66gt

Been doing some more fitting up of the engine and have fitted the inlet manifold and extractors etc. I'm going to run one of those dynamo's with an alternator guts inside it. Looks original but way lighter and alternator power output. I'm finding anyone who is any good at doing work on classics is snowed under with work. Carb man is going to take a month to rebuild it and I dropped the dash top to be redone around 4 months ago and it will be ready next month. I will have the engine bits back from the powdercoaters this week so it will be completed next week apart from the carb. Next job is to rebuild the gearbox which I'm going to do myself.

Yeah that's what I have been doing. Keep it all under 400 NZD

Yep and the bastards are charging GST on everything basically now too.

He's had it for sale for ages. It's got no ID whatsoever so only good for a race car unless you have a 2 Door GT BA77 chassi plate lying around

yep shell is excellent apart from the stack in the front many years ago. Replacing the front rails with 2 NOS ones and the inner left guard. Engine was 7K landed. It's a GT head casting with standard GT valves and some really trick head work. It has all steel rocker gear etc. HRD Rob Halliday at Mangawai is really schooled up on pushrod Fords so maybe give him a call.

Started fitting up my engine, put the distributor in the right spot and sorted all the bolt on bits that need powder coating so will drop them off tomorrow. Started to fit up all the heater and water hoses and the fittings I had got from the MK 1 owners club just didn't want to screw in. I had an old manifold which still had a fitting in it so checked against that and the threads are all wrong in the new fittings. So I went to Supercheap to get some plug leads and saw on the blister pack stand some fittings. Grabbed a 3/8" BSW one and got home and tried and what do you know a perfect fit! Made a list of fittings and went back and scored all the ones I needed. All fitted up now and looking good! Had a look at the carb and the choke cable bracket is broken plus the threads for the bolts that hold the air cleaner on are all munted as well. Dug out another old carb so will drop them over to the carb man at Silverdale and see if he can make one good one out of both of them.

Pulled the manifold and carb off the old engine tonight and the manifold has been butchered by experts. Couple of old welding repairs plus a weapons grade bodge on the water hose inlets. Lucky I have a NOS manifold and the Webber carb man will wave his wand over the carb. When I stripped the car there were odd ball bolts nuts and screws everywhere and I reckon who ever did it last time lost them all so just used whatever was handy. I found a place on Fleabay that does boxes of UNC nuts bolts and washers in various sizes so have bought a couple of boxes which will do most of the car and they are all the correct sizes and non nyloc nuts to keep it original.

I have a Cortina GT which was on a PP and when I purchased it years ago the seller kept the PP,s and just put a standard plate on it. Question is I still have the 2 old black plates that were originally on it. Can I get rid of the current plates and put the original black plates back on?

Finally my engine turned up today from Joe at Throbnozzle Racing in the UK. It will produce around 115-120 BHP with the rejetted 28/36. I was going to run twin 40's but want it looking original under the bonnet with the original air cleaner etc. it has an Aldon electronic dizzie mapped to suit the engine and I'm using a Powerlite starter motor which is half the weight of the original and loads more cranking power. I'll get all the bits fitted to the engine over the next couple of weeks and I'm going to assemble the gearbox myself.

Here is some pics of what was underneath when the paint was stripped. There's a few old repairs which looks like they have been brazed in and the sorry state of the inner front guards and chassi rails can be seen. There is a couple of NOS inner guards on Fleabay at the moment so if they don't go for moon beams I'll score them. Have ordered the replacement panels for inside the boot and headlight rings from the MK 1 Cortina Owners Club so hopefully they will be here later next week. Greg reckons he can make everything else so all good!

Some more pics of the Cortina after it was stripped and off to Custom Metalshapers. First job I need to do is get all the suspension powder coated and all the bolts and nuts zinc plated. Suspension will be all powder coated gloss black and I have all new nolathene bushes in black with stainless sleeves to install.

I haven't pulled the front struts apart yet so I will see if they have BMW inserts.

Hi all. I have just started a full restoration of my MK 1 GT 2 Door Cortina. Currently it is fully stripped and with Greg at Custom Metal Shapers. All the exterior paint has been stripped and it is very rust free for one of these. Unfortunately it was restored in the early 80's after I suspect it had a frontal and as a result the front rails and inner guards are a bit ugly. It would really annoy me every time I opened the bonnet knowing what was there so the front rails and inner guards are going to be replaced. The exterior will be finished as per the original Dragoon Red and all completely standard. Ditto the black interior apart from a Les Leston woodrim wheel. Running gear will be all standard precrossflow with period modifications. Engine is a Throbnozzle Racing pre crossflow running the standard 28/36 Webber with jetting to suit. Gearbox is fitted with a 2000E gear set and Ali bell housing, tailshaft and remote housing. Diff is 3.7 in an Ali Nose. Shocks all round are adjustable Spax. Wheels are going to be BRM 4 spokes from the 60/70's. Aiming to have it on the road October 2016