progress:

Where I started:

Front suspension out of the way:

If you've worked on old British Fords, this is an extremely rare sight, correct, Andeh?

Don't worry though, there is rust to go around:

I've found 3 spots so far that require welding, nothing major though, should be a weekend's job to put right.


Suspension parts ready for the sandblasters:

Front struts, one of the calipers was seized solid, however was planning on changing them anyway since I'm going to swap to vented discs.

Engines taken apart, will see how much I end up using. I do now have 2 perfect 1600 cranks and 8 perfect conrods. I need pistons and a good block still.

Battery tray for the boot, this will also hold the windshield washer tank and an electrics kill-switch.

That might be enough for one day Rear axle removal next.

 

[The Doctor 90]

Wow, disc brakes. Kind of makes up for the collection of twigs that you refer to as the suspension.

 

[JTuhka]

I'll most likely end up using 1300 pistons

Interesting. What kind of compression ratio are you expecting? ~10:1?

Also, I remember some talk about crank timing pulleys being a weak spot beyond 8000 rpm?

 

[Andeh]

That's a lovely looking strut top, and certainly unusual to see!

Although mine was the same.

 

[Posmo]

Wow, disc brakes. Kind of makes up for the collection of twigs that you refer to as the suspension.

Seriously though, I'm already considering a swap to rack and pinion.. However luckily (as none of them are available new anymore) all the steering joints seem to be in good order. TCA ball joints are worn though, need to figure something out as they are not available new. They are pressed steel, so I might just weld on mountings for some bolt-on ball joints. Nothing really surprising came up when dismantling the suspension, if anything it came apart pretty easily.

Interesting. What kind of compression ratio are you expecting? ~10:1?

Also, I remember some talk about crank timing pulleys being a weak spot beyond 8000 rpm?

It will have a twin chain adjustable timing setup, so it will not be a weak spot Compression will be at least 11:1 if the block can be skimmed enough.

 

[samulis]

Great buy, unbelievably non rusty car, specially for Finnish one. I learn't to love these after learning about Cortina Lotus mk2. What block will you be using, 711M? What are you going to do to the suspension and diff? How will you control ignition?

Cheers
Samuli

 

[Posmo]

Great buy, unbelievably non rusty car, specially for Finnish one. I learn't to love these after learning about Cortina Lotus mk2. What block will you be using, 711M? What are you going to do to the suspension and diff?

Cheers
Samuli

Block will most likely be 1600cc 711M, I have a salvageable 681 -block, but I'd rather not use it. Suspension is undecided still, All of the bushes certainly need to be changed, and poly ones are cheaper than rubber, so I'll swap them out. the front shocks seem to be in ok condition, so might just put some stiffer Escort springs at the front and call it a day. Plans are for a quick MOT, and I already have one major project, so nothing too exciting most likely. As for the rear, the springs are pretty rusty, might fit single leaf Escort units. The shocks could probably do with swapping out as well, need to find cheap ones that fit (shouldn't be too difficult) I will weld on some anti tramp bars on the axle & body to keep it drivable with the new engine, no plans for LSD yet unless a really cheap one comes along.

Basically I just need to get some km's on it to really see where it needs improving, and for that I need an MOT.

 

[bone]

At least in caterham forums I've often seen 6500rpm mentioned as the limit for cast pistons.

rpm without knowing the stroke doesn't mean anything

 

[MXM]

rpm without knowing the stroke doesn't mean anything

Well, I was talking about this specific engine. But to be fair, the 6500 was considered the "safe" limit. I'm sure Posmo will be fine

 

[Posmo]

Another day, another axle:

Off to the sandblasters on Monday. I'm going to remove the rust from more delicate parts with some acid solution, but the rear axle, springs, front beam, etc. will get blasted. Still nothing too worrying has come up. There are annoying amounts of surface rust on some panels due to the car having sat. Need a day or two with a wire wheel and Noverox before I can start boltin bits back together.

 

[Punisher Bass]

I know what you should fill that big hole up with.

 

[Posmo]

Dismantled the front struts today.. The spring platforms are rotten enough for me to consider converting them to coilovers. I've heard from a reliable source that Volvo 240 front shocks will fit with minimal modifications, and I'll probably adapt the lower arm ball joints from 300-series Volvo parts. We'll see, what I'll come up with..

 

[Posmo]

Dismantled the front struts today.. The spring platforms are rotten enough for me to consider converting them to coilovers. I've heard from a reliable source that Volvo 240 front shocks will fit with minimal modifications, and I'll probably adapt the lower arm ball joints from 300-series Volvo parts. We'll see, what I'll come up with..

And what did I come up with..? As usual, an angle grinder

The aforementioned struts:

The spring platforms were not completeley rotten through, but I couldn't really bother with fixing them up, so this happened:

Along with some Escort RS anti-tramp bars:

I ground off the original spring platform, after which a a set of 2" coilover spring platforms slip nicely over the shock absorber housings. I need to buy some Volvo shocks to check their compression length before I can weld them on, but it looks like the end result should be perfect:

I've dunked the components in some citric acid solution which will remove the rust, after which I can weld the coilover threads on, fit some reinforcements, and then I can give them a lick of paint to finish them off. The whole setup cost me only 40? more than a set of new standard front springs.



Other stuff I've bought:

Some "Misab's" for the DCOE's:

A fantastic 70's rev counter:

And a period Nardi/Personal steering wheel:

More stuff to come

 

[gt1750]

This looks like a great project, looking forward to see the progress and the result

 

[captain_70s]

Two door 'Tina, very cool.

I'm more of a mk3 guy myself, love the coke-bottle lines, but that's more of a barge to drive than the nimble Mk1 and 2.

 

[Viper007Bond]

I know what you should fill that big hole up with.

I was just coming here to recommend something similar. :lol:

 

[Hemihead]

Pffft, in this case a BDA is the way to go.

 

[Viper007Bond]

Pffft, in this case a BDA is the way to go.

 

[Heathrow]

Other stuff I've bought:


A fantastic 70's rev counter:

Very nice.

This will be attached to the steering column assembly, in the mode of a Mk1 Lotus Cortina, I suspect.

* * *

And this documentary is being repeated tonight on BBC Four at 23:30.

Ford's Dagenham Dream - BBC Four

Duration: 1 hour

Documentary which tells the story of a dream of happy families on wheels that the Ford Motor Company brought from Detroit to Dagenham, then sold to Britain.

From the 1950s onwards Ford revolutionised the cars we drove, producing dream cars for the average British family. In the 60s and 70s Ford sold dreams to boy racers too, but it came at a price. The mass production of motor cars required an army of assembly line workers who did jobs that were infamous for their soul-destroying monotony.

At its peak Dagenham was producing more than 3,000 cars every day and its most popular dream car, the Cortina, sold around five million in Britain alone. But the assembly line workers had a love-hate relationship with the cars they made and for some the dream became a nightmare.

Illustrated with powerful first person testimony and rare archive, this is the story of the rise and fall of Ford's Dagenham dream.

(It'll be on the iPlayer from tomorrow.)

.. and someone has uploaded it to YT I think, well Part 1 anyways:

 

[Posmo]

Very nice.

This will be attached to the steering column assembly, in the mode of a Mk1 Lotus Cortina, I suspect.

I'll probably mount it underneath the dash. It will be visible enough, and I can avoid making holes to the pristine interior. Might have to take a look at the Dagenham documentary, thanks.

A BDA would certainly be nice, but they are silly money. My budget could maybe on a pinch stretch to a lotus Twin-cam, but even that is a massive amount of money (4k?+ for a complete engine) for a relatively weak power plant. A good ST170 Zetec on throttlebodies would cost less and perform just as well as a 20k? BDA.




..Cortina Cosworth perhaps..? I do have the parts..