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Thunder From Down Under - Muscle Mustangs And Fast Fords November 2004
Engine Masters Challenge
Basic Instinct
Iron V Alloy 3
Iron V Alloy
Against The Grain
Tired Of Having Iron Atop Your Clevo?
New Head On The Block
Hybrid Technology - Muscle Mustang And Fast Fords March 2006
Australia's First 200 MPH Pro Street Car
On a Promise

Power Hound

ROB'S seven-second TF Cortina is the same car he met his wife in, 16 years ago. Yep, this car is dear to both their hearts and for a stack of reasons.

The car's a bit quicker these days. Okay, a lot quicker. Back in the romantic era it sported the factory 4.1-litre six-cylinder lump but then Rob went to Oran Park. It says 'motor racing is dangerous' on the ticket, and Rob knows it's true — because he's hooked, "I tell people that I have a drag habit, not a drug habit. There's a big difference.'

Mind you, spraying the Cortina in Holden Rodeo Marina Blue and dropping an eight into the car isnt a cheap habit either. "It was only a mild V8 - a basic 351 -because it was a daily driver. It got to the point where it became faster and faster and was just no longer a genuine street car" Rob says.

A V8's understandable but after growing to 404 cubes, what on earth was Rob thinking with those turbos? After all, a blower would've done the job, "The turbo thing just caught my eye and always wanted to turbo-charge a V8," Rob admits.

A pair of Garrett turbos were fitted and the games began, 'I had arguments with people when I put the first turbos on, whether they were going to work, but basically we put the transbrake on, came up on boost and went 7.8@181 or 182mph with those. Then we put these Turbonetics units on."

The huffers are set to feed boost to the 404 in a progressive manner: they start off at around 14psi, and 1.5 seconds into a quarter-mile run boost up to 21 psi. Two more surges deliver 26 and 30psi. "It's smooth," Rob says. "If you look at it on a graph it shows that."

The Garrett turbos that Bill Kaglatzis set up for the 404 were smaller than the massive Y2K muthas that don't even fit inside the Cortina's chest cavity. And that massive scoop is the biggest thing since, well, ever!

"We didn't have the scoop originally, and then we said: 'Let's have something to maybe make it look different,' And the first meet we went to with it on, all these people came to the car and looked at it like:'What have you done?' you know?"

That's great — but don't you need to be able to see out of the front?

"I can see! Well, okay, it depends. In Sydney I can see, but at Willowbank you have to stretch [Rob extends his neck towards the sky]. It takes some getting used to."

However, the biggest challenge was at the other end of the car. "Making it hook up at the start-line, keeping that weight in the back — just keeping the weight on the tyres was a problem," Rob says.

New four-link rear suspension ended the traction trauma, with Jumbo springs and Nolathane bushes all 'round. Grizzly shocks up front, with AVOs down at the back have been a Godsend too.

"It's a fine art: not enough traction, and the wheels spin; too much and the wheelie bars start shaking, so when we got it right.,."

The Corty sits on top of the Street Machine Top 10 list, with a 7.13@200.9mph but Rob reckons that while it's an honour, he just loves racing and would be just as happy if the Cortina was at the bottom.

Helping achieve the time and speed are almost 2000 horses, Under the hood, the 404 runs 21Scc CHI three-valve alloy heads, a custom Comp Cams cam and lifters, CP Pistons, Oliver rods and an Eagle crank.

"When we built the car, the rule of thumb was that whatever the capacity of the engine, your plenum should be double, I don't know if that works 'cos I see a lot of people with nowhere near that."

The fuel tank is also in the engine bay. The car runs on methanol and it needs just eight litres - per quarter-mile run, that is. Having the tank up front reduces the risk of a pressure drop and fuel starvation.

All those horses charge through a two-speed JW Powerglide, down a chrome-moly tailshaft to a 40-spline diff and out to those massive Mickey Thompson tyres.

"It's awesome to drive, a real buzz. It happens so fast that it's like slow motion - when you're doing the run, you pull the 'chute and pull up. The best part is the launch when you get slammed back in your seat, and then when you pull the 'chute and feel like you're going through the windscreen."

The twin-chute system has failed twice but both times the braking package — Strange calipers and discs up front, with a complete Wilwood set-up at the rear - has managed to pull the Cortina up.

"You get all pumped up and it's not like seven seconds. You can tell when you've run a 7.1 versus a 7.5. It's only that little bit'

So sixes must be close?

"They're close but they're also so far. It could happen tomorrow - it's just one of those things. Everyone thinks you can just wind the boost up and do it But making power is easy; it's making it all work that's not easy. It's the combo."

Despite the mumbo, the combo is surprisingly low maintenance.

"We'd go do a low seven-second pass, come back, put fuel in it and go again. People don't believe me but that's what I find about turbo maintenance. Besides, I'm pretty lazy doing the maintenance; it can wait until next week, you know?"

Rob also reckons that because the powerplant is turboed, not supercharged, a lower rev ceiling (up to 7000rpm) adds to the Corty's longevity between services.

"We did 70 or 80 passes and did a 7.1. Then we freshened it up - new rings, bearings, seals, head and that sort of thing - softened it up and retarded the timing, then did a 7.20. We thought we'd do a six but we turned it up and it just didn't happen. The tyres shook and the wheels spun.'

The interior of the Corty no longer resembles a courting machine. It's race-trick, with aluminium seats as thin as cardboard. They weight about 6kg each and Rob says that although they look uncomfortable, his race suit provides the cushioning. An MSD ignition system, Auto Meter gauges and removable tiller are protected by a six-point chrome-moly rollcage, which has been tagged to the chassis for rigidity. You'll also notice the odd shape of the cage in the rear — that's for strength too.

Although inspired by Stateside Mustangs, Rob is proud of the fact that everything on the car was built locally, not imported. And he's kept it all Ford.

"I love my Fords, though I've got an L31 at home — I'm into everything," Rob admits. "I love rotaries — something different and I'm into it"

The Cortina was picked for that reason; you see them about as often as you bump into Osama Bin Laden.

"In hindsight it would've been great to develop something especially built," Rob says. "I would've loved to have the firewall further back, get that weight back. The car is light but the V8, the turbos and everything — it's heavy now. We built a light car and thought: 'What's happened here?"

The crowning glory for Rob remains the turbo set-up, however.

"I want to promote turbos - people are using them in the States and a lot of people are starting to here. The young blokes sitting on the hill - 16 or 17 - they've got their WRXs, their Nissans or whatever, they can comprehend a turbo."

In fact, Rob was inspired by a Rex he used to drive on the street "You get a car coming out with a blower, and they say: 'Yeah, that was good,' but they can't relate to it. Turbo cars — young blokes can relate to then."

So will his wife let him retire the car, as Rob plans to next year?

"I told her I'm building a new car, and she said I couldn't sell the Cortina. We started going out in that car, I picked her up and went out for dinner - yep, that was in this car."

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LYNCH MOB
"I LOVE to go fast. I had a WRX and I thought it was unbelievable with just a two-litre engine. Then I saw what guys were doing in the States with turbos and I just followed them."

Rob's love of this kind of forced induction was inspired by one particular Ford Mustang - that of Tim Lynch. "It's a big turbo Mustang, a road-going car," Rob says. "They run tyres nearly 10.5 inches wide - and it's automatic. It's gone 6.86@207mph. And basically, with tyres that wide and still a car with power windows - it's more like the Cortina."

Rob's so inspired that his next car will he an '04 Mustang. "Without being cocky, just the weight of the car, it should run in the sixes. It's an aerodynamic car, you know? The whole box and dice. The shell weighs 30kg - you can pick it up yourself."

Rob's hoping to emulate what he's seen of Lynch's beast.

"That thing does a wheel-stand and it keeps it that high off the ground until past half-track You see an in-car shot and he gets to the end and the power windows come down!"

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