Bangas 67 Mk2 Cortina

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Mostly pictureless update- she runs! Albeit pretty poorly. Currently having issues with the injectors firing, cylinders 2&3 definitely aren’t playing the game- can remove the injector plugs when running and it makes no difference.

 

Have swapped around injectors and the issue stays with those cylinders so seems like a loom or ecu issue. Have sent an email off to omex in the UK to see what they think. 
 

First time down on the ground since June last year. 

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Still wrapping my head round the EFI/ECU life but my layman’s understanding after playing around for a bit is that my ECU isn’t sending ground pulses to injectors 2&3 which seems to be my issue. Injectors 1&4 are on a different pin from the ECU.

Hopefully not too much of a drama to sort out.

 

I’ve been plodding along with the interior, have managed to get all the gauges working, including rev counter which is a bonus. Slight issue is that the old 1968 rev counter only goes to 6k rpm’s, where redline in the ST170 is 7200, I’m going to try and rig up the shift light output from the ECU to be where the old generator light was in the rev counter at 6500- really need the engine to be running properly before I can see if that will work.

Speedo and rev counter still need to have the outer bezels attached but that will come after final install.

Have an underdash parcel tray to go in also but will hold off on that until everything else is finished.

Could wait to try out my Xmas present from the better half- a nice Momo California which tops it off I reckon. She also made the shifter boot .

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Picture-less update.

I didn’t pick an ideal time to run into an ECU problem as the company who produced the ECUwas in the midst of an ownership and premises change. So support was a wee bit delayed.

But last night I finally received a new calibration for the ECU using a different output for the ground wire for injectors 2&3. I switched the wiring for the injectors accordingly and after uploading the new map she fired right up and on all 4 cylinders. So stoked/relieved.

Shes booked in for a tune next Friday so plan between now and then is to try and get some kms in to weed out any major issues before dyno day.

Amazingly after ordering in August last year my surge tank should arrive tomorrow or Thursday so will get that installed before dropping it back on the ground and trying for a drive.

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All sort of back together last night so took it out for a cheeky driver. Rear master was too big with a .75 so wasn’t getting too much braking on the front.

Swapped out to a .7 in the rear this morning and it’s much better now- wants to launch you through the front windscreen.

Speedo works well with my fancy little box. Just need to set it up for VSS input only.

 

No major leaks found so far, looks like a little weep from the front of the sump to will re torque those bolts.

Bit of a weapon compared to the old 1500!

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Busy week, buttoned up enough to go off for a tune yesterday. Slight issue with the cam sensor being wired the wrong way round but that was quickly sorted.

She made 158hp at the wheels which is about what I was expecting- much more dialed in now and nicer to drive. Have been working away on eliminating all the bumps and rattles- as much as I can anyway.

Spent today tidying up the interior, gauge surrounds on, parcel shelf installed and the ECU mounted in behind the centre section of the parcel shelf.

Coming together nicely.

Will look to book her in for a cert shortly.

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So I failed at the first hurdle - has a bit more bump steer than the alignment man is happy with- it’s not terrible but border line passable.

The rack conversion I have is meant to be zero bump steep but it seems the only bit I supplied is the issue - the mk1 Capri struts.

 

Turns out there a multiple versions of bolt on steering arms for Capri/RS2000 and the version I have is the flattest/least drop.I did track down some tarmac steering arms online that look to be what I’m after but the left hand side is out of stock until next year.

 

So instead of faffing around trying to get hold of second hand steering arms that might work the alignment man has decided to make a start on sorting out rose jointed ends so he can dial out all bump steer- he’s got the tidiest mk1 Escort I’ve seen in a long time so I can’t really argue!

 

Have still been driving her a little bit, went to the Rotorua swap meet/mud fest this morning and picked up a neat mint rear boot badge.

 

Got carried away on cleaning afterward, washed, clay barred, polished and waxed. Not a bed way to spend a rainy afternoon- should invest in a DA rather than doing it by hand though.
 

Hopefully not too far off getting the steering sorted and the on to cert.

 

 

 

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Slow going with getting the bump steer sorted- know what I have to do but needed to clear things with LVVTA in terms of the pins I wanted to use/ideally avoid drilling out the steering arms and get a pin made using the standard taper.

 

The guidelines outline that any pin for a rod end conversions should be a minimum of 16mm- but that does leave a lot of meat on a Capri/Escort steering arm.

 

I have to reduce the drop compared to the standard set up so LVVTA we’re happy for me to get a pin made up with standard taper and 14mm shank for the rod end.

Just waiting on the pins now- all other bits sorted.

 

So a bit of a delay but haven’t totally wasted time- have grabbed some 20mm s hubcentric spacers, longer studs and longer shanked wheel nuts for my Simmons wheels.

 

Look much better now.

 

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Rod end conversion bits all sorted now and fitted.

Booked in for final alignment and bump steer check on the 19th and then will be on its way south for cert in Levin.

 

Took it for a pre-cert wof type check at Douglas automotive week who gave her a really good going over and there don’t seem to be any obvious face palm issues that I’ve made/missed- bump stops required for rear, and heat shields for my surge tank and front brake pipe.

I was having trouble with the handbrake working, previous master for the rear was pushing too much fluid so the shoes were adjusted to get a passable pedal feel but meant the handbrake wasn’t really working.

Tried a smaller master for the rear And seems to have sorted the hand brake and given better pedal feel.

Not too much left to do now, need to sort bolting the spacers to the Simmons wheels,  bump stops should be too far away and matching tires for my other set of wheels.

 

Hoping have it all legal by labour weekend for a bit of a road trip.

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Big progress over the past couple of weeks.

Steering/Bump steer all sorted and sent for its cert.

 

Overall cert went really well, only a handful of minor (mostly) things to do which is pretty satisfying given how much has been changed!

 

Biggest “issue” was that the brake pedal was a bit heavy so either I had to relook at the pedal ratio or brake booster- I’ve decided brake booster would be less messing around.
 

Last week accumulating parts and headed down to Levin last night to crack into it today. Have fixed everything else on the list and sorted out the location of the booster- in the drivers side front guard.

Have also attacked the inlet manifold and tapped it for the vacuum hoses.

 

Back into it tomorrow to do the finish mounting the booster, run all the lines, bleed the brakes and then put everything back together.

 

Hoping to get back in for a recheck next week, might even make the Cortina nationals at Labour weekend.

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Now the wait until it goes live so I can get a WOF.

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And she’s all legal, took 3 days for the cert tag to go live, flew through a WOF on Tuesday and then a gentle 400km test drive on Wednesday - ran like an absolute dream. 
 

Such a better car now all round- (much) quicker, better brakes, more direct steering and it’s way better fuel economy wise. 
 

 

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Pretty cool weekend, ended up down at the Cortina nationals in Christchurch with 120+ other Cortinas- some pretty amazing cars down there and a good group of people.

 

Cool Cruising snapped some cool pictures too.

 

Old Doris seemed to be pretty interesting to a bunch of people like this:

Arrived home this afternoon and clocked up around 2100kms since I left here last Wednesday and averaged about 7.4l/100kms and I wasnt really taking it easy. Car was pretty much faultless the entire time - brakes squeal a bit so need to sort that out and will check my fuel filters as it did a weird down on power thing for a couple of kms and then sorted itself.

To top off the weekend I walked away with 2nd in the poverty spec/non-GT mk2 category and best modified car!

 

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6 months on and has gone through another WOF, didn’t really get out as much as I thought over summer but did a little bit.

 

Has had a couple of teething issues, front brakes squeal when there are hot, tried copper paste and some squeal stop stuff but it eventually comes back. Bigger issue was that the clutch had started to slip when the car was warm, no issues when it was cold. Tried bleeding the clutch but no difference. The clutch is only “rated” to 180bhp and I’m right on that but haven’t driven it particularly hard.

 

So decided to pull the gearbox this week, note to future self the trans tunnel is not big enough to pull the gearbox- much easier to pull engine and gearbox or potentially drop the front subframe.
 

After much wrestling the gear box was out along with some paint and the clutch looks… fine. No signs of excess material and flywheel doesn’t look like it has been hot so I’m a bit confused really.

 

I think I’ll still grab a higher rated one just in case and get the flywheel skimmed and through it back together, one bright side is I’ve found the source of a really high pitched vibration/rattle- the dusty shield was loose inside the adaptor

Tell me I’m missing something here 

 

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Fancy new clutch bolted up, hopefully get it all back together this weekend.

Will drop the engine and subframe, slap the gearbox on and then lift it back up together.

 

 

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Gearbox install went pretty well, dropped the front subframe down on some 4 inch bolts to keep it all in line , whacked the gearbox on and lifted it all back up again.

 

New clutch is a fair bit heavier but the last one was almost too light so this is a good change. Went for a drive to Hampton Downs the day after slapping it all back together to start the 500 mile bedding in of the new clutch. No more slipping which is ideal- did adjust the pedal height as suggested by a couple of wise minds in the discussion thread.

 

The paint on the cam cover was looking a bit tatty after the engine lifting- these magnesium ST170 are apparently really good at shedding paint even from the factory.

 

So Ive stripped it and given it a few more coats of wrinkle- really tried to scuff up the surface this time so will see what happens.

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Bit of a drive over to Napier with Cortina club over the weekend, she was a cold start in Taupo on Saturday morning -1c and she fired up with no issues at all.