They are and had an interesting front suspension/motor mount setup. I raced a 1972 LeMans with a 350 and beat him he was not happy . Maybe some people just can't wheel ? Lol. The Cortina reminds me of those cool Alfa Romeos . The neat 4 doors Guilia?
That was my 1964 Cortina Mk. 1. First car I ever bought - in 1990. It was mostly original. Kept it 26 years but sold it 8 years ago. They are fantastic cars and easy to work with. They were designed by Roy Brown Jr., who had also designed the ill-fated Edsel.
Very nice ! Another college guy I was in school had a '73 Alfa gtv2000 that was a super fun car. Had same weight balance as my 928, 51 front 49 rear .
I didn't expect that my little Cortina would be so appreciated on an American forum so I thank you for all your nice comments and histories about other Cortinas and european cars. I've been having a clunking sound when driving over bumps and I thought the lower ball joints were the issue due to broken rubber boots that let the grease out and dirt in. I found some NORS repair kits and got to work rebuilding them. Been driving the car around a bit, like 40-45 miles and the annoying sound remains but the steering feels a lot tighter so not a total waste of time. Rebuilt ball joint with a new rubber boot. Outside the garage after a drive on some nearby backroads.
Fixed the clunking noise the other weekend. I'm using Volvo 240 inserts in the front struts and they are a bit short for the cortina struts so I made some spacers to take up the space. Apparently I made them a bit too short so the inserts could still move around in the struts. Made some new ones, a bit taller this time around and the noise is gone. A couple of pictures I took during yesterdays drive. Very fun to drive now without any disturbing noises.
Had a “professor”(real college teacher) who put an all aluminum Buick v8 from the early 60’s and Muncie 4 spd into a 60’s Lotus Cortina and it was pretty quick and light and peppy!! All aluminum Olds v8 was similar but one of the two had less or more headbolts than the little aluminum Buick v8. Hot Rod mag from the 60’s had a “strongman”(weightlifter) on their cover holding the entire engine in his arms showing how light these power plants really were!!!
The Olds 215 had an extra head bolt. That is why they were preferred by McLaren for the M1 [Elva] Can Am car. Jack Brabham's "Repco Brabham" F1 Engine was also used the Olds block [SOHC conversion 3.0 litre] The 215 [and early Rover V8] was lightweight at 145kg The average gym goer could deadlift more than that
What a cool Cortina. Always had a soft spot for those cars, I've had a bunch of Lotus Elans (the real ones ! not the later model ones) including a 26R. I lusted after a Lotus Cortina, but never got one. But I've scratched the Euro Touring Car itch with an Alfa GTV. Really nice car Mikko_ .
No major news with the Cortina, just driving all summer which doesn't seem to wanna end, 90 degrees right now. Think I'm scrapping the Zetec conversion-idea and start looking for a 1500 GT engine instead. Less money involved and much simpler swap. Also thinking about getting some new tires with a bit higher profile than now, and period look. Something like Blockleys or Pirelli CN36. But then again, I'm restless so the idea of selling the car as is has also crossed my mind since I'm obsessing over hot rods at the moment, something like a 39-40 Ford would be fun I think. Anyway, here it is outside my workplace earlier this summer.
Think I'm scrapping the Zetec conversion-idea and start looking for a 1500 GT engine instead. Thank goodness...... 1500 GT is the way to go....good choice.
Cool ...... Cruising summer in a 'tina. [don't sell it, you'll regret it later] If you want to buy another car , simply don't sink any more $$$ into this one until later If you want to build a "Kent" start with a 1600 crossflow block because it is taller and the later ones have stronger "square" main caps. Then use the 1500 head [top end] With a bit of machining [not much] a Nissan L18 crank and rods can be dropped into the Kent block. [this was very common in NZ 20 years ago] The Nissan crank is forged steel and can take a lot of abuse. I have a friend that did this with forged pistons and good valve springs etc. He could rev in until the slugs wanted to change holes Attached is a file about the Nissan/Datsun crank swap
Thanks for the info on Datsun cranks and the use of a crossflow block. I'm kinda regretting I sold the 1600 crossflow I had laying around, didn't know you could use the pre-crossflow head on them.
With the Datsun Crank you can turn it to 11k Heads and Cranks etc are all swappable and depending on what deck height you desire I preferred the Crossflow because the carbs were on the same side as the Lotus [I'd swap engines in and out often, and could use the DellOrto 45's on both] Also the Intake, and Exhaust bolts on the pre-crossflow used common bolts and they would constantly need checking [due to different rates of heat expansion] ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Crossie's are easy to get power from ...... The secret is lack of mechanical sympathy I've built a few Grenade x--flow race engines [to preserve my Lotus twin cam] You can turn them to 8k for extended periods of time Start with the later model 1600 which has square main caps , run a stock crank and rods [with good rod bolts] Use 1300 crossflow pistons with the smaller bowl for higher compression Lighten the flywheel and BALANCE EVERYTHING My last engine I cut 3mm off the pistons [to reduce the bowl size] and recut the valve pockets , then decked the block so the piston was 5 thou above If I remember correctly we cut 4mm off the block deck[later blocks are thicker in this area] I used a Kent "244" cam [rally cam] stock pushrods and some cheap Isky valve springs. Because the block was decked, I used Nissan L18 valves and cut the stems 4mm longer, and added 4mm pedestal spacers under the rocker shaft pedestals. Don't go too high on seat pressure on the valve springs. I borrowed a decent racing head from a friend , and got another friend to copy the porting [no flow testing, just looks near enough] Then did a competition valve job. You need a decent ignition and advance curve. I discovered that a Mazda B15 distributor body could be machined down, and the Lucas distributor gear tapped neatly into the shaft [drilled and roll pinned] The Mazda dizzy was full electronic [2 wire inductive] and had the same advance curve as the Lotus spec'd Lucas dizzy. [it would turn past 8500 without missing] edit: Later 1600 Xflows had a 1.55:1 rocker ratio which also increased valve lift It was probably the most fun engine I ever built / owned [because I tried to blowing it up on the track ] It lasted 7 years in my ownership [swapping in and out with the Lotus twin cam] and eventually ended up in an Escort road car. With my V8 race cars I would take passengers for rides, but with the Cortina they were shit scared to ride with me.[I could drive the tyres off it] Good irresponsible fun
Finally found a good, rebuildable 1500GT engine for my Cortina. All complete except carburetor and exhaust manifold but that's no big problem, new stuff is readily available. I plan on getting the crank assembly balanced, mill the head a bit to raise the compression and switch to another cam, like "one step up" from the original GT cam. My goal is to get the engine sorted during 2025 and have it installed in the car for the 2026 season.
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