Pre Crossflow power for the GT.

Wow, it's been awhile since the last post. Time has certainly flown by. Over the summer, I decided to build up a fresh engine for the MK1 GT. It currently has a crossflow but I wanted to return the car back to pre-crossflow power. I have a always like the pre-crossflow engines. They seem to rev quicker than the crossflow. Ultimately, the crossflow will produce more power but that was not the goal. Additionally, the pre-crossflow engine is correct for the car.

I started with a good used a pre crossflow block from my inventory and had it bored to 83.5mm. The block also required decking to restore the surface. Once the bore and hone was completed, the
block was check ultra sonicly to make sure there were no thin spots. Everything check out fine.

The plan was to install forged 83.5 mm pistons along with Lotus rods, a standard lipseal crankshaft and a camshaft that would be compatible with both the original 2 barrel downdraft Weber or twin 40mm Weber DCOE's. Cylinder head modifications planned included upgraded springs and a miled port job. The combustion chamber was re-shaped as per classic tuning practice. I also polished the crankshaft to restore the surface. -More to follow-

Old school power

Today, many owners of classic Fords are installing newer engines like the Ford Zetec or Duratec (Mazda MZR). However, there is one bloke in the UK making big power from a Pre-Xflow. Toby Kent runs an 1850+cc engine making near 200BHP. The car runs high 12 second quarter mile times on twin Weber carbs, no juice. Check it out on you tube . I have always admired this car.
Nice!

Autosport Show 2008

I had the pleasure of attending the 2008 Autosport show held in Birmingham UK. Autosport is the premier motorsport and high performance show in Europe and is one of my favorite trade shows. Filled with the latest products and engineering services, one can find just about anything to build a high performance or race car. Of course, there are plenty of nice English Fords to look at. One that especially caught my eye was an Allen Mann Lotus Cortina, KPU390C. Regardless if it's original or a recreation, the level of work is second to none.


The LAT booth displayed another very nice and
original Group 5 Lotus Cortina KPU396C complete with a BRM fuel injected Twin Cam. This was the last works car built by Lotus and was driven by greats such as Jim Clark, Jacky Ickx, Jackie Oliver and Peter Arundell. A very rare treat to see.




There are also many fine examples of modern race cars to look at. Prodrive unveiled their latest Aston Martin sports car complete with the classic Gulf Paint scheme. They produce these for
"gentlemen" racers.

Autosport offers something for everyone interested in racing or motorsports. I would recomend a visit if you have the chance.

MK1 GT

Back in 1999, I purchased a 1966 MK1 Cortina Gt. I completed the restoration in September 2001 and used it for periodically for shows and weekend cruises. In 2005, I decided to sell the car in order to make room for the Lotus Cortina. It was a difficult decision but I felt it was the right thing to do. Upon hearing the car was available from the person I sold it to , I made arrangements to buy it back. The car was not used that much and spent the last two years locked in a garage in Southern California. Future plans include a new door panels , suspension work and a thorough detail.

John, being the wealthy independent business owner didn’t have the time to restore the Lotus Cortina and instead, decided to purchase a very nice car from Kansas City.For most fans of the Cortina, the Lotus version is the ultimate goal. I had always desired one and now there was an opportunity to acquire a fine example. We agreed on a price and arranged to move the car to my house. While in storage, and guarded by Raleigh the Rottweiler, the Lotus acquired a nice collection of fleas. From then on, the car was known as the “flea car”.

Once the car was moved to my house, I stripped it of everything and sent it off to the body shop. I chose this shop because they had just completed Lewis Hann’s Lotus Cortina. The paint on Lew’s car is excellent. The body shop stripped the car down to bare metal and repaired the dents. This car was a California car with little rust and in general a great shell. One of the benefits of living in California is the climate for cars. The shell was then sprayed with several types of sealing primer and two stage paint. Originally, I wanted to use a single stage paint to preserve the paint line on the green stripe. Unfortunately, single stage paint is very difficult to acquire in the Republic of California and so we chose to go with two stage paint. Basically, two stage paint relies on clear coat to seal the actual paint.

It looks great but may be nicer than the original paint. The green strip was masked before the final clear was applied and then masking was removed and clear applied again to replicate the paint line. A very nice look overall. After about 9 months in the body shop and nearly the equivalent amount of pay, the flea car returned home.

Next time: The assembly begins.

The Delivery

Bob was busy moving his mother from her house in the San Francisco area and didn’t have time to deliver the car until July. He arrived in Southern California with the car and a pickup truck load of parts. Seriously, there was enough parts to build a second car. Spare axles and diffs, four cross members, gauges and the list goes on. The only thing missing was another shell and engine.

Robert offered to store the car at his house since space was available and I elected to store some of the parts.

Bob Clark had more than one Lotus Cortina over the years often buying wrecked or broken cars for attractive sums. Oh, the good old days. The cars were stripped of parts, resulting in a large
collection of both usable and not so usable bits.

We toasted the arrival of what would later become known as the “flea car” with some
of the UKs finest beer (ok, we were out of Guinness). The pink slip was exchanged for a pile of C notes and the deal was done.

People in the UK might not realize it but there is nothing like the smell of a British car. It’s different than an American, Japanese or German car. The point is, after sitting in the back yard for years, this car still had that UK car smell. –end part 2- Next: The Flea car finds a new home.

Once owned by a man named “Clark" Part 1.

My fascination with English Fords, especially the Cortina, started back in 1987. I was working for an automotive performance parts manufacture and was out test driving a car that we had added some performance parts to. I noticed a diminutive white car with a green stripe in front of me at a stop light. The “Cortina” badge caught my eye and once the light turned green, the car hurried away. Of course I knew of the Cortina but never had the chance to see one before.

After some serious research, I was hooked and have managed to own some version of the Cortina ever since.
Fast forward 15 years to 2003. I’m searching the internet and spotted a classified ad on Australian Cortina web site for a Lotus Cortina located in Northern California. I had just completed restoration on a 1966 2 door GT and wasn’t really in the market for one. However, my friend John was interested in fine British steel so I contacted him. After some mild manipulation we decided to head north.
The next weekend, we started on a 6 hour road trip to inspect this rare example. It’s March and the rainy season in California and… it was raining. We managed to drag our mutual car buddy Robert along for the 2am departure. The fun started close to home when the car started to hydroplane at about 70mph.

John was then kind enough to let us
know the tires on his Nissan Maxima

are not in the best condition.
We did manage to hit some clear
weather and made good time arriving at
10am.



We met up with the owner, Bob Clark and he lead us to the back yard of his mothers house were the car was stored. It was like an Indiana Jones adventure with Cortina surrounded by trees and spare parts, not to mention a stack of Lotus Elan bodies.

This very original Lotus Cortina had been in Bobs care sine the mid 70’s. The car had not been registered with the Department of Motor Vehicles since 1977 but seemed in good condition. The engine bay was empty but we were assured an engine would be included.

The trunk was full of spares and the surrounding yard was well stocked too. You see, Bob was and still is somewhat the Lotus fan owning many Elans, Lotus Cortinas, and 7’s over the years but the time had come to let go of the the Cortina. The car was thoroughly inspected and photographed for consideration. It was decided on the trip back that John would purchase the car and store it at Rob’s house until restoration could begin. –end part 1- Next: The delivery.