Thomas's MK1 Cortina
This is how the Cortina looked when Thomas purchased it at a grande old age of 18 in 2001
Thomas changed the look a little to make it his own, he lowered the back 50mm more and changed the wheels, drivetrain specs at this time were 1700 crossflow,4-2-1 ashley exhaust manifold, slightly ported head with larger valves, twin 40 DCOE carbs,MSD coil and followed up buy a Rocket gear box connected to a stock axle.
Thomas love of drag racing took straight over and he attended most RWYB's in 2001/2 trying every trick in the book to reach that elusive 14 second pass on treads.
Thomas best time with the crossflow engine was a 15.06 on Yoko A539 treads.At one of the last RWYB's he attended in 2002 he unfortunatley cracked a bore in the block.
So now it was decision time, what to put under the bonnet ? Thomas met Neil M(Anglia Man with a Cosworth passion) down the local cruise where he had a big turbo Escort Cosworth, he uttered those fatal words "want to go for a spin?" The acceleration and sound was enough to secure what powerplant was destined for the Cortina.
In 2005 Thomas had enough money and parts together and booked the Cortina into Webster Race Engineering for the engine & gearbox to be fitted and new trans tunnel constructed to accept the Cossie 5 speed gearbox. A 6 point cage was also installed which means Thomas is legal to run 10.00 in competion. Front suspension was converted to Capri including a rack & pinion steering, the rear axle was changed to an 8 inch Ford Mustang axle, this involved narrowing the axle hosing and upgrading to stange shafts while keeping the 4 stud Ford stud pattern. In theory Thomas should be able to lauch this on slicks without any problems now.
Below is a pic of the Cortina on the day it arrived back at Thomas's workshop from WRE
The next few months of Thomas life was spent under the Cortina scraping black underseal off. Once all clean Thomas manged to spray the shell, inside,underneath and the engine bay, as you can see the 8 inch Mustang axle looks like its been there all its life.
Once all painted Thomas got the phone call he been waiting for from SteveScott @ A1 Rally Sport to say his mild Cossie bullet which he ordered in 2004 was ready to be collected.(A very nice feeling when you own such a legend of an engine)
The collection and fitment of parts started, plumbing, piping,tanks and coolers.
The engine bay quickly looked something like this
Next part to purchase and make was the Intercooler, Wayne at PRO ALLOY supplied the core and Thomas fabricated the rest,ready for local friend and fellow Mk1 Cortina owner John to weld up (stunning alliminium welder)
John also welded this stunning(shame to be hidden) breather tank that Thomas designed and fabricated
After all this effort, It would of been rude not to add an ally radiator from PRO ALLOY
Radiator Bolted in along with the intercooler.
This picture also shows lots of plumbing, oil breather lines which will be hidden a little better,
fuel lines and engine wiring loom are in. That Turbo is also has some history that it was on Richie Webb 10 sec convertible Beetle, you can always know how long Thomas has owned it by asking Joe Webster how old he is.........18.08.2004
All was looking good until Thomas decided that the strut tops weren't really up to standard in looks or strength so...........out with the old and in with the new........ just needes the passenger side top welding then its off to the paint shop...again
Fuel tank and pump idea was taken from Nick Scarvo's legendry wheel standing 4000lb 8sec 66 Chevrolet Impala, a legend in the USA street drag racing world.
So now the Cortina underside looks standard but runs new and safe racing tank.I have the A1000 pump (overkill but cool)
Boot view
Thomas didn't touch the Cortina in 2010 due to work comitments,at 1320MINI, but 2011 is the year Thomas really wants to get it up and running and mapped.