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October 17, 2026, 04:28:52 AM

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[CortinaD]

This is my latest cortina project.
http://fordcortina.com.au/gallery/displayimage.php?pos=-1089
A 79 Te Cortina, used to belong to one of our club members. NOS200.
The idea is to shoehorn the toyota 4litre V8 into the engine bay, with the stock auto, ecu etc and work from there.
To read the complete story as it happens click below.

The Cortina.
NOS200's Corty came nicely equipped with a stronger diff, bigger brakes and a few goodies to sell, which will help buy some of the parts still required to complete this project.

The Motor.
I had been looking for a front cut for a while, the 1uzfe motor is very strong and has a lot of potential for under $1000.
Unfortunately the motor is the cheapest part of this conversion.
Hence the front cut, from it i will use the auto, wiring, igniters, ecu, etc.

The Importer.
Recently i came across a new advert for motors and front cuts, INSERT DODGY BUSINESS NAME HERE, located in the industrial section of 17 Mile Rocks, Brisbane, Qld. Actually the advert still runs in the trading post.
Advertised was Ls400/Sc400 half cuts, from $1950

Week #1.
The Drama starts.
I phoned the next day and asked for a 1uzfe from a Sc400, Auto, Wiring, Ecu, also to make sure the sump had to be at the rear.
Got a phonecall the next day confirming that one was available, but it was $2200, later that day i placed a $200 deposit and said i would pay the rest when i picked it up. this was a thursday, i explained i would pay the remaining in the following week once i had organised transport. No Problem.
On the saturday as i started driving from Gladstone to hervey bay, approx 330km. I received a phonecall from Nick about the front cut, he said they were going to pick it up that day, and wanted to know when i wanted it.
Reception was a bit static so roughly i think he said something along those lines.
Within 10mins, Nick's boss phones, saying he wants the rest of the money now, cause the $200 deposit wasn't enough. Told him i was miles from anywhere and i was good for the money on Monday. In the end, he was ok with that...sorta

Week #2.
The Monday afternoon, paid for the front cut, talked to Nick, if he was going to remove the motor etc from the front cut.

Tuesday morning i get a phone call, the motor has a mid sump, i said thats from a crown, i paid for a soarer cut. Nick said he would get the correct front cut and give me a call back.
When i was researching about the 1uzfe i used several forums as information and how to's. I learned a lot about the various forms and vehicles with the 1uzfe as factory equipment. The soarer sc400 has the rear mount sump as required in a cortina, the standard auto uses the same Ecu as the motor, the crown and ls400 use separate computers for the motor/gearbox. I figure on getting my head around the wiring for 1 Ecu will be bad without having 2 to deal with.

Wednesday, im getting concerned cause i didnt hear from Nick, so i phoned him.
Nick said, that he was just getting a rear sump for the motor.
I said no, i wasnt paying that price for a dirty old crown front cut, i can get one anywhere and i wanted the full sc400 front cut, by this time some people from soarer forums had contacted me in regards to spare parts which would be leftover from the front cut.
Thursday Nick confirms a 91 model uzz31 front cut was on its way. Infact his guys were going to pick it up that afternoon. Thursday night, i didnt phone Nick back, cause he had it sorted, lol. so i organised to move the front cut the following day.
Friday i phoned Nick, the crane truck is in the area, can he pick up the cut. Well the front cut hadnt arrived yet, but his guys were going to pick it up that afternoon, he was soo sorry for the stuff around.
So later that afternoon i phoned Nick back near closing time did the front cut arrive, well no but he was just going to drop it off where ever i wanted it. He offered to drop it Saturday if i needed it. Told him i didnt require it until the following week.

Week #3.
Mid December 06, xmas is close, not much happening until new year.

Month #1.
Car was delivered to S.L Race fabrications for sump, fuel tank and tailshaft mods.

X-mas / New Years, Cheers everyone.

Ok so i got a new job just afer x-mas, it takes me all over the globe and im not home much now, only 1 weekend a month. Theres not much time to work on the corty, so the project has slowed, not stopped totally just takes a lil longer to do stuff than first estimated.

But now the motor/gearbox combo is installed, new mounts fabricated and connected.
New 80L alloy drop tank and 1/2" fuel lines fitted, new brake booster installed on reduced mounted bracket, also fitted a bias valve to the rear brake lines for fitment later of disc brakes.

Currently working on another diff with disc brakes setup, so the Hilux diff and custom tailshaft is up for sale. The Hilux diff is approx 2" shorter each side had 31 spline axles, 4.11 gears and a full spool, tailshaft is custom fabricated for 7000rpm and 500Hp.
Total cost for the hilux diff purchase and conversion was $1800 plus another $600 for the tailshaft, total $2400. I'm after approx $1000 or nearest offer for both. This diff will allow deep dish offset wheels like Convo pros etc.

Back to the car, been waiting on a set of 275 20.20 tyres from a mate, but like most mate deals, im still waiting. Because of the BA rims i would of had to run custom wheel spacers with the hilux diff and this would off made rego almost impossible, legally. Thats the reason for the new tact towards a Eb series 2 Disc brake diff setup.
Have a couple of options next for the radiator and trans cooler, but more on that after the new diff is installed.

Bucster

[CortinaD]

 :pcman:  :bucster:  :  :cortinad:

[Bucster]

Lol, so its been a while between updates,
The motors in as seen below,



New drop tank and fuel lines were completed, see the following link,

http://fordcortina.com.au/gallery/displayimage.php?album=105&pos=25

The 285's dont look all that wide,


Now the 285.30.20's sit comfortably under the rear with a recon lsd in a borgy disc brake rear end, custom 2 piece tailshaft, hand brake cables and new braided brake lines all connected.

Bucster

[MarkZE]

20's nice.  

More photos would be good!  I want to see them under the gaurds.

[Bucster]

Yea me too Mark,
The cars at Dons place, he's on holidays in Gladstone, i'm in Newcastle and all he sent me were some crappy pics from his mobile phone. lol
But the car came back from Aussie Diffs on the Gold Coast with all the rear end work finally completed, Don says it sits tuff on super lows with the 285.30.20's under the arse and i just cant wait to see it for myself. He recon's theres about an inch either side spare and we could prolly squeeze 315's in.... maybe.

Bucster

[Bucster]

More on the car,
Recently purchased a radiator from FAF, a desert cooler 4 core triple bypass, got it cheap and should be capable of the job, also purchased a M112 supercharger, air/water intercooler and custom manifold to put away in the closet for later in the year.

So next on the to do list,
Exhaust System, prolly look at a twin 3" to allow for for the forced induction.
Cooling System needs finishing,
Trans Cooler needs to be installed and connected.
Fuel System needs finishing, with allowance for further upgrades when required.
Wiring, 1 huge headache which a friend in N.Z is going to sort. then some local mods, battery in boot, connection to cortina harness etc.
Alternater relocation and custom bracket to allow tension on the belt.
Usual service, oils, belts, dist.caps, plugs etc.
This should be enough to cover the registration process, then worry about a couple body mods and some body touch ups that need covering.

See how we go.

Bucster

[CortinaD]

Post the pics

[pcman]

bling bling

theres gotta be updates  by now

[TE_JET]

bling bling

theres gotta be updates  by now

yeah, what he said!

[thek]

hey bukkk hows it going mate? what is happening with the vehicle?

[Bucster]

Hey Thek, yea im good mate,
Well i been slack lately cause i work away, currently saving to get the gearbox built down in Adelaide, quoted roughly 3grand.

Bought the biggest Eaton style supercharger with air/water intercooler i could find an M112.

Diffs been done, just went for a disc brake borg warner, got the lsd rebuilt and tuffened up. They used a 2 piece tail shaft which pissed me off a bit, so when the box is rebuilt i'll get a new tailshaft done at the same time.

The 20's now run 285's tucked neatly under the rear guards an 245's on the front.

Got a nice aluminium radiator lined up with twin thermos etc for the new year.

Paint is going to the shithouse cause its sitting outside. I'm catching up with Don on the weekend ill post some pics in a couple days.

And im even slacker than normal now cause im unemployed. So basically not much has happened in the past 6 months.
Bucster

[Bucster]

So its been forever since my last write up. Now that i can't see i seem to be doing more work on the car than ever, it keeps me motivated and a reason to get up every day.
The car now has a twin 2.5" system running into a 3" cannon, using the standard 1UZFE exhaust manifolds.
I removed the complete wiring harness ready for a total rewire using a Wolf V5000 computer.
Could not fit the supercharger under the bonnet for the sleeper look so sold off the M112 Supercharger and bought some throttle bodies and a msd multi coil pack.
Fitted the 8 x individual throttle bodies, trumpets, etc, to check clearences.
Finally got my fiberglass bonnet, looks tough with the alloy shaker sitting on top.

Recently stripped the car panels off to check for rust,etc, not too bad, only a couple small spots.
Installed the fuel system, surge tank, BG280 lift pump. Fuel labs High Pressure Pump and Holley black for the nitrous fuel pump.
Waiting to get the 8 port direct nitrous lines installed, with the purge kit, bottle openers etc,
Fitted a remote oil filter and cooler relocation kit for maximum protection.
Also used the same high efficiency cooler as the oil system for the trans cooling system.
Currently have the front of the motor stripped down to replace the cam timing belt, idler and tensioner pulleys.
Lucky as we found the water pump seized from old coolant that dried and hardened in the housing, once cleaned out and gerni, all looks fine to proceed.
We removed the hyd clutch fan assembly and various unrequired idler pulleys.
Not sure at this stage if i need an upgraded alternator?
removed the power steering pump, for cleaning and degrease and high pressure wash all areas.

More soon.

Bucster

[Bucster]

Hi All,
Finally get to upload some photo's
The fuel system is nearly complete just the engine plumbing.












Nitrous parts  :no2



New bonnet looks tuff



And under that bonnet lurks..... 4 litres



Bucster

[pcman]

looks awesome  speedflow must love you

[Bucster]

Not speedflow, found a cheaper manufacturer in Singapore, 1/2 price at least.
Bucster