kiwitina

The more I think about it (and thats alot) the more I find that theres stacks of things to do when cash reserves are low. Maybe Im just a chronic procrastinator. It sucks however to have motivation at an all time high and funds at a low. Yesterday it was 3 years since I first got her. In celebration I decided to invade my folks 2 car garage, jack it up and attack the underseal. Really happy with the state of the underside. I removed a large plastic bag full of seal, grime and shit and only found one small patch of rust!! Even that rust had come through from the inside. I would have appreciated having a rollover jig at this point but theres only so much whining I can do about money. I still plan on getting one made and have gone to the trouble of adapting some free plans for an escort jig I found at http://www.neilfletcherracing.co.uk/the_spit.htm I wanted to get some dry ice to hammer shatter the underseal off but it's the long weekend, BOC probably wasn’t open and I just wanted to get stuck in. FYI. BOC sells dry ice for $5.85+GST p/kg. You’ve got to buy a minimum of atleast 1kg and it pays to ring them up so they know your coming. They recommend one of those polystyring chilly bins to transport it in. Cheap as chips way of making progress. I ended up using my air hammer chisel to get the stuff off. At a fairly low speed it worked a treat, just got to be careful not to put the corner of the chisel through the floor or catch it on the floor contours. Also be careful not to hit seams on the 90. Still got probably half a cars worth of stuff to take off so will get some dry ice for the rest of it and see how it goes.

Looks like more of a resurrection than a restoration mate. But well done. Repairs look great!

They recommend using their tiecoat primer over the top of the POR15 before paint.

Hey man. Hows the build going? been waiting for another update!

wow...thats gonna be a restoration and a half. good luck!

Nice work man. Body looks alot like what I want mine to! Cant say im a big fan of substituting engines for anything other than the original manufacturer but Im sure you've got your reasons and im sure you will do it well. Watching with interest so keep us all updated!

Progress it seems has come to a halt. Had a good summer break managing to spend too much money that would have otherwise been thrown at the tina. Work is gonna be slow for the next few months so I’ve decided to play it safe. Stupid fickle NZ film and tv industry... Now Im just concentrating on the little things or the stuff that ain’t gonna empty the wallet. Kinda need to wait a while anyway. Need a good couple of grand to get the body up to scratch and then theres the paint which probably should all be done around the same time. Roof headlining before was immaculate and after. Sound insulation cracks me up. What the hell was that gonna do?? All this jelly crap came out of the fuel tank when I emptied it. A byproduct of sitting for 3 years doing FA Forgot that I did some basic rust removal in the boot just after I got it. Probably helped save me from having a bigger job this time around. The rust I found around the boot seal is a bit worrying. Its like this around the whole boot opening. Another design flaw for these cars. Moisture that makes it down in to this rail has absolutely no way of flowing out! Will consider making a slight modification to route water out and down the back panel. Pretty happy with the state of the floorpans. Will need some patches but when compared to the state of some Cortinas that are under restoration in the UK. This is mint. Found more cancer underneath the dash on the firewall. The other side is the same Hopefully wont be too long before the next update!

Based on my novice level of experience and what ive read here I'd say you would want to get it primed atleast but avoid painting single doors etc. one at a time. Think you would want to paint your upper coats all at the same time to avoid panels etc that dont match the others.

brilliant bro. thanks for taking the time

Based upon what I have read. My 2c of the process should go something like this...Correct me and bounce your ideas if i’m being a noob. Exterior Shell Sandblasting - Whole car back to bare metal. Bogging + Patching - Fill out any imperfections. Weld in patches and smooth out but not so smooth that the primer won’t bind. Wipe down and remove dust + grease Etch Priming - Red Oxide. Atleast a couple of coats. No sanding Priming - Grey 2 coats. This can then be sanded smooth before basecoat. I have 4L of lacquer primer I want to use. Underside, Floorpans, Possibly Engine bay Sandblast back to bare metal Wipe down and remove dust, dirt and grease. Put down POR15. Use a brush on the harder to reach areas. atleast 2 coats Use recommended Tiecoat Primer over the top. Your thoughts and critiques please. Is there any problem using 2 different coloured primers on the exterior? I know bubblegoose, that you said I don’t have to worry about primer sealer but Im unsure about weather to use in between the 2 primers on the ext. Would there be any problems using different brands of primer etc. in between the ext. shell and floorpans? Yeah I know...What an amateur.

Thanks heaps man. Hopefully it wont be sitting for too long. Has anyone ever used this paint off trademe?http://www.trademe.co.nz/Trade-Me-Motors/Car-parts-accessories/Paint/auction-343015276.htm Any good? Bought some paint stripper off them and it seems to do a good job.

Just finished reading all 24 pages of this thread. What a novel. Had to space it out in to 4 stints just to allow the information to sink in... I’ll be doing all the preparation work on my Cortina myself and then i’ll pay someone to do the colour. There will be a fair bit of time in between the priming stage and the paint stage so I can save some money for a decent paint job. This is ok as long as the primer gets smoothed back before paint right? I’ve read a bit elsewhere about primer sealer. Would I do this before the little hiatus or should that be done before the base coat goes on? I’m blasting back to bare metal and will be using POR15 on the underside, floorpans and possibly the engine bay as it seems to have a good reputation. Do people ever POR15 their whole car? or is that a silly question?. Great thread. Thanks to all the knowledgeable people who have contributed. Since when was painting such an artform anyway right???

ahhh I see. will do. thanks for the advice.

Benefits of spending a bit extra and getting a car that was on road I guess. Looks to be in original condition but I cant really tell. Riv nuts??? rivet nuts i assume?? cant think if i've ever seen them. Chur

Another little update. Managed to make a better job of drilling through the guard along the top mounting rail. Discovered that the trick is to look for the join where the two bits of metal join together distinguishable by in my case a reddish ring in the drill hole. Patience I found is pretty important. The bottom of the guard nearest the passenger door had been pushed out somehow. This should have been sitting flush with the sill. Don’t know why they put these foam bits up inside the guard near the top of the pillar. All they seem to do is trap dirt and moisture and cause all sorts of rot. Think I might adapt some of those black inner wheel arch things on modern vehicles to fit to do a better job. New fibreglass guards will be bolt on eventually. Inner wheel arch and pillar is pretty damn good. Left hand headlight bowl is another story. Will have to add this to the list for weld repairs. Next up is to take to the remaining metal from the guards with a die grinder. Tidy that up. Purchase a bigger better compressor to power my blaster. Get it etched and in a somewhat more respectable state by the end of summer. As she is at the moment.

yea bit of a chellange really. want more power than the average 4g63t or sr20det. will see on thursday. tune day! Yeah cos those engines are lacking grunt . Your just greedy and ambitious! haha hope it goes well.

Pretty rad that you chose to turbo a pinto rather than substitute in a jappa mate.

Starting to make some progress, well a little atleast. Doesn’t really look like my pride and joy anymore but it’s all for the greater good. Spent the bigger part of a day getting the drivers guard off. Made a few little botch ups along the way like drilling right through the mounting rail a couple of times instead of just through the spot weld . But by the last half of it I had my technique and patience down. Should be able to do a real tidy job on the passenger side next time. Was pretty pleased at the state of the A pillar. Will still need a repair but it could have been worse. Will also need to do a little repair at the top The rest of my week has been spent getting the interior and engine bay clear. Windscreen, bench seat, carpet etc etc is all out but still have alot more to do. Anyone know how the dashboard pad comes off? Don’t want to make a mess of it as it’s in pretty good nick. Went to Trade and Industrial Supplies and got a vacuum sandblaster as a christmas present to myself. Will probably have to upgrade my air compressor to run it unfortunately. Oh well..This summer is set to be a busy one that’s for sure...

yeah for sure.

Yeah mate. I see its gonna be a tricky job. So was that off your current Mk2? How was the base of the A pillar once you got em off? From what I can see in mine, it doesn't seem that bad. The guard itself though is pretty shot so its gotta come off!

Thanks mate.

Stripped most of the stuff from the front of the car and out of the engine bay today. I swear I was there all day but by the end of it, it wasn't that different. So time consuming!. Can't wait to power up the new toys/tools and get these guards off.

So i’ve been spending most of my time after work trawling over the internet for various stuff to help with the restoration. Seems I’ve had some success trying to source some replacement guards. Cheers to Craig for putting me in touch with Halliday Racing Developments up north who can make me some new fibreglass ones. Spending some $$$ on various tools etc to get to work on the shell. Would have been nice to get a professional to blast it clean but I can’t afford it. Would rather spend the same amount of money to get what I need to do it myself and have the tools there for the next project...(not that I’m contemplating another at this stage) So until I can afford to buy a vacuum sand blaster I've got a big bottle of paint stripper, some primer and a spray gun coming off trademe to keep me busy. I had originally planned on buying plans from the UK to get a rollover jig made over here but the guy was abit slack in getting back to me. In the meantime I found this guide for a Mk1 Escort Jig. I'm assuming the Cortina and Escort wouldn't be too different in regard to a pivot point so I think with a few adaptations it will have my tina sitting at 90degrees easy! http://www.neilfletcherracing.co.uk/the_spit.htm http://www.buysellcortina.co.uk This website is awesome. Full of helpful articles and a forum for solely cortina stuff. http://www.oldskoolford.co.uk Another helpful resource with a dedicated section for the Cortina. http://www.classicfordmag.co.uk The best classic brit ford mag around. They have a wicked new website and forum with more good stuff to gork over. Looking forward to having a few days off this week to start stripping everything off the body and finding out how much work i’ve got to do . Got to make some more space around the car to work in because it’s only gonna become a bigger issue. Got some hooks and hangers from mitre 10 to take care of some of it. Would really love my own garage right about now...

Always good to know of localish cortina drivers. Im from Pukekohe which is local enough i suppose. Think Im gonna stick with the 2000e gearbox in mine. might only be 4 gears but thats what I like about it. Close ratios too! Definitely staying with the bench seat. Will hopefully be done by this time next year!!!

Itching to get stuck in to these front guards and get them off the car but have been so busy at work I havent had the time. The work has given me the funds for tools and stuff tho. Scored a bunch of cheap air tools off trade me (reciprocating saw, die grinder kit, chisel kit) Also got a 2nd hand air compressor and engine stand too. Think Ive saved a bunch by avoiding places like ripco! I definitely want to replace both the guards and its either steel panels from the uk at a price or fibreglass panels which are probably not as good. Also from the uk but at a friendlier price. Would like to hear from anyone out there who's done it so I can investigate my options further. For the rest of the body Im looking at getting a sandblaster and doing it myself. Problem is I dont really know shit about them. I'm thinking I'd need one with a vacuum so Im not burning through alot of sand? Am I right? http://www.trademe.co.nz/Browse/Listing ... =332241862 It ain't cheap but its cheaper than a quote I got to get someone else to do it. Wouldn't it be nice to have shitloads of cash around to get me rolling in a few weeks! Yeah but that would be cheating. Budget build is the only way to go!!