kiwitina

Had a few hours this weekend to do some more of the floor. Took the time to seal the joins up on the hose and compressor and it made a big difference. Still a little slow with the blaster but it comes up clean.

Still remnants of black sealant in the corners. Annoying shit.

This is my rig anyway. Car is on its side so I can blast standing up. Made a little fort to stop most of the sand and dust from going absolutely everywhere.

Was getting a bit of moisture coming through so I went and got one of these moisture traps... Anyone know which way around it goes? Does it have to be vertical?

Cheers

Got the steering, diff and suspension out of there and the thing can now roll! Stoked. Couldn't quite get the car high enough to where the center of gravity is but its near enough and it weighs stuff all anyway.

Excuse the oily puddle on the floor. Pulled the steering box out and left it lying on the ground. All the oil ran back down the shaft overnight. Doh!

Popped in to see how my engine is looking and it's amazing. Almost to good to actually use it looks that sweet. Getting them to clean up my cam and put that in before I get it back to finish off.

Im a bit worried that its the wrong time of year to be stripping paint off. Its been so cold I think there may be to much moisture in the air to get a good etch on. Your thoughts?

Its around the $1100 ball park figure. Its not very accurate though cos I went through getting 3 heads cleaned and crack checked before I got a good one. Ill let you know once I get the invoice if ya like

Its all mounted up!

Got my mounts back from the steel surgeon in Manukau. A week ago I spent a painstaking half day making some mdf mock up mounts. Paying special attention to angles and placement of holes etc. The time I put in all paid off as the steel ones I got back are bang on the money. Stoked.

I still have to get the diff, suspension and steering out of the car before I can flip it over but that will have to wait till next week.

Ive had the blaster all up and running but need to experiment more with settings. It wasnt working like I thought it would and wasnt very fast so I ended up going at the floor with some smith and arrow strip discs in an angle grinder.

Still plenty more work to do in there before it gets treated to some POR15.

Went in to West Auckland Engine Reconditioning to see what the deal was with my engine. Out of the 3 heads I sent them I have 1 without a crack in it. They are gonna do some crank grinding, some skimming, some porting, and put in hardened valve seats for me. I should get it all back next week. Exciting.

Got an update from Expressed Steel Panels in the UK and its about 6 weeks before I get my guard panels down here.

Wow. That felt like a real update. Ka Pai!

looking and sounding good bro!

Built the garden shed to make some work space. Made a whole lot more room to get the car rotating around in. Just need to get some custom mounts fabricated so thats top of my list for my next day off.

Also picked up my old engine and carted it back west. Pulled the head off it and sent it and another one off for inspection. Hopefully 1 of the 3 will be good for the rebuild.

Chur

Picked up my rotisserie today. Will need some custom mounts made to get the car on it but ill know what I need once I get the end stands together.

My garage is a mess so I also went and got a garden shed to move some crap outta there.

Theres a tina in there somewhere

Stopped by the workshop to pick up my bung head. Looked so nice, clean and flat.

But then you look closer and....

aww novus!

Looking forward to some time off late next week. Cant wait

Only had enough time today for a little test of the sandblaster and compressor. Made some plywood baffles to help keep the neighbors reasonably happy as the compressor obviously has to go outside. Seems to go well and the vacuum sucks up most of the sand so not much mess. Its not so good for the tight spots though.

Historic photo bump....

Failed to shut back door properly doh!

Bad news. My head is cracked and is nothing but rubbish. Bummer cos it was quite worked. Have another 2 heads to choose from but they are standard.

No pics but some progress.

- My block and head are in getting inspected/cleaned up.

- Replacement Sills are being made and sent up from Invercargill

- I pick up my rotisserie on monday!!!!

- Bought some POR15

- Bought a kickass Northstar 5.5hp compressor to run my blaster (Is the only honda engine youll ever see in my garage)

Maybe not much progress then. But I spent a shitload of cash and had fun doing it and this way I might actually make some progress.

Now I just need some time away from work...

Chur

should make yourself a rolling frame so you can have the suspension off and still roll the car out of the garage and get the benefit of a empty garage when you need it.

yeah man I hear ya. i should learn to weld. its nice to have a single car garage but im already outgrowing it. the car on a frame would be sweet

Hauled my block, head and gearbox up from my folks place. Bought a few engines in pieces from a guy in welly when I first got the car. Never got around to putting it together so it sat in my parents shed for years. My plan is to get it away to be blasted and inspected next week. I was a bit embarassed about the condition I had let it get to so gave it abit of a clean myself. Blasting should get rid of whats left. Hopefully I have enough technical know how to build the engine myself. If not google and youtube will come in handy..

my 711M after a wire brush and a degrease

The head has had a bit of work done to it. The only work its done lately though is nothing more than sitting around a damp shed. And it shows

Before

After

Im still waiting for my guard bits Ive ordered to be made....

That is all for now.

So I’ve spent a fair bit of time on the tina recently. Took my guards back to the metal to find the rust in the rear edge is worse than I thought. Been using those purple smith and arrow strip discs that are on trademe. They are most excellent.

The filler panels that run up the edge in between the guard and the a pillar are rooted.

So Im biting the bullet and buying a new filler panel and rear edge repair panel for both sides from the UK. Maybe I should have gone fibreglass afterall... The stink thing is that the company in the UK has an order backlog 3-4 months long! There is plenty to do and get done in the next few months anyway. Just landed a sweet job on a film so Im looking forward to spending some dough and making some progress. Aiming to have the car blasted and some of the big rust jobs out of the way by autumn. Goal is to have it back on road in whatever state by Kumeu 2013. I will find a way to kick myself in the face if this doesn’t happen....

So West Auckland’s Cortina population just went up +1. Finally moved out and got my own nice and dry garage. It’s only a single but it will do for now. The great thing is I can now chip away at things whenever I have time so what the hell am I doing on Old School?

Not much happened recently. Just been finding and buying parts whenever I wasnt glued to the telly watching the RWC.

Got a pair of Cortina Buckets

And a steering wheel from a 1600E

Something for the cortina fans...

Back to the garage. Cheers!

shed envy.

I noticed your selling mate. Keen to come have a look. pm me

Because you can and its so much faster than a stock 1600GT motor.. If it was a Lotus I could understand not doing it but a 4 door GT is not THAT valuable surely..

Im sure that a modern motor can go a whole lot faster. Not that you cant get much out of a crossflow. I might be a tad biased but I reckon a GT is mega valuable and to have a toyota, nissan or whatever engine sitting in it only devalues it. I guess it all comes down to personal preference and taste when it comes to cars though.

From an investment point of view. I have no idea why you would chuck another make engine in to a car as sought after as a GT Cortina.

A few years back I had a guy sideswipe me in my shitbox corolla and then race off. Chased him for a little but pulled back when he started going to fast. Managed to get his plate number. Turned out his car was unwarranted unregistered and he was sought by the police.

About 9-12 months later. I get a call and the cop tells me that he was caught drink driving and his incident with me popped up on the system. The policeman asked what I would like to do regards to compensation etc. but then goes on to tell me that the guy has absolutely no money and is a genuine scum of the earth type character. I had since moved on from the corolla so it was a bit easier for me to let go and tell him I wouldn't be seeking compensation. Instead I got the cop to ring up the guy and tell him what an a grade fuckwit etc etc he was. I choose to think that call actually happened.

I think you should just keep harassing them man. Go in there weekly until they finally let up. If not kick their doors in.

It just seems a huge rip off, Powerbuilt still cost around 40 for a socket when you can buy a top quility bahco set with 200.

will get to bunnings tomorrow, see if they sell them.

I got a bahco set for $220 from bunnings. I rate it. Def worth the money.

450 sounds pretty decent to me. Think my cortina used to do around 400 to the tank. Auto box. Standard diff.

Not much happening with the tina at the moment. Been working like a dog which is great because I've been able to save $$$ for bond on a decent house with a garage and also a couple of other things...

Got offered another complete GTE dash for a really good price. Its in better condition than what I have and with a wooden face that isn't broken. Score! It arrived from New Plymouth this week and is waiting for me at my folks place.

Also picking up this GT console today. Got offered it for a nice price so couldnt turn it down. Needs a bit of work and some new brackets but should do just fine.

This will mean that Ill be losing the bench seat so that leaves me after a pair of front seats if anyone is holding.

I looked in an escort restoration manual and couldn't make sense of it. 7 by itself appears to be copper brown. As for 'L2 DA2'?? I have no idea. Most paint codes in the book are only one or two digits...

Looking at this thread makes me miss my van. My gf and I spent 6 months in Canada snowboarding etc. Got a chevy astro and drove it up icefields parkway to jasper in alberta and then all the way down to New Mexico then back up the west coast to San Fran.

Covered 10,000+km's stopping at most national parks on the way. Will be one of the coolest things ill ever do. Couldnt recommend it more to anyone. Van was a 4.3L v6. Same engine as some of the holdens down here I think. Had a choice of 8 different cupholders within the drivers reach to store your big gulp in. twas epic.

Double gulps are bigger than big gulps and bigger than my misshapen head also

Sold the van to my gfs brother who lives there. Its still with him and going strong. Hopefully one day soon ill get to go back and drive it again.

is that the one that was on trademe for a while?

haha i think thats the one I got for parts. red with the smashed front drivers side?

yea thats the one

Yeah I shifted the thing from Napier to Auckland. Hell Mission. Sold it as I got the parts I needed with it and it was already well rusted. Car has changed hands again since and is now in Waiuku as a parts car for an existing 2 door project.