Hi guys, first post here for me, just joined these forums recently, and been enjoying looking at the many nice cars on here, especially Escorts which I have a little sweet spot for.

I recognise a few user names, and some of you may have seen me round other forums, in which case you might know about my project. I have a '70 Mk2 Cortina, which is at the moment a bare shell, it's not even rolling anymore as I have removed the original diff and rear suspension in preparation for the new stuff to be fitted.

That is because I will be fitting a 289, yes a V8, into the car. The new diff is out of a '90something Falcon, and it's currently being narrowed to fit. I am retaining the leaf spring setup. I did consider other options like 4 link, and triangulated setups, but I decided to go with the simpler option. I believe it's possible to have a nice handling and riding car with leaf springs, particularly with the use of Nolathane. The car will be street driven only, I have no intention of running it on the circuit or strip.

I will be using a T5 5 speed gearbox, also from a Falcon. The front suspension will be completely replaced as well, using a unit from a Mitsubishi L300 van, and I will be starting to work on fitting that once the rear suspension is fitted. Obviously, wit hthe V8 being a much larger engine than the Cortina was designed for, there will have to be some modifications. The firewall will be recessed, and the transmission tunnel enlarged.

That's just a breif overview of the project and my plans, for a more detailed description and pictures, you can have a look at the little website I have created to detail the build.

http://www.freewebs.com/mk2maniac/

Welcome aboard mk2maniac,
A 289 Mk2 Cortina is something we dont have here yet so Im sure we'll all be watching your progress with interest.

Goodluck with it

Rhys

that thing is going to fly...maybe just one run down the strip mate haha

Welcome Mk2maniac,
Cool project you have there

what's the specs on your windsor?
And I love the collection of billet stuff you have.

Goodluck with the build.
Cheers Dan

Thanks for the comments guys. According to the casting numbers the 289 was originally in a Galaxie. I haven't had it rebuilt yet, but it won't be anything overboard, just simple, and built with plenty of the typical good bits so it's strong and reliable, and sounds good. Exact specs will be decided closer to when it goes to the engine builder, and will be based on what he recommends, because I'm certainly no expert in that field (not yet anyway). I'm not out to make huge numbers, as I've said it's a street cruiser and show goer.

And yes, I like the billet too, plenty of polished stuff will be the theme.

Small update but not really, kind of accidentally bumped this topic when I was reing it by hitting the edit post button, so thought I should make a post to kinda cover my ass! [:o)]

Hopefully I will have the diff back very soon, and then I have to get a few more bearings and I can put it back together and decide how I'm going to detail it, probably just black with the alloy back cover polished, nice and simple

Here are some pics of the L300 front suspension unit I will be using for those who are interested.

Very cool project.

What inspired the change of front suspension type ? and what advantages does this type of suspension have to offer ?

Thanks,
Damion.

This will be very interesting to follow, good stuff.

quote:

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Originally posted by Mk2_2dr_2L
[br]Very cool project.

What inspired the change of front suspension type ? and what advantages does this type of suspension have to offer ?

Thanks,
Damion.

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There's a number of different reasons why I'm changing the front suspension. Firstly, so it's nice and strong to handle the extra weight and power of the V8. As I think I have mentioned, it's a fairly commonly used unit, I've seen it grafted into many cars, and it's very simple.

Also, this unit has much better brakes than the original Cortina front suspension, though even if I had stuck with the original type front end, it would have been heavily modified, but still probably barely adequate. The L300 front end shares Ford stud pattern, so it will be the same all round. Eliminating the struts gives greater choice for front tyre widths and wheel offset.

I'm not one to do things by halves, and even if the L300 front end is overkill, it's better to have it over engineered than under egineered and unsafe.