Project Korean Cortina - MOT day

[mat_the_cat]

I realise now that I'd have to pull something special out of the bag to even come close to the epic tales in Ratdat's and philibusmo's threads, but I suppose it's not over yet. In the meantime here are a few photos taken today in actual Welsh sunshine (which in itself is pretty amazing I guess!), which are the first shots I have of it out of the building it's been in for the last 8 years.

 

First of all I attempted to recreate a photo taken 15 years ago:

 

 

 

Same bike on the back, and almost the same T shirt (bought on the same day in the same shop anyway), although it looks like the car has fared rather better in the intervening years than I have!

 

Seeing as it wasn't raining I took it up the lane for more photos:

 

 

 

Bad news is it's running horrendously rich, so much so that I couldn't start it on the starter once it was partly warmed up. Bump starting it for quite a few revolutions got it coughing into life, with a fair bit of fuelly smoke.

[Ratdat]

Brilliant! I love seeing generally unloved chod having lots of TLC lavished on 'em. It's what this place is all about. 

[phil_lihp]

Those wheels suit it quite well - this can't be far off an MOT now can it?

[mat_the_cat]

I would have preferred to stick with the originals I think (I'm not generally a fan of more modern wheels on an older car), but they wouldn't fit over the Princess calipers. I did a lot of Google image searching to find some that I thought looked OK, and I think they suit the car as well. It's good to hear a second opinion as I wasn't sure whether that was just self justification after buying them!

 

For the MOT it needs a new tyre (part-worn arriving tomorrow), passenger front seat belt, exhaust, and sorting out the fuelling. Oh, and the indicators have stopped working. Then there's the decision whether I sort out the rear wheel arches before getting it through a test, but I've waited so long I'm leaning more towards driving it sooner and worrying about niceties later.

[Ratdat]

... I'm leaning more towards driving it sooner and worrying about niceties later.

 

^ This. Do it. It's a mistake I've always made. Better to get some enjoyment out of it sooner as it'll boost mojo to finish it off if nothing else!

[rainagain]

That's looking great!

[gtd2000]

Oh, and the indicators have stopped working.  

 

 

I seem to remember having issues with the indicators on my '86 Pony back in the day (flasher unit woes).

 

I also have a vague re-collection of using an flasher relay from a wrecked Maestro as a reliable replacement...?

[gtd2000]

The window mechanisms on the Pony were made of chocolate I believe?

 

I had to replace all of them during my ownership (@ 6 years old from year 7 and year ..8....)

 

Luckily, I had stripped a 593 mile Pony (it was t-boned) at S&I Thompsons in Galashiels for £100 (back when they were a cheap scrappy!) and had loads of spares for almost anything at the time.

[Ratdat]

If the flasher unit is fubar, I'll have a spare from my spares Pony pickup if it's the same. Probably just a generic thing though I'd imagine.

[mat_the_cat]

I've got as far as ruling out the indicator stalk, so flasher unit seems likely. Need to check the feed to it to confirm though. Thanks for the offer but am sure I can sort something!

 

Annoyingly I changed the window mechanisms at around 130k miles for ones of of a scrapper so they did work well. The donor doors came from a very low mileage car, so I didn't think to check they worked before binning the old doors! And I stripped everything from them including the motor, APART from the actual mechanism. Hindsight eh...

[Mr Livered]

^ This. Do it. It's a mistake I've always made. Better to get some enjoyment out of it sooner as it'll boost mojo to finish it off if nothing else!

+1 on this one from me. Personally I find this essential.

[mat_the_cat]

Got a part-worn tyre today to replace the worst of the existing tyres, which also has a puncture. It means I now have a set of matching tyres, which I generally prefer. They're not the best in the wet, but last well and aren't too bad in the dry so will do for a while.

 

 

I changed the oil today which has been in there for about 10 years! Plus I've been playing with the fuelling to try and stop it being so rich. It's running better now although still rich I think; problem is the plugs are so sooted up I can't tell what the mixture is like now. New plugs should be here this week as they are of similar age to the oil so wouldn't hurt to change them.

 

The engine is not the original but an allegedly low mileage replacement which I heard running briefly before buying. But I don't know whether I have an underlying carb problem or just adjustment needed at this stage. I'm reluctant to open anything up until I get a rebuild kit, which has a 4-5 week wait for delivery.

 

Better news in the fact I've found someone to repair my fire damaged seatbelt for a reasonable price. They will change the webbing and reel but keep all my original fittings so it will look standard. Plus after a lot of searching found a possible solution to the electric window problem - most of the universal kits are just designed to fit to manual windows in place of the winder. But these look like they should easily fit in place of my existing mechanisms.

[HMC]

Like the before and after shots, detail spot on right down to the bikes on the back! Wondering if this will be an exhibit or your transport at shitefest? Shame the carb kit is going to take its time getting to you.

[mat_the_cat]

Unfortunately not transport, but hopefully will be running well enough for a trip around the field or car park. It's stored at my workplace, which will be moving in a few weeks and from next week I won't really get much chance to work on it as I'll be shuttling between old and new locations. It also means I need to bring it home with me, so seeing as I'll need a trailer for that I've got it booked in for an exhaust system to be made for it on the Friday, then down to Devil's Bridge! It minimises the trailer hire costs and looks like should work out quite neatly.

 

The bike on the back was a bit of a lucky afterthought, as I'd dropped the BX off to get MOT'd that day and hence had ridden from the garage. So I stuck it on the rack to complete the shot! My girlfriend(now wife)'s bike in the first one had since been sold though, so not a true replica photo...

[mat_the_cat]

Last chance to work on it today, and I managed a little bit of fettling. Tidying up a few of the hydraulic pipes, and covering them (and battery cable) with high temperature sleeving to help protect them from the exhaust heat. I also spoke to the company who will be making the exhaust, and they got the template of the manifold/downpipe flange I made for them and will be sending it off to be cut to size.

 

No photos today, so instead I'll put up a picture I found whilst browsing through an old hard drive.

 

 

Needless to say I didn't make it across the ford...

[mat_the_cat]

Despite me collecting the van this morning, the move at work has been delayed by a day or so (new premises not quite ready) so I did a few more little jobs on the car. Changed the spark plugs, as I didn't know when the ones on the replacement engine had last been changed, and they were well sooted up!

 

 

Then made up a crude tool to tighten the locknut on the gear knob, just from scraps of metal lying around. It's a slotted nut recessed on the underside of the knob, and tapping it round with a drift hadn't tightened it enough.

 

 

Welded to an old lawnmower blade when I got back home, for a touch more leverage!

 

 

Hopefully I'll be able to sneak off and nip it up tomorrow.

[mat_the_cat]

Got my refurbished seatbelt back today, and it looks great. They've kept all my original fittings, right down to the label! Might get another for the driver's side, as that's looking rather shiny and I'm not sure whether belts deteriorate significantly with age.

 

[mat_the_cat]

Bugger. Thought I'd fire it up today to make sure all was OK for next week. But after running for 30 seconds or so it just cut out and wouldn't restart. No fuel coming out of the fuel pump, so I'm trying to find a replacement. Worst case is I could replace with an electric one, but I'd prefer to stick with the mechanical one if at all possible.

 

Strange thing is if I take the pump off and operate it by hand, it starts pumping and I can run the engine for a short while. Dunno whether I'm operating the lever over a larger range than the cam lobe is, and hence making a marginal pump work? Not much time to work on it before Shitefest, and I'd really like it running whilst there so I can at least drive it off the trailer and round the field!

[AnthonyG]

Looks good - look forward to seeing at Shitefest. Those wheels are off a Mondeo so vaguely appropriate for a car designed to replace the Cortina.

[overrun]

Got my refurbished seatbelt back today, and it looks great. They've kept all my original fittings, right down to the label! Might get another for the driver's side, as that's looking rather shiny and I'm not sure whether belts deteriorate significantly with age.

 

 

That looks great! Who done it, mat and how much, if you don't mind me asking?

[mat_the_cat]

It was this bunch:

http://www.seatbeltservices.co.uk/index.html

and cost £65 including return postage. I must admit I didn't get any other quotes so don't know how they compare, but I'm happy with their service.

 

I've been doing lots of searching and think I might have found a brand new replacement fuel pump. It's listed at least but I'll have to wait until tomorrow to see if it's actually in stock. It's 130 notes though, which is rather spendy Trouble is, I have no idea what pressure an electrical one would need to run at, and a simple bolt in fix would be handy!

[fordperv]

A good quality electric pump and regulator would come to nearly £100 then you've gotta pee about blanking off where the old pump used to be, so for the extra £30 my money would be on the original type

 

For informational purposes carbs need to be regulated down to 2-3 psi so the best pump for the job would be a high flowing facet solid state pump and to regulate it a sytec dial type regulator

[mat_the_cat]

Yeah, it's all hassle I could do without right now! Trouble is, can't find a mechanical pump for love nor money…one place said possibly in a few weeks, at £180 plus VAT. But that's no good for next weekend. Unless I have a jerry can sat on the bonnet

 

Think I'm going to just bite the bullet and get an electric pump plus regulator, although it may be a strictly lash up job to get it moving At least I found out now rather than next Thursday when I'm trying to load it onto the trailer!

[Mr_Bo11ox]

£130 seems a mental amount to spend on a fuel pump for a Stellar.

 

Why not get something like this?

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Facet-Electric-Fuel-Pump-Kit-Low-Pressure-1-5-To-4-Psi-/271481846748

[Bucketeer]

Worst case is I could replace with an electric one, but I'd prefer to stick with the mechanical one if at all possible.

 

As much as I'm sure everyone is looking forward to seeing/hearing/smelling KC run at SF, perhaps you might be better off waiting for a mechanical one if that's where your heart lies.

Your enjoyment of the car is more important than ours.

Also, I think it's likely that it wouldn't be the only non-runner by the end of the weekend

[mat_the_cat]

Ah, but it's part of my enjoyment that it's up and running - I've been looking forwards to this milestone for AGES! So I've decided, that seeing as there are other things non-original (like the brakes), it won't be a problem to fit an electric pump. I could always revert to mechanical in the future if I so wished, but it was never great hot starting and always needed a few seconds of cranking to catch.

 

So an electric pump and regulator are on order, and should be with me on Monday. Then it's simply a matter of finding some time when I'm not driving or playing at a removal van man!

[panhard65]

I have got one of those facet pumps on my hotchkiss as the manual pump kept leaking and is probably as hard to obtain as the Stellar one. It is good but they say it should be mounted near the tank and it is a bit noisey so rubber mounts are a good idea as well. Other than that it works well

[fordperv]

I used the competition version on a 2.1 pinto with multiple carbs and it did the job bob on, mounted on rubber bobbins is the only way to do it, as close to the tank as you can get no more than 30cm above the tank level

[mat_the_cat]

Had a few goodies arrive today!

 

 

Found a blanking plate which was a good fit too, which was a stroke of luck. I managed to grab a few minutes to cobble it together, and the end result is....it lives

 

Not all good news though, as there seems to be a pretty serious carb problem which is made worse by the electric pump. There's so much fuel going through that it's literally soaking the plugs, so if it doesn't catch straight away, you have no chance. But at least with an electric pump you can isolate it while cranking to weaken the mixture. Will have to look into that after (or even at!) the weekend...

 

Wiring wise I've put in the relay you can see in the picture, and made a temporary connection to the coil positive to trigger it. I've ordered an inertia switch which I'll fit at some point, but other than that it's probably good to go. If I get chance to tidy up the wiring before Thursday I will though, I like it to look neat.

[mat_the_cat]

Well, the journey has started! On my way to Anglesey to get an exhaust made, then down to Shitefest on Saturday.