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Lance54 · Joined: 10 Oct 2017 Posts: 29

Here I will continue to present the reactivation of the 1965 Mark 1 Estate that I gave away in 1985 and recovered in 2017 with less than 1,000 miles added to the clock.

Hopefully there will eventually be one more Mark 1 Lotus Cortina Estate on the highway.

zephyrgary · Joined: 03 Aug 2007 Posts: 796 Location: cave creek,az

Excellent news.
Gary
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the older i get,the faster i went...

Lance54 · Joined: 10 Oct 2017 Posts: 29

A brief history if my Mark 1 Estate is reported in the Member Introductions section of this forum.

This is a Mark 1 Estate to Lotus Cortina spec conversion that began in the late 1970's and then went dormant for more than 30 years. I'd parted out 2 very rusty Lotus Cortinas saving one set of components for the Estate and giving most of the rest away. Genuine Lotus Cortina Wheels, Struts, Front Brakes, Sway Bar, Lower Links, Steering Box, Front Seats, Steering Wheel and Instrument Cluster were all destined for the Estate. The Estate was a very rust free Standard Grade car with just over 70,000 miles. By 1985 a career relocation caused me to give the car and all the parts away to a friend however in November of 2017 I got it all back with less than 1,000 additional miles added to the odometer. The only thing that did not come back was the Instrument Cluster.

Brakes at all corners were inoperative so a full system overhaul was needed.

Front 16P Calipers were cleaned and assembled with new pistons and seals.

Next came the rear brakes.

Lance54 · Joined: 10 Oct 2017 Posts: 29

The Estate has the 8 inch single piston rear drums with bell crank for the parking brake. It's all in rather nasty condition and waiting to be upgraded to Lotus Cortina spec.

Unfortunately I did not save any Lotus Cortina rear brakes however the car came back to me with some additional parts including a pair of NOS 9 inch rear brake drums.

Pete Snyders who I me via this forum was able to supply all the rest of a 9 inch twin piston rear brake setup including the under dash parking brake I will need to utilize the Lotus Cortina center counsel and shift remote.

With some clean-up, paint, new seals, gaiters and hardware my 9 inch rear brakes are ready for installation.

NOS 9 inch drums.

Gotta love this clever Parking Brake Mechanism on the 9 inch brake.

Upper is brake On and lower is brake OFF. Sliding shoes are applied via pull bar and roller cam.

Pretty slick compared to the many other Parking Brake Mechanisms on various Cortinas.

Brett Wilkie · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2018 8:13 pm Post subject:

Interesting rear brakes, I didn't know that the Locort used such brakes. The brakes on my GT Mk1 axle were 9 inch but much like your original setup?

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peteleo · Posted: Wed Apr 04, 2018 10:13 pm Post subject:

Brett,

Your picture is a rear brake set-up for the MK1 GT and Lotus C 10/65> which was also used on the MK2 GT and Lotus.

Early MK1 and Lotus 2/63/65/10 has a twin piston wheel cylinder, external brake adjuster, and elaborate handbrake mechanism. Overall a better system.

Brett Wilkie · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 12:42 pm Post subject:

peteleo · Posted: Thu Apr 05, 2018 1:25 pm Post subject:

I wonder why the change for the same sized brakes??

Cheaper to produce and supposedly less maintenance. Even though the dreadful automatic brake lever adjusters were useless. You still had to manually adjust the brakes by removing the drum and turn the adjuster wheel with pliers.

Better to use the 8" brake set up from the 1200 or 1500/1600 deluxe with either P14 or P16/M16 calipers and 5/8" M/C for a 105E. 9" is an overkill
and, like you mentioned, will lock the rear brakes without an adjustable brake valve differential. Also, an issue with the 105E handbrake cable.

Sideways · Joined: 03 Oct 2011 Posts: 292 Location: Delta BC Canada

Canucktina · Joined: 19 Dec 2016 Posts: 48 Location: Langley BC Canada

MGB rear brakes look very similar to the early twin piston GT setup except they are 10" and the parking brake isn't as elegant. I wonder if they would fit inside the 13" wheels of a Cortina. I will have to look thru my parts pile and give it a mock up.