Project Korean Cortina - going back in time!

[Partridge]

This is brilliant. So many people would have given up on this long ago. Kudos for you getting started again! I hope to see it at shows in not too distant future

[morris_ital_lover]

I don't know whats better, the Hyundai Stellar or the Hyundai Stella based lesbian shenanigans... Regardless, TOP FRED.

[mat_the_cat]

Well, I hope there will be more of the former and considerably less of the latter in the future!

 

That picture with the petrol tank,jump leads and soda crystals looks like some sort of ied, the straw,ply wood and Transit(?) wheel giving it a retro Irish feel rather than a more Eastern vibe.

 

Not a Transit wheel, but bonus points for the fact it's off a van. Double bonus points as the PCD is exactly the same as on a 5-stud Transit, but it's actually from my early shape LT35 camper. I did wonder if the thieving bastards return, whether they would be frightened off by a bubbling petrol tank with wires coming from it...

 

This is brilliant. So many people would have given up on this long ago. Kudos for you getting started again! I hope to see it at shows in not too distant future

 

Thanks    You'll need to get yourself along to mid-Wales in May then, as that should be its first outing! Unlikely to be finished by then, but hopefully will be mechanically and structurally sorted. Enough to get onto a trailer anyway as the venue isn't a million miles away from me.

[Eric]

I like both the stories!

[petr]

 Good to see a Stellar again! I haven’t seen one for so long I had forgot about them. Top stuff saving it.

[ayrshirelad]

Well done you for restoring one of the forgotten cars of the 80s 90s. My mate had one and let me drive it once or twice. I d have one as a daily. The local dealer here was Calex car sales which was a tad unfotunate for Hyunadi! Given the reputation of said dealer locally. However they sold loads of them. Killies taxi fleet for a while was either Lada Riva or Stellers!

[mat_the_cat]

Update on the electrolysis - seems to have done the trick nicely!

 

 

I might slosh some 2 stroke petrol mix inside it, as the slight oilyness may stop it from rusting until I've prepared the shell where the tank mounts to, and can fit the tank then fill it. Managed to fix the sender too, which had rusted solid.

[wackywacerwill]

Looks like it's worked a treat. 2 bang oil sounds a good shout too, certainly won't do it any harm.

[Cavcraft]

We got one out of the auctions for about £40 all in. Tried selling it for a few weeks, had a bit of interest but it was hopelessly unreliable, every time someone came to see it, it would pack up. Sold it to a banger racer at work who was impressed with it on the oval.

[mat_the_cat]

I wonder why they seemed so popular with banger racers? Maybe just because they were cheap and RightWD?

 

Yesterday I went to my local motor factors to get a 15 mm grommet, 6 & 8 mm fuel pipe and pipe clips. Would you believe that they had no grommets AT ALL, no 8 mm pipe and only jubilee clips?! I guess a lot of modern motors have specific fuel pipes which clip together.

 

So today I went a bit further afield, found a factors which had what I wanted and got chatting to the guy behind the counter about what I wanted. He seemed both surprised and interested, and threw in the fuel pipe clips for nothing! Nice one

[Lankytim]

They were popular with banger racers because they were ROCK 'ARD motors. No cam belt to get damaged and break, strong bodywork, RWD and a solid rear axle, so pretty indestructible. They were much stronger than the Cortina it was based on. Although very cheap to buy they were never very common, so pretty rare on the banger track. Not the sweetest handling cars, I used to heat the rear springs up with a gas axe to lower the back end.

[mat_the_cat]

Latest progress has been the offside chassis rail. Wire brushed back to bare metal, then all seams treated with phosphoric acid to slow any rust in them. Long term the only cure would be to split all the spot welds and remove all rust but with the limited use its likely to get, a 'slow down' job should last a good few years.

Then ran new copper petrol feed and return lines to the engine bay. 8 mm was left over from a central heating job, the 6 mm was only a few quid from an air conditioning supplier! Not touched the sills yet...



In other news, how rare is this?



An original factory tool kit - sadly the tools themselves have suffered after a few years storage in a damp shed

[mat_the_cat]

Before the petrol tank goes back on I've been cleaning up the shell where it mounts. Quite pleased that most of the rust underneath didn't take too much work to get back to shiny metal...

 

 

This is the only area which needs welding:

 

 

It's a shame that I can only spend an hour or so on it at a time, as it's really slowing me down. On the positive side though, I've got a new welder which already seems to be giving better welds than the Clarke unit I had previously. The feed mechanism seems to be that little bit smoother although not in the same league as a nice Butters machine I had a go on a while back.

 

More good news is that the front calipers have now been rebuilt. I've only seen a photo of them so far but they do look good

 

 

Sorry to the purists (and Vulgalour especially!) as they aren't the original calipers, but it's my car so I can do what I like   What's the general consensus on modifications anyway?

 

Bizarrely I feel a bit guilty about not doing the work myself! With the exception of a rebuilt gearbox I've done everything else on the car, so it feels a bit like cheating farming out work that I know I can do. It was just that I felt like treating myself, and at the time was busy with a load of other non car-related stuff.

[dollywobbler]

I think there's a general vibe of anti-mod, but usually aimed at angle-grinder spring chops and the like. Can't see many folk complaining about upgrading the brakes.

[mat_the_cat]

For me I like any mods to be neat and look 'factory', although I have a thing for red brake calipers! I guess I'm doing now what I wanted to do when I was 18 (when I simply painted the original M16 calipers bright red...)

 

The brakes were always a bit of a weak point in that they were prone to fade, and in fact the later '87 on models had vented discs as standard although only twin piston calipers.

[Partridge]

You should really paint your brake calipers beige.

[mat_the_cat]

Ha! Like your thinking...

 

I've got a VW van, and it seems to be the done thing to fit Porsche brake calipers to them. Naturally when I replaced the calipers last year I had to follow the herd mentality.

 

[dangerousdave]

good to see someone doing a stellar I remember my uncle having one when they were new not seen one for years would love to see it when its done

[tooSavvy]

IIRC... someone on 'tweb was looking for struts...made of unobtaium + gold plating... however [VERRY] helpful local spannerman did jiggling/slotting and got something else to fit.... dunno what, sadly 

 

The spring pans had rotted through....

 

 

TS

[Junkman]

sadly the tools themselves have suffered after a few years storage in a damp shed

 

 

You soak those in a bowl with white vinegar overnight and they'll be sparkling like shit rolled in glitter.

[mat_the_cat]

Hmmm, not 100% sure whether I want my tools to look (or feel!) like glitter-coated shit, but that's a handy tip Now wondering how much vinegar it would take to dip the shell into...

[vulgalour]

Why would I be offended at any of the work in this thread?  It's all top stuff and paying someone else to do work is no bad thing if you can afford it especially on fiddly stuff like calipers.  I look forward to seeing the Stellar in person, I don't think I've ever seen one outside of photographs.

[mat_the_cat]

Thought you might recognise the calipers that was all...they were off a Princess! It was just a tongue in cheek reference as I know you have a couple

[dugong]

Ha! Like your thinking...

 

I've got a VW van, and it seems to be the done thing to fit Porsche brake calipers to them. Naturally when I replaced the calipers last year I had to follow the herd mentality.

 

 

The only way you could have made this better is by spelling it 'PORCH' or 'PORSH'.

[tooSavvy]

IIRC... someone on 'tweb was looking for struts...made of unobtaium + gold plating... however [VERRY] helpful local spannerman did jiggling/slotting and got something else to fit.... dunno what, sadly 

 

The spring pans had rotted through....

 

 

TS

UPDATE, twas Practically Cla**ics!

 

Hyundai Pony 1990 fit straight on (...err, with a bit of a 'jiggle', mebbies) 

 

 

TS

[vulgalour]

I did think they looked familiar, but couldn't place them... I understand now.  I'm probably wounded by it or something.  I will try and remember to liberate the calipers from the banger Princess after it's been raced as it'll be unlikely they'll be knackered.  Who did you get to do the refurb?  Looks a nice job.

[mat_the_cat]

Good idea to save them...quite a desirable part I'd bet!  It was Bigg Red who refurbed them and TBH I'm really pleased with both the job and the service. Not cheap, but it feels like I have my money's worth if you know what I mean. They've now arrived, and I've assembled them with pads and a link pipe:

 

Hopefully they actually work as good as they look, which is obviously the most important thing! Still been wire brushing the area under where the tank mounts, and have put on some rust remover to remove any traces which may be left. Should be able to move onto welding in the next couple of days, then tank back in.

[dugong]

AP four-pots. Stay classy man. 

[Felly Magic]

I did see a pretty minty looking gold Stellar at Stanford Hall last summer

 

[Partridge]

Didn't that end up getting raced?