Terry Sanger's Cortina V8 Mk1 (and others!)

[jonners]

See previous posts - this ended up with a BDA fitted and with that engine it was sold back to Alan Mann a couple of years ago

[JAO]

Hi there.Last race ever at Crystal Palace,Doc Mirfield raced his MK2 V8 coventry climax engined Cortina.A couple of weeks later the car had its front suspension,which was still MK2 original,modified by Chas Beattie.He rectified a bump steer problem and added two extra front shocks,one each side alongside the McPherson struts.

[John Turner]

That can't be right surely? The last race ever at CP was Race 8 of the Daily Mirror Historic Race meeting on 23 September 1972. That last race was the AMOC Historic Sports Car Race and had a grid full of Listers, Maseratis and Jaguars.

[st-dave]

Originally Posted by VIVA GT

Isn't this the car that's ended up with a Cosworth YB engine in it?
I don't think it's ever made any serious competition outings since, but did feature in the Ford magazines and at variou Ford shows maybe about 10 years ago...

That car was raced by Martin Sledmore.
http://www.racing70s.pwp.blueyonder..../cortina_1.htm

[SidewaysFeltham]

Just my two penneth.

Doc Murfield's Fraud Cortina was an early Mk I; it used a US Ford V8. Two rads in the boot, mounted on the floor, cooled by two large electric fans.

The car was bought and run thereafter by Brian Bolton from Chelmsford Essex: Brian used to tow this monster behind his Mk II Jag 3.8 saloon.

Terry Sanger's car was indeed originally built by Terry Drury. Terry was a development engineeer who worked for Ford at the Dunton engineering centre in Essex, on dyno testing, development engines. Terry's assistant at the time, told me that when they were working nights, they would gallop through the official work and then spend the rest of the time tweaking the gasflow on Terry's big Anglia (from memory a twin cam taken to two litre).

In fact I can probably claim the fame for the first Mk I Cortina V6, which I built from Bengt Soderstroms Safari Rally car (Mk I GT Cortina, pre- rear axles links) for another Ford colleague, Pete Calderwood , after I left Ford Europe and set up my own racing and tuning business and retail garage, Felspeed Racing etc. (1967)

The engine was an ex development unit bought from Dagenham; cams were blank unground and ground to a blind faith and charity profile by Piper Cams in Kent! (I used D Type Jag overlaps and left the lift profiles to David Piper!).

Carb was a four barrel of some sort: Pete worked in a Ford area which included what was called, unpoetically, Industrial Engines - which were Ford mills sold to various other manufacturers of boats, industrial plant, military stuff etc - but their remit also included supplying all the US Ford V8s to Rootes for the Sunbeam Tigers. When Chrysler bought Roots, they junked all the V8 engines and mucho ancilliary kit: which we bought and sold to John Wolf and others, keeping certain bits for the V6 project.

The V6 was a beastie but did win points first time out in the old Redex trophy for Special Saloons at Brands.

I had to make up the exhaust manifolds first crack from german bending mild steel tube and in those days gas welded!

The car on full chat sounded like an old Commer T3 turbo diesel truck!

Happy days.

[GORDON STREETER]

Michael I doubt if there are many people on this forum that know what a TS3 Commer was, I worked on them when I left school . 3 cyl supecharged 2 stoke 6 pistons very clever, sorry to go off thread .

[Eric Falce]

Going right off thread Gordon,so you had the job of cleaning out the inlet/exhuast ports then,but the TS3 was the most fantastic sounding engine betterd maybe only by the Foden two stroke.
Terry Drury,David Piper,John Wolf,Felspeed.well,that was,is, a wealth of names that I have not heard in many a year,brings back memorys of a lot of fun times.

[GORDON STREETER]

Eric How did you know I was given that "technical" job when I was 15 . I had to make the tea as well !
Howe Exhaust's were the main one's at the time (if you had an anglebox)

[SidewaysFeltham]

And later on this morning, I am going to see my oldest mate, Philip Splett. Phil was President, Chairman, Press Sec of the Heritage Mini Cooper Register and was a great friend of John Cooper. Philip has a wonderful collection of orignial race and rally Coopers and Cooper s.

Another local mutual chum (of Phils's and mine) is Jon Mowat: anyone remember Jon? He used to work for Lotus at Cheshunt and then set up his own racing/tuning biz but more importantly, continued racing Cooper s saloons in the British Touring Car Championship, when the works had pulled out, amongst an invading horde of 1300 c.c. Escorts!

Glad someone else remembers the TS3, Gordon! A good example of the absolute paradox which Rootes had become! Technologically brilliant and advanced. As was the Mike Parkes designed Imp. Until some idiot in the design office moved the head stud spacing, so it was thereafter impossible to change he head for the Climax Twin Cam!

[Eric Falce]

Jeff Howe made the bits but it was his wife who had the knowledge,she knew where everything thing was,a great tragedy when she passed away.They all had E types,used to see who was the fastest to maidstone or wherever they where going,some of the best races outside,and inside the circuits.
Yup,three cylinders,horizontaly opposed,rootes supercharger,and as my father used to say,all the technological theorys had been tried by 1930,think that was one that had not,absolutely brilliant.
Is Chris Craft still around,remember his push start at Brands in his Anglebox when he destroyed all the 3.8 Jags,started last when the starter failed ,ended up I think 3rd.

[SidewaysFeltham]

Chris Craft Hmm. I'll ask Phil later on this morning. He keeps more in touch, mainly because he is always at historic race meetings and such.

Yes Eric, the TS3 was very advanced: and the first use of a diesel engine exhaust turbocharger on a standard British truck, I seem to recall?

Did you know that lord Rootes was offered the chance to acquire Volkswagenwork, by the British army Brigadier who was running Volks under MilGov and the War Office and government? He turned it down on the basis that the beetle would never sell....................................

Rootes??? Rootes???

The trouble is the era from mid 60s to mid 70s was awash with characters. Technology didn't interefere overmuch intil late 70s (except F One). Club racing was still very affordable and loads of blokes kept trying all sorts of simple tweaks which cost pennies. Like Mick Hill building his Capri V8 special saloon on the suspension and other bits of a crashed T70 Group Seven "Big Banger" he bought from Sid Taylor in Liverpool.

And Norman Abbots Escort, which was really a BDA/FVC engined F2 car with a sort of spaceframe and an escort body shell draped over it!

That said, I still have nightmares about the two lads from London who managed to get their Anglia racer through scrutineering. The roll cage was screwed together from galvanised gas barrel! The body had rotted as 105Es did and it was bright and shiny but mainly pudding!

I looked in the paddock at the tiny base plates to the roll cage and shuddered................................and, of course, when it turned over at the first corner (Brands probably) and span down the hill upside down, it littered the track with bits of shiny cellulosed pudding: in great clumps!

And when it was dragged back to the paddock one could see the small base plate to the cage punched through the rusty floor and the roof sitting on top of the seat back! And, luckily, the driver wasn't hurt!

That and the early welded extra wide rims ripping out from the centres!

Oh what fun it all was!

[jonners]

Originally Posted by st-dave

That car was raced by Martin Sledmore.
http://www.racing70s.pwp.blueyonder..../cortina_1.htm

See previous posts - Sledmore fitted a V6 - hence the inclusion in this thread. It was never fitted with a Cosworth YB.

[jonners]

Originally Posted by Eric Falce

Jeff Howe made the bits but it was his wife who had the knowledge

Yep. Long ago I popped over to their place opposite Brands to pick up a manifold. I noticed a pile of corroded webers in the corner, mostly dismantled and very nasty looking....We needed a set of top cover screws - infact we were desperate for some at very short notice and I couldn't believe my luck. Until she told me how much she wanted for them (the screws only, not the carbs). Still paying off the overdraft.

Sorry to hear she's passed away. They were always very helpful.

[SidewaysFeltham]

Originally Posted by Eric Falce

Is Chris Craft still around,remember his push start at Brands in his Anglebox when he destroyed all the 3.8 Jags,started last when the starter failed ,ended up I think 3rd.

Eric: I did ask Phil when I saw him earlier but he has no current knowledge of Chris Craft. I'll ask someone else who might know.

[GORDON STREETER]

I think Chris is still around, the last time I saw him was when Fords had their big day at a TOCA meeting at Silverstone showing all the saloon race cars up to that date. They asked to use my Anglia and Tony Lanfranchi drove it.
Chris was one of my hero's in the sixties in the Anglebox when I was working for Alan Fraser (of Imp fame) And yes Alice at Howes was a character and knew where everything was amongst the piles of clutter ! As for wide rims I was sponsored by Weller wheels in the early days on the old weld ups. I still keep in touch with Les Weller.