Chris Davies' Ford Cortina Powered 1959 Austin Healey Sprite
as published in BritishV8 Magazine, Volume XVIII Issue I, December 2010Owner: Chris Davies
BritishV8 UserID: cdodgyd
City: Wales, UK
Model: 1959 Austin Healey Sprite
Engine: Ford 1500cc four-cylinder
Conversion performed by: see below
| Engine: | Ford pre-crossflow (from a Cortina Mk1 GT), 1500cc, 4 cylinder engine.
Ported cylinder head.
Piper 2FG camshaft.
Stock valves and rockers.
Special pre-crossflow intake manifold.
Dual Solex 40 ADDHE carburetors.
Stock ignition, except with Pertronix Ignitor installed in lieu of breaker points.
Remote mounted oil filter. |
| Cooling: | modified early brass radiator.
Electric fan.
Oil cooler. |
| Exhaust: | custom headers (very old!).
The rest of the system is custom 2" stainless pipe with two straight-thru silencers in series. |
| Transmission: | Ford Cortina gearbox.
4 speed manual with period custom short shifter kit and an extra lever for reverse!
Stock Ford Cortina GT clutch. |
| Rear Axle: | Ford Cortina axle housing.
Later model, higher ratio gears from a Ford Escort.
(3.54:1 gears give around 20mph per 1000rpm.) |
| Front Suspension: | stock Sprite with anti-roll bar. |
| Rear Suspension: | 2" lowering blocks and adjustable telescopic shocks.
Half-elliptic springs. |
| Brakes: | (master) stock Sprite master cylinder, (front) Ford Cortina GT discs, (rear) Ford drums. Copper pipes all round. |
| Wheels/Tires: | modern Euro-spec Ford Focus alloy wheels with dummy spinners fitted.
(They remind me of wires without the hassles!)
195 60 15 tyres. |
| Electrical: | alternator. 300W amp for plugging an I-pod/cell phone into. |
| Instruments: | stock, except for a later model 120mph speedometer (recalibrated)
and later model tachometer to work with the Pertronix. |
| Exterior: | the body is a strange hybrid of early and later model Sprite components.
(The car's UK registration has been continuously maintained since it was first
licensed in 1959. It was also issued a dateless license plate, and these plates
were only issued in the UK up to 1963.)
The rear fenders are apparently original steel, except for the fender flares.
The front clip is a glassfibre replacement.
The middle section (e.g. doors, windscreen and scuttle behind seats) is similar to a MK3 Sprite.
It's nice to have later model wind-up windows and doors with locks/handles,
unlike the Mk1 Sprite. The area behind the seats is useful too. |
| Interior: | new carpets.
Moto-Lita steering wheel.
Area above the gearbox is raised custom glassfibre for clearance. |
| Performance: | 0-60mph in around 7 seconds. 110+ mph top speed. |
| Comments: | I've been unable to trace the original modifier, but the conversion was done
with a very high level of workmanship. The original conversion was completed in
about 1974. I restored the car during the summer of 2007, and have driven it
approximately 10K miles since the restoration.
The Ford Cortina engine seems a natural choice for installation in an MG Midget. It provides a very substantial increase in power for a modest amount of effort. In the early 1970's, a company called Car Preparations of Bedford UK, gained praise for their "Midget Atlantis" conversions. Their Atlantis model featured the later crossflow (1600cc) version of the Ford Cortina engine installed into brand new Midget bodies. A test report in the July 1971 edition of Hot Car magazine praised the Atlantis, particularly noting that in addition to rapid acceleration they were pleased to discover superior fuel economy, less noise, and a smoother shifting transmission. This particular Sprite suffered a minor side-swipe at some point and was apparently little used after that. I repaired that damage and repainted the car its original cream colour. For the UK, it's in remarkable condition. (Due to our climate cars rot quickly here.) It didn't need any rust repair at all. A short shifter kit facilitated relocating the shifter back about 9". If it weren't there, the shifter would be under the dashboard! Although the gear shifter looks like an automatic, it is a manual. It's just got a very narrow gate. I fabricated a shaft and permanently wedged it into the reverse slot so it's now impossible to select reverse by mistake. The twin shift levers were necessary because the short shifter kit made second gear and reverse very close together and caused grating. |
How It Was Done
Engine Installation
Ford pre-crossflow (from a Cortina Mk1 GT), 1500cc, 4 cylinder engine.
Powered by Ford badge.
Dual Solex 40 ADDHE carburetors.
Modified Sprite Mk.1 brass radiator.
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Interior
Moto-Lita steering wheel.
A short shifter kit facilitated relocating the shifter back about nine inches.
Glamour Shots
The front clip is a glassfibre replacement.
Later model doors provide roll-up windows and locking door latches.
The rear bodywork is original except for added fender flares. Since this is a Mk.1 Sprite,
there's no external boot lid. Access to the luggage area is from inside the cabin.
I have fitted a light-duty tow ball for pulling my custom beach cruiser bike which is nearly as big as the car!
