TF Cortina Project

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina ...."
After cutting out way too much of the front panel, many many years ago only to find out that the intercooler didn't quite fit anyway, it was time to get a new panel section and weld it back in. Got ****ed around by some guy saying he had a TF he was wrecking and 2 months later he still didn't have time to meet me at the cars location. Went and saw Brian at Small Ford Classic Spares and he gave me a full front for $280 plus a RHS Mirror after his EFTPOS machine gave me grief.
I cut out the section I needed to replace and then welded it into place very carefully. Its straightened out the front apron a fair bit. It was bowed out quite dramatically. Grinded it all back and its as good as new. Made a new cardboard intercooler and checked for fitment. Fits perfectly now, so once I sell this one, I'll buy the new cooler.
Also made the front chassis bend braces and welded them in awhile back, but I hadn't taken any pics of them.

Next up its time to file back the drip rails alittle more to get more shape into them and then call in the soda blaster to blast the whole front end, ready for Epoxy 2pac.

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina"

I did paint strip the whole shell with paint stripper and a wirewheel. I'll never do that again. Next time, it'll be straight to the blasters and they can do the lot.
Deoxdined the shell and then seam welded the rear panels that join the rear quarters and the rear window panel. I had to slice the rhs section as it was sticking up too far and not lining up with the rest of the quarter panel at all. So sliced it, lowered it about 1-2mm and rewelded it. All nice now.
I also welded the seams on the rear beaver panel, that joins the beaver to the quarter panel.
After that, it was time to 2K epoxy the whole shell except the bay. So called my spray painter and he popped round and hit it was 2 coats of epoxy. So its all started to come together now. Iam so happy.

 

Anyone interested in getting any spray painting done, please let me know and I'll pass on my contact who does lots of jobs on the sides. All booth work etc.

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina ..."
Well, the POR15 which I painted on the undercarriage took a small hit when I was dummy fitting the fuel tank. So my surprise, it chipped quite easily. I thought I'd check out the area where it chipped and so grabbed a section of the paint which was lifting and pulled .....
It started to come off in sheets! I kept going and going till there was none left to take off. I did it all with a razor blade. Some sections had grabbed half decently, like on the seam sealer, haha. What a joke. That took 3 days to clean up back to being ready to paint again. This time, the POR15 was going straight in the bin. It was the Chassis Black version, not the original POR15 just so you know. The interior has the original stuff and seems to be on there quite well. So far the only thing that removes it is paint stripper.

So I went out, bought a gun and some gear and 2k Epoxied the undercarriage. I tell you what, its tricky painting little sections with multiple bends and little hard to get areas.

Then I finally managed to chase down the guys from Aztec Sodablasting. They came out and sodablasted the top and bottom of the engine bay, so basically everything forward of the firewall, including the firewall itself. They did a great job, but boy does that stuff make a mess of the place. I got it done in the garage and its just like talcum powder being blown everywhere. It got into everything, and I mean everything. What a clean up job. 3 days later, everything was kinda back to normal. For anyone thinking of doing this, I suggest you tow the car to their location and get it done there. Much less mess. They charged $600 for anyone thats interested.
Anyway, after removing all the paint (it doesn't remove rust sadly and doesn't remove bog), it revealed some numbers that seem to have been textored onto the shell before being painted at the factory. One says number 13 and the other says GL99. Does anyone know that they could be?

After this, I needed to deoxidine the bay areas thoroughly and then prepsol it all to get it ready for painting.

Then gave it 2 coats of 2k Epoxy Etch Primer. Not before finding alittle rust in the front apron bottom. So quickly cut that out and repaired it.

Now finally the whole shell has epoxy on it. So next time, its time for Satin Black onto the undercarriage, then seam sealer and finally some sound deadener. Then it'll be time to put the fuel system in, but more on that later.

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian cortina"

I seam sealed all the seams along the undercarriage and also the bottom of the engine bay area. After this it was time to hit it with the 2K Satin Black. Let me tell you .... I love the Satin Black. What a beautiful finish. I got a few runs in it here and there, but I knew I was going to cover it up with the Body Deadener. 1L did 2 coats for anyone thats interested.

Then I layed on the Body Deadener. I masked up the chassis rails and all the areas where things need to bolt up to the floor so that they stayed in the Satin Black. I layed it on pretty thickish. Its not over thick but thicker than just one pass with it. 2 tall cans of Body Deadener did the whole undercarriage.

I tell you what, Iam so happy with the result. I can't stop looking at it.

Next up its time to get the fuel system into the car ....

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina ..."

Since Iam going to run a dual exhaust system out the back, I thought I'd make up some extra exhaust hanger mounting points. Just in case its best to brach the exhaust out early down the chassis.
I duplicated the bracket for the middle section mount which goes through the floor and mounts to a cross brace in the rear floor. The other one mounts onto the rear chassis rail. It has a plate that is welded from inside the chassis rail with 2 nuts welded onto it. I duplicated this one also.

I also started stripping down the front suspension arms to get the car ready to take off the rota. I paint stripped them 1st, then wirewheeled them and finally hit them with deoxidine. I then hit them with 2pac Epoxy Etch Primer and then Satin Black 2pac. They turned out too glossy on the 1st attempt. VG Auto had not put enough flattener in the paint. So I had to scotchbrite them all again and hit them again. After 20% more flattener, it turned out how I wanted.
I've now ordered new springs, balljoints and bushes. More on that later though.

I also managed to finish the fuel tank which was abit of a headache. Since it was a VN 5L tank I had to change the filler neck location and plate off the old location. Aswell as changing the location of the overflow and fuel vapour pipes. These were the fun part. These small pipes are originally silver soldered onto the top of the fuel tank, I wasn't going to be able to do that, so I drilled a small hole on the top of the tank, held the pipes up with broomstick, while I tanked them to the top of the tank with the mig. It worked. I also had to make a trench type of layout for the pipes onto the top of the tank so that they would sit flatish on the top and also point towards the filler neck. This was migged up also.
But the most fun part was that the solder around all the pipes had cracked. I tryed silver soldering it, I was hopeless at it. Luckily, I was able to weld the back the back of the pipes before having the weld the trench in 1st. So then I hit the outside also and it worked. Nice weld all around the edge of the pipes. While I had one of the top plates off, I checked the surge cup and the return line was loose, so I took it off, gave it a clean and tightened up the clamps really well.
I had Marc tig on a bung at the bottom that I bought from Rocket Industries so I can empty the tank easily if ever I need to, along with some of the top plates. I then pressure tested the tank, it had a few pin hole leaks here and there, I welded them up and its perfectly sealed now.
Paint stripped it, wirewheel, deoxdine, epoxy etch and satin black. It looks a awesome, and should draw no attention.

I also modified the standard VN Fuel Pump mount by cutting the feed pipe shorter, flaring it to be able to fit the Walbro GSS342 Pump that I bought. Its supposed to be able to feed 550hp engine or there abouts, so it should be alright. I made up a new base mount for it which Marc tigged on also. This allowed the pump to sit in the right spot for the pickup. I bought that through Tuff Car Parts. I bought the foam protector for it on ebay. I soldered the correct electrical terminals onto the wires and it was all done.

Next up is to mount the arms, the tank and run the new fuel lines, along with the charcoal canister and fuel filter.

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On this episode of Australian cortina ..."

Pottsie came round and we bent up the new fuel lines which I bought from Rocket Industries. They are 3/8 aluminium. I bought some pipe benders on ebay for $20 and they were pretty easy to do. Worked a treat. Also bought a pipe flaring kit, which does single and double flares. So I double flared the pipe ends nearest the fuel tank to mount the rubber fuel lines too. I also bought some cushion mount clamps which are big enough to run both lines, plus the charcoal canister line which I made from the old plastic fuel line. Cleaned it up and it looks great. The screws that are used for the cushion clamps will be changed as I want to run some nut serts. So I'll replace them later.

I started cleaning up all the bolts I need to get zinc coated also. So I wirewheeled them for now, but I'll deoxidine them all later and get them done. But for now, this is what they'll look like basically. Here is also a close up of the straps for the tank where they needed to be modified to suit the cortina mounting system.

I had to cut more out of the filler neck hole for the boot floor as they breather pipes didn't quite have the clearance I wanted. So I cut it out and touched up all the paint. I cleaned up some vacuum hoses to use for the vapour seperator pipes and got some neat little clamps for them. I ran the overflow pipe also and clamped that up also. Looks really nice I reckon. Although I'll be making a cover for this area to keep any chance of fuel vapour and smell out of the boot area.

And last but not least, this is the fuel tank mounted into its place. The straps run the commodore rubbers to mount it onto the tank. I also searched the wreckers and found a Diahatsu Charade fuel filter mount was the best for my situation. I bent one of the legs on it at a 45 degree angle and mounted it onto the edge of the boot floor and diff hump area. I need better screws for this, as they are still too loose. I'll use more nut serts here. But you get the idea. So thats the tank in place, and the rubber fuel hose to the filter and the return line run. Which still need one more cushion clamp to mount it to the diff hump top. Looks really nice though, like it was meant to be for a cortina. I bought new clamps for the fuel lines but the system used to choose the right size is way off in my books. They are at their max thread and still too loose for my liking. So new clamps have to go on there.

So next up I'll be sorting the bolts and sending them away to get zinc plated. Along with putting together my front suspension. WOOHOO!

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina ... "

Ok, so I ended up getting the rivnuts and Rivnut gun. The 1st one broke, so there was quite a delay in getting a new one. Anyway, all the self tappers were replaced with M4 rivnuts and M4 bolts, with little pressure washers. So the fuel lines are nice and secure now. Got all the correct rubber hose clamps and put them on also so the fuel system is finished upto the firewall. Looks really neat and should do the job perfectly. Everything was bought off ebay.

Got a bucket worth of bolts zinc plated in silver. I had to clean them, so wirewheel on the grinder, put the grinder on the vice and away I went. About 8 hours later, all the bolts were clean. I then filed all the rounded heads, and fixed as much of the threads as possible. Then deoxidined them all to etch them. I also did all the door catchers etc. I presoled them to remove all the wax and grease before hand. Alot of work. But they turned out awesome. This was done at Elite Plating in Smithfield. They did a great job and did the lot for me in 1 day.

As you saw before, I had been painting all the suspension arms for the front end etc. I also painted the balljoint backs so they don't surface rust. Along with the brake discs on the outside edge and rear centre, the hubs and the springs. The springs were a ***** to paint, but ended up great. All in Satin Black 2pac.

I bought all new bushes from Super Pro also. I tryed to press them in myself, but was unable to do it no matter what I tryed. So for the 1st time in the build, needed a workshop to do something for me. So I took them to my mate at Mainalign and he pressed them. Previous to this, we had been speaking about what could be done that wasn't crazy but could give me better suspension handling and geometry. So I slotted the top A arm bolt holes by 3mm in opposite directions. This should give me further Castor if needed. Its nothing major, but it'll be good if we can get some use out of it.

So then came the time to fit up all the front suspension parts that were ready to bolt up. So with all the arms bolted up now, all I have left to put onto the front are the swaybar (which might need to be a custom job) and the shocks. The Koni's being quite expensive will have to wait awhile before I buy them.

We worked out that the closest spring height that I would need are 4 cyl Lows from King Springs. Because of all the added weight from the intercooler, turbo, turbo manifold, injection, etc etc.

So next up is to prep and paint the rear diff arms, and install new bushed in them etc, drop the car off the Rota and get it sitting back on its wheels. Exciting times ahead!

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina ...."

I wirewheeled the brake rotors as they had plenty of surface rust on them. Then prepped them for paint. At 1st I hit them with flat black, but they didn't look right so I did them with Spray Galvanise, which is a nice flat silver type colour. I just painted the outside edge, the back centre and the front face which isn't the pad face or the mounting face.

Gave the calipers a quick wirewheeling also, and then a hand polish with metal polish just to further clean them. They came out really nice. The pads were not even bedding in I reckon, they had such little use. But when trying to fit the calipers on, they were a really tight fit, yes I made sure the piston were driven in all the way. I measured them with my verniers and they were 0.05mm too small in distance. So I gave the discs a skim and now they are fine.

By the way, this is a Hoppers Stoppers brake kit which I bought many years ago. It consists of AU calipers and AU series 3 XR8 twin piston calipers.

Next up, paint the rear suspension and diff arms and fit the new bushes in for them. Nearly time to get off the Rota.

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina ...."

I pulled out the power-steering system out of the shed ready for a clean. After checking it over and picking it up a few times, I thought, geez this thing weighs a ton. Then add the power-steering pump and the lines and the bracket, fluid etc etc. I just couldn't bring myself to add that much weight over the front of the crossmember. I compared it to the manual rack with all its bits, it had to have been about 1/3 of the weight.
So I took the manual rack to be looked over by my suspension guy at Mainalign in Smithfield. He looked it over and said, its perfect. After some further questions it turns out he was the one that reco'd it years ago when he worked at his other work place.
So after getting new Super Pro bushes, tie rod ends and boots. It was ready to go. I stripped it down with some wirewheels and gave it a few coats of Satin Black 2pac.

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina ...."

I removed the old bushes from the diff and rear arms. The arms had been boxed in previously with 3mm plate, so I just cleaned up the welds to make them look nice and smooth and painted them all up in 2k Satin Black. Then pressed in the new Super Pro bushes.
To fit the upper arms though, I had to make access hole in the floor so I could get the bolts in from the side I wanted to, as the nuts are so fat and just wouldn't quite fit the little area I had to place them onto the bolts. I'll place rubber grommets over the hole later and it'll neaten up the area.
I painted the springs also, which I had bought off ebay some time back. They are King Springs Super Lows. Restored the rubbers that sit on top of the springs and got some better plastic insulators for the bottoms from Stumper.
I also, cut down the bump stops to half size and painted them up. All the bolts are also Zinz Plated.

You can see the clearance between the diff and tank is very good and how much space I have to shorten the diff also to add more tyre and dish.

Its awesome having the car back on its wheels again and off the Rota. The rear stockies where alittle rusty and so I gave them a wirewheeling and repainted them in Cold Gal spray.

Next up I'll start mucking about with some of the panels, striping them and epoxy coating them. Ready to start hanging back up.

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina ..."

Its been ages since my last update as I've been flat chat with house reno's, projects with the kids and bits and peices for mates etc, including alittle break from the car. It was never meant to take this long but whatever.

I have paint stripped all the hanging panels and what a job that was. Stripping back 6 layers of material to finally get to bare metal. Paint stripping the frames of bonnet and boot way just killer and took around a day per side. Using paint stripper, wire wheels and stripper disc's, I finally got it all. Then I would deoxdine the panel before laying on the 2k Epoxy Etch Primer to seal it all up. Absolute bitch of a job.

This is how it sits at the moment.

Iam going to check out the steering column next and see if there is anyway to reco it, knuckles etc and then see if it needs a coat of paint to finish it off and re-install into the car so I can have it turning at least as it'll make it easy to move around in the garage.

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina ..."

I pulled apart the Steering Column to check if the bearings needed to be replaced. The bottom one is a plastic bush bearing type thing and was fine, although I did manage to snap alittle of the lip off trying to remove it. No harm done really, I glued them back on with Loctite.
The upper one is a normal bearing and after checking with a few bearing places found that it was an Ford American Racing bearing and was not able to be located here. So I just degreases it all, and then repacked it with grease. Good as new.
I greases up all the bits that needed it and put the column back together.

The coupling that connects to the steering rack has a uni joint which was in really good condition, so I just wirewheeled the whole lot to get it ready for paint, gave it a coat of Etch Primer and then some Satin Black, which wasn't quite satin enough, so I think once Iam done dummying up everything in the bay, I'll give it another coat after adding more flattener to the paint. There'll be a heap of bits getting painted in Satin Black so its all good. The bracket that connects to the steering column I painted in Cold Gal/Silver. Suits the Zinc plated bolts better.

I lined up the wheels as best I could and realigned the tie-rod ends, then put the coupling together with the rack and steering column and now it steers, woohoo.

Next up, I'll be measuring up to see if I can hide the brake booster behind the firewall and just have the master cylinder sitting on the bay side of the firewall.

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina ...... "

I previous had a shortened booster bracket made, but I wasn't happy with the angle that the booster and master sat at. It was pointing too high in the air, so I decided to modify it and while I was at it, shorten it even further. I need as much room as I can get as the turbo manifold, dump pipe, external gate and airbox, etc will all be on that side of the bay.
Iam running a Gemini Booster with an XB Falcon 1" Master. It sits fairly neatly, with just a sheet of paper being able to fit under the booster and bay. I'll give it alittle bit of a bash with the hammer and dolly once it comes time to prepare the bay for paint just to make sure clearance is at around 5mm.
After cutting and shutting, slotting the holes till it was all perfect, its now done. I'll finish it up neatly later when it comes time to pull the bay down and paint all the components etc. I'll adjust the pedal length later on to a distant Iam happy with.

Next up, I'll start making up the brake lines and then onto either a different rear disc setup or just shortening of the diff.

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina .... "

Finally getting a handle on finishing these brake lines. What a nightmare its been. I rebent the lines as I wanted a very neat look and to tuck them as close to the master and booster as possible so they aren't in the way. I cut the flared ends off so I could get some new nuts on the lines. Sadly my flaring kit was shit and couldn't keep, so I had to get the flares done at Burt Bros in Fairfield. I gave them by old lines and had some of my old factory lines and some of the new stuff that was made back in the day, which is now also old. The old stuff turned out to be stainless and they were unable to get a good flare on it. So I ended up having to buy new lines and rebend them to get flared.

I cut new holes in the inner guards nice and close to the firewall. I tucked the lines under the lip of the firewall so they aren't seen. I mounted the lines with rubber lined mounts and used brass joiners to join the lines together.

I've run the rear line which goes down and hugs the trans tunnel and then runs along the inside of the chassis rail.

Next up, finish the rear brake line that goes to the diff and start putting the wiper motor and arms back in.

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina ...."

Just a few more pics of the brake lines.

I bought some grommets for the holes in the bay, neatens it up. This is the LHS brake line which runs under the firewall lip.

Brake hoses also went on. I had to bend the neck alittle just to line up with the caliper.

Then finished off the rear brake line. Just a few bends and some cushion clamps and it was done. It just needs to the hose that attachs to the diff lines later on, but I'll get that done once I shorten the diff etc.

Next up, put the wiper system back in, and see if I can reverse mount the wiper motor to tuck it away.

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina ...."

I managed to reverse mount the wiper motor with the help of my mate Norm.
He sent me a few photos and info on his setup and it helped heaps as I was over thinking things and wasn't sure at first exactly how the motor actually worked. I was thinking that it turned one way and then turned the other way, but it just spins in one direction, so once I knew that, it was all good.

I took some measurements and cut a hole for clearance to allow the wiper motor to sit behind it normal position. I then made a plate to mount it again but now further back sucken into the firewall in a way. I measured the old centre point of the motor and made it the same spot on the new plate. I angled it roughly the same (doesn't have to be exact as the pivot points work on all axis like a balljoint). I welded the plate in covering the sides up to enclose the firewall again. I only needed to reverse the very first pivot point for it to work. I removed all the pivot points anyway and regreased the lot and also cleaned out the wiper motor and regreased also.

I haven't powered it up just yet, but it should be fine. The to and throw of the arms is limited by the arm lengths so its not like it can wipe any more or any less. I just need to play with the parking spot of the wipers which I do by removing the rear plastic cog and repositioning until it works as its supposed to.

Next, making a new mounting area for the battery in the bay. It'll sit in the firewall also.

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina ...."

I made a new battery tray after I had removed the previous one which was rusty and not in the best spot. I made a half box from the same thickness sheet metal as the firewall and then started cutting till it fit in the firewall. Its all welded in and grinded back and smoothed, so it sits like one peice.

I had to remove a small section of firewall from under the LHS guard area so the battery tray would drop down far enough and still be big enough for the battery. I'll give it a coat of sound deadener later

Also at the other end there is a brace made into the firewall, I notched it and then plated it back over to keep its strength.

In the battery tray I made the holders for the battery clamps. And the whole lot is painted in Epoxy 2 pac which I just brushed on, but I'll give it a blow over once I'm actually preparing the bay to paint.
It doesn't cut into the cabin side any more than the old air con unit used to.

I'll later make a cover plate which will be the same shape as the RHS of the bay and that will make it look symmetrical.

Now onto making some new engine mounts and dropping the motor back in to start making things up like turbo manifolds etc. Exciting!

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina ..."

I decided to make up a set of my own engine mounts as I've seen some break on these things and didn't want it happening.

So I bought some 5mm plate and started shaping things to mount to the standard chassis rail locations and also the engine locations. Once I had made the plates it was time to measure up the stems which are 5mm square tubing with 4mm round tubing on the ends. I bought a set of Super Pro bushes which suited the size of the tubing perfectly.

Further careful measurements and then put the plates in place to start setting them up and tacking them in place. Although I was able to do most of the measurements while off the car using the old mounts.

I had to make clearances for the bolts that mount the engine plates and the plate sat nearl over the top of the bolts. But it worked out well.

I also made the LHS mount as the blockoff for the fuel pump hole in the block.

On the steering shaft side I have much more clearance now too.

Next up, time to start on the turbo manifold. YESSSSS!!!

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina ..."

Many moons ago I bought all the gear I needed to make up my own exhaust manifold for the turbo. It came with a quickly made and tacked together merge collector, a turbo flange, multiple 45's and multiple 90's in 2 different sizes and a long peice of pipe to suit, which was maybe a metre long. I got it all through Turbo Exhaust out at Smithfield.
I recently bought a header flange from Liverpool Exhaust/Hurricane which is all laser cut and a really nice peice. The one that Turbo exhaust supplied was a 2 peice job which was better suited to extractors.

So I first fixed up the merge collector as I wasn't overly happy with it and the gaps weren't tight enough. Then it was a matter of starting the jigsaw puzzle which is the turbo manifold. Alittle cut here, a little cut there, grind here, grind there, weld this on, weld that on. And after 2 and a half days, it was all tacked together, ready for full welding.

Just a word of advise, your better off starting from the furthest point and wokring your way back in, the last one was a real tricky bugger.

The turbo I bought many moons ago also, its a GT35/40 by Garret which I bought from GCG Turbos. Its rated at 700hp. NICE!

Next up, I'll probably start either routing cooler piping or work out engine pulleys and alternator options etc.

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina ..."

After making the exhaust manifold and see how little room the big old starter motor left me with, I started looking into seeing if any other starters would suit that were smaller. Turns out (after receiveing plenty of great info from xfalcon and cortina central members) that the FG 6 cyl starters are the go and much smaller. Smaller and Lighter of course.

With just some minor cutting of the housing to allow it to fit. Plus I'm sure its got more power than the old one ever did. All for just $70 2nd hand. Love it.

Now I've got plenty of clearance forward. I just need to give the firewall a small tap as its just got 5mm clearance to the side of the solenoid. But no big deal.

Next up, mocking up a new EFI intake manifold and plenum.

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina ..."

I had an old XF Falcon EFI manifold sitting around and always wanted to use it, but didn't like how the TB faced the exhaust area and that the plenum basically sat on top of the rocker cover.
So I decided to face the TB towards the opposite side, the only problem is the runners curl up and over towards the original side. So after finding a nice place for the plenum to sit, I started cutting down the runners and joining them back up again.
I cut them at the flange ends and then would check to see which sections of the runners would suit which bends. There were 3 different bends which all needed to be made twice for all the runners. The ones furthest apart had to bend more, whereas the ones closer to the centre needed less bending.

It was really tricky work, but I got there in the end.
I just need to TIG it all up now.

I'll place a 90 degree elbow on the TB plate area, so that the TB then faces forward. I'll port all the runners to get the joins all flowing nice and maybe even place a air divider in the plenum just after the elbow incase it doesn't distribute air efficiently.

Next up, I think I might put the Intercooler in and start mocking up the cooler piping.

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina ..... "

Have been busy doing some house reno's to keep the missus happy and so production is on pause with the cortina. Had I small gap while the wife couldn't decide on ceiling lights and so I grabbed it and did alittle more on the car.

I started making the round edging for the firewall extension on the LHS. I used some old brake line and bent it up. But then I noticed the bonnet hinge brackets are different shapes and wouldn't have looked very good at all if I left them that way. So I started measureing and cutting and welding and this is what I ended up with.

Original hinge

RHS hinge I was copying. I had to fill in a strengthening hole that was in the centre to make it look the same as the one I made. It would have been too much work to replicate the strengthening hole.

New hinge bracket

Edging for new firewall extension.

Next up, I'll continue on with the firewall extension to finish that up. It'll be a cover for the battery and probably house the wiper washer bottle also. But that'll be after I finish the reno's. DOH!

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina ..."

Just a short update. I've been flat out with house renos to keep the missus happy and the old job for mates here and there.

But now I've done them and started on the Battery Cover. Its basically mirroring the other side of the firewall. Alittle tricky as I don't have a swageing machine, but I managed to make it work. So far its turning out really nice. Still got a fair way to go though.

Will update again once its completed

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

Getting there, more shapeing and trimming left to be done. Also have to make some clearance here and there for the intake manifold and also to allow the cover to hug the firewall better where the swages are. Sits funny in the photo cause its got no mounting brackets made up yet so it just sags instead of staying in its spot.

[Oscar of Markoz 160]

"On todays episode of Australian Cortina ...."

I finally finished the battery cover. Well just a few more areas need rewelding to fill up some holes, but otherwise done.
I made the whole thing from sheet metal, folding and shapeing as I went, using cardboard templates helped somewhat also. Constant measure and remeasure of the original to get the right heights and slopes etc.
Using a tool I made to get the swageing right and trying to replicate the originals swages in the same places.
I also made the lip just like the original to make it look like the battery covers lip is the original, but really the original is under it.
I made up some brackets out of sheet metal also and put some rivnuts in them to secure the cover to. Theres one towards the centre of the firewall on the lip, then one on the back of the firewall on the curve and another behind the bonnet hinge bracket. So they'll all technically be hidden. Either by the Firewall plate that I have to make up, the engine itself or the bonnet bracket.

It was by far the hardest thing I've done on this car so far but I'm very happy with the end result.
I'll have to make a recess of some sort for the intake manifold but I'll work that out once I've tacked up the intake manifold together. That could also cause issues getting it in and out, but I'll see how I go when I get to that. Its a battery cover after all, so should only need to come off when changing batteries.

Next up, the firewall plate and tacking the intake manifold together and full welding the exhaust manifold.