cort16's Cortina Crap - Suspicious Sill

[cort16]

I've already put them back to the white and yellows as there was a set in the boot. I didn't fancy getting pulled when I basically had no brakes.

 

I got it into the lockup today and things started well as I scored an original garage maintanance manual the guy I rent my lockup in had in his stash of stuff from yester year.

 

I got the car on stands and re-assured by the fact the chassis rails didn't crumble got the wheels the first thing I found was a broken spring, which looks like it's been bust for ages so I'll need to deal with that.

I also got the seized caliper off and can confirm it's totally pumped. I got one piston out but the other was seized totally solid and all attempt to push it out or tap it out did sod all. New caliper it is then.

[cort16]

I know there are a few Cortina botherers on here so I'm looking for a bit of a pointer on getting parts as I've already built up a shopping list of shit I need just to get this crate road worthy.

There's a limited selection of stuff on ebay but if there are any good websites for Cortina bits then please point me in the right direction.

 

I need.

 

New front flexi's of the correct length,

A drivers side brake caliper

Front springs

The arb bush is half gone and the rest of the front end bushes look like vultures ring peace.

 

It's got a type 9 box and a Ghia speedo and rev counter none of which work so I suspect possible incompatibilties here. Does a sierra type 9 have a different setup to the cortina?

[derskine]

Are you on buysellcortina?

[cort16]

Yes I'm on there, infact it's how I got the car. The for sale section's good but typically they've not got anyting I need.

[mat_the_cat]

I tend to use Burton Power for any Cortina bits I need for the Stellar - they do braided hoses as well although I've never noticed any improvement in feel when fitting them to a car.

http://www.burtonpower.com/parts-by-category/brakes/brake-hose-kits-braided.html?appl_model=111

 

http://www.oldpartstore.net/shop/

is useful for any non service items and NOS parts - I got the fuel tank J bolts from there recently.

[trigger]

I tend to source my parts either of BSC, it might pay to make a wanted ad, or I find them on ebay.

 

We managed to repair my caliper by buying a repair kit of eBay and stripping it all down.

 

Remember many Mk3 parts are interchangeable with the 4 & 5.

[cort16]

My plan initially was to re-build the caliper but one of the pistons is totally stuck. Even trying to chisel it out has just resulted in big lumps of the piston coming off so even if I did eventually get it out I imaging the cylinder would be pretty rough.

[derek9213]

essport in dunfermline can still track down everything you will need mate, ask for either martin or ian, they tend to supply most of the bits i need for my mk2 escort

 

01383 735641

 

im not sure if i have any calipers left in the garage, i will have a look tomorow for you, are they non spaced twin pistons?(standard 2.0)

[cort16]

Cheers I'll give them a call. I'm not sure about the caliper the car is a 1.3 but I think they all share the same setup? Solid disk, piston on either side.

 

Like this..

 

[cort16]

I should probably turn this into some kind of work in process thread.

 

Remember how I bought this because I wanted a decent car that didn't need much work.

 

That panned out as expected

 

IMG_0959 by cort16, on Flickr

It gets better

 

IMG_0948 by cort16, on Flickr

 

First off check out this sweet workshop manual I got given. It looks foosty on the outside but it's pretty much unused inside. It's already been useful.

 

IMG_0951 by cort16, on Flickr

 

 

The speedo doesn't work or the rev counter or erm, the temperature gauge, The fuel guage works a treat though.

 

This obviously isn't the setup for the 1.3 as it wouldn't have a rev counter so I took the dash out and found a speedo cable in there but the fitment doesn't look right for the dash.

I guess I need to find a speedo cable for a 5 speed 2 litre and go from there. All the wiring looks intact so I dunno what's up with the rev counter other than the car never had one.

My manual glosses over the rev counter is this likely to be driven of the coil?

 

IMG_0950 by cort16, on Flickr

 

After I'd dismantled the dash I had a look at the sticky door. The catch was stuck so took that out and free'd it off. That didn't work. It looked like it was hitting on the rubbers so I took them off, which worked but that's obviously not much use so I after a bit of coconut scratching it looks like the window frame is bent in. I recon it'll fit better once I bent it out a bit, which is good cos it's really annoying. The good news is the passenger door has now joined the fun of not closing right. The bastard.

 

IMG_0958 by cort16, on Flickr

 

I finally managed to bust open this caliper and get the piston out by putting mole grips on it and battering it with a hammer.

 

IMG_0952 by cort16, on Flickr

 

All in all they don't look terrible and I suspect the binding was due to filthy brake fluid caused by totally perished seals. I was going to rebuild it but a a fellow shitist has dug out some good ones from his stash so this will hopefully be a better solution.

 

I just want the brakes and the speedo working I can deal with the rest at a later date.

[mat_the_cat]

Rev counter will be driven from the - terminal on the coil, and will also need a positive and earth to it. None of which may be present on poverty spec. versions. If you can grab a photo of the rev counter that might be useful, but the standard Lucas internal wiring is black (earth), red (+) and yellow (coil trigger wire).

 

Can't help you with the important stuff

[CortinaDave]

It's a cortina, of course it needs work!!

[cort16]

Rev counter will be driven from the - terminal on the coil, and will also need a positive and earth to it. None of which may be present on poverty spec. versions. If you can grab a photo of the rev counter that might be useful, but the standard Lucas internal wiring is black (earth), red (+) and yellow (coil trigger wire).

 

Can't help you with the important stuff

 

Here it is. There's a multi plug that goes in the end, which I've helpfully* unplugged

 

IMG_0949 by cort16, on Flickr

[mat_the_cat]

Can't make out much I'm afraid, but if you open it up and it looks similar to this then I can probably tell you which terminal is which.

 

 

It might be easier though, to follow the tracks on the printed circuit foil - the earth and +ve supply are likely to be shared with other things so if you can identify them that only leaves the signal to worry about. If there's no wire in the multiplug which corresponds to its track on the foil, then you'll need to run your own wire to the coil direct to the rev counter terminal post.

 

But like you say, stuff like brakes is slightly more important!

 

 

[cort16]

It'd be cool to have the rev counter. When I had my old 1.6L I used to dream about having such luxury

[ShiteRider]

These are the guys who will be supplying your local factors, it's as easy to just buy direct.

http://www.southwalesprops.co.uk/propshaft/vehicles/ford/ford_cortina_mk4.htm

[DeeJay]

You're over halfway there with the important stuff.

You've already got the air freshener 

[cort16]

Right I've been farting around with this thing trying to get it road worth.

 

First off I very kindly got a set of calipers from derek9213, which was enough for me to build one decent set. I had a blazing shit fight with all these calipers trying to get the pistons out. I tried compressed air but they were completely stuck so I ended up putting vice grips on the cylinders then battered the vice grips with a big hammer until they eventually popped out.

 

To do this I had to split the calipers with the help of a massive breaker bar.

 

 

I got a seal rebuild kit for it them off ebay. First line of the instructions are this.

 

 

BALLZ

 

I'd already made a half arsed attempt at painting them but got bored waiting for the paint to dry. I fitted the seals without too much bother and built them back up.

 

 

I had a bit of a mare bleeding them as I'd also replaced all the flexis but got there in the end. Well, I actually did this last weekend and when I came in this morning there was brake fluid sitting under one of the wheels but I'm blaming my brake bleeding elf for not tighting the bleed nipple up properly.

 

 

When I got the car the speedo didn't work and when I took the dash out the end of the cable was missing the clip to hold it onto the speedo unit. It was also too long and burning on the exhaust soI ordered another one, fitted it even though it was a tight fit and it still didn't work. Bastard! I jacked it up at the back, started it in gear and the drive gear for the speedo in the gearbox didn't turn.

I turned to my trust vintage manual and it said to knock this cap off on the side of the gearbox.

 

 

What it didn't say was all the gearbox oil would piss out. This can was a feeble attempt to catch some of it. Also note the speedo cable taunting me in the background.

 

 

I really had no idea how to get the speedo drive out at this point until I decided to hit it with a hammer from the other side and it popped out.

There's your problem. The nylon gears are totally fucked. It seems like the metal gears inside are still okay so I need to get another one of these drive things (25 quid!) and go from there.

 

 

Here it is, just like it was 2 weeks ago. Up on stands, imobile and fucked.. Old cars are GR8

 

[320touring]

At least it looks stylin on the stands:)

 

My 320 had a sticking LHS caliper- I stripped it all down, new flexis  etc. rebuilt it, took it out for a drive, RHS stuck on.

 

Fucker got parked (4weeks ago)

 

I may attempt it on Monday- this whole "getting the train to work" thing is Gr9 when you have an old car

[cort16]

The drivers side caliper was so fucked it jammed open, which made for an interesting drive experience. All the crawling about underneath has highlighted all the bits that need welded, which on purchase I hoped would be none. I should have poked a bit harder.

[oldford]

I wrote something a few years ago about adding a rev counter to a Cortina, found it and attached it to this post.

Cortina Rev Counter Dash Wiring.doc

[cort16]

Hey, that's great very useful. Indeed.

[blackboilersuit]

Something I've used for years for getting pistons out of totally foobarred calipers is the end from an old flexi hose drilled and tapped to accept a grease nipple. A grease gun can give many 1000's of psi of pressure so will shift any stuck piston and because it only moves a tiny quantity of grease with each pump it's totally controlled unlike compressed air. I still have a dent in my garage door when I once used 125psi of air to blow a piston out of half a calliper 20ft away.

[Richard]

I just use the brake pedal to push pistons out, is that wrong?

[blackboilersuit]

Using the brake pedal is the easiest way of doing it. Normally the calipers I'm stripping down came out of a box of rusty old tat from the back of a shed so it's too much effort to hook them up to a working brake system and get them bled just to pump the pistons out and take them back off again.

[cort16]

I got the pistons out on one side using the pedal but the stuck one was so melted that even my full fat weight on the pedal wouldn't pop it out.

[lisbon_road]

Hang in there, that is such an unusual car it is worth the effort.

 

OK, this calliper business.  I have never split the two halves of the calliper due to that warning - is it right?  Would be much easier in some ways if I did that.

 

Thanks.

[cort16]

They seem fine to be honest. I torqued them up good and tight and they're not leaking . It made fitting the new seals a damn site easier.

 

Del who I got the spare calipers off says you can get spacers that go in between them so you can run vented discs, which I may do at some point in the future .

[Albert Ross]

The plastic speedo drive gears are coloured for different ratio diffs and tyre sizes.

[cort16]

I've just been look at this speedo teeth thing and it's bursting my head. My car has the 1.3 diff still in it but at some point I'll be changing to the 2.0 diff. The teeth options are 22,23 and 25 and from what I can count on my mangled one it had 25 teeth, which apparantly only came on transits and is quite ratre.

 

From what I can see on the web the 23 teeth one goes with the 2 litre diff so I recon I'll go for that even though the speedo will read wrong while 1.3 diff is in it. Old cars r shit.