Project Korean Cortina - MOT day

[mat_the_cat]

Well, I am wondering about changing the diff...

 

With the heavy duty Cortina axle it's basically an Atlas unit in a different casing. So a diff from a Capri should fit, and if I got one from a 2.8 it would give me a 3.09:1 final drive ratio instead of the 3.44:1 I have currently. Would make for more relaxed cruising, and make first gear more usable - at the moment I mostly pull away in second as the 2wd R380 'box is designed for a van and hence quite low geared. LSD would be the icing on the cake!

[Guest Hooli]

DIdn't some Capris, Brooklands etc? have LSDs?

[mat_the_cat]

Yes, and I can well imagine how much they go for given old Ford scene tax!

[mat_the_cat]

I made it down (and back!) to the Retro Rides gathering on Sunday, followed by a drive to Bromsgrove to have a look at another Hyundai for sale

No issues on the way down but predictably hit heavy rain as we approached Wales. Just outside Telford the wipers decided to go on strike, and came to a halt halfway up the screen. We were planning to stop for a meal so I slowed right down and came off at the next junction.

 

We had our meal, whilst I was thinking things over as to what could be wrong. I knew I had a spare motor and stalk back home, but nether much use to me there! So when the waitress asked if we wanted the bill, I made probably the most unusual request she'd had that day. To her credit, she returned with both the bill, and a single potato (at no extra charge).

 

 

I smeared it on the screen before we drove to a petrol station so I could work on it under cover. Not a great success, as although it prevented beading, it left a greasy film which was equally difficult to see through! Fortunately the problem seemed to be a loose linkage which had jammed itself up. Easily fixed and worked fine all the way back.

[mat_the_cat]

I'm not sure whether this should go here, or in the Giffer Trinkets thread but here is is...

 

 

 

A guy on Retro Rides saw the car and it turned out his dad had one back in the day. He still had this lamp, and wanted it to go to a good home, so offered to post it to me Even refused my offer of payment!

 

I plugged it in and of course it worked!

 

[mat_the_cat]

I've only just realised that I (and the car!) were spotted at the Retro Ride Gathering:

 

[Zelandeth]

That's a really handsome looking motor there I reckon.

[mat_the_cat]

Looking through old photos this week I found this, dating from 1999 at a guess. It was actually taken on a visit to North Wales, and is on a bridge we often use when out on a run in the woods!

 

 

Unfortunately you can't actually drive down to the bridge any more, so no chance of an identical repeat. But maybe I can get the next best thing!

 

Back to the present day, and it's probably the last time I'll take it out this year. So I've given it a thorough wash, including the underneath, and left it in the wintry sun today to dry out.

 

 

 

 

Plans for the winter tinkering are fairly minor - better soundproofing on the floor, and maybe replacing the headlining.

[mat_the_cat]

At the Festival of the Unexceptional, I was chatting to a journalist from Practical Classics, who took a few notes and pictures. I checked the issues immediately after the show (I'm not a subscriber) but when I didn't appear assumed they'd deemed it not magazine-worthy. But in the November issue...

 

[mat_the_cat]

This has been sat out of the rain for the past few months, although I did fire it up once to warm everything through. There's one or two jobs I want to sort out though; the first of which being making the car a little bit more refined. I love the noise of the engine, but road noise is some way behind modern standards, and I have a large roll of sound-deadening material left over from doing the van.

 

In my haste to get the car on the road I didn't bother cleaning the carpets, so it'd be good to give them a good going over. Also, of of the seat bolts has stripped the captive nut welded into the shell, so it would make sense to sort that out at the same time.

 

I had a little bit of spare time this afternoon, so made a start.

 

 

 

34 minutes leisurely working to get to this stage, which I thought was surprisingly quickly!

[RayMK]

I drove mine for about 50 miles yesterday and yes, refinement is lacking when compared to a 'modern' which I drive most days - except that the Stellar with its tall old fashioned (but new) tyres laughs at potholes.  My Mitsubishi Mirage has to be steered round them!  Even with its original engine the Stellar is a very enjoyable drive.  Having a V8 soundtrack must make it magical  .  Do you think I'm biased just a little bit?

[danthecapriman]

Be interesting to see how you get on with the sound proofing.

It won't be that long before I'll be fitting my Capris new carpet set and I've thought about adding a bit more in the way of sound deadening. The factory stuff is rather sparse!

[mat_the_cat]

http://www.soundservice.co.uk/TecsoundT50.html

 

This is what I've gone for, and happy with its performance in the van - a couple of pictures here:

http://autoshite.com/topic/18869-what-has-two-seats-a-mid-mounted-6-cylinder-engine-and-a-turbo/?p=996376

 

Part of my issue is I've welded in repair sections to the floor, and they don't have any kind of deadening, plus the original 'woolly' matting underneath the carpet has compressed a fair bit so isn't doing much of a job.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

At the Festival of the Unexceptional, I was chatting to a journalist from Practical Classics, who took a few notes and pictures. I checked the issues immediately after the show (I'm not a subscriber) but when I didn't appear assumed they'd deemed it not magazine-worthy. But in the November issue...

 

20171130_223004.jpg

 

Out of interest, have you had an opportunity to take this car to a Hyundai dealership, or even their UK Head Office in High Wycombe? Could be a bit of a giggle to show them a bit of their own history.....

[Wack]

Re the windscreen

 

Last weeks wheeler dealers was an old Saab , screens no longer available , they went to a Guy that guarantees to find a screen for any car

 

It's just curvature , they found one the same curvature , drew round the old one , they using a glass cutter and some petrol cut it out with heat

 

Very interesting to watch, he charged them $500 fitted though it was in the US , I wonder if anyone in the uk offers a similar service for classic cars

[mat_the_cat]

Out of interest, have you had an opportunity to take this car to a Hyundai dealership, or even their UK Head Office in High Wycombe? Could be a bit of a giggle to show them a bit of their own history.....

 

I've thought about it, but yet to do that. I will get photos when I do though!

 

This afternoon was freezing and rainy, but I decided to spend it fitting the soundproofing - in my fully appointed heated workshop:

 

 

Obviously for working on an 80s car, I needed the appropriate soundtrack:

 

 

It was actually really nice just to spend some tinkering time, with no rush to get the job finished. First job was the front footwells (note the hot air ducts for the rear seat passengers - decadent!)

 

 

 

Before covering with some leftover domestic carpet underlay.

 

 

Then finally with the original sound insulation.

 

 

Same with the main section of the floorpan.

 

 

Last job was to tidy up the wiring loom, where I had uncovered it to add/splice in wires many years ago.

 

[mat_the_cat]

they went to a Guy that guarantees to find a screen for any car

 

It's just curvature , they found one the same curvature , drew round the old one , they using a glass cutter and some petrol cut it out with heat

 

Even this one?

 

 

I can see that method would work for some screens, but surely the chances of precisely matching a double curvature on EVERY screen are a bit slim? Especially as older screens are toughened, which can't be cut after the toughening process.

 

Anyway, I've made a start on the carpet. This is it before pressure washing:

 

 

It's currently hanging up to dry inside, so I'll take an after photo when daylight and weather permits. Wondering about a new carpet, but then I might feel bad about getting in it! Living up a muddy track makes it difficult to keep anything clean.

[txe4]

Hey Matt,

 

Thank you for keeping on coming back to this thread. It's a favorite for me - I love the V8 Hyundai and your patience with it.

 

Always enjoyed the "very ordinary looking car modified to go stupidly fast, but with few/no signs from outside it's been done" sleeper thing - tho the Stellar is far from "ordinary" now.

[mat_the_cat]

There's still a little bit of discolouration on the carpet, but much better so I'll leave it for now. It's now mostly fitted, just a few bits of trim to fasten in place, the centre console and the two front seats. Can't wait to use it again!

 

[mat_the_cat]

Also, one of the seat bolts has stripped the captive nut welded into the shell

 

I missed out this bit - first of all I used a holesaw to remove the captive nut.

 

 

I then welded a new nut onto a penny washer, then welded that in place into the hole. A quick splash of paint, and job done.

 

[mat_the_cat]

I was wondering about taking this to Chester today, but as it happened I had a rather late night, so had a lie in instead. The interior is all back together - check out the luxury!

 

 

 

I popped the bonnet to check the fluids, and sadly the engine is showing the signs of sitting unused Aluminium bits corroding left right and centre.

 

 

 I was pleased how easily it started seeing as it's not been run since December. I've wired in a dashcam, given the number of people who seem to cut me up in this it's only a matter of time before there is a 'moment'. Fairly uneventful drive, but here are the nicest sounding bits I was going to combine them on YouTube, but after most of the evening to upload I now find that this feature is no longer available...

(Hubnut has nothing to fear!)

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Exiled_Tat_Gatherer]

Loving the sound from that - I take it the sound deadening has made a big improvement?

Just showed the (half Polish) GF the Lada and SD1 - she's plumped for the SD1 so hopefully I'll be tooling around to a similar soundtrack this summer.

 

Car looks great - how's it hanging together body wise?

[Rocket88]

How much effect did the sound deadening have............about to do the same with mine.....

[mat_the_cat]

Car looks great - how's it hanging together body wise?

 

*Now* it's pretty good rust wise - see earlier in the thread for the welding done! Realistically at some point in the future, maybe 20 years time it will need a full restoration like TripleRich is doing to his Granada. I know there was rust between spot-welded seams, and although I worked rust converter between them as much as possible, followed by Dynax S50, I know that rust never sleeps! Keeping it out of the salt will help, as will minimising trips in the rain. But life's too short to only use it on dry days - I've missed being behind the wheel this winter.

 

How much effect did the sound deadening have............about to do the same with mine.....

 

Difficult to say TBH. Partly because it was October last time I drove it, so a back to back comparison is reliant on my memory. But mainly as I had the window open the whole time yesterday! It's certainly made a difference with the van, which is where I installed it initially. I also added some inside the front doors on this last year, which was noticeable. Still need to do the rear doors but waiting for a reason to take the trim off. Unless I get bored...

[mat_the_cat]

This had to work for a living today - I needed to hire a chipper to dispose of some felled trees. Normally I'd use them for firewood but these are willow which retains moisture for ages, and gives off very little heat. The only two road legal vehicles with a towbar at the moment are the LT and the Stellar, and reversing a small trailer (which you can't see until it's started to turn) behind the LT is a pain.

 

So the Stellar it was:

 

 

It might not look like like much but weighs about a ton - took the edge of the performance a bit!

[Guest Hooli]

I used to burn willow & got plenty of heat once it was dry, but I know there are loads of different varieties.

[mat_the_cat]

I'm not actually sure which variety it is, but the problems here are:

1) actually drying it, given only around 100 dry days a year (worst year was 60 )

2) stopping it rooting!

 

It has to be kept in an exposed place, and supported off the ground otherwise it just keeps on growing. I cut some last spring and put it on a drystone wall to dry out. Come the autumn it had actually grown roots into the moss on the wall and was sprouting!

 

I do have a few lengths which are over 6" diameter and too big for the chipper, so might try and dry them somehow if it does give off heat eventually.

[Guest Hooli]

I just left mine in the garden & it didn't do much at all except dry. Guess it's a different variety then.

[mat_the_cat]

Well, made it to and from Shitefest. Around 900 miles in all but not without drama! I’d planned to burn through around 25 litres of diesel-contaminated petrol – smoky on a cold start so a nice long run would be no problem…

 

First hill was a nightmare, down to around 35mph, misfiring and general lack of power. Limped along on the flat afterwards, and managed to squeeze another 20 litres in, although it was so bad at this point it wouldn’t even idle. Slightly better once I pulled away and drew the fresher fuel through though

 

Until I started getting problems with fuel starvation. Rather worrying when alongside a lorry up a hill and you suddenly lose all power! Ease off, float bowls fill and back on the power can sometimes get you past but otherwise you have to look a twat and pull in behind.

 

I took out the pre-pump filter, thinking that maybe my pump was failing and struggling to pull through. This was better, but seemed to get worse again. Last mod I made was to blank off the fuel return, and this was better still but again started suffering. By this point I was only around 30 miles away so just put up with it until I got to Saabnut’s place.

 

 

From the Green Goddess's cab.

 

He kindly let me have a spare pump which I fitted, but the problem was still pretty much the same. Still thinking of a pump problem, I figured the ‘new’ pump wasn’t up to fuelling a V8 at full throttle. Next bodge was to wire up both pumps in series!

 

 

Able to reach 70mph for the first time on the trip!

Totally deserted motorway, so felt safe enough to grab a photo - I wish all journeys were like this!

 

This worked well for the first 300 miles or so, even with the return reinstated but then the same problem happened. So this proved to me that whatever the problem was, it was still there, and deteriorating. On the mountain roads near home there is a long hill I do regularly, on which it ran dry again – this was useful info as it proved the problem had developed since Thursday when I climbed it last. The other point I noticed was during this, the tick from the rear pump was still not at full chat, suggesting that the pump was OK but there was a restriction further up…

 

I now reckon it’s the paper filter under the bonnet, which although visibly not clogged may be slowing the flow. I have a spare so have changed it and will test tomorrow.

 

[Tadhg Tiogar]

....Able to reach 70mph for the first time on the trip!

20180609_201410.jpg

Totally deserted motorway, so felt safe enough to grab a photo - I wish all journeys were like this!...

What gear were you in to show 3900rpm at 70mph? I thought V8s were supposed to be relaxed.....?