Cut and paste from another forum...
Well, here's my project and a bit about it.
I'd always liked Mk2 Cortinas ever since I laid eyes on Puddy's Pro Touring YB powered Lotus, that was converted to LHD so it could run the exhaust inside to gain ground clearance. (You may have seen it at Classic Ford 2010 on our stand.)
Anyway, I bit the bullet and decided to buy a Cortina to call my own.
I did look at a few clean standard examples, but as I always planned to modify it extensively, I looked for something that was structurally sound, and ideally had a few things done to it already to make my life easier as everything would be changing over time.
I didn't have to look far.
Previous Staff Writer Gareth had bought this Cortina and not done much with it except let it run out of MoT. So I made a call and even though I'd never seen the car I paid for it and had it low loaded down from Newcastle to London, to Ignition Advantages who gave the car a clean bill of health.
It sailed through an MoT after some washer jets were fitted, so I got insured and took my first ever drive in a Cortina!
As it was fully stripped inside with only a pair of bucket seats and some very hard suspension it was quite an experience, but I love stripped out cars and enjoyed it!
It needed a little paint and wasn't 100% mint but it was solid and a good base for what I wanted.
I loved driving the car and put some miles on it taking it to shows and using it where I could at weekends. However, it needed modifying as the car was quite well known in the scene I wanted it to be more 'mine', so I started picking up bits.
First was wheels. The thing was I loved the look of the wheels that were on it, but knew I had to change them. That's when I came across some very rare split rim versions of the same wheel. These will be made wider and change in colour before they are on the car though.
Next up was the cage. I 'd seen the great work done by Alan Dent at Alachi who makes suspension and sterring parts as well as building race cars. I asked if he could do me a cage to suit the engine and power I had in mind, as I'd been warned Mk2 Cortinas don't take power well without shell bracing. And the cage in there left a lot to be desired.
So Alan made me this blinding cage that I'm over the moon with. It's braced down into the boot floor and ties into the shell in about 15 places.
Alan's work is fantastic and it's totally transformed the way the car drives (as you can imagine) but in more than one way.
More to come soon!