Fords
have always been popular among conversion specialists as the
basis for high performance hybrids and the MkII Cortina did
not escape their attention.
The
GT and 1600E were used by Jeff Uren's "Race Proved Ltd." as
the basis of his 3000cc "Zodiac" V6 powered
Cortina "Savage". Considerable modifications
had to be used to accommodate the larger, heavier V6 Essex
engine as well as the necessary upgrades to both brakes and
suspension, the latter receiving radical revisions with altered
spring rates, roll bars, unique camber angles and damper settings.
Hairy performance with a 0-60 time of 9.2 seconds and a top
speed of 107mph, combined with surprising levels of mechanical
refinement and handling stability ( in all but wet conditions
where the increase in power could catch the unwary
), made this rare hybrid a much desired sports saloon.
Although the
mainstay of Savages were built around GT’s and then the 1600E’s,
"Race Proved" would build a Savage to customer requirements
using any MkII shell provided, even estates !
Uren
was not alone in the desire to produce MkII’s with a difference.
The Allard Motor Company of Putney, London produced the
"Allardette". Essentially a GT, the Allardette sported
a Shorrock supercharger mated to an SU carburettor and
modified cylinder head. The block received similar levels of
attention with the inclusion of Hepolite racing pistons
attached to Lotus Cortina competition connecting rods and crankshaft,
special main-bearing cap supports and a modified performance
camshaft. An oil cooler was added as well as a big-bore exhaust
system. Suspension was treated to a one and a half inch lowering
with an additional front anti-roll bar and the utilisation of
Firmaride front struts and adjustable rear shocks. However,
if you just wanted the supercharger conversion alone, Allard
Motor Company would have been glad to carry out the work for
the princely sum of £99 10s !!
Another
"manic" hybrid was a GT powered by a Buick alloy V8
(Later to be found in the P5/6 Rovers). This was the brainchild
of two intrepid engineers, John Brown and Mike Fisher from Solihull.
The generous engine bay of the MkII was filled to it’s limit
with the installation of the Buick V8 and it’s four-barrel Rochester
carburettor. Gearbox ( A racing Jaguar 4.2 unit with a special
bellhousing developed by Rover for the then shelved Rover 3500
rally project. ) was squeezed in at the cost of loosing one
of the double skins of the MkII Cortina transmission tunnel
and a unique two piece prop shaft was used to connect the power
to the 3.545:1 ratio back axle. Suspension was standard GT apart
from the Lotus front struts which, surprisingly, proved up to
the task given to it by the heavier Buick alloy engine. Performance
figures were impressive, with a top speed of 111mph and a 0
to 60 time 7.6 seconds - which must have made braking with the
unservoed standard GT brakes an "exciting" experience
!!
Crayford
gave the MkII the "convertible" treatment right
from the cars introduction at the Earls Court Motor Show of
1966, just managing to get their prototypes to the show on
time !
They made close to 400 convertibles
during the MkII production run - most conversions being made
to the GT and the very occasional export model 1600E two door
( Though they would perform conversions on two door de Luxe
and Super Cortinas ). However, of the near 400 made, only
20 were to be based on the Cortina Twin Cam. The Twin Cam’s
uprated and stiffer springs and complementary damper settings
proved a nightmare for Crayford in the elimination of "scuttle
shake", a common problem on convertibles when torsional
rigidity is lost with the removal of the roof section. This
was less of a problem with lesser MkII’s but still required
much reinforcement of the body shell with the welding in of
box sections to the sills and vertical stiffening from the
front edge of the doors from floor level to scuttle with similar
attention being given to the panel above the rear wheel arch.
A removable 1 inch square reinforcement tube was also included,
situated below the parcel shelf - said ability to be removed
was to give access to the car’s heater matrix.
Crayford, though best known for
their convertibles, also performed V6 engine conversions on
MkII’s.
The
final mention in this section goes to a component rather than
a specially modified car. In 1966/67, "Hewland Engineering
Ltd." of Maidenhead, produced a five speed Cortina
gearbox - later to be built and sold by C.T.Wooler ( Engineers
) of Wembley.
The box was developed for race use
and resulted from a demand from Cortina, Cortina Lotus and
Lotus Elan drivers who used their cars for motorsport. They
found that the gap between second and third on the standard
box made life a little awkward when coupled to their tuned
and often "peaky" engines.
Using the original cast-iron gearbox
casing, the Hewland engineers went about the task of fitting
five gears whilst retaining the format of a three shaft, constant
mesh box. Space within the casing only allowed for a face-dog,
non-synchromesh gear engagement system to be used. The lack
of synchromesh is compensated by the extremely close ratios
of the gears and provided an astoundingly fast gearchange,
ideally suited to racing. Hewland used helical gears ( A first
for Hewland ) as a compromise between the much needed strength
for competition and a reasonably quiet operation for everyday
road use. C.T.Wooler used light alloy casings in production
(Including bellhousing and tailshaft housing ) and developed
their own remote control assembly, also in light alloy.
