kiwitina Posted September 5, 2012 Share Posted September 5, 2012 Well Ive been looking around for something to lug stuff around in for a while now. There was a mk1 cortina wag that I came agonizingly close to getting on trademe but lets not get in to that... I had been using my folks ford courier so it eventually won me around.... Its an 89 Ford Courier XL. Only done 209,000ks but has been stored in a container for the past 3 years. Picked it up for $1711 knowing that it will require a fair bit of tinkering to get right. It was originally white but the dude painted it in some shade of gray and managed to trap a fair bit of moisture in between. There is rust in many places but at this stage it doesnt look too serious. Just needs work. Interior was/is pretty yuck. I had to remove the seat to remove all the rubbish. Was too scary to take pictures so I got one after. Still lots more to do in there. Wheels are pretty fugs IMO but theres decent tread on the tires and now Im shit broke. I spent a day or so just prepping it for its first start in 3 years. Oil change, Oil squirt down the bores, fuel tank flush, carb clean, new battery etc etc. When I finally got to turning the key the alarm immobiliser had shut the car down. Eventually I worked out that I had 30 secs from when i connected the battery to try start the car. It went but pretty rough. Got a sparky to come and cut the alarm out as it was going to be a problem. Decided to do a radiator flush as I stabbed a cooling hose whlie battling a stubborn oil filter. Also replaced the ignition coil just cos. Was going to do a few passes down the drive to check brakes etc. but it wont go in to gear. Clutch pedal is super soft so Im suspecting the master or slave cylinder is kaput?? Would that be right? I need to have another play in it to troubleshoot some more. Got to keep the cab covered for leaks as theres some trim missing around the windscreen. I dont really have plans for it beyond getting it on road. There is things I can see myself doing but the Cortina is taking priority as soon as this is up to a road worthy standard. Maybe one day if time and funds allow ill add some chrome, steel wheels, white walls and that will be it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwitina Posted September 9, 2012 Author Share Posted September 9, 2012 Got sick of looking at the dirty vinyl floor. Was so screwed and smelt a lot like cat piss. Pulled it out and binned it. Will roll steel floors until I can afford to get some carpet. I actually kinda like it like this. Did find a bit of rust down there though. Will get that fixed later. Nothing is getting that stain out of that seat. Installed new clutch master and slave cylinders and bled the lines. Clutch now disengages so I can now drive it. Took it up and down the drive to check brakes before letting it loose in Te Atatu. All good under the hood. Would you believe that this doesn't have power steering?. It is an absolute haul to turn. On my road test I ended up down a narrow dead end street. My 3 point turn closely resembled that scene in Austin Powers on the golf cart??. Hahaha was a good laugh. 8 ball gear knob broke off so installed some shitty SCA one. Also replaced some dud bulbs and fixed a broken door handle. Taking it for a warrant tomorrow. Pretty positive it will get one! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chickity Posted September 9, 2012 Share Posted September 9, 2012 Pfft. I can get mine in and out of auckland parking buildings with no power steering, and I'm willing to bet you're bigger than me. The austin powers reference is highly entertaining though. Can see how it could happen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwitina Posted September 10, 2012 Author Share Posted September 10, 2012 Yah best thing is its like driving and working out at the same time! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwitina Posted September 12, 2012 Author Share Posted September 12, 2012 Wof guy was a picky mofo. Got a few rust repairs to do. Got to find a bump stop for the rear which is missing. Adjust torsion bars in front to allow more travel in the suspension. Will probably need a new bonnet as this one has rusted out along the front edge. that is all. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwitina Posted September 23, 2012 Author Share Posted September 23, 2012 Ive been spending too much time on this as the Cortina sits neglected in the garage. For wof I've - Adjusted torsion bars to give the suspension some travel (it had none) - Fitted some bumpstops in the rear (it had none) - Fitted some replacement chrome trim around the windscreen (it had none) - Fitted another bonnet - Cleaned up some rust on the engine crossmember. Last thing on the wof list is some rust removal in about 5 different places The annoying thing is that in my time working on the ute I can see what an idiot the guy was that I bought it off. Stupid stuff like painting over mud and grease. Covering up rust in the tray with a rubbery seam sealer. Boring annoying shit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhangareiKE70 Posted September 23, 2012 Share Posted September 23, 2012 Covering up rust in the tray with a rubbery seam sealer. Had a whole bunch of this crap in the tray of my ute covering rust. Pissed me off so much to find all of it. It's as if they thought it would just disappear if they covered it and ignored it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwitina Posted September 24, 2012 Author Share Posted September 24, 2012 Covering up rust in the tray with a rubbery seam sealer. Had a whole bunch of this crap in the tray of my ute covering rust. Pissed me off so much to find all of it. It's as if they thought it would just disappear if they covered it and ignored it. Yeah its pretty low. Means Im gonna have to get another tray. Definitely one with a tuff deck me thinks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WhangareiKE70 Posted September 24, 2012 Share Posted September 24, 2012 Tuff-decks are where it's at, I would get one if I could. I don't have much of a choice with mine, have to fix it really, as there isn't exactly a whole lot of spare trays around for 720s. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwitina Posted September 24, 2012 Author Share Posted September 24, 2012 Bummer bro. Could you pillage some bits off another tray of another make? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwitina Posted September 25, 2012 Author Share Posted September 25, 2012 Picked up this puppy from BOC yesterday. Unfortunately I didnt have enough $$ for some wire as well So that will have to wait till pay day. $630+GST. Pretty happy with that. I decided to do what I could to straighten the front bumper. The mounts were pretty rusty so I chucked them in the blast cab then gave em some POR15. They are now the best looking part of the car! I didn't have hopes of getting it looking perfect. Just wanted to make it look a little better. Before After Paint doesn't match but I dont care for the mo. Will probably paint the whole truck in the next 6 months so Ill do it properly then (and purchase some panel hammers and dollies) 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwitina Posted September 27, 2012 Author Share Posted September 27, 2012 Had my first go at welding... Just practising at this stage. F&*k Im terrible. more practise needed by heaps. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwitina Posted October 1, 2012 Author Share Posted October 1, 2012 No patches on yet. Still not good enough with a welder. Practicing. Trying to be patient with it. Sourced a replacement tray so removed the old one to find that theres quite a bit of rust underneath. Took it all back to metal then metal readied it and splashed some Por 15. Will hopefully have the rest of the rear section of chassis done tomorrow. The underside of the tray was quite bad. Idiot had covered rust in this seam with silicone. So this is what was hidden on the other side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kiwitina Posted October 9, 2012 Author Share Posted October 9, 2012 Ive por15'd the chassis from the rear of the cab back. Also took it for its longest drive yet. Drove 30 mins out to pick up a replacement tray. Got home feeling good that I had ticked one issue off the list. Then walked into a puddle of coolant on my way into the house. Damn. One issue is resolved and another surfaces. Seems to be coming from the engine somewhere, hoses are old but doing their job. Couldn't be fu*&ed with it. Slammed the door. Left it for another day. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kiwitina Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 It’s been a long time in between updates. Well have been plodding away on this slowly and steadily. The coolant leak was coming from a bung seal on the water pump so I replaced that and also did the cam belt at the same time. Spent a whole lot of time practicing welding before taking the mig to it. Didnt get many pics but even if I did I probably wouldn’t be keen on posting them. Hahaha nah my welding was ok. I think Ive done enough in prep and paint to make the patch last as long as possible. I didnt get pics of the rear bottom edge of the cab before patching it up but it had various rust holes along that seam. Patched that up and grinded it down. Then while the tray was off. I thought it'd be good to sand back and por 15 the whole rear of the cab Pretty happy with how it turned out. With the fuel tank out I also took the surface rust off that and por 15d it and the cross beam at the rear of the cab. I had high ambitions of getting the car in for a wof that day so didnt manage any pics. Ofcourse I didnt make it in for a wof either... But I did the next day. Wof guys were buzzing about the work I'd done underneath which was nice as no one else is ever gonna see it. haha I still have a lot of work to do but now atleast I can use it. The patches up on the roof are all covered up but I need to do some filler smoothing to finish it. Some wont like this idea but Im going to paint the thing in POR15. I know its not going to look great and will be sensitive to UV light but it will be a good quick fix to get around the 4 colour scheme its currently in! I will then have a solid base on which to prime and paint on when or if the time comes. What ya think? Im going to hopefully get a plastic welding kit to fix the cracks in the tray liner. So if anyone has any advice regarding plastic welding Id love to hear it. Ive also got to fix up a few dents in the rear corners, do another rust repair and get those tray rails cleaned up and back on The yellowing on the paint is from a rust killer but shows where some work is needed. I will be after a tonneau cover eventually if anyone knows where I might get one. Cheers Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest flyingbrick Posted March 29, 2013 Share Posted March 29, 2013 Get a prof to do the plastic welding- lots of ppl around who do it. Por15 has been used by Rodders for years as top coat. There's some good guides around on painting cars in the stuff with a roller ( and then sanding the shit out if it to get it smooth.. Then repeat) You may as well borrow/buy a spray gun and compressor and just give it a quick flick in normal paint.. Couldn't look worse than por 15 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kiwitina Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Thanks flyingbrick for the advice. But I am a tight f*&k with a baby on the way so I went down to mitre10 and got me the most powerful/cheap soldering iron and a bag of black cable ties. Cleaned the tray. Was dirty as. Bit more rust to clean up as well Set to work welding the cracks together using the cable ties as weld rods. Before After Made a V shape in the crack using a file then filled it with plastic. Did the opposite side of it for more strength. This bakliner deck isnt very good. Where it is cracked is right where the plastic goes really thin. Which is where you need it to be thick and strong. Bit of a manufacturing fault/design flaw/whatever. This part was tricky as. Trying to make the plastic go into a shape it hadnt been in for ages. Looks ugly but I suppose if I cared more I could sand it down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kiwitina Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 Did a transmission oil change today. I have this noise in 4th gear. Like a light grinding noise. Just on deceleration. Doesnt sound good but when I flushed the oil the magnetic drain plug didnt have any metal on it. Put new oil in and test drove. Noise is still there. Any ideas? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest johnnyfive Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 So it wasn't there before oil change is what you are saying? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest kiwitina Posted April 3, 2013 Share Posted April 3, 2013 Yeah it was there before. I needed to change the oil anyway but was hoping for some miraculous fix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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