A recent change of spark plugs in the Green Cortina revealed that the engine was running very lean. In fact, I've never seen a car with such white coloured spark plugs! I started investigating the carburettor to see if it could be fitted with bigger jets to allow more fuel in. After obtaining the number of the carburettor and asking questions on a few forums, it transpired that the carburettor is totally the wrong type for the car! It was designed for a 1500 Simca, rather than a 1600 crossflow Cortina!
I then looked at booking it for a rolling road session and having the jets changed, but a guy who rallies Mk2 Escorts with the same engine contacted me and said 'Don't waste your money, even if you change the jets, the twin chokes on your carb are too small and will always be strangling the engine. Just buy a new carb'.
So, after asking more questions I found that my car should have had a 28/36 DCD, as opposed to the 28/36 DCB5 that its fitted with. I also found out that the 28/36 DCD carb is no longer manufactured and is now obsolete! The replacement (Or upgrade) is the 32/36 DGV apparently.
So, after shopping around for the beast deal, I bought a brand new 32/36 DGV carb and a ram air filter from Retro Ford. (They're doing well out of me since I got into Cortina's!) Within a couple of days it arrived and I started the process of fitting it.
Because it was slightly different to my existing carb, I had to make up some new brackets for the throttle operation and the return spring. The choke cable mechanism also needed adjustments.
After spending a few days sorting this out, I then decided I wasn't happy with the throttle pedal arrangement either. I found that if the throttle pedal was in line with the brake and clutch pedals, then by the time it was fully depressed, the throttle wasn't opening fully. Equally, when I positioned the throttle pedal so it was opening the butterflies on the carb fully, then the throttle pedal was about two inches above the brake pedal! After about a week of altering, bending, welding and eventually trying different throttle pedals, I finally got there and had the throttle opening fully AND had the pedals all in line. Finally some success!
So, with everything done I was finally able to get the car out of the garage and go for a test drive. Not only has the new carburettor made the car sound different (it sounds more 'rorty' now) it's also given it even more power. It's taken me a long time and a lot of money, but this car now drives like it should, and goes like it should. it looks super cool as well. (In my eyes anyway!) Needless to say, I'm very pleased with my results.
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