First up is my on going project car, It’s a 1979 TE Cortina.
Bit of history:
I always wanted an old school ford, I experimented with falcons from the age of 14. I had an XD ute which I spent quite a bit of cash on for a 14 year old, as new licensing laws were coming in prohibiting probationary license holders from driving V8’s I made the decision I was going to modify a 6cylender.
My dad has always had a big V8 muscle car and forever told me that 6cylenders were slow and rubbish, I begged to differ. At age 15 I began I found a liking for Cortina’s. After a lot of research and saving I bought one. Dead stock ghetto spec. It had cut springs, no carpet and a motor which was almost dead.
I was working full time at my engineering apprenticeship at this point so I had some money to play with.
The first thing I did was change the carpet to a nicer looking black, it had no stereo so I designed at custom made center console for some gauges and a head unit. There was no expense spared with this. I bought an alpine 9887 which was top of the line back then. The speakers were next. I wanted something top notch and decided on some MB quart splits.
Though with my budget at the time I wouldn’t have enough for other bits and pieces so I sold my other car for $1300 which I used to buy a pair of speakers and an amp.
Ok so I had the interior done to a level now I was happy with.
It was time to get rid of that crappy Automatic gear box and put in a 5 speed manual. This was a difficult process with lots of learning along the way, I bought an LSD differential during this process. Wow what a difference, I was still a learner driver at this time and a parent had to be with me every time I drove it so I could never really do what I wanted to do.
Over the next year I had the car going in and out of panel beaters fixing all the rust and dints. The body was looking nice.
The next step was power. I wanted to be able to drive the car in a civilized manor when I had to but when I put my foot down I wanted to blow away any boy racer who dare challenged my wrath.
The motor was a long and expensive process with more details of the build below. I got my license 5 days before the motor was finished. those 5 days were the longest of my life going crazy wanting to drive the car. When it was finally finished WOW I had to run it in but my god I had never driven such a beast. It was all run in after about 500km.
There was an associate of mine who always went on about his VS SS commodore like it was the fastest thing in the world. I never forget the day I raced him on a cruise and overtook him doing a burnout in 2nd gear.
A few months after I turned 18 I realized that this car isn’t at all suited for daily driving, I’m almost 22 now. The car sits in the carport and is driven about 10-12 times a year I’ll never sell it.
Engine :
253ci inline 6cyl (from 250ci)
big lumpy hydraulic cam
Balanced crank
Longer con-rods with shorter flat top pistons
Chrome molly Valve train
465 Vac sec holley
Hi-tech headers with 2.75inch straight through pipe
Drive-train:
T5 transmission
25 spline LSD (2.92 ratio)
King springs
Pedders shocks
Polyurethane bushes
Performance
0-100km/h :under 5 seconds
1/4 Mile : 13.5 seconds @ 103mph (215/55R15 tyres)
Top speed : Unknown (speedo stops at 200km/h)
Second on the list, A 1994 BMW E32 740iL
Bit of History
After discovering that the Cortina is simply too much of a headache to drive every day I began to hunt for a daily driver. I tried a whole range of cars. I started with a 1979 450SE Mercadies Benz, This little or should I say big number was a pretty awesome car. It had a overhead cam 4.5L V8 engine, springy seats and it was lolable to say the least. A mate crashed this into a concrete wall I was not very happy.
From there I went to Jag, a 1987 Series III XJ6 to be exact. If you could get passed it’s faults like 0.00000001 miles to the gallon then oh baby it was a very classy car. Maybe when I’m 50 I will buy another.
I took a break from the European luxury cars and bought my self an EB Fairmont ghia, It wasn’t any Fairmont ghia though it had a T5 Manual transmission and a EL XR6 motor, XR6 headlights and a few other rare bits and pieces. this thing went well. Very well infact but there was something missing. It didn’t have the feel of a muscle car or the luxuriousness of a euro car.
It felt tingy and cheap like a 90’s Japanese sports car.
I sold it soon after and bought another Jag. This time something a bit newer. a 1989 XJ40. Fantastic car. Smooth, enough power to overtake I pimped out the sound system with a 7" dvd screen, two pimping subwoofers and six 4" speakers to replace the originals. I had this car for about a year when I made the silly mistake of ignoring a coolant level low warning, The car overheated and blew a head gasket. Wasn’t worth fixing so I just fucked it off.
Which brought me to BMW, I love this E32 I’ve had it for almost 2 years now.
210kw from a 4L V8 which sounds like a weapon after I put the exhaust on, I found a set of 19" M3 replicas that really brought the lines of the car out. For the stereo I decided to go subtle and refined. I put the MB quarts in the real parcel shelf, A black single din touch screen Dvd player from JVC as to go with the color of the dash. With a single 12" JL W3 in the boot. It’s a very clean refined cruiser which turns quiet a few heads.
The V8 produces a very grumpy note when cruising and an angry rawr when you plant it.
Those wheels on that damn 7 series still bug me bro.