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65 Mk 1 GT Cortina 2 To Many Doors


66gt

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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.

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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. 

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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.

 

 

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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.

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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. 

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Got the car dropped to Autoblast and I left the front and rear screens in and the blaster wanted them taken out. I thought for about 30 seconds and decided why the fuck I am I doing this 2 stage resto and just do it it one hit. Gave myself an uppercut. Unsure why I went down that track but anyway onwards and upwards. I have access tomorrow to pop the screens, remove the headlining and the 4 doors which are fucked and the trim still left on it. So the the outside panels are getting media blasted so there won’t be a spec of that shit red paint on it anywhere. I strip out the 4 mint doors I have this week and get them over to him next Saturday. I’ll post some pics tomorrow of it stripped and ready to go

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Cortina is all blasted and undercoated. Went to see it today and the outer panels are pretty shitty with weapons grade bodge repairs. The basic structure is all ok but it needs both rear quarters , both outer sills, 2 front guards and the front panel. I have all the panels except the rear quarters. I can get a couple of NOS ones so will get that underway. It’s a lot shittier than I expected but hey that’s oldschool cars and the challenges that go with them. I’ll post pics in the  weekend of the  damage.

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Some pics. As you can see the front end is pretty shitty however overall looking at it it’s not to bad for 53 years old. If anyone knows of any old Mk 1’s lying around with a half decent front end I’d be keen. Best thing is all the shite red paint gone!!!!

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First thing to do is get it in the jig at R3 to see how it all lines up and then sort out the front end. Looks like the welding and bodge panelbeating been done by the apprentice who was then sacked after the job as Stevie Wonder would have done a better job

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Got a price off Ex Pressed Steel Panels in the UK for the sills,  boot panels and front valence which is the complete front panel and numerous other bits and is $4,600 all up plus tak and import fees in NZ would be at least a grand. Problem is the front panel is 10 months lead time. The other panels are 3 weeks. I think I will get all the other panels and try and find a front cut here. If anyone knows of anything out their I’m prepared to pay a finders fee if it’s what I need and purchase. 

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Some more pics of the shitty areas that need work. The lower sections on the rear guards are shit and also some close ups of the front end which is in a sorry state. There must have been a ton of bog in it. Also after a boot and bonnet which I will pay good $$ for as well.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Not much to report on. Decent panels are like rocking horse shit to get and with a 10 month lead time on a new front panel I’m seriously contemplating buying another Mk 1 to get the front panel off. Engine rebuild is underway and powdercoater is a 4 week lead time so drip feeding parts too him. Having my op on my foot next week and leg in plaster for 8 weeks which will slow progress

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  • 3 months later...

Bugger all progress. I have ordered new sills, boot floor and other repair panels for the boot from Ex Pressed Steel in the UK. The front panel is still an issue and I’ve been trying to get this Mk 1 in Tauranga that’s on Trademe. It’s an auto plus it’s deregistered but the guy that owns it still thinks it’s worth 5.5k. Ive offered him 2.5k but he’s not budging.. 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Scored a complete body off the Tard and it’s in Invercargill. Just organising to get it bought to Auckland. It has a mint front end and rear quarters which will solve most of the issues with the GT shell. Caught up with the engine builder and dropped off all the bits I have. Block has been bored to 86mm and sleeved and he reckons it’s running Telstar pistons. Apparently an oldschool mod from 30 years ago! Plan is to linebore with BRM steel main caps and the crank just needs a polish then he’s working on sourcing a set of replacement pistons. I am getting the bottom end balanced as well. Once the bottom end is assembled we will sort out the head. Focus is on getting the 2 door panel finished and then to the paint shop so I can’t start putting it back together as 2 cars in parts is a bit of a mare with bits everywhere.

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  • 5 weeks later...

Got the body to my olds in Timaru amd the oldschool freight network looks like it’s going to get it to Auckland. Always risky buying sight unseen but it’s a good one. That good in fact I’ll have to consider using this rather than fixing the GT shell. Bit of a dilemma.

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  • 2 months later...

No updates apart from bottom end of the engine is done. Ended up sleeving the block to use the pistons that were already in it. Next job is reco the head and convert to unleaded. Body is on hold until the 2 Door GT is finished at R3 and then onto this one straight away

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