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how can we easily put more power in an old Ford Cortina 1300 57hp engine? changing carbs, new exaust manyfold, etc?
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cool as f*** rip engine out fit cossy lump lol 
Ohh the memories 
1300 xflow was the first engine I rebuilt.
Put a twin choke from a 1300GT on,
Cam shaft change, various to choose from depends on what you want to use it for.
Port the head (I took 2 weeks with a flexidrive)
Put 1100 pistons in (raises the compression).
Fit machined rocker posts instead of cast ones (reduces variation in valve clearances)
I took my 1300GT mk 2 Escort up to 100bhp for £300.
OK that was in 1985, but even then that was good value
Enjoy
Dont waste your time and money trying to tweak a little more power out of a little engine. just fit a bigger engine 
Much better bhp for the money
TURBO !!!
Zetec 2 litre? Might need to tweak the brakes a bit.
That is sooooooooooo neat - my parents had a daytona yellow / black vinyl roof 2.0 litre just like that , by far the coolest car to be dropped off at
school in
yes i agree
1300 x-flow mods are easy and should be fairly cheap to get more power1600 x-flow will drop in dead easy BUT thats a big old lump of a car and more
grunt/torque would probably more useful
ford done a 2L pinto version of the mk3 cortina so that would be a really straight forward conversion and the pinto is easy to tune as well and if you
are serious about upping the power the engine bay is huge on mk3 so you could put in nearly anything you want 3L V6 was a common conversion and i,m
sure i,ve seen more than one with a V8
as they say over to you the choice is yours
cheers les g
A 1600 xflow should get 125BHP reasonably easily and with limited problems of continual carb/timing etc tuning. More BHP than this and every 100
miles you'll be reaching for the bonnet catch!!
Just depends if you want to keep the car as original as possible, the correct era or whether you were looking for cheap power.
If its the later, the vauxhall 2.0 16v (XE) gives about 165bhp just de-catted and there is loads more on tap if you can afford the right bits. Needs
some research but the engine mounts can be gotten off the shelf for the escorts, chevettes etc and some just need welding to the chassis legs.
Vauxhall to Type-9 bell-housings can be gotten for reasonable money which would allow you to use ford transmission and running gear....
Looking for ultimate power would mean using the 2.0L running gear like Les G suggests and use a cosworth lump not the pinto...
Good luck
PS I must add that the car looks great, a real head-turner I bet!!! Looks more original than an escort mk1/2 but all the fun of a classic ford!!
^^^ wot they say.
234 or 244 cam, twin side draughtand free vlow exhaust; GT head should gain about 20 bhp.
then bore out to 1340, 1100 pistons...
you'd get same bhp by fitting 1600 engine and if you do similar stuff you should be approaching 125; which is over double what you have not for
not tham much dosh.
Take some sensible pills a 1300 in a Cortina isn't worth tuning, you would spend money for an extra 8 hp .
The Cortina body shell weighs a lot more than an Escort, any mods you do the engine for power will just make it cammy and less suited to the car. The
only mod that would really improve the car is to ditch the crummy ford carb and fit either a dual choke weber (which will give more power) or any of
the many single choke economy conversions that are around. The existing single choke Ford carb is quite frankly rubbish it give high fuel consumption,
unreliable starting, bad idling and poor performance..
However personally I would recommend either selling it to somebody who just wants a nice Cortina or putting a bigger Ford engine in.
Was the Mk3 Cortina 1.3 not powered by a very rare 1.3 Pinto? If so, the obvious and easiest power upgrade is a bigger Pinto... 
firstly, thanks all for respond.
secondly, the car is not one shown (it would be good) I only put the image to illustrate the post. in fact it is a 1972 mk3 1.3L Estate 5 door
version.
thridly, here in Portugal is very complicated to change an engine with more c.c. than the registered. so I prefer mantain the original engine but a
little bit more powered, say a few more 10 to 15 hp would sound good to me.
[Edited on 19/8/08 by xico_ze54]
quote:
Originally posted by Andy D
Was the Mk3 Cortina 1.3 not powered by a very rare 1.3 Pinto? If so, the obvious and easiest power upgrade is a bigger Pinto...
You can get the 1300 xflow up to 80bhp quite easily with a +90 thou overbore, DGV webber carb, a GT cam and a decent exhaust - as proved time and
time again by every half decent 750MC Locost race car. Absolutely no fancy performance parts are needed at all and it wont be some lumpy idling
'cammy' race motor in fact it will probably be at least as drivable as the engine in the car now (especially with the cr*p standard
Motorcraft carb) just with 20 more BHP
[Edited on 3/9/08 by D Beddows]
Stick a bike engine in it
ATB
Simon
Easy get rid of the ford and slip a V.X. red top innit. 150 B.H.P standard, slap a pair of 45's on 180 B.H.P. Sorted
quote:
Originally posted by Geoff3names
Easy get rid of the ford and slip a V.X. red top innit. 150 B.H.P standard, slap a pair of 45's on 180 B.H.P. Sorted