At last i've finally fitted the engine.What a journey.

[Delotus]

Phew!

 

After a few weeks repairing the cortinas chassis leg and front valance and god knows whatever else..

 

A trip to London to drop all my bits and pieces off at Specialized Engines .

 

 

After a good chat to Ian the boss about what i wanted him to do for me.I had a good look round at the quality of there work and took a few pitures here and there.We both made he final decision on what was to be done.

 

Said our goodbuys and made our way onwards to the next part of the journey

 

Sent my mate into a local post office to Pay the comicle fee to drive my own taxed car on the streets of London with my own taxed petrol...And he payed for the full day rate!!Is there a half day rate..?i dunnow.

 

 

A ride over london Bridge on the way back as i was dropping some rare scalextric cars off somewhere in Hammersmith London.

 

 

Stopped off and had a butchers of this big wheel!!

 

 

When past all the usual places.

 

 

 

 

Some great places to see.We couldn't even chat any of the locals up.But time was against us.

 

 

HEY HOW DID THAT ONE GET IN THERE?!!

 

BOYS WILL BE BOYS.

 

 

My mates the ugly one on the left by the way.

 

 

We then headed somewhere else across london called Andover to pick up my mates wheels for his motor bike he'd won on ebay.

Had a butchers around it's little Town and had something to eat.I bought Retro ford from some shop while my mate was buying a mobile phone in woolies.

 

I said "How much did you ANDOVER?"

He said "what?

Get it "Andover" i said.

HAR HAR Came the reply

 

Set off theN on our LONG jurney home.

 

By time we made it home to Liverpool we were wacked.

 

And another trip back a few weeks later to pick it up.

 

Here are a few pics as the block and head was just about to be built together by Dave at specialized engines.Some are not that good to be honest.

 

When Dave showed me the engine he is building at the momont for a costomer, i knew he was the main man for me.A stonking big v12 motor for a lister jaguar race car!! You should of seen it each piston alone was over £500 a piece!!

 

Any way back to my puny 17 crossflow.

 

Spec is a big valve ported and polished Janspeed head which has has the double valve seats relieved for better fit etc

 

 

Big 41 mm inlet and 34 mm exhaust valves .

 

 

Blf 22 Burton Cam old stock not the later made one.

 

711 Block.

T16

 

lightened and balanced bottom end and flywheel/clutch

Arp bigend and crank bolts etc

Steel front pully

 

 

1700 cc ish plus 90 pistons.Which had to be modyfide for the cam and head i had allredy bought .This is probably why they remained unsold and brand new in an old workshop i know of who used to tune mk1 mk2 escorts .

 

 

Duplex adjustable timing.

 

Brand new non vacum lotus dizzy with lumention ignition etc

 

Steel rocker shaft and and post and rebuilt rockers.

 

High capacity oil pump.

 

Said thanks to all the lads who helped build my motor and made are way home

 

Before i slotted the motor in i did a bit of a modification to the crossmember where the engine mounts fit.As i've saw a couple of cortina's with crossflows in and the engine mounts don't fit on the crossmember too well.The mount over hangs the cross member a little.

 

First i elongated the slot.Both sides

 

 

 

Then i made two extention sections.

 

 

 

And welded them on.

 

 

 

Gound them down.

Lowered the whole cross member by undoing all four bolts, give it a good wire brush and a lick of hammerite.Job done.Looking good.

 

 

 

 

Another job out the way.

Fitted a new clutch bearing.

 

 

Clutch slave cylinders knackered so i've ordered one from the cortina club.

 

 

Where it sat in the hall way for a while waiting for the day to come where i could get it in.

 

To be honest i was a bit cheesed of as i thought it all went belly up when the sandwhich plate didn't fit too well,which i had to modify .

 

I finally managed to slot the motor in last night with the help of two strong matesof mine.

 

Waited what seemed like ages for my two mates to turn up to lift the motor in but it was worth the wait as it went in like...well .like dead easy.I was guiding it in not lifting it in sio it was easy for me.hehe.

 

Here it is FINALLY slotted into the tina using brand new engine mounts what i won on ebay the day before i picked my motor up .

 

It slid in like a barge on a slip way,just had to chock the gearbox up on blocks so the engine slid in over the steering gear.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The engine mounts sit nice on the crossmember now,allthough the extensions i made may be a tad too tall.

 

 

Whats left

 

Alls i've got to do now is make a thottle linkage for the pedal to run the 40's im using.

Make the mexico four branch fit the existing exhuast.

Clean and fit the big top lotus radiator.Hoses.

Bit of wiring.

Fit the altinator and starter.

Fit the battery in the boot.

Sort out the goodriges and fit a new brake master cylender and do the remaining brake pipes etc.

Fit the electirc fue pump and filter king.

And what ever else.

 

But that's another Journey.

Tim

[BaileyMex]

lookin good my man, that engine bay seems so much bigger than a MK1 Escort....

[capriclive]

looking great m8.

 

sounds like you had a cracking day out.

[MadMark2]

Lookin good mate

[flyingbanana]

looking sweet...keep pics coming in

[V8ian]

lookin good my man, that engine bay seems so much bigger than a MK1 Escort....

Thats because its a Mk1 Cortina, check out the steering box

[Danmex]

Looking good bud

[Mr.Sumo]

 

Look forward to seeing it finished , lovin it m8

[BIGKEV]

Excellent Progress there - nice to see - Well done mate

[ANGLEBOX105E]

its looking good tim soon be at the meets with it then keep it up mate

[mk1super]

Wicked mate cant wait to see it finished

[pelvins]

nice pics ! good work

[johnny_h]

Great story mate.

[Wessie]

keep up the good work

[Delotus]

Thanks Guys.

I'm hoping to sort the throttle pedal out the next time i get a miniute.

Then i can start putiing all the bits on,carbs ,altinator etc

I'll keep you all posted.

 

 

Oh, i've got to find a good battery tray for the boot,dunnow what to use just yet.

I've seen mk1 cortina's with mk3 escort battery trays in and i don't like the look of them ones.

Something period looking would be great as the original one i took off the inner wing is shot.

I'll think of something.

 

Take care Tim

[CéDriC]

Thanks Guys.

I'm hoping to sort the throttle pedal out the next time i get a miniute.

Then i can start putiing all the bits on,carbs ,altinator etc

I'll keep you all posted.

 

 

Oh, i've got to find a good battery tray for the boot,dunnow what to use just yet.

I've seen mk1 cortina's with mk3 escort battery trays in and i don't like the look of them ones.

Something period looking would be great as the original one i took off the inner wing is shot.

I'll think of something.

 

Take care Tim

Why not fit a Mini battery tray, which is lowered, welded in the boot...

[jay]

nice going matey............

[Delotus]

Made absoloutely loads of progress since my last mention.

In fact it's all up and running now .

 

I Replaced all the brake pipes and fitted goodriges with a new Lotus master cylinder.New Clutch Master and slave cylinder

I had allready made an exhaust from a donar mondeo.

 

Then?After much and i realy mean very much head scatching on the best way to fit the bits and pieces ,this is what i decided.

 

Started by moving the starter solinoid from the os wing to the bulk head.

 

 

 

 

 

I then replaced the original plastic fuel line for a copper one.

 

 

Mounted the fuel pump where the original battery tray once was.

 

 

My mate recommended fitting this safety fuel cut off switch from a rover.

 

 

On went the ignition module and coil all inline down the inner wing.

 

 

The filter king went onto the front slam panel.

 

 

Got my best friend Kieth to work his wonders on sorting out the wiring.

 

 

I then drilled the bodywork from inside the car to the lower right of the steering box cover plate.As to allow the thicker battery cable to run inside the car and into the boot.I used a good strong grommet with an extra plastic insert to ensure it doesn't cut into the body.Its a neat job too.

 

 

I removed the bare steel front pully and gave it a coat of primer and satin black.

 

 

 

Bolted on my newly reconditiond big top radiator,the fan i bought from donnington swap meet for 4 quid!.

Next the new webbers ,linkage and pipes etc.

 

Now that's more like it!

 

 

In the mean time i won this on ebay so it had to go on as the ones i had where heavilly corroded.

 

 

Next i turned my attention to the throttle pedal.I spent ages working out the best way to do this and the result is now perfect.

 

The throttle return bracket was in line where the bonnet release cable was coming through the bulk head.I just moved it up an inch.(I forgot to take a picture of it but i can add one later.)

 

Here it is as it was with the end chopped off.

 

 

I had to reshape the fixed pedal return braket so the return spring would still clip on and off.

 

 

Here is the little post i made,with the duel cable block attached.

 

 

Welded up.

 

 

 

I give it all a good wire brush and painted it black and refitted it to the car.I could then mark the bulkhead where the cables ran through.I was well peased with the result.

 

Fitted all the heater box and remaining petrol pipes ,fitted the oil sender t piece and connected it to the gauge and decided to give it a go.

 

Connected the batterry cable in the boot up to a starter battery and held my crossed fingers tight!!

 

Fickin thing was flat hehehe.

 

So the joy was with held for a couple of hours.Lashed it back on charge .

Charged up and ready it was duely cranked over.

 

It burbled into life after the second go and what a burble .It sounded as sweet as a nut,the exhaust i made sounds just right, very quite on tickover and a real treat when revved up.

THE 40'S SOUND FANTASTIC.

 

Over joyed i am .A lot of pissin around but well worth it.

 

Next thing i made a battery tray from wait for it a Nissan Micra.I'll post some pictures and details how i did it next time.

 

I'll also take a few pictures of where the throttle cables set up i made exits the bulkhead as it was a lot of head scratching and may help any of you to decide on how to make a throttle pedal up too.

 

Any way times getting on don't i blab on eh??

Take care Tim

[escort21]

Got something in common mate....my names Tim.....I have a mk2 cortina and I have also welded my throttle pedal...spooky eh

 

[Delotus]

Hey nice one Tim!!

So i am not the only one eh? hehe

I like your idea of the extra brace there on the pedal extension.

Well done mate...

Tim

[escort21]

Yeah I don't want the welded on bit falling off......I always over-engineer stuff when I make it

[Mk 1 Mark]

Excellent story and excellent work

Cant wait to see it in the flesh..And make sure you run it in properly!!!!!

Another cortina to hit the roads soon happy days

[Rick]

looks a beaut

 

cant beat a crossfow

[Delotus]

Thanks Guys.

I got my new longer Lotus speedo cable today,duely fitted it and lowered it onto it's wheels.

Started it up and took it round the block.In fact i couldn't resist staying out for a coupe of hours .I loved it!

First time under it's own power in 3 months,and it was worth the wait.I't ran like a dream.

It's very drivable and very very lively.Superb throught the gears.

Need to wire up the rev counter as i do'nt want to over do it,best be carefull.

What made my day is some old geezer pulled up and tonked his horn and said:

Do you know the great train Robbers used one of them to getaway with all the loot!

 

I said im gonna have to do something similar to pay for it mate !!.

Only jokin.

 

Loads of people just staired at it as we went along.The noise from them 40's is something else,the exhaust i made sounds awsome.

 

 

Here's a picture of the throttle set up i made and the cables running through the bulk head.The lower left blue cabe was were the bonnet cable once came through so i think it looks ok now and works a treat.

 

 

 

 

 

Does any one know what the above linkage set up is? As i need another return spring to balance it out as it's only got one.

 

As Tim (Escort 21 )has done i might add an extra brace to the pedal set up next time i take it off.Good idea Tim.

 

My mate Lol made up a new choke cable with all the bits which where left over from the throttle cables.His paitience is as good as anybodys.He cut off the old inside bit and drilled it out with a dremil.Then slotted the new inside bit and soldered it all on.Cut the outside parts to suit and fitted it all together.Perfect!

 

 

Here's the battery tray with the cut off switch mounted on an L braket .

 

.I started with a bog standard Nissan Micra battery tray .

I Cut all the bottom off it as it had all swage lines what wasn't suitable for the cortina .Welded in a thick flat section and made these brackets up.

 

 

Welded in a washer either side to stregnthen it a bit better.

 

 

Drilled big holes in the pan to allow access to the bolts.

 

 

 

 

 

Primered and hammerited

 

 

 

 

 

Again My mate Kieth soldered a new battery connection on the end and now looks a treat.NO pics of it finished.Damm. I cut a thin piece of rubber for the base of the tray for the battery to sit on.Lookin goood.

 

 

I need to tidy the wiring harness both sides and that's about it for now.

 

Next year i am looking to tidy the bodywork up a bit ,the two rear arches want doing and its had a over sill on the passenger side whats a bit ropie but other than that i am happy with it for now.

 

I would love a set of retro buckets like Anthonys in Austrailia and a proper gt/lotus rear seat and door cards as this would be great for the interia as i have a genuine lotus dashboard to fit to it whan it's all done.The price of the prper Lotus steering whee is a bit off putting though.

 

Knowing me it will all get a full strip down and i'll end up doing the lot!.But thats the bit i love.It's had top plates fitted and i can see me ripping these off to do them proppely as well.

 

Thanks all ,Tim

[J_mk1]

Haha i love this blog, gets me excited about my own car and the work etc. great work mate!