41 Willys Gasser project

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Originally Posted by Whiplash23T

The Yellow Capri beside the silver one is a stock roof height one so you can compare how much work has gone into slicing the roof, amazing job. The Savage is actually a Mk1 Ford Cortina from the early '60's and has some awesome airbrush work on the hood. I do like the gold '32 Ford truck that has a nice channel job on it. Thanks so much for the photo's too and heck, you remembered that I'm a leg person. I would of gladly handed my ticket over to either of those gorgeous ladies in pink too plus anything else they may of wanted.:3dSMILE:

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Gotta add to this..I have never seen the Savage name on a Mk 1 Cortina,,,ever..I only ever recall the name being introduced in the Mk 2 Cortina,,as the company who did the original V6 conversion,on the Mk 2..But its good to see there are still a few Mk1's left up there,Steve..Love the work thats gone into the Capri,also..Really improves the appearance..And I like the fender treatment on the mello yello;) Capri,too..Nice pix,nice cars..Ta very much,Steve..:cool:

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Originally Posted by Evolvo

Steve, I think he's talking about the Cortina.

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That ain't a Savage mate, Savages were built on 2 door shells only.

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Originally Posted by lamin8r

Gotta add to this..I have never seen the Savage name on a Mk 1 Cortina,,,ever..I only ever recall the name being introduced in the Mk 2 Cortina,,as the company who did the original V6 conversion,on the Mk 2..But its good to see there are still a few Mk1's left up there,Steve..Love the work thats gone into the Capri,also..Really improves the appearance..And I like the fender treatment on the mello yello;) Capri,too..Nice pix,nice cars..Ta very much,Steve..:cool:

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There were Mk1's Robin, they were the first and original Savage, There were also Mk3's and other stuff like Escorts with V6's like the Navajo.
Jeff Uren who made the Savage used to be just 3 miles from my house.
The reason Jeff never used 4 door shells was that they had too much twist in the shells, I had a few over the years.

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I must be losing it, I swear that says savage on the front hood of the Cortina painted in red with chrome lettering?
http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/c...ens/savage.jpg

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Originally Posted by stovens

I must be losing it, I swear that says savage on the front hood of the Cortina painted in red with chrome lettering?
http://i217.photobucket.com/albums/c...ens/savage.jpg

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It does Steve but it ain't a real one.

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Ahhh now that I wouldn't know! A friend's Dad used to race Cortinas when I was a kid, but that was so long ago I didn't recognise the manufacturer. Just went with the labeling. It actually reminds me of some of the Lancia sedans of the same era. Must have been a great show to attend. Fun to see some different stuff than we get over here, and the use of different power plants and chasis!
Heres an old fulvia I was thinking of.
http://blog.caranddriver.com/wp-cont...-rallye-10.jpg
http://blog.caranddriver.com/wp-cont...-rallye-18.jpg

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Originally Posted by stovens

Ahhh now that I wouldn't know! A friend's Dad used to race Cortinas when I was a kid, but that was so long ago I didn't recognise the manufacturer. Just went with the labeling. It actually reminds me of some of the Lancia sedans of the same era. Must have been a great show to attend. Fun to see some different stuff than we get over here, and the use of different power plants and chasis!
Heres an old fulvia I was thinking of.
http://blog.caranddriver.com/wp-cont...-rallye-10.jpg
http://blog.caranddriver.com/wp-cont...-rallye-18.jpg

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Trouble is Steve people think that because they drop a V6 into a Cortina it naturally makes it a Savage, They were more than that.


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Never heard of the savage versions. Must have been quite limited?

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Originally Posted by stovens

Never heard of the savage versions. Must have been quite limited?

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As far as i can remember there was only 2 or 3 Mk1's as the Mk1 was coming to the end when the V6 came out.


Unfortunately Jeff Uren passed away after battling cancer on 6th April 2007.

Jeff raced various Fords, Jeff contacted Ford Motor Co in 1959 to see if they would hire him as a driver for the Zephyr, Ford told him they didnt want his help basically.

After this Jeff met the Ford team at Silverstone in his Zephyr where he beat the three works prepared Zephyr's by half a lap and also went on to win the BRSCC (British Saloon Car Championship) that year. He then became Ford team manager which he did until 1963.

Jeff formed his own company "Race Proved Performance and Racing Equipment Ltd" in 1966. Although the savage name didn't come into being until 67/68 and was bestowed upon brand new cars only but I do remember there were 2 or 3 mk1's built, Jeff's conversions were sanctioned by Ford.

heres the list

The Cortina Savage (3.0 V6 essex) was available as MK1, MK2, MK3, MK4, and MK5

The Cortina Cheetah (2.5 V6 essex) was available as MK3

The Escort Navajo (2.0 V4) MK1 Estate

The Escort Apache (3.0 V6 essex) MK1

The Capri Comanche (3.0 V6 essex) MK1

The Capri Stampede (4.7 V8 Ford 289) MK1.


The other odd ball Capri was South African built under the direction of Basil Green again sanctioned by Ford.

The Capri Perena (5.0 V8 Ford 302) MK1

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Originally Posted by roadster32

As far as i can remember there was only 2 or 3 Mk1's as the Mk1 was coming to the end when the V6 came out.


Unfortunately Jeff Uren passed away after battling cancer on 6th April 2007.

Jeff raced various Fords, Jeff contacted Ford Motor Co in 1959 to see if they would hire him as a driver for the Zephyr, Ford told him they didnt want his help basically.

After this Jeff met the Ford team at Silverstone in his Zephyr where he beat the three works prepared Zephyr's by half a lap and also went on to win the BRSCC (British Saloon Car Championship) that year. He then became Ford team manager which he did until 1963.

Jeff formed his own company "Race Proved Performance and Racing Equipment Ltd" in 1966. Although the savage name didn't come into being until 67/68 and was bestowed upon brand new cars only but I do remember there were 2 or 3 mk1's built, Jeff's conversions were sanctioned by Ford.

heres the list

The Cortina Savage (3.0 V6 essex) was available as MK1, MK2, MK3, MK4, and MK5

The Cortina Cheetah (2.5 V6 essex) was available as MK3

The Escort Navajo (2.0 V4) MK1 Estate

The Escort Apache (3.0 V6 essex) MK1

The Capri Comanche (3.0 V6 essex) MK1

The Capri Stampede (4.7 V8 Ford 289) MK1.


The other odd ball Capri was South African built under the direction of Basil Green again sanctioned by Ford.

The Capri Perena (5.0 V8 Ford 302) MK1

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Ahh,,history lesson..Thanks,Steve..Good to see Jeff went out and stuck it up the Ford racing team,to prove a point..:LOL: Just shows the amount of models that we never saw,down here in the ''Colonies"':D As I said,,I never realised that they were in the Mk1 as well,or all the other models,though I had heard about the Perana,in South Africa..and I have seen a couple of genuine Mk 2 Cortina convertibles down here.. Coachbuilt by some select company who builds/built Bentleys I believe..Thanks again for that bit of history..Good to read,,might have to copy and save that,as a good argument tool...:LOL::LOL:

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Originally Posted by lamin8r

Ahh,,history lesson..Thanks,Steve..Good to see Jeff went out and stuck it up the Ford racing team,to prove a point..:LOL: Just shows the amount of models that we never saw,down here in the ''Colonies"':D As I said,,I never realised that they were in the Mk1 as well,or all the other models,though I had heard about the Perana,in South Africa..and I have seen a couple of genuine Mk 2 Cortina convertibles down here.. Coachbuilt by some select company who builds/built Bentleys I believe..Thanks again for that bit of history..Good to read,,might have to copy and save that,as a good argument tool...:LOL::LOL:

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Robin there are people that argue here in england about there being no mk1's made and I guess they are correct as Savages were made from new shells and the mk1's I saw at Jeffs shop were built from existing cars.

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Steve see this in 2 places and it's still looking top notch , fine job on the build .

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Originally Posted by bluestang67

Steve see this in 2 places and it's still looking top notch , fine job on the build .

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Thanks mate, appreciate you commenting

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Originally Posted by roadster32

Thanks mate, appreciate you commenting

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Love the style..Just wanna hear it burst into life,now..Bobby,he might tell some sick jokes,,;);)but he's a dab hand at building hotrods..:D:D

I'm coming to this a little late, but awesome work on your car, and congrats at the show! Thanks for the pics from the show as well. That is awesome!

Just been ticking off the small jobs on my list, got the prop tube replaced with another piece but found a small problem when trying the end yokes in the tube, they were too big by a few thou







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The yoke has a nice thick edge so could be turned down no problem, only problem was how to hold it in the lathe chuck

Came up with the idea of boring a 5/8" hole in the centre of the yoke and making up a 5/8" mandrel to bolt into the yoke.







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The various parts were tig welded together and the hole that was bored in the yoke was filled by turning up a small bung.







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The prop parts are all Strange Engineering so are good quality parts, All thats needed now is to get it balanced and painted and its another job off the list







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Nice work on the driveshaft there. It is all coming together nicely and like your attention to detail.

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Originally Posted by Gojeep

Nice work on the driveshaft there. It is all coming together nicely and like your attention to detail.

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Thanks for the kind comment Gojeep

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The list of jobs is getting much smaller but I needed a thermostat cover, couldn't buy one as they all go straight up and I need a right angled jobbie, Only thing for it was to make one, dived in the scrap bin and found a bit of 3/8" stainless plate, bit thicker than I wanted but It will do, I had some 1/4" but I hate leaky thermostat covers, the 3/8" won't bend and leak

First job was to put in a 1.5" hole, a holesaw did the job perfectly, next drew around a gasket and roughed it out on the linisher.

Then a quck polish and it was done. A stainless 1.5" bend was trimmed to get the outlet low and welded in place.







http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...C52C075F3A.jpg



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It was all going really well and I then thought about the top hose, this is a little more challenging.

I had to drop the MSD dizzy in to check clearances, this is where I found the cap hits the blower !!!

I can get around this small problem with another plate under the blower to lift it sightly, but I'm hoping MSD will have a side entry blower cap which would save a fair bit of work.







http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...C5162B22D4.jpg









Anyway on with the top hose, a few 1.5" 90 degree bends and some straight bits were welded together and I had a top hose, it follows a bit of a torterous route as it has to go around the top blower pulley, just need to pickup some straight rubber hose and its done.







http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...C511448DE4.jpg



http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...C50C34F9C0.jpg









I turned up some rings on the lathe and tig welded them onto the ends to stop the hoses from blowing off.







http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...C506D131F3.jpg



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I can see where your forward bolt on the cover is a bit of a pain...I've done that with headers, wishing I had smaller fingers Great job

Wow, awesome work on your pipe! You can't tell at all where you welded it! I like that a lot!

I'm speechless is all I can say about the quality of your work man.

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Originally Posted by cffisher

I can see where your forward bolt on the cover is a bit of a pain...I've done that with headers, wishing I had smaller fingers Great job

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Couldn't believe it Charlie, looks like MSD don't do a blower cap so looks like I need to make a spacer plate :(

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Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

Wow, awesome work on your pipe! You can't tell at all where you welded it! I like that a lot!

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Thanks for the thumbs up

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Originally Posted by roadster32

Thanks for the thumbs up

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No problem! Did you tig all the elbows together to make the long pipe and then sand the welds smooth, or was that bent with a bender? That stinks about having to make a spacer. An intercooler right there would be sweet though! :)

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Originally Posted by 40FordDeluxe

No problem! Did you tig all the elbows together to make the long pipe and then sand the welds smooth, or was that bent with a bender? That stinks about having to make a spacer. An intercooler right there would be sweet though! :)

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Thanks for asking, It's made from 90 degree mandrel bends some cut in half to make 45's Ryan then tig welded and then the welds smoothed out and polished.

No intercooler though mate as this is a period build.

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Originally Posted by Whiplash23T

I'm speechless is all I can say about the quality of your work man.

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I hear that's unusual for you Whip :LOL::LOL::LOL:

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Steve,

I was about to ask if you have a mandrel bender to do that pipe, I should have known better.;) You are the King of Fab. Great weld, grind and polish job.:):)

Jack.

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Originally Posted by Jack F

Steve,

I was about to ask if you have a mandrel bender to do that pipe, I should have known better.;) You are the King of Fab. Great weld, grind and polish job.:):)

Jack.

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I do have a bender Jack but on this sort of stuff using pre bent bends is easier.


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I've always heard that trying to bend stainless with that short of a radius doesn't work well at all unless you have a high dollar bender. I understand what you mean about no intercooler on the intake. I've seen pics of them in old willys gassers before though. I just don't know how old the pics actually are. Late 60's and 70's I'm guessing. Anyhow, other than time, making a spacer should be cake for you. :)

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Originally Posted by roadster32

No intercooler though mate as this is a period build. .

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A period build and you're using that distributor?

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Originally Posted by 34_40

A period build and you're using that distributor?

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Period looking from the outside, Engine isn't as its a 1970

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Originally Posted by roadster32

Period looking from the outside, Engine isn't as its a 1970

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Then you could intercool it. Haha :)

Managed to sort my dizzy to blower clearance problem, made up a 3/4" spacer plate from a chunk of 3/4" aluminium plate. Allan is kindly milling the hole in it for me :thanks: Al



http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...LYS/014-20.jpg




Another job i had to do was sort out the blower drive, The blower I have was for a SBC so some bits are not gonna work with the Cadillac, first to get modified was the crank blower hub, the vee belt drive was on the front of the hub between it and the blower pulley, this was too far forward for my needs so the vee pulley was bored out on the lathe to bolt to the rear of the crank hub, then the hub was drilled from the rear to take the pulley bolts, this places the vee pulley close to the block.



http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...565E705DEB.jpg

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Moving on to the top pulley clearance for the blower belt to the water pump was a problem, looked at this several times without coming up with a easy fix, The solution was to go with an Electric water pump, this would also enable me to lose the pump completely and shed a few pounds as well :D
I sell the Davies Craig electric water pumps so seemed obvious to use this setup as I know they work and are reliable, They come with a digital control box that lets you tailor the pumps workings to your own requirements, It can also be set to run after the engine is switched off to avoid heatsoak.
Normally the pump would be left in place but the impellor removed so the pump ends up as just a transfer station for the water, the thermostat is removed and replaced by a sender that is hooked to the digital controller.



http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...56781FD4A4.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...567C43256A.jpg




Obviously removing the pump meant some pipework had to be made up, firstly flanges were cut from 1/4" stainless plate.



http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...566F0F02B5.jpg




Next the feed pipe from the pump was made from some 1.5" stainless bends and welded into the left flange.



http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...56737BFD2B.jpg




Heres the completed pipework, The blue -10 fitting is the thermostat bypass and is piped back to enter the system before the pump, It enters the bottom hose via this adaptor. Clearance on the blower belt is tight buts its just enough :D



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http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...56946D586E.jpg

http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...56812DCA3C.jpg


Next job is to sort out the short blower snout & top pulley.

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That should work well, Steve! Curious what the flow rate might be on the water pump, not familiar with them at all!

Hi Dave, the flow rate is 1822 gal (US)/hr, They are Australian but very popular with the race guys in england, ive used them quite a few times over the years and they have a good reputation for reliability.

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Awesome work guy!!! That water pump looks like a turbo with an electric motor on the back! Haha Those would work great on water pumps for water to air intercoolers I bet. Nice machine work for the lower pulley too.

Managed to get another pesky job off the list :D

My mate Allan milled my spacer plate for me which saved a bundle of time, cheers Allan.



http://i65.photobucket.com/albums/h2...A0ED17CC3A.jpg




Once I had the spacer plate it enabled me to setup the blower drive, The bottom pulley had already been sorted which just left the top puley, a straight edge was put on the bottom pulley and I found that the top pulley was 2.250" away from the existing snout flange, the solution was to turn up a 2.250" aluminium hub spacer on the lathe, While i was there I drilled and tapped a centre hole to accept an old 1/2" UNF 12 point ARP bolt to make turning it over easier.
I then drilled and tapped 6 holes 3/8" UNC as I intended to bolt the hub to the flange and then bolt the pulley to the hub, changed my mind in the end and finally used 6 x 3/8" x 3.5" UNC bolts through the complete assembly. The hub is a press fit into the pulley, Pics explain it better than I can write :whistle:



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Looks like plenty of clearance for the cap and wires now

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Originally Posted by roadster32

I hear that's unusual for you Whip :LOL::LOL::LOL:

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Unusual that he's speechless,Steve?? Hmmmmm...that's true...:LOL::LOL:;)