Project Korean Cortina - going back in time!

[dollywobbler]

Ugh. Frustrating! But then I guess after such a lengthy lay up, there was always going to be a lengthy niggle period. 

 

I'm planning a small car meet/road run in September down here if you fancy it and it's running ok by then. Probably second half of the month.

 

I say planning, I've done sod all about it so far...

[mat_the_cat]

That sounds good! It bloody well should be running OK by then, as the target is the 22nd for my mate's stag weekend. There's going to be a few of his friends there who I last saw around 12 years ago, when I was first thinking of the V8 project. Their reactions were quite derisory, so it would be amusing to see what they make of it now...

[mat_the_cat]

More progress, and a minor setback which was overcome (I think).

 

The oil pump upgrade consists of a set of taller gears, and a spacer plate to effectively make the housing correspondingly deeper. Here I've bolted the spacer on temporarily, so I could drill for a couple of roll pins for correct location.

 

 

When it came to putting on the second gasket, between the spacer and the cover, it seemed incredibly thin, although there was nothing in the kit to suggest the two gaskets were different thicknesses. I put it on, then torqued the cover up to find that the pump was locked solid

 

Fortunately I had another (thicker) gasket on the shelf, so I fitted that instead. It now turns freely but I'm hoping there's now not too much clearance. Which would be an ironic twist, as one of the first jobs I did when I got the car was replace the oil pump on the Hyundai engine. After spending something like £100 on a pump, I then for some reason decided to save the extra pound or so on a gasket, and make my own! After spending probably half an hour painstakingly cutting out the intricate shape from a sheet of gasket paper, and popped the pump on to find I had barely any oil pressure at idle!

 

I didn't realise that the thickness of the gasket was critical to the pump clearance, so after a 40 mile round trip to the dealer (revving as high as possible to keep the oil pressure up) I bought the proper gasket and found it much thinner than the card I had used Not the best decision I've ever made!

 

Anyway, the pump cover is now on and I'm waiting for the oil filter cover plate to arrive so I can try and prime it.

 

I've also fitted another fuel filter, as the pump seemed to have trouble drawing fuel through the paper filter on the way back from the MOT. I wasn't certain whether low fuel level was a factor - i.e. a greater height to pull the fuel up from but I put that filter on the outlet side of the pump and that seemed to improve things. That left nothing to protect the pump from dirt, so the pre-filter I've put in is just a mesh type with very little restriction.

 

[mat_the_cat]

A long time ago I had the realisation that the single common factor in all my failed relationships was me, and it's starting to feel the same with this car at the moment! I put on the remote oil filter to try and give me space for the front ARB, and I managed to get a used kit from eBay. Someone had marked on the direction of flow on the take-off plate - you can just make out the arrow on the bottom of this picture:

 

 

So I connected it up to the appropriate ports on the remote filter head, which had arrows cast into the metal. I remove the hose from the filter outlet and connected an oil supply to it, then turned over the oil pump with an electric drill to prime it. To my great surprise, the oil level in my reservoir increased! So I double checked the direction of rotation, then took a closer look at this picture...it's now blindingly obvious that whoever put the markings on had got them the wrong way round.

 

I just wish I had checked this beforehand, as the pump has been trying to push oil the wrong way through the filter. It must have overcome the non-return flap, but I guess there will still be a significant restriction in flow/pressure compared to the correct direction. A new filter is on order, as even if the one on there isn't damaged, when I next start it all the dirt trapped in the filter is going to flow the opposite way, straight into my new oil pump.

 

In other news, it's now taxed and fully road legal - just a shame I'm waiting for the distributor to come back from being rebuilt. Still, one step closer and all that The task for the rest of the afternoon/evening is tackling the rust in the offside rear wheel arch; it's already looking like 3 areas of welding are needed although I knew of one already.

[Rusty_Rocket]

You're so close, keep going! Good detective work with that eBay purchase.. 

[fordperv]

Keep at it your doing great

[mat_the_cat]

Cheers guys Welding the offside wheel arch is now done, and time for a glass box of wine.

 

There were a couple of patches needed on the inner wheel arch which were easily dealt with, and then a small repair to the lower wheel arch lip:

 

 

This is actually a job I started when it was still on the road - I cut the rot out and was going to weld it, but for reasons I can't remember (I think welder problems) I ended up putting filler in it instead. I chipped it off a while ago, and gave it a quick spray of paint to protect it.

 

The remaining metal was a little thin, so I cut back a little further and welded in a section to the inner skin:

 

 

Made up a template for the outer skin...

 

 

...then welded in the last piece, and painted with Zinga. It needs a skim of filler at some point, but the whole wheel arch needs attention so cosmetics can be dealt with then.

 

[fordperv]

i love checking the updates on this, look forward to the next installment

[mat_the_cat]

Thanks for that. I must admit it's nice to hear encouragement, both when things are going tits up but also when they're going well. Not a massive amount done today as we went out for a walk, but I've undersealed all the repairs in the rear wheel arch and put the wheel back on. I also noticed the engine mounts had settled slightly so the sump was contacting the steering rack, hence transferring a bit of vibration. I managed to move the engine up a touch so hopefully there is enough clearance now.

 

Last job tonight was making up some crude heat shields for the front suspension bushes. I'd noticed that the copper grease I'd used had started to melt and drip out, so guessing they were getting rather warm!

 

 

So a couple of pieces of stainless bent into shape should help a bit - time will tell. Assuming the distributor comes back this week I plan to take it for a longer test run ASAP, and see what breaks/falls off next...

[Bren]

I fitted an uprated spring to my Sd1's relief valve - i have 40psi over 2000 rpm.

 

Most of the sd1 specialists swear by a good 20/50 oil and good quality filter - oil with a high zinc content is beneficial to the motor's valve gear.

 

A tired rover V8 will run like this for years - beware if it runs 'till it dies there wont be much to re- use.

[mat_the_cat]

I must admit I wondered about the uprated spring when I got the upgrade kit for the oil pump, but decided against it as the pre-76 engines have a different oil pump drive to the SD1, and with both larger rotors AND a stronger spring I was worried about the pump drive breaking. When I got the kit it actually said to use the standard spring, so glad I went with that. I now have an oil filter so I'll give it a try tonight and see what pressure I can get spinning the pump over with the drill. I'm starting to wonder whether the pressure/valve lifter problems might have been mainly down to restricted flow through the reversed filter though, in which case my only concern is whether I've done any significant damage to the engine...

 

I'm using a 15w50 oil now, which will be a improvement over the 15w40 which was in before, especially as that was likely contaminated with petrol from the previous carb problem.

[mat_the_cat]

Put a new filter on, and span over the oil pump with the drill to get around 25 psi pressure, which seems OK considering it wasn't actually spinning that fast. Can't wait to try it for real!

 

The speedo cable arrived today, and it fitted perfectly. Around a week turnaround, and only £26 including postage so can't fault them on that. The only slight problem is they left the grommet on the original cable, but I suppose I never asked them to transfer it, and for all they knew I may have borrowed the cable from another working vehicle so I can understand why they left it intact. It wasn't a problem to slice it off and superglue it back round the new cable.

 

 

 

I then temporarily connected up a frequency generator to the speed signal input, and it's now winding on the miles. Around 600 should be about right to account for the 'missing' mileage. Given that I only have a 2000 mile limit on the insurance, I've taken a video to show what I've done in case I need to prove anything to the insurance company.

 

 

It's not as noisy as it sounds - the microphone has really picked up on the motor sound!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Wow you're super diligent, I would have given myself a pat on the back for purchasing 600 miles of free insurance. GR8 work!!

 

Whats the black box with the speedo cable coming off it?

[mat_the_cat]

Super sad you mean It's only because the speedo cable broke years ago so I missed out on valuable miles to hit the 200k milestone!

 

The black box is this:

http://www.dakotadigital.com/index.cfm/page/ptype=product/product_id=886/category_id=287/home_id=59/mode=prod/prd886.htm

 

The problem was my gearbox isn't machined for a speedo drive, so I have to take a speed signal from the propshaft (magnet & sensor), then convert that to drive the original speedo. I bought it as I was expecting payment for a cash in hand job, which hasn't yet materialised so I'm feeling very skint now!

[mat_the_cat]

Still no distributor today, so I started to sort out the gearbox oil leak. I took off the crossmember to find that it seemed to be coming from this plate:

 

 

You can see where it's sprayed out and burnt off on the exhaust, which was a giveaway. I'm always a bit nervous unscrewing things without knowing what lies the other side for fear of things springing out never to be seen again. So my usual trick is to loosen off first, rather than undo, and then take a peek.

 

 

It turns out that the oil pump for the gearbox is behind the plate, which with hindsight explains why it would leak seemingly more at idle than with the engine off. More oil pump fun! The gasket thickness is likely important for the running clearance so my plan of a quick fix faded fast. I've found a few people who do spares for the box, so will try and order something tomorrow. No chance of driving it until Thursday at the earliest now though.

[mat_the_cat]

I've made a start on the paintwork around the windscreen, so I can put the trim on at least temporarily. It won't matter too much it it's not flawless, as it's mainly to protect the areas of primer until I get a full respray. But it should look a lot better than it did!

 

Daily Mail put to good use!

 

Rubbed down and a coat of primer going on...

 

I've decided to paint the tops of the wings while I've got it all masked up too. More photos to come later.

 

Still no distributor

[mat_the_cat]

Looking better already!

 

 

Not perfect, but functional. Still needs a coat of lacquer, but whether I can do that tonight depends on whether the temperature drops too much.

[mat_the_cat]

I got a few coats of lacquer on last night, and it doesn't look too bad!

 

 

I ordered the gearbox gasket and O ring for delivery today, but nothing arrived, so for the time being I've actually got no jobs I can do on the car right now! It's a weird feeling as it's taken up most of my spare time recently, so I'm having a rare night off. Hopefully they'll arrive tomorrow so I can sort the gearbox leak, and the distributor is due to arrive back on Monday - 2 weeks after I sent it, and so much for the week turnaround.

 

In the meantime, here's a vision of 80s bargain budget luxury, fake wood 'n all:

 

[HillmanImp]

Not been able to look at this thread as your sheer dedication to get on with it makes me feel bad for the sorry state of my cars all languishing there not being worked on. 

 

Still brilliant and making me hate myself. 

[mat_the_cat]

If it makes you feel any better there was a severe lack of dedication for around 8 years, while I let life get in the way. But it just took one little job going well to fire me up again, and the more stuff I did, the more motivated I got.

 

Anyway, after domestic chores were done for the day, I've grabbed a few hours this evening to sort out the gearbox oil pump. I was initially just going to replace the gasket between the cover plate and the pump, but while I was in there I thought it would be wise to replace the O ring between pump and gearbox casing. Good job I did!

 

 

The O ring had a nick in it, which I reckon was the cause of the leak. I ran my fingers round the hole the pump sits into, and there was a small burr which may be what caused it. A few moments with a file sorted that, and hopefully it's gone in without any damage this time. Filled the box, so will see if there are any drips tomorrow although the true test will be when I run the engine and the pump starts circulating.

[mat_the_cat]

I had the day to myself today, so spent most of it in the workshop First job was filling all the box sections with cavity wax - the usual dirty job but very satisfying. While I was under there I thought I'd better sort out the magnet on the propshaft for the speed sensor.

 

 

There was already one present as many years ago I fitted cruise control, because I was doing several hundred motorway miles every weekend, and not having to have my foot on the throttle (at quiet times at least) made it very relaxing. But the problem was that the electronic speedo drive needs a minimum of 4000 pulses per mile, and I calculated that with the diff ratio and tyres fitted, I'd only see around 3000. I had a root around and found this in my cycling box of bits, so by doubling up on the magnets the sensor will see 6000 pulses per mile.

 

 

Mounted at 180 degrees to the original:

 

 

I also glued the windscreen trim back on, but will have to go up later, remove the tape and see whether it's stuck. Plus I've now repaired the front wheel arch liners and secured them in place.

 

Feeling rather pleased with my progress I decided to tackle the boot lid dent. This was as a result of the clutch on the trailer winch failing when I moved to Wales, and the car crashing into the workbench. Doubly annoying, as I'd only fitted my mint spare boot lid hours before, to minimise the amount of car panels I had to shift to the new house. No 'before' photos today, but this it what it looked like a while back after tapping out the worst of it.

 

 

Took it back to bare metal...

 

 

...gave it a skim of filler...

 

 

...followed by a couple of coats of primer:

 

 

It's not looking too bad to my surprise, but then everything looks better in matt grey! I'll try and get a coat of colour on it later, to see how it looks then...

[mat_the_cat]

Well, the colour might not be a perfect match, but the finish is at least OK!

 

 

That's the only colour paint I have in at the moment, so it'll do to keep any rain off the primer - as it looks likely to be a wet week coming up. It would be nice to take it to Stratford this weekend, but that depends how confident I feel in it and how much testing I can do during the week.

 

Windscreen trim hasn't stuck that well, so I may have to think of a plan B. For now the gaffer tape can stay!

 

[mat_the_cat]

Finally!

 

 

[mat_the_cat]

I'm currently walking round with a HUGE stupid grin on my face

 

I'm working from home today, so I popped the distributor on as I needed to go on a few job related errands. Might as well put the test run down on expenses, even if it will probably barely cover the fuel. Then I loaded up with tools and set off. It's running absolutely beautifully, and sooo flexible. You can spend most of the time in 5th, even in 30 mph limits.

 

With hindsight it was probably not the best idea to head to Porthmadog on a hot sunny day in the middle of the tourist season, for a test run in a car where the cooling system is unknown, but despite the traffic there were no problems there. Oil pressure wasn't much higher when cold, but dropped very little when hot so that is great news, and the engine sounds quiet. Gearbox is a lot smoother changing gear, presumably now that too has better oil pressure.

 

Only problem was that the speedo went to 0 partway through the calibration process (driving a measured mile) so I need to see why. But aside from that I have a little more confidence in the car now - it took a huge knock when it cut out and I then lost oil pressure. Maybe I'll try a journey of more than 20 odd miles next.

 

I did manage a crap petrol station shot too - people were queuing and generally getting quite irate (shouting at another guy) so I didn't dawdle to get a better photo. I'm sure there'll be plenty more chances!

 

 

Best moment was getting caught behind a VW Up dawdling at 40 mph. Along came a nice straight between two stone walls, so down came the window, I gave it a bootful and was in front rather quickly...

[320touring]

Congratulations!

 

Always a boon to get the bloody thing on the road:)

[dugong]

I REQUIRE VIDEO FOOTAGE

[phil_lihp]

Brilliant to see the Stellar out and working well, that must feel good!

[catsinthewelder]

Top job Mat,  really good news

[dollywobbler]

About time I did a video review of something with a V8 in it I reckon...

[vulgalour]

All of this is excellent.