Unclejake

^ LOL. I guess it would be better if I have put the driven plate in before I took the photo. Normal Cortina clucth is 7 1/2 inches I think. That one is 5 1/2 inches

Mk1 Cortina billet steel flywheel and baby clutch FTW.

Yup. What he said ^

I would feel better about using a single bit of strap alloy/steel with two holes drilled in it as a spacer (assumes you want to move the caliper toward the strut). How off centre is it? It doesn't really matter so long as it is not a huge difference and the pads fit/pistons don't fall out etc.

I reckon it is something to do with the engine for sure

^ Those look very close but the shoulder on the ones I want to find new is a bit bigger I think. It is the shoulder that locates the rotor onto the hub. I think I might re-tap the female threads on the hubs in order to go to a slightly bigger bolt diameter (probably metric). Then I will cut new male threads on the new bolts to shorten the unthreaded shoulder length. Thanks for looking and the great photos Davidian.

Couple of questions for you boe: 1) Two stroke? 2) Single carb per cylinder with no vacuum balance bar? 3) If it is a two stroke does it use Reids (sp) or some other induction pulse control (like a rotary valve thingee that I can't remember the name of)?

^ Chur boe. I have been down the fastener supplies path. No one that I have found makes a suitable bolt. They were OEM Ford and I have heaps of them but I really want brand new ones. They are all the same as far as I know - Mk1, Mk2 & Mk3 Cortina and Mk2 and Mk2 Escort

They have a special Ford size shoulder on them. I can make some custom bolts but would rather just part with money than time ATM. All mine are 40 years old and have been through too many heat cycles to make me trust them at 200 kmph into the hairpin at Pukekohe They are a 5/16th UNC thread Thanks,

Cheap and choice pads for occasional track use = Ferodo GP2 For hard race use I have tried Blackhawk, Metalkings, Mintex and some other one I can't remember. Would like to try Padgid soon I guess as I have new calipers so need new pads (again)

Oath Boe - you must have been putting in some hours to get the van as close to driving as that! Chur.

If you can't find the specs 65 ft lbs would probably be safe.

I can't quite agree. It will in all probability achieve a significant and noticable reduction in mid range power Yes - I know that's what you meant. I am just bored

Clearly we are on the same wavelength Enhancing the short turn radius is pretty hard on many heads. With certain old Ford heads a few wise men have built 'downport' heads which effectively bring the charge in on an almost straight line from above the chamber. It requires custom inlet manifolds and welding up the original ports so they are almost gone. Heat, distortion and water leaks are near impossible to eliminate. That is a lot of work

Looking good mate. Chur.

That is extremely interesting Spencer. Thanks Boe - I am going to have to have a think about that!

To be honest I really don't know without thinking hard. Not many (less than 20 I guess). I still have the piston from the very first car engine I rebuilt. It has a valve embedded in the crown which got there as a direct result of my rebuild . It was a Mk2 Jaguar 3.4 and it lasted about 1,200 meters befor the BANG! The Cortina has had four completely new engines and the current engine gets rings/bearings/seals/gaskets every four or five race meetings. I am trying to look after it as it owes so much coin but everything is on hold right now as I am short on time and cash.

Agreed whole heartedly. Such money could be very well spent elsewhere (like on beer). Building a fast race engine is expensive. Building a fast and strong race engine is very, very expensive (as I am finding out). P.S - Good call splitting the thread

^ Yup. There was a guy on TardMe trying to sell a set of new Pinto forged extra long I beam rods about 18 months ago. They looks aws. and they were seriously cheap @ about $900 I think

^ Stroke is defined by the crankshaft only. Let's assume we want to retain the same compression ratio Racers do like torque and don't like cylinder sidewall loadings. The trick is getting a rod length/stroke ratio that is optimum. A very long rod improves torque but requires a piston with the gudgeon pin much higher in the piston (this is known as short compression height). To change an existing engine to a longer rod to gain torque you would also need to change pistons and there is only so high in the piston that you can place the gudgeon. The down side is (I think) piston noise and I assume an intrinsicly (sp) weakened piston. Heat transfeer into the gudgeon may also be an issue. The pistons I am having made (to suit my new rods) have the gudgeon pin jammed up right underneath the compression ring. EDIT: An engine's capacity is measured in swept volume (the amount of gas the piston moves) so the only thing that will increase that is a larger diameter bore or a longer stroke. A change in conrod length or compression height (pin to crown distance) will not change swept volume.

Exactly!! Just to be picky - a different rod length doesn't change the stroke, just the amount of time the piston hangs around at TDC etc.

Prozc - has this motor sat for a long while? If so the compression will probably get back up a bit after you start it. Rings gummed and rust on valve faces FTL. It should still start though with the compression it has. TRDChick is looking for something to do in the weekend - get her over to help with the cranbking etc.

Failed Cortina conrod (and matching camshaft FTL) v This one due to oil surge in corners and Unclejake not being quick enough with the kill switch. Invoice = significant.

You are prolly right mate. It is a bit outside my knowledge area. A few of my fellow racers put Jap conrods in their engines and I am not aware of one ever failing. The old cast Ford rods fail from time to time but it is seldom clear what failed first - the rod or the rod bolt. I have a steel crank in my Mk1 Cortina - it cam out of a Datsun 1600 (L16). Even early Valiant V8s had steel cranks.

Don't quote me as I only play with 40 year old Fords - but my understanding is that most Japanese rods are forged from factory (and most have steel cranks too). Forged is much stronger than cast (old Cortina shit is cast) so I guess it would depend on what motor you are dealing with. I only build (or more acurately pay others to build) old N/A engines so I really don't know much about the stresses and combustion chamber tempratures involved with turbo motors etc.