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[Entwood]

ahh yes .. lotus cortina ....  mmmm mate had one that he managed to spin, rear end a wall, bounce down a culvert, smash the rear axle, but the rest of it was hardly damaged. So I gave him £50 for the engine and gearbox .. and we fitted it to my standard 1300 .....except we kept the 1300 diff and drive shafts ........ 

Top speed wasn't very good, but the acceleration was immense  ..... Until the day I was on a rally in Wales when one of the drive shafts decided it had had enough ... snapped at a most inopportune moment ... I'd just dropped it into 3rd, power down and semi-drifting around a corner, when ... BANG and all the drive went to this flailing piece of metal under the back end .... I ended up nicely wrapped around a tree ....   


Moral of the tale ... DON't mix high performance, powerful bits of kit with bog standard lowly family saloon parts ......  they don't like it and will tell you so ... dramatically !!

[Lizzie_Zoom]

ahh yes .. lotus cortina ....  mmmm mate had one that he managed to spin, rear end a wall, bounce down a culvert, smash the rear axle, but the rest of it was hardly damaged. So I gave him £50 for the engine and gearbox .. and we fitted it to my standard 1300 .....except we kept the 1300 diff and drive shafts ........ 

Top speed wasn't very good, but the acceleration was immense  ..... Until the day I was on a rally in Wales when one of the drive shafts decided it had had enough ... snapped at a most inopportune moment ... I'd just dropped it into 3rd, power down and semi-drifting around a corner, when ... BANG and all the drive went to this flailing piece of metal under the back end .... I ended up nicely wrapped around a tree ....   


Moral of the tale ... DON't mix high performance, powerful bits of kit with bog standard lowly family saloon parts ......  they don't like it and will tell you so ... dramatically !!

Yep, with the infamous Ford's rigid axle that they hung onto for too long, the drive shafts were a definite weakness.  The times I knew of Ford's losing them.

Anyway, to bring back great memories Entwood here is the beast, but without all the untidy front lights they gained later when being raced out not!




After modification to rally mode:



 

[Lizzie_Zoom]

.........................and talking about Lotus:

A Lotus Carlton




 

[Lizzie_Zoom]

One of the best Classics, in my mind, is still the Vauxhall Cresta PA:



 

I have admired them since I was a child, but never actually rode in one!

[Field Marshal Dr. Opti]

I sense some American influence here, Lizzie. Wings and fins.

[Nick W]

Yep, with the infamous Ford's rigid axle that they hung onto for too long, the drive shafts were a definite weakness.  The times I knew of Ford's losing them.

Anyway, to bring back great memories Entwood here is the beast, but without all the untidy front lights they gained later when being raced out not!

They're hardly weak, considering the small, 'English' axle, will take 100hp more than it was intended to in a lightweight car. There's no point in considering changing one in an Escort, Anglia, or Prefect unless you're making nearly 200hp.  It will do that with stock halfshafts and diff. The only reason to change an English axle in a Capri is that the Atlas is a bolt in. Hardly surprising, as that was its original home. And an Atlas will easily handle over 300hp with no more than a rebuild. It's the basis for most European Ford high performance axles.

If you want weak axles, then you've already posted pics of cars that suffer from them: Morris Minors! It's the second thing to upgrade if you add a bit more power. Even a healthy 1300 will snap half shafts, and the diff isn't much stronger.

[omega3000]

Victor with tin tent , i dont recall these at any point 

[Lizzie_Zoom]

I sense some American influence here, Lizzie. Wings and fins.

Oh yes Opti!

I love America and it's people, and American cars from the 1950/1960 era.  Among my passions is a pink 1960 Cadillac and a 1958 black Chevrolet Impala like this:

   




Corrrrrrr what a car!!

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Yep, with the infamous Ford's rigid axle that they hung onto for too long, the drive shafts were a definite weakness.  The times I knew of Ford's losing them.

Anyway, to bring back great memories Entwood here is the beast, but without all the untidy front lights they gained later when being raced out not!

They're hardly weak, considering the small, 'English' axle, will take 100hp more than it was intended to in a lightweight car. There's no point in considering changing one in an Escort, Anglia, or Prefect unless you're making nearly 200hp.  It will do that with stock halfshafts and diff. The only reason to change an English axle in a Capri is that the Atlas is a bolt in. Hardly surprising, as that was its original home. And an Atlas will easily handle over 300hp with no more than a rebuild. It's the basis for most European Ford high performance axles.

If you want weak axles, then you've already posted pics of cars that suffer from them: Morris Minors! It's the second thing to upgrade if you add a bit more power. Even a healthy 1300 will snap half shafts, and the diff isn't much stronger.

I remember Nick that in the 1960s and 70s they were often at the side of the road with collapsed front struts, either with the nearside or offside gone.

In regards to the Ford rigid axles, the motoring critics in the 1970s often wrote about that company continuing to build cars, like the Escort's, Cortina's and Granada's with "crude, old fashioned rigid axles" and leaf springs.  It was considered by us who drove them on business, clocking up a lot of miles, that the handling would have been a lot better with "modern" suspension systems.  Ford stuck with a system of suspension and transmission that dated right back to the Model T and was well past it's sell by date in the late 1960s/70s.

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Victor with tin tent , i dont recall these at any point 

I am afraid I do EMD!

I remember riding in a brand new Victor in 1960, a car belonging to a friend of my Dad's. In fact throughout 1960 and 1961 I went in that car, a very big novelty for me at the time, many times, and I loved it.

[Nick W]

Yep, with the infamous Ford's rigid axle that they hung onto for too long, the drive shafts were a definite weakness.  The times I knew of Ford's losing them.

Anyway, to bring back great memories Entwood here is the beast, but without all the untidy front lights they gained later when being raced out not!






I remember Nick that in the 1960s and 70s they were often at the side of the road with collapsed front struts, either with the nearside or offside gone.

In regards to the Ford rigid axles, the motoring critics in the 1970s often wrote about that company continuing to build cars, like the Escort's, Cortina's and Granada's with "crude, old fashioned rigid axles" and leaf springs.  It was considered by us who drove them on business, clocking up a lot of miles, that the handling would have been a lot better with "modern" suspension systems.  Ford stuck with a system of suspension and transmission that dated right back to the Model T and was well past it's sell by date in the late 1960s/70s.

I've welded plenty of strut top-mounts, and that's not restricted to Fords. We've recently removed 30 years worth of 'repairs' from the inner wings of a mk1 Escort a mate had whilst we were at school(and we left 24 years ago!) that had 8 patches on one side, and 7 on the other. The bottom ones were brazed on, and that hasn't been legal for years.

Granadas always had semi-trailing arm rear suspensions, just like BMWs and Mercs of similar ages. Or even late Omegas. It was only mk3 Granadas that went to strut front ends, the earlier ones had a decent double wishbone setup. They still ride and handle pretty well today. Actually, most modern cars have such a hard ride that wouldn't be difficult! My mother's Focus rides worse than the leaf sprung, live axled 2.8i Capri I had when she got it. I can't say it handles any better either, but then I like Capris. I've had 10 of the things.

Mk3 onward Cortinas don't have leaf sprung axles, but use an angled 4 link coil sprung setup(called a Satchell link), just like Avengers, Dolomites, numerous Fiats etc. These might ride a bit better when new, but introduce the interesting problem of knackered suspension bushes, something I remember Cortinas suffering from, and also have experience of in Sunbeams, Avengers and Dolomites. The late mk5 Cortina I paid £25 for 12 years ago was stable and comfortable on the motorway, and out-handled a 325 BMW on the Manor Royal roundabout every morning for 5 months!

Model Ts have an entirely different driveline; a single transverse leaf spring at each end, located by a wishbone with a single pivot near the gearbox. They work really well on the unmetalled, rutted roads common when the car was designed. Even Ford stopped using such suspension in the forties!

[omega3000]

Rover P5B convertible  , first one ive seen with rag top 

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Yep, with the infamous Ford's rigid axle that they hung onto for too long, the drive shafts were a definite weakness.  The times I knew of Ford's losing them.

Anyway, to bring back great memories Entwood here is the beast, but without all the untidy front lights they gained later when being raced out not!






I remember Nick that in the 1960s and 70s they were often at the side of the road with collapsed front struts, either with the nearside or offside gone.

In regards to the Ford rigid axles, the motoring critics in the 1970s often wrote about that company continuing to build cars, like the Escort's, Cortina's and Granada's with "crude, old fashioned rigid axles" and leaf springs.  It was considered by us who drove them on business, clocking up a lot of miles, that the handling would have been a lot better with "modern" suspension systems.  Ford stuck with a system of suspension and transmission that dated right back to the Model T and was well past it's sell by date in the late 1960s/70s.

I've welded plenty of strut top-mounts, and that's not restricted to Fords. We've recently removed 30 years worth of 'repairs' from the inner wings of a mk1 Escort a mate had whilst we were at school(and we left 24 years ago!) that had 8 patches on one side, and 7 on the other. The bottom ones were brazed on, and that hasn't been legal for years.

Granadas always had semi-trailing arm rear suspensions, just like BMWs and Mercs of similar ages. Or even late Omegas. It was only mk3 Granadas that went to strut front ends, the earlier ones had a decent double wishbone setup. They still ride and handle pretty well today. Actually, most modern cars have such a hard ride that wouldn't be difficult! My mother's Focus rides worse than the leaf sprung, live axled 2.8i Capri I had when she got it. I can't say it handles any better either, but then I like Capris. I've had 10 of the things.

Mk3 onward Cortinas don't have leaf sprung axles, but use an angled 4 link coil sprung setup(called a Satchell link), just like Avengers, Dolomites, numerous Fiats etc. These might ride a bit better when new, but introduce the interesting problem of knackered suspension bushes, something I remember Cortinas suffering from, and also have experience of in Sunbeams, Avengers and Dolomites. The late mk5 Cortina I paid £25 for 12 years ago was stable and comfortable on the motorway, and out-handled a 325 BMW on the Manor Royal roundabout every morning for 5 months!

Model Ts have an entirely different driveline; a single transverse leaf spring at each end, located by a wishbone with a single pivot near the gearbox. They work really well on the unmetalled, rutted roads common when the car was designed. Even Ford stopped using such suspension in the forties!

Thanks Nick!

That is great information from someone who obviously knows about these things.  This is what I love about cars, I never stop learning about the true technicalities of them, and when it is about the old cars we love, it is  even of greater interest.

I have learn't something again Nick

[Lizzie_Zoom]

Rover P5B convertible  , first one ive seen with rag top 

Yes they are another love of mine, being a truly heavy British car that was luxurious at the time, well to me anyway!!   Is that shown the big engined, 3.5 ltr, example?   I know there is a way you can tell, but I have now forgotten how!

I always watch the series George Gently on BBC because it is a great programme with a lovely key actor, but also for the old cars, including George's Rover.

When you think how Rover ended up, it is so sad, making unimpressive faceless cars.

[Lizzie_Zoom]

..............and going back to my dream American cars, the muscle example of all time, well for me:

The 1968 Ford Mustang Fastback (with Steve McQueen!! ):