Project Korean Cortina - going back in time!

[mat_the_cat]

Ah, I'd read the line "This inspection applies to all statutory seat belts", so taken that to mean any not required by law for the age of the vehicle were not testable. Thanks for the confirmation. Interestingly, the other way around (buckle but no strap) it would be deemed not to be fitted:

 

"Where a belt is fitted with no corresponding seat or if there is a buckle/stalk but no corresponding belt, it is NOT to be considered a seat belt for the purpose of this inspection."

 

Think I'll just remove it for the test and get it repaired to satisfy my OCD!

[mat_the_cat]

Now has 12 months MOT, so I took it for a spin tonight to jog with a bunch of people I know. I was a little late getting there, so they were all gathered in the car park ready to set off - naturally it attracted a bit of attention upon arrival. One guy said to me with a laugh "That sounds like a fucking V8!", to which I replied with a straight face "It is..."

 

And a puzzle was solved tonight too - after the engine swap, the water temperature gauge read high, despite me fitting a Hyundai sender (although not the original) to the Rover engine. I adjusted the gauge with a couple of resistors, but since I swapped the gauge for the new one it read low! So either my old gauge had a problem, or there were two type of (identical looking) gauge, each requiring a different resistance of sender. If I remove the resistors it now reads spot on

[mat_the_cat]

Fuel pump now mounted in the boot:

 

 

The hoses come through grommeted holes in the boot floor, and are a pretty snug fit. I've not yet taken it for a drive (the road past our house has been closed for part of the day), but it's drawing fuel from the tank and pumping fine. You can hear the pump with the engine off, but as soon as you start there's no noticeable noise.

 

Still got to route the wiring properly, but it's driveable at least!

[dollywobbler]

Good stuff. I've removed a seat belt for an MOT on my 2CV before now. There was rot around the fitting... (I did get it sorted out, but not that day)

[RayMK]

Road test awaited with interest.  I have a Reliant which needs a similar cure for fuel vaporisation/lock.  

[mat_the_cat]

Tonight was sunny and almost warm, so I thought it would be a good time for a road test. The idea was to get it good and hot, to try and replicate the problem if it had not been sorted. In other words giving it lots of beans! And the fact that my test route was partly along a rocky, steep-sided valley was just a bonus

 

And the good news is that it didn't miss a beat. It's difficult to say that it's truly fixed until I've done a few longer journeys, but I'm pretty sure it would have suffered previously doing the same sort of driving. I can't help thinking that *something* has changed though, as it never used to suffer. But what I've done can only help matters.

 

And just because I don't think I've got any side-on profile photos, I stopped to take this on the way:

 

[Rocket88]

Looks sharp!

[oldcars]

Nice looking car, glad you seem to have got to the bottom of the running issues.

[Cleon-Fonte]

^ Calendar shot.

[mat_the_cat]

I could probably take a better composed photo, with at least the car sitting level!

 

When I first experienced the running problems, on the way to SF '16, I wondered whether it was the fuel pump pre-filter so removed it at the roadside. Unfortunately it broke in the process, so I've just been running with the standard paper filter until now. But last night I reinstalled one...

 

 

...the idea is to prevent the main filter from clogging too quickly, and protect the pump from any larger debris. It's got a fairly coarse 125 micron mesh, so the pump can draw through it with little restriction.

 

Then under the bonnet I have the paper filter, with 20 micron filtration.

 

 

I always like seeing new shiny service bits on an old engine - don't know why but it's always nice seeing a clearly well used bit of equipment that looks cared for

[mat_the_cat]

Yesterday I had a couple of parcels arrive. Shiny new bits are always exciting for me, especially if they light up...

 

 

I'd replaced the originals after the respray, with some I'd raided from a low mileage car. These were a vast improvement, as the old ones had gone brittle and crazed from UV damage. But I suspect one of them was a more recent replacement, as the pair were slightly different shades - minor point I know but it bugged me.

 

Anyway, I managed to find some NOS lights and unsurprisingly I was the only bidder. You can see the difference between the new ones and the (still good condition) secondhand ones:

 

 

And here's the finished job, just before setting off for the Shady Oak yesterday!

 

 

The trip over was possibly the most frustrating journey I've ever done, with people driving incredibly slowly, and no chance to overtake. All along the A5 from Betws to Llangollen I never cracked 40 mph, and often dropping below 30! So I wasn't really feeling the love for driving by the time I'd arrived.

 

And on the way back I very nearly crashed it - I've been following a queue of 3 cars for about 10 miles @ 40 mph, and none seemingly wanted to overtake. So I had to wait for a decent straight to get past all of them. I was about halfway alongside the 3rd car when he just pulled out into me. I braked hard (too hard!), locked the wheels up and had started to slide sideways before I could react and take my foot off the brake. He continued the overtake and I managed to regain control; more by luck than skill, and nipped past them before the end of the straight. I was shaking a bit afterwards though

 

However, after that the drive was a lot more enjoyable. Corners went well, I was enjoying the sound and generally being behind the wheel. No problems with fuelling either It was all a far cry from 15 years ago, when I'd got the engine in (just) but had no idea how I was going to make the rest of it work! Being able to drive it on the road for fun seemed a distant dream...

 

[fordperv]

i too love shiney bits great find on the lights, I'm chuffed it's going well

[RayMK]

Good news with the fuelling.

 

Mine is running well but the slight oil leak is getting worse. I'm glad I don't have a posh block paved driveway.  It will be annoying if it is the head gasket again - same symptoms as last time (a couple of years ago) and same bits of the block getting oily

[dollywobbler]

I can confirm that this thing sound so, so good. Especially when accelerating into the distance.

 

Though the Class 37 that went past just before Mat left also sounded plenty delicious.

[mat_the_cat]

More pictures from the local photoshoot location!

 

 

 

 

Won't be long before it comes off the road for the winter, so making the most of the current warmish spell - this last week it hasn't even rained! And in the cool evenings it's nice to drive around with the heater on and the window down.

 

It's interesting how (to me at least) the 'feel' of an older car changes as it warms up. I don't mean just as the engine reaches temperature, but things like the gearchange, the difference in touch of the cheap, hard plastics in the cabin, even the smell...

 

I also found this video, to my amusement:

 

[dollywobbler]

That was a remarkably positive review. That interior though! Wow.

[somewhatfoolish]

20-odd years ago I used to get a lift to work in one of these; it was definitely proto-autoshite as there was very little damping action left at all, so it bobbed about for quite a while after bumps and the undulating surface of the M80 used to set the car pitching in a way guaranteed to give non-sailors the bowk.

[Felly Magic]

Motorweek is full of win, even the old theme is mega cheesy. Proper car telly but needs Woollarding to make better

[mat_the_cat]

Another eBay bargain, £8.99 for a pair of brand new indicators!

 

 

The original connectors on the car loom were a bit fragile, so I cut them off only to find the copper had gone black. So I thought I'd try a new approach to cleaning it up. I just dabbed on a blob of BH Deox gel, and this brought it back to bright copper within half an hour. New connectors crimped on, and job done

 

 

 

[mat_the_cat]

I've always said I wouldn't lower this, but I was just looking at an old photo and comparing it with a recent one:

 

 

 

It's difficult to make out the arch/tyre gap on the second photo, but it does seem to sit nose down nowadays. And the old photo shows it looking more level. I think I'll park it on flat ground, and take some measurements to be sure - I've used Cortina Mk5 springs on it but perhaps Hyundai did use a slightly shorter spring originally?

 

It won't be too difficult to find a pair of -1" springs for it if needs be, but I categorically won't be slamming it; just getting it to look standard However, I can't do anything right now as it's currently away being looked at. I've booked it in to a Rover V8 specialist in Deeside, so they can set up the carbs correctly. They seemed to know their stuff anyway!

 

I reckon it's running a touch lean, looking at the plugs and the fact I can hit over 25 mpg on a run. They told me that the standard air filter system is pretty restrictive so simply fitting K&Ns like I've done will tend to make it run lean. Problem is there's little in the way of replacement needles for Strombergs compared to SUs, which makes tuning them more tricky. So I've left it with them for a week or so.

 

I'm not expecting a massive improvement, but it''' be nice to be sure it's reaching it's full potential as it does seem a tad down on power to what I'd expect. Hopefully it's not something more serious like camshaft wear...

[chaseracer]

 

[mat_the_cat]

Hopefully it's not something more serious like camshaft wear...

 

I've got the car back now, and there's good news, bad news, and more than likely even worse news. Good news is that it's running better than before, after mixture adjustment. Second bit of good news is that he said I'd done a really nice job, and it looked like it was meant to be there

 

But that's where the good news ends. A compression test was far from healthy:

 

 

They reckoned it was mainly down to a badly worn cam, as the valves on the low compression cylinders were visibly opening less. I did wonder if this was the problem, as Rover V8s are known for it. But I'd thought/hoped that the performance was just down to a low tuned engine and me not expecting that much from it (the only other RV8s I've driven have been pulling 2 tons with an auto gearbox!)

 

So, the bad news is the cam needs changing. The worse news is that given the state of the engine internals (pretty black) the wear is unlikely to *just* be the cam. And there is a crossmember in front of the engine, so it needs to come out regardless.

 

And given the difficulty getting the engine installed in the first place, it's not a job that I want to do more often than necessary! So I think it's rebuild time...

[spartacus]

That sucks. You have to look on the bright side though, the performance will be noticeably better, even more so if you drop a performance cam in. If you can bear to drive it like a nun then it should also be more economical, although with a Rover V8 that's a relative term.

[dollywobbler]

Time to upgrade to an LS motor then! 440bhp would be fun.

[Skizzer]

Oh poo. Worth it though.

[mat_the_cat]

Every cloud and all that...

It was good to get someone familiar with the engine give their verdict, as I wasn't expecting huge power seeing as modern turbo diesels have more power and torque. So to have it running as it did with such low compression makes me think it should go 'rather well' once fully sorted.

 

Not sure what I'm feeling most daunted about though - rebuilding the engine or getting it out!

 

I probably need a deadline to work to...any dates for SF '17 yet?

[Bren]

Nothing difficult about a rebuild - head bolts snap and crank pulley can be a bit awkward to remove.

[mat_the_cat]

It's the psychological aspect of it I think, spending so much time on it so take it further and further away from a driveable car. Once I've started to rebuild the engine I'll be fine I reckon, as every step will be closer to getting it back on the road so it'll feel like progress. That said, I've never actually fully rebuilt an engine before - only top end rebuilds and shell swaps.

 

I'm thinking of a Piper 270 cam, which is a pretty mild upgrade really. 20 more bhp without sacrificing low end torque. I don't want to lose the ability to just wuffle along in 5th...

[twosmoke300]

Bugger !

Does reinforce what I said in another thread about most rover v8s being buggered tho .

Will be like a rocket once it's done! 😄

[Squire_Dawson]

Very good, was impressed when I saw it at Chodley, very neat conversion.