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RichardJ

1972 Mk3 Cortina GT (2 door)

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UPDATE WEEK ENDING 12 NOVEMBER 2017

Another quiet few months working on the car, but I finally managed to make a start on the exhaust system.

 

I got hold of a Duratec exhaust for a mk1/2 Escort from Ashley, which I wanted as a start point for the manifold.

Being an Escort manifold I knew it would need some work to get to fit the car (as all Ashley manifolds do from what I understand).

 

So I trial fitted the top part in it's original condition, to see what would need doing:

post-4279-0-99145600-1510504562_thumb.jpg

post-4279-0-13447300-1510504574_thumb.jpg

 

The fit was fine with how it moved past the engine mount and aimed under the fire wall, but as it was designed for an Escort it extended away from the engine too far and interfered with the steering linkage. I had to disconnect the steering linkage to get it to fit.

I think the manifolds tend to wrap around the steering linkage on the Escort so tend to extend outwards quite a way, but on the Cortina the steering linkage is right up against the chassis rails, so the manifold needs to curve downwards a lot sooner.

 

I was therefore going to have to chop about 2 inches out of the manifold, to make it sit closer to the engine block.

Edited by RichardJ

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I took an angle grinder to the manifold, and cut it down by the necessary 2 inches.

On two of the primaries this just involved chopping out a straight piece from the middle section.

 

On the other two, they needed a lot more work, and needed detaching from the flange, and reshaping to get to fit at a shorter length. One of the primaries even needed a new section of pipe adding to change the angle it joined the flange.

 

After a lot of cutting and welding, and grinding, I finally ended up with this after the first round of welding:

post-4279-0-89917600-1510505200_thumb.jpg

 

I used an exhaust expander to make sure the pipes were all aligned properly.

 

I then finished the weld, tidied them up, and stripped off the "transit paint" that was originally on the manifold:

post-4279-0-04716700-1510505245_thumb.jpg

 

post-4279-0-35747000-1510505294_thumb.jpg

 

Finally, a lick of matt black BBQ paint:

 

post-4279-0-59127500-1510505345_thumb.jpg

 

post-4279-0-53575600-1510505359_thumb.jpg

Edited by RichardJ

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And then onto the engine:

post-4279-0-54736000-1510505578_thumb.jpg

 

post-4279-0-48398900-1510505584_thumb.jpg

 

Not the prettiest welding, or manifold, but it's airtight and will should work and last long enough for me to use the car.

If it cracks or causes problems, I can then at least drive the car to a custom exhaust place.

 

Also a big thanks to Chris Mk3 for sharing a picture of his 4-branch that I ised to work with.

Edited by RichardJ

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Good work on the manifold.

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<blockquote class='ipsBlockquote'data-author="nascar66" data-cid="665292" data-time="1510506618"><p>

Good work on the manifold.</p></blockquote>

 

Cheers, wasn't the easiest job in the world, but now it's in the rest of the exhaust should just be the standard Cortina run.

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On 8/7/2016 at 6:36 PM, RichardJ said:

The driver and passenger seat runners are nowhere near the same spacing as the Cortina's so these need modifying.
I originally ran some 8mm bars across the seat rails and fitted the Cortina runners to them, but the seats sat far too high, and the adjustable driver's seat was pretty much unuseable on anything other than the lowest setting. Even on the lowest setting, my head brushed the ceiling and my legs rubbed on the bottom of the steering wheel.

So it was time to break out the angle grinder and MIG welder.
I stupidly didn't take any pictures of the work on the driver's side, but I had to chop out a lot of metal and weld in strengthening bars to lower it as low as would physically go without rubbing on the carpet, and still retaining the adjustment mechanism. I stupidly didn't take any photos of this work.
The passenger side was a lot more simple, though

Modified passenger seat

post-4279-0-50842800-1505324442_thumb.jpg

 

post-4279-0-77298200-1505324451_thumb.jpg

Modified driver's seat in the car - at lowest height with decent leg space

post-4279-0-05948000-1505324459_thumb.jpg

Both seats in

post-4279-0-87184700-1505324466_thumb.jpg

Hi did you still manage to fit the centre control with the Alfa seats?Thanks

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9 hours ago, brian grech said:

Hi did you still manage to fit the centre control with the Alfa seats?Thanks

 

Yes, the centre console fitted nicely between the Alfa seats.

 

I'll try and get you a picture later today of how the console looks.

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Here's a quick top down shot of the centre cosole.  It has good clearance from the seats all round.

20190701_181342.jpg

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That's better than original

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3 hours ago, RichardJ said:

Here's a quick top down shot of the centre cosole.  It has good clearance from the seats all round.

20190701_181342.jpg

Thanks looks fabulous!

 

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Thanks both,

The Alfa 147 seats need a fair bit of metal work to properly fit, but I personally think that the retro 60's Italian style really suits the mk3.  The Alfa has a similar size and shape centre console to the Cortina too, so they fit nicely around the Cortina one.

I would definitely recommend them if you are ready for the hassle of the metalwork involved in getting them to fit.

 


I really need to update this build blog, as although progress is slow, I have done a few more things to the car - including Hazard lights (cheers again, Craig 👍)

Edited by RichardJ

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5 hours ago, RichardJ said:

Thanks both,

The Alfa 147 seats need a fair bit of metal work to properly fit, but I personally think that the retro 60's Italian style really suits the mk3.  The Alfa has a similar size and shape centre console to the Cortina too, so they fit nicely around the Cortina one.

I would definitely recommend them if you are ready for the hassle of the metalwork involved in getting them to fit.

 


I really need to update this build blog, as although progress is slow, I have done a few more things to the car - including Hazard lights (cheers again, Craig 👍)

Today i started the passenger side and it took about 4 hours of tinkering,cutting,welding but have the passenger side almost done. I kept the original Alfa rails and welded parts etc. Will upload pics on my thread not to hijack yours.Thanks again

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