Ford Cortina Mk3
Oct 1970–1976 · TC and TD · the coke bottle · a clean break underneath
Nothing under a Mk3 comes off a Mk2. Ford threw away the struts and the leaf springs and started again.
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About the Ford Cortina Mk3
On sale 23 October 1970, and the biggest parts divide in the whole Cortina story is underneath it. The MacPherson strut front is replaced by a double A-arm (double wishbone) layout, and the leaf-sprung rear by a coil-sprung live axle located on trailing arms in a four-link arrangement. Nothing suspension-related crosses from a Mk2. While you are under there: the rear trailing-arm and diff-housing void bushes are notorious for wearing out early, and they are one of the most-ordered parts on this car. Brakes are front disc and rear drum across the range. It was Britain’s top-selling car from 1972 to 1976, despite a ten-week strike in April–June 1971 that cost about 100,000 cars.
The engines are what confuse people, because Kent and Pinto ran side by side. The 1.3 Kent crossflow overhead-valve engine is the base and L unit and survives the whole Mk3. A 1.6 Kent crossflow sat in the lesser models alongside a 1.6 Pinto, and the 2.0 Pinto, 98bhp, belt-driven single overhead cam, came in from four-door L upwards. At the 1973 facelift all 1.6-litre models became Pinto; the 1.3 stayed Kent. That 1973 facelift (TD) also brought a flatter dashboard with the instruments under a glass hood, rectangular headlamps on the upper trims, a revised grille and tail lamps and revised suspension geometry. Dashboards do not swap across the facelift. Trim ran base, L, XL, GT and GXL, with the 2000E replacing the GXL after 1973.
Ford Cortina Mk3 — specification & changes within the model
- Suspension — a clean break
- Double A-arm (double wishbone) front. Coil-sprung live axle on a four-link / trailing-arm location at the rear. The struts and the leaf springs are gone. Nothing suspension-related interchanges with a Mk2.
- The bushes everyone needs
- Rear trailing-arm and differential-housing void bushes wear out early. A well-documented weak point, and usually the reason a Mk3 feels vague at the back.
- Engines — Kent and Pinto together
- 1.3 Kent crossflow OHV — base and L, the whole run. 1.6 Kent crossflow OHV — lesser models, alongside a 1.6 Pinto SOHC. 2.0 Pinto SOHC, 98bhp — four-door L upwards. At the 1973 facelift all 1.6s became Pinto. The 1.3 stayed Kent.
- The 1973 facelift (TD)
- Flatter dashboard with the instruments under a glass hood, rectangular headlamps on upper trims, revised grille and tail lamps, revised suspension geometry. Dashboards do not swap across it.
- Brakes
- Front disc, rear drum, across the range.
- Trim
- Base, L, XL, GT, GXL. 2000E replaced the GXL after 1973.
- Australia built its own
- Australian TC and TD Cortinas were offered with Falcon 3.3 and 4.1 litre sixes as well as the 2.0 Pinto. A six-cylinder Australian Cortina is a substantially different car — different engine bay, driveline and front-end loading. They reached New Zealand only in very small numbers.