Benny's '61 build thread

[mk1coopers]

That is a very nice Cortina , as much as I like Mini's there would be a number of Henry's products in my fantasy dream garage

[georgek]

That's a fantastic car you've got there, to me the best ever looking ford to be built in the UK, in the olden days I had two Mk1 GT's a friend of mine had a Mk1 Lotus unlike the GT it had alloy door/bonnet & boot skins, outstanding performance!

[Benny]

I got my ceramic-coated Maniflow back today....it looks great. For $85, it's well worth it for the corrosion protection it offers, as it keeps the tubes looking brand new for years.

I also timed the cam in tonight, and max lift on the #1 intake was was dead-on at 103 degrees ATDC, per the cam card. I didn't even need to use an offset key with the MiniSpares timing set....I guess that made up for having to machine material off the back of it to get the end-float in spec!

[alexm]

Benny - I too have those seats (or the Cobra equivalent) and having tried them out with my 34" waist have decided they also need the hydraulic ram treatment!

Great thread and mini project. I love the Cortina too.

[Benny]

Benny - I too have those seats (or the Cobra equivalent) and having tried them out with my 34" waist have decided they also need the hydraulic ram treatment!

Send those seats over....I'll give them "the business".

[InimiaD]

That manifold looks the business.

I wonder if it would make my 3 into 1 race manifold look any better.? It's a bit beaten up.

[Gray]

Ceramic coating is quite expensive to get done in the UK mine was about £200.

[cpr1]

That's a nice engine Gray

[Benny]

That manifold looks the business.

I wonder if it would make my 3 into 1 race manifold look any better.? It's a bit beaten up.

Yeah, I'm addicted to powder coating and ceramic coating. I love dropping off a grimy old part, and picking up something that looks fantastic, and will last forever....luckily, it's fairly reasonably priced in my area.

I have all my exhaust manifolds ceramic coated, including the cast iron ones on my MGB and Land Rover. I've got about 40-50 hours of fabrication work in the exhaust headers on my V8 Cortina, so I had them done to preserve them as much as anything else.

[graham in aus]

Gray,
Is that a beaver or a dog riding the Ostrich in the sculpture ??? !!!

Oh, and yes, nice looking engine!!

[Benny]

My wife's on a business trip this week in Instanbul, so I took the opportunity to take a couple of days off work to "play cars". I got a fair amout done on the Mini engine, and got te gearbox painted, so they are ready to mate together tomorrow.

I plan to get the car down off jackstands tomorrow, for the first time in about 8 years. Then I'll spin in 180 so that I have better access to the front of the car in my cramped garage.

[Chris64]

You can't beat a lovely freshly painted engine going back together - nice work!

[Ronnie]

Hello! I would remove the copper washers from your thermostat housing, as it will cause the aluminium to corrode.

[Benny]

Hello! I would remove the copper washers from your thermostat housing, as it will cause the aluminium to corrode.

I've done that for years on MGBs....never caused an issue

[Benny]

The weather was brutally hot here today, so I was moving a bit slowly, but I still got quite a bit done. I took the '61 down off its jackstands for the first time in years, and spun it around for its pending heart surgery.

I also did some more minor assembly on the engine and transmission, and bolted the front seats in for (hopefully) the last time.

I like this first pic as I was spinning the '61.....the imposter, and the genuine article waiting in the wings.

[JC T ONE]

Nice work

[UHR850]

Ford LOTUS Cortina ?????? I love it !!!!

[Benny]

Ford LOTUS Cortina ??????

No, a GT, as I mentioned.

There was once a (tongue in cheek) article published in a magazine on my Cortina. It explained how my car was the result of a late-night drinking session involving Carrol Shelby and Colin Chapman. It stated that both men were horrified when they sobered up in the morning, because it was faster and more reliable than the LC, and lighter and handled better than the Sunbeam Tiger. The car was reportedly stored in Shelby's warehouse, to prevent it from getting out, and was only discovered in the 90's with an empty bottle of Old Grand Dad whiskey in the trunk.

[JC T ONE]

There was once a (tongue in cheek) article published in a magazine on my Cortina. It explained how my car was the result of a late-night drinking session involving Carrol Shelby and Colin Chapman. It stated that both men were horrified when they sobered up in the morning, because it was faster and more reliable than the LC, and lighter and handled better than the Sunbeam Tiger. The car was reportedly stored in Shelby's warehouse, to prevent it from getting out, and was only discovered in the 90's with an empty bottle of Old Grand Dad whiskey in the trunk.

Now THAT was a good story me like.

[Benny]

Now THAT was a good story me like.

Here is the actual text that was published in the October 1996 edition of Sports Car Market Magazine. They published a picture of a very scruffy Cortina, with the caption "What car is this?". My friend wrote the response below, and the magazine gave him "extra points" for providing "the exactly correct answer".....he wrote:

"The mystery car is, of course, a Ford Cortina, circa 1964. This model was built from 1962-1966 with engines ranging from 1200-1500cc plus, of course, wthe famous Lotus Twin-Cam version. But the fascinating part is that the actual car pictured was an extremely rare prototype, the Bogus Cortina, which I now own, and have restored. The Bogus resulted from an infamous and little-known drinking session between Colin Chapman and Carroll Shelby in September 1963. After a marathon evening, they stumbled back to Hethel (Lotus HQ) and in a drunken session with the oxy-acetylene torch, they tossed out the Twin-Cam an replaced it with a 289 V8 small block that Carroll had in the back of his pick-up.

Of course, when they sobered up, they were horrified. They had created a vehicle that faster and more reliable than the Lotus Cortina. This scared Colin. It was also in direct conflict with the soon to be announced Sunbeam Tiger, which was over 500 lbs. heavier. Shelby had a fit! So it was that the one and only Bogus Cortina could not be allowed to continue. It was shipped back to the States in a container. For years, it languished at a Shelby facility until I discovered in in 1994, stored next to all those extra 427 Cobra chassis.

Although not much is known of the Bogus, I set about restoring it as best I could. I still have the empty bottle of "Old Grandad" I found in the trunk. Interestingly enough, such was his dislike of the car, that even to this day you can ask Carroll Shelby about it, and he will deny any knowledge of the car. Consequently, and this adds even more to the car's rarity, it is perhaps the only Shelby extant in the world today that does not bear his signature. I rest my case."

Anyone believe it?