Myths Of
Our Cars
The aim of this article is to make those who are not
familiar with our cars aware of some of their idiocies and suggest some methods
of research to help the buyer.
Part suppliers like Enford, Phone 03 379
3775 or E mail: mail@enford.co.nz and
Restospares www.restospares.co.nz know these cars well and know
the way these cars were put together.
They also deal in the parts we use on a daily basic and
were a huge help with this article as were site members Ross Farland (who is
also a wealth of knowledge of these cars) and Mike who emailed me direct.
One of the best written forms of the history of our cars
can be found in road tests of the day (in the sidebar on the left and also your
local library). The road tests, especially in the UK, were very honest in
comparison to the doctored American Yank tank V8 cars often supplied to US
magazines, more so during the performance wars.
Often specification and parts books can be found that were
once owned by Ford and can be purchased over the internet. The above books and
road tests have sound accurate information and should be the first source of
reference. Graeme from Enford mentioned that some older aftermarket workshop
manuals do contain errors but that they are still good and practical to have
handy.
Later car history books have been written by authors such
as Michael Allen which also have very good information. In the book review
section also on site, can be found some books that I have reviewed that are
very useful and still available.
Car clubs and web sites are also a good source of
information, do try a Google web search for them. Even documented information
can have its faults however as cars were modified and improved on the assembly
line and sometimes altered for different countries and markets mid model so do
be aware of the unexpected. If something appears unusual, research it before
forking out the money.
Following are some points of interest:
There has been a lot mentioned of Mk lll Utes, there has
been a number of owner built ones with myself knowing of at least 3 at one
time. Geoff Walker of Restospares says a number of ute conversions were
performed by the panel shop at Hutchinson Motors in Christchurch who also did
them for other South Island dealers in the CMC group. He wandered into the
Timaru Motors branch at Fairlie one day to see the workshop guys gleefully
hacking into a very nice Mklll saloon. They were converting it into a ute and
from his memory they had some gigantic blueprints with all the measurements
etc. They said they had come from Hutchinson's as they were being thrown out!
High Ratio diffs have been talked about for the Mklll range
of cars. The longest legged diff of the factory installed ring and pinion was a
3:54 ratio.The 3:54 ratio (39/11 tooth count) is standard fitment to
Mklll Zephyr 6 and Zodiac cars whether conventional, Overdrive or
Automatic trans .However the 3:90 (39/10) was optional in Conventional
transmission Mklll Zephyr 6 and Zodiac. The Mklll Zephyr 4
was standard with a 3:90 ratio diff head but with 3:54 gears in
Automatic 4's and 4:11 (37/9) gears in Overdrive and also the exported
conventional Mklll Zephyr 4's if optioned.
Even including the ratios offered among Thames,Transit,
Zephyr, Zodiac and Consul Mkl and Mkll’s, there does not appear to have
been any other taller gears and in fact when the need arose, Ford instead
installed the Overdrive. The odd Police car in the UK was fitted with a town
diff which is possibly a Thames van ratio.
Regarding camshafts, only one grind was listed in the parts
book, though there is an (A) suffix cam and a (B) suffix cam. The (A) suffix
cam has the petrol pump lobe 180 degrees to the (B) suffix one, because the
longer stoke of the Mkll/lll number 2 con rod (on the crank) hit’s the lobe of
the (A) type cam. Possibly this mod was made during planning of the Mkll
engine. Lift and duration was the same throughout the range of Zephyr and
Zodiac engines. The only difference internally on a Mklll Zodiac engine were
the main bearings and later these were the same between models.
The Consul Mkl (late),Consul Mkll and Mklll Zephyr 4 also
had a chain tensioner arm in the front cover. This can be fitted to the bigger
six cylinder cars. Outwardly the Zodiac engine had the intake manifold changed
to suit the wider carburettor bolt pattern and butterfly size of the zodiac
carb and also has the twin outlet exhaust manifold.
The Mkl and Mkll intake to head bolt pattern and port size
is smaller than Mklll six engines with the Zephyr 4 having the smaller intake
to head bolt pattern but Mklll six port size.
No cars were sold to the general public with a Ford
manufactured multi carburettor system that has been found but dealers may well
have installed local market systems for clients as well as other products, eg:
Alloy cylinder heads, exhaust systems.
Regarding comparison between the Mklll Zodiac and Zephyr
head, they are identical, however, 3 different heads were listed: (A) Suffix
which is low comp (rarely fitted to Zodiacs and I have seen only one fitted to
a Zephyr), (B) suffix which is high comp, and a (C) suffix which is anyone’s
guess and maybe a factory replacement. The (A) and (B) heads can be differentiated
from by an L or and H stamped on a small machined area above the intake port on
the head.
Mklll’s used the same basic ignition system for 4 and 6
cylinder engines. Mk l and Mkll four cylinder engines used different
distributors to Mk l and ll six cylinder.
New Zealand also had a stripped down Mklll Zephyr 6 called
a “Special”, these were bare of a lot of chrome like the Mklll Zephyr 4 and
were also minus inside arm rests and were sold as a base model.
A lot were supplied to the NZ Army, and part numbers had a
prefix of Z211E. There use to be at one time a lot of these around but many
have since disappeared or have been updated.
A lot of the Mklll’s exported to Australia were not fitted
with the headlight flasher and when the Wellington club hosted the
international convention in 1983, the Australians brought up the complete
stalk, flasher and wiring for Mklll’s. Lights and wiring on cars that were in
Europe also had unusual lights added and two sets of horns in some cases worked
in as well as warning lights for low brake fluid (check Ulfs Mklll Zodiac in
the side bar). This is another reason to not always think something has been
added by a later owner when purchasing a car as some cars were outfitted
differently to others with extras and minor fittings.
This of course opens a can of worms of what is a factory
part. Ford supplied a lot of parts to works Rally teams so special parts can be
found, again try researching any unusual parts in question before forking over
the money. Companies like Restospares and others in our FAQ/Parts supplier
section are still manufacturing brand new speed equipment the mirror image of
parts sold at the time.
Is this a
Ferguson 4WD MklV............NO!
Regarding Granada V6 engines, these are what Geoff
Walker says they called the mildly revised Essex V6. Napier Ford (Dunedin)
and other Ford dealers in New Zealand, imported complete long
block engines and these were installed by various Garages. Geoff also said
these imported V6 engines were rear sump, like a Capri engine.
I was told that the price for
the Granada engine was around $1200NZ then by an elderly
mechanic, and that a few things needed changed for a MklV install.
Graeme White also had this to add “There is a bit of
confusion over Granada V6's. Pre-1990, there were two main V6 families:
The Essex V6, which was of British origin and included the 2500cc and 3000cc
fitted to Mk lV Zephyr, Zodiac, and earlier Granada’s. The Granada version
is often claimed to be vastly superior, but there were not a lot of
differences. I believe that the post 1972 Granada version had a steel timing
gear with fibre teeth, rather than an all fibre gear, but I would stand
corrected on this. The Lucas dizzy was changed for an Autolite one in 1968 and
the oil pump was changed in the same year (but not in the same month!).
Pre-1968 blocks will not take the post-1968 oil pump. The ports were changed
from a D shape to an Oval shape in 1971“.
Burton Power (below) in the UK have a great description of
the differences in the later Cologne and Essex V4 and V6 engines in their “Tech
Support” section.The Cologne came later to NZ in Sierra XR4i 4X4 injected cars.
Do keep in mind the 2.5 and 3.0 Essex were used in the
Consul/Granada range of cars overseas early on as well . The New Zealand MklV
Zephyr was later factory fitted with the 3.0 Essex unlike the UK MklV
Zephyr.
The newer US Ford 90 degree V6 (vs the UK’s 60 degree Vee)
is also called an Essex V6.
It has been said that the independent rear in MklVs was tested
in Mklll’s. Actually the early compact Ford Fairlane was used as a test bed for
a lot of the MklV equipment as mentioned and photographed in Michael Allen’s
books. Graeme adds "Regarding the grilles fitted to NZ Mk lV Zephyrs,
these were only fitted to Zephyr deluxe in Britain and rumour has it that a
batch of them finished up in NZ due to an ordering glitch, so they got rid of
them by fitting them to all Zephyrs.
On the subject of V8 MklVs, Geoff of Restospares had this
to say: “When working as a trainee parts in a Ford Dealership in Upper Hutt
decades ago, I was well aware of the Mk lV V8 conversions being performed
by Graham "Cub" Roberts in Hamilton. If anyone has a vast library of
old NZ Hot Rod magazines you will find an interesting article regarding the
conversion. It was said at the time that Cub had it set up like a production
line. The odd one was sold from our used car yard and I recall a very late
conversion being done by one of our mechanics using a brand new 351 Cleveland
utilising a Roberts kit. I can't recall whether or not the Roberts conversion
used the Berry and Chung alloy clutch housing that was also available at the
time for mating Ford V8's to Mk lV transmissions. The conversion was very
popular with farmers for towing but the cars were slightly under geared which
led to a few 9" Ford solid rear axle leaf spring conversions which in some
ways ruined them.”
Interestingly the Mk lll is listed as the strongest of the
series in body structural strength.
This write up probably raises as many questions as it
answers. If so, that is a good thing. People new to our hobby should be
encouraged to keep their eyes open for there is some real gems out there.
However, the pub stories of Mkl Zephyrs doing 125mph out of the factory in 2nd
gear are not always to be believed. Road tests of the days give good
indications of what these cars were about and what to expect when buying one.
Do try and locate Ford part books as you will find
the factory part numbers are quite easy to follow within reason and this
helps in sorting whether the parts you are looking at are meant to be there or
are taken from another model or series of car. This article is designed to be
regularly updated and changed as more light is shed on the cars discussed. I
wish to thank members Ross Farland, Geoff Walker from Restospares, Graeme White
from Enford for a wealth of interesting details and Mike who emailed me, (sorry
I haven’t got your full name.)
If anyone else would like to contribute to help add to this
article, please email me at avocalea@xtra.co.nz
Enford Spares limited,
English Ford Cars & Light Commercials 1932-1966
Contact Graeme, Phone 03 379 3775 or E
mail: mail@enford.co.nz
Resto spares limited,
Parts for Classic Ford vehicles with a specialisation in
rubber weather-stripping items and replacement lenses.
Motor Auction for car people,
Burton Power - Power to Perform.