mk2marty

So a couple of things happened today.

Took it for a decent drive to some beaches out west. On the way home, a bolt that retains the timing belt cover decided that it didn't like it's current home and would much prefer to work its way out and become lodged in between the bottom of the cover and the crank pulley, creating a terrible grinding noise and those charming wear marks in the cambelt. What's more, is that the viscous coupling for the fan is obviously in league with that bolt and has decided that now is an ideal time to start growling and squealing. So I probably need to find another one. 

And the valve stem seals need doing at some point, because it's doing the usual Pinto smokey start thing.

Here is an enormous photo as evidence:

It must be about time for an update.

So the L/H chassis rail got pulled back to where it should be, which made a big difference to the way it drives, and it sits level (or at least as level as these ever did).

Got some 175/70/13s free, so they were stuck on the front. They make interesting growling noises, but they cost me nothing, 

Patched some rust in the R/R quarter panel. Unfortunately when Ford built these, in order (presumably) to solve NVH issues, they filled the rear quarters with expanding foam. This would be fine, except that after thirty years it tends to hold moisture against the panel, which then rusts from the inside. 

I don't think it's too bad for a first attempt at filling rust holes. I'll have to replace that part with new steel eventually, but until then the large amounts of Fishoilene it got doused with will have to do. 

Replaced a couple of balljoints, some wheel cylinders, brake fluid, and the oil and filter. 

And then this happened. Which made me quite happy indeed, considering it was off the road since 2010, and had been generally neglected before then.

Went on a hunt for the source of the growls coming from the rear end, procured a slidehammer, which made getting the axle out dead easy. Measured the bearings, and will go hunting for some that fit in the next week or two. Have a nasty feeling however that there could be diff side bearings at fault as well. The axle bearings felt a bit rough anyway, so they'll get done and then we'll see how much it changes things.

And some brake shoes arrived, so they will find their way onto the car in due course. As will the fuel filter and some new fuel line, hopefully to reduce the tendency for engine bay fires that these have (aside from the brass fitting that goes into the carb coming out and spraying fuel everywhere, and there really isn't a lot I can do about that). 

Yeah from what i've heard they put the Koln axle into 2 litre sedans from late Mk4/early Mk5. Think wagons kept the heavier Atlas diff, mine has one anyway. 1600s always had the smaller axle i think.

Gaz will do an LSD centre: http://gazcoilovers.com/atlas-axle-gripper-lsd-1618-tooth-p-367.html

Personally i'd go an NZ new 6, just cos Mazda do free servicing here for the first 3 years of the car's life, so it's likely to be healthier than an import. Some early Atenzas didn't have any anti-theft either.

Think I saw this on Trademe and wanted it a lot. Simply begging for a sweet retro fitout inside

So the other day it got an exhaust. And what did it do to thank me? It puked coolant all over the man's floor.

Bastard thing.

So I had a bit of a look and it turns out that the radiator cap wasn't functioning like a radiator cap because it had no seal, and the thermostat was in back to front, much to Dad's amusement. Chucked some new coolant at it while I was there. If they can't put a thermostat in the right way it makes me kinda worried about the rest of the supposedly rebuilt engine now..

In truth it was probably my fault for not checking the thing properly before I went , but i was getting sick of it sounding like a tiger moth every time I had to move it.

But anyway

I decided the carb needed a birthday, because it's lack of a functioning secondary was starting to irk me. Blew the jets out and found a large lump of crud lodged in one of the feeder jets in the float bowl. 

It goes a whole lot better now, pulls better from low RPMs, and the induction howl from the cut up air cleaner is really quite addictive. What worries me is that someone in the past has tried to remove the bolt that goes into the choke water housing, snapped it (because they rust in) and simply Araldited the hole up. Might need to do something before all of the coolant disappears when the glue lets go. 

Replaced the gearbox mount as well, to stop the fan chewing on the radiator, as it was prone to doing occasionally. 

List of shit that still needs doing:
-Straighten L/F chassis rail/subframe mounts so the car steers in a straight line and sits level
-Straighten L/F front valance so the headlight no longer points at the ground
-Rear axle bearings, because there are bad growly noises there
-Wheel alignment
-Front shocks
-Probably rear shocks as well
-Get WOF, go cruising etc 

There is a mk5 sedan with a V8 that runs around here. It'd be a fairly easy conversion too, massive transmission tunnel and no strut towers in the engine bay. Handling would be another matter though

Yeah, Mk5s are fairly underrated in my opinion. There really aren't that many tastefully done examples around, especially when compared to Escorts and the like. Still, point of difference and all that..

Cheers. It didn't come from Mt Eden, but I do know the one you're talking about, is it lowered on Tridents? I see it driving around Titirangi sometimes.  And yeah, i'll definitely be along to meets once it has a WOF and stuff. 

After a couple of weeks of inactivity, a sudden burst of enthusiasm meant I got an intact right front indicator lens, and some vent piping so now all the vents can blow air. A Pickapart mish meant that I now have a better (but still period) cassette deck courtesy of a dead Tredia, and some fairly good speakers from a Honda. Some awesome 70s fins for the wipers as well. 

Here she is all blinged' up. AA badge, headlight covers, wiper aids, leckey aerial etc. Needs a sunvisor...

Discuss: //oldschool.co.nz/index.php?/topic/41622-mk2martys-83-cortina-estate/

I bought another front subframe and some miscellaneous bits from a guy in Manurewa and proceeded to swap them into the car. I knew the subframe was bent when I bought the car,  the beam itself sits quite low (even at standard height), and due to their design they have all the structural rigidity of cheese. This one had an unfortunate meeting with a kerb or something by the looks of it.  

Freed up a sticking calliper and got the extractors on. They really don't fit too well, and I am kinda paranoid about them cooking the rubber donut at the end of the steering idler/the UJ/everything else in their general vicinity. 

Rerouted that vacuum hose to the booster round behind the engine, chucked some new plugs and fresh 95 octane in it and lo! It ran on all four.. so I took it for a noisy trip up the road to celebrate.

It was beginning to look like a car again.

And as an aside, this was the stereo setup I was originally going to run:

Sanyo deck from the internet, and equaliser and amp from Dad. Been kinda inspired by Ed/Orion's efforts regarding period audio gear, and a modern headdeck is beyond the budget limitations and would look simply ridiculous anyway.

Also heatwrapped the extractors. Probably going to turn out a total waste of time and money, but I  installed them in the car anyway...

...where they promptly caught fire.

Arsehats.

Still, they turned a nice golden brown colour and the smoke went away eventually.

During the holidays from tech I decided to crack on with the car. First port of call was the Nightshades that covered the taillight lenses, which didn't really suit the car. To remove it took several hours and lots and lots of cutting wax. 

I pulled the rear drums off and had a look at the shoes, got the headlights back in, the front bumper back on, plate surrounds, speakers, replaced the plastic backing to the front door cards (because the original plastic membrane had gone AWOL), sprayed some fish oil around it, and did other non-noteworthy greasing/oiling/mainenance. Also, in within the detritus there were some awesome 1980s brown rubber floor mats hiding in the spare wheel well which I cleaned up and re-fitted.

I decided to go with the Mk4 grill, I was considering some spotlights in the future so this allows me to recess them a bit, away from the bumper. It's also a point of difference to most other Mk5s, and to my eyes it looks better than the standard slatted grill. 

Hi all

So yeah, been lurking round here for a bit, and decided it was time to start a thread on my Cortina. Watched it keep popping up on Tardme on and off over the years, getting more and more modified, and more and more decrepit. Decided the last time that I should save it, and I bought it from a dude in Hamilton a few months ago.

This was how it was when it went on the transporter:

It was on 3 cylinders, the front guards were buried in the back, along with tonnes of other stuff that belonged on the car (including the dodgiest exhaust known to man), but on the plus side it was very nearly rust free, had a supposedly rebuilt engine, was already lower than standard, had those awesome Wildcats on it and a set of Recaros. Plus I sort of knew some of its history through some people.

It arrived on a damp Thursday morning and some reassembly of the larger parts and a general cleanup commenced.

Front guards went on, the interior got vacuumed, indicators in etc. By lunch it was beginning to look reasonable...

And a token shot of the engine. It all seems fairly standard in there, and it's actually reasonably quiet for a Pinto.

There was a place called Griffiths Equipment in Penrose that sold an Aunger louvre fitting kit I think. Their site is here: http://www.griffiths.co.nz/Griffiths/Product-Information.asp go to 'Exterior Accessories' and it's on roughly page 6. 

Name: Martin

Location: West Auckland

Cars you own: a minter than mint '91 Laser. Not that oldschool really, but i'm still looking..

How you found out about oldschool: Various friends, cars at shows etc

Anything else? Searching (somewhat in vain) for a mk5 cortina wagon that isn't either overpriced or a total sack..