The Cortina Phase

       I had owned a Fiat 1500 Mk3 for about 10 years. In fact, its the longest I have ever kept a car, and what a great little car that was. By 1980 it was a bit tired and I was now asking the poor little car to drag around a boat. I had retired from playing in bands and took up fishing, so I needed a car with a bit more power. My brother mentioned a company car that was for sale at his work. It was a 1976 TD Cortina, 200ci 6 cylinder with a Borg Warner 35. The price was right so I bought it.  It was the first automatic car I had ever owned and it towed the boat with ease. My fishing exploits only lasted a year as I was lured back into music and started playing in a band again. So, for the next 3 years, all I did was drive from gig to gig, clocking up a lot of miles without much attention to the car. It was just transportation and servicing was very minimal to say the least. By 1985, I had retired from playing again but this time permanently. I sold all my instruments and band equipment. I had a bit of cash and now some time on my hands and a desire to do something different. I sat on the front porch contemplating what I should do, it then struck me. I'll do up the Cortina!.

      First action was to get the body fixed up. My mate offered to do the body and paint while I searched for another engine as the old 200 was tired. I sourced a real good 250 at a good price. I done the swap and all was fine until the Borg Warner box took a dive. I had it reconditioned but soon became bored of automatics. I wanted a manual again. I bought a Celica 5 speed and an adaptor bell housing. With the 5 speed in I was happy for a while. The car looked good but I still had the need for more grunt. I had heard of a few Cortinas running around with V8s and I kind of liked that idea. So I went parts shopping and came back with a donor car. It was an XW wagon with a supposedly worked 302, close ratio top loader and a nine inch diff. The body was rusted as it had been sitting for a few years behind a milk bar. I dragged it home a stripped it. I searched around for a kit to install it all in the Cortina. I was a bit naive and should have researched it a bit more because the kit I got was basically junk. I ended up fabricating my own engine mounts. I got the car back on the road and it had strange noises and a bad oil leak out the rear seal. I pulled the engine out and down. When I dropped the sump I found huge chunks of cast iron. The bottom of the bores on number 1 and 5 bores were broken off. The piston slap had been fairly drastic. Another block was sourced. While I had the engine down that far I thought I may as well do a bit more to it. I got a pair of 289 heads and worked them over. Bigger valves and porting. The carby was a 600 Holley on a single plane torquer manifold. Dizzy was a dual point Mallory. I can't recall the cam specs but I remember having to do a bit of grinding on the rockers so they cleared the valve spring plates. There was a bit too much valve lift.

    So by 1987, the Cortina V8 fad had reached a peak and I read an ad in some magazine asking for interested owners to start up a club. I responded and the  Cortina Car Club of NSW met at for the first time at Frenches Forrest. Here is a picture of some that attended on this day.

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