66gt

All the running gear is out of it so stripping the interior tomorrow and off to Autoblast on Monday to get the underside, engine bay, inside boot and inside floor blasted so hopefully get it back the following Saturday and drop to R3 to get the strut tops sorted and a few other minor repairs done. Just sorting out the paint code for Ermine White in Resene Automotive colour as well. Engine is at the builder now getting sorted and dropped a shit load of suspension parts to powdercoater as well last week. Got a self imposed deadline of 12 March to get it back from the painter and the running gear back in it as having an op on my foot so my leg will be in plaster for 8 weeks so won’t be able to do jack shit on it.

That’s bloody cool as. Just need a bit of ply on the back with a gas strut. Even cut a window into the ply and put in a bit of Perspex

I pulled out an old precrossflow race engine I had forgotten I had today so will use that in the Cortina. It was running on twin 45 DCOE,s and avgas and has the 6 bolt crank plus a big valve head portered and gas flowed. I’m dropping off to the engine builder tomorrow to get it stripped and rebuilt. I will change the cam to the A2 I have as I’m pretty sure it was running an A6 as was pretty lumpy below 2500 rpm and useless for road use the last time it was running about 10 years ago.

Been pulling the Cortina apart this afternoon. Engine and box already to come out tomorrow and will get all the suspension out too as well.Also fucking karma paid me a visit from around 30 years ago when I removed the inlet manifold. No manifold support rings are machined into the inlet ports which means it’s a standard head and someone has drilled the water outlet above the temp sender to make it look like a GT head. I had one in my early 20’s and blew up the engine as you do at that age and the head was fucked so I did exactley the same and sold it about 2 weeks after getting it going again. Lucky I have a spare GT head.

They are all smoking weed or playing Xbox

The new gold! https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-CORTINA-MK1-LOTUS-GT-SUPER-DELUXE-AEROFLOW-GRILL-NEW-OLD-STOCK-L-K/273038231351?hash=item3f9258c737:g:nZYAAOSw7rdaZ5MI

Well I have decided to keep it and do a kinda of 2 stage resto on it without blowing a shitload of cash on it like my 2 Door GT. First up I’m going to get the underside and engine bay blasted and get the shitty strut tops repaired and it will need a right hand panel plus the spare wheel well tidied up in the boot. Just hoping it doesn’t come back with a perforated floor from the blasters but I’m pretty confident it should be ok. I’ll then get it painted Ermine White and get it all running and back on the road. Once the 2 Door is back from paint and panel I’ll send it in to get 2 new sills, bottoms of the A Pillars and the front panel tidied up as it’s had a shitty repair in the past on the right hand side.then strip the paint and redo in Ermine White.

That sux, you might have to borrow the Hiace lol

Raided my spares and have got enough to rebuild the engine. Just need to get mains and bigend bearings once crank size is known. Will be running steel caps, lotus 125E rods, 60thou Mahle pistons, all steel rocker gear, cleaned up GT head all held together with ARP fasteners. Cam will be old school A2 Cosworth grind and vernier timing gear. I will run the original Weber rejetted however the engine is all set up to run twin 40 DCOE,s. I’ll pull the engine and box next weekend and also give the gearbox a birthday with new bearings and seals etc. I’ll pull out the front suspension and get that all powedercoated plus put new brake discs on. It already has had the struts done with Bilstein inserts and king springs and the brakes have stainless sleeves so just a rekit required there. Rear end will be the same and I’ll put new bearings in the diff head as it had a bit of a whine from memory.

Porting and polishing is a dark art. You really need a flow bench to do it well. Plenty of old school engine builders can do it on old Classic Ford stuff.

Pulled out my old 65 Mk 1 GT out of storage today where it’s been sitting for about 3 years. Chucked a battery in after about a miniute of cranking it burst into life. The engine is as fumey as fuck so I reckon the rings are all gummed up and the tacho has stopped working plus a couple of lights.I have owned it about 14 years and in that time done about 2000 Miles if that. The paint is shit with humidity blisters and I bought it that colour which I have always hated, it was originally an Ermine White car, so I’ll work out in the next couple of weeks what to do with it. Current thinking is rebuild the engine and go over all the mechanicals, get Chris R to sort the electrics and get it back on the road. Then either sell it or repaint it Ermine white and keep it.

73 HQ Statesman All original 2 owner car. Bench seat. Bought it about 5 years ago after it sat unused for 20 years. Fully rebuilt the brakes and power steer. Engine had a few oil leaks so had it fully record, it had a few busted parts inside so glad I got it done. Heads converted to unleaded and put on Pacemaker Headers and dual exhausts. Put on the 14x8 Tridents to keep it all looking period. It’s virtually rust free and original paint. Interior is all factory with original brocade and factory radio, never had any holes drilled for aftermarket shit.

I’ll find out for you on Friday as dropping more into get done

I bought a set of new remanufactured Mk 1 Lotus Cortina straight steering arms ages ago and I’m a bit nervous about using them on my Cortina build without getting them tested. They are cast and from a very reputable source in the UK. What’s the best way to get some peice of mind or should I just bin them?

Probably make more out of selling cups of English Breakfast Tea

Rego is dead on it. Wonder if it’s still hiding in someone’s shed or it’s rebar in a building somewhere

Looks like a very tidy Sport. That’s a great score

No difference between Escort 1300 and 1600 sumps. Sounds like the engine maybe out of another Ford with a different sump or the engine mounts are fucked. Engine mounts are the same as well the 1600 block as a higher deck height

Starting to get the guards and front panel all ready for the final fit off and welding. Good to see a grille on the front again! I have sourced a NOS rear light panel so that should turn up in a couple of weeks and the last bit of the puzzle is the lower rear valence which is proving pretty elusive.

Use the minimum thickness to get the required clearance

Another update. Front end pretty well done. Next job is to remove both rear quarters to make sure all clean and then sort the rear tail light panel. If anyone has a NOS one or an excellent panel let me know.

That really sucks

I’ve got a parts washer here at home. One of those Supercheap ones if it’s of any use. I’m in Mangere Auckland. I don’t use it fuckall as I find kero still does a bloody good job

Otahuhu Chrome Platers Huia Rd

Old dirty bolts get them zinc plated. Come up like brand new and costs stuff all to do it. Take them in covered in crap and pick up looking like new.