cort16's Cortina Crap - Suspicious Sill

[cort16]

Just spluffed an order on burton power for new front springs, speedo drive, oil seal and strut bar bushes. I might see if I can rope my local garage into fitting them as I've already lost the will to live.

[cort16]

W@@T. I got my care package from burton power including the speedo drive. I popped it in and glugged a litre or so of gearbox oil in it and all was well or so I thought.

There's a cup shaped plug that goes over the speedo drive that is supposed to pop off but actually only comes off after an hour long battle with a hammer and chisel. I battered it back into shape the best I could and put a bit of sealer around the edge and put it back on all snug like but it's still leaking oil. You can't seem to get them easily so I've smeared it in instant gasket with the hope it'll stave it off a bit.

Seems to have worked so I took it outside!

 

 

I got one of those GPS speedo apps for my phone and it doesn't look too far out. My speedo was reading 33 when the phone said 30. Probably the best way to be as it means I should always be slightly under the limit if I go by the speedo. The brakes while better than they had been I.E they don't try to drag you off the road into a tree still feel a bit soft. I recon a bit more bleeding is required.

 

Another thing that annoys me is a temp gauge doesn't work which I recon is a mandatory on an old motor. When you turn the key it goes up a tiny bit then when you start it drops back to this depressed state.

 

 

I dunno if this is the gauge, sender or some dodgy wiring. I'm not overly confident in going too far in it without a temp gauge as it's not like I was driving for a while when the gauge was working and it was all hunky dory. It's an unknow quantity.

 

WHEREIZMAMAKAZONZ

 

This is the steering wheel at straight a head. How the fuck I managed this I do not know as was sure I lined it up when I put it back on.

 

 

I really need to do something about these seats they're bogging. I wish it still has the original base seats as these don't go forward, the springs are bursts and they look like they've been used by a tramps dog for it's bed. I've got some nice leather SD1 seats I was thinking about fitting but dunno if them not folding forward would be an mot issues?

 

 

It's tiny next to an A4

 

 

It's exactly 2 inches too small for my lockup what a pisser.

 

 

I've got new springs and bushes for it but I dunno when I'l have time to fit it them. Also there's an odd noise when you lift off. God only knows what that is.

 

So my current fleet status is....

 

Cortina, road worthyish but no temp gauge and seat springs that poke into your bum.

SD1 no tax, up for sale but had no interest. Can't find MOT certificate

 

Also my daily Merc goes back in 3 weeks and I don't have a car to replace it.

[twosmoke300]

Touch the temp sender wire to earth with ign on. It should bury itself into the red . If it does it's the sender , if not wiring or gauge

[Bren]

I don't suppose the sd1 seats are caramel coloured?

[Angrydicky]

This is awesome, excellent work! Would look better on steels, or at the least with some period plates, obviously.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Wow that looks really nice KORT. Can I ask, how much did you pay for it? Amazing that you can buy a 'roadworthy' car and it still needs a few weeks of desnagging before its actually fit to hit the road. Looks cracking though.

[cort16]

I don't suppose the sd1 seats are caramel coloured?

 

Grey I'm afraid. I was going to re-dye them blue and put them in my SD1 but i never got around to it.

[cort16]

I agree about the wheels. I've got a friend of a friend who's got some sports steels and a set of rs2000 wheels he's selling I just need to go and sort it out.

 

I paid 2 grand for it bo11ox. A lot of money for me but then again when was the last time you saw a 2 dr mk4?

 

A lot of it's issues come from it being converted from a 1.3 4 speed to a 2.0 5 speed. They seems to have done all the important bits okay but skimped when it got to the details like gauges and brakes.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I dont know if its a lot of £££ or not, probably not if the body is good. It certainly looks pretty straight and old Fords are rarely a bad investment. I think the wheels look very cool myself! Its just a nice thing all round as far as I can see.

[cort16]

I recon it's going to need a bit of welding in the front of the floors at some point but other than that's it's pretty good. Just a few more annoying things I need to bottom out .

I did kinda hope I was going to just buy it and drive it but that's not been the case.

[derek9213]

I agree about the wheels. I've got a friend of a friend who's got some sports steels and a set of rs2000 wheels he's selling I just need to go and sort it out.

 

 

hi glenn

its taking shape now mate.just to let you know, if your mates wheels are rs2000 4 spokes you will need the nuts as well because they are flat faced, if they are capri lasers then you will be able to use the nuts you have just now on your ghia alloys   

 

with your speedo, if you used a white speedo drive(think its 23 teeth), with a 2.0 and 5 speed box, a 3.89 diff should read bang on, you may find its still running the 4,11 that would have been fitted to the 1.3 with the 4speed which is why your reading slightly out

[cort16]

Cheers Del it's getting there. Thanks for the advice on the wheels iI'm reluctant to spend any money on luxury's until I get the bastard driveable.

I bought the 23 teeth speedo drive with the thought that at some point I'll be putting a 2 litre diff in it. You think these things are going to be simple until you look into it then find there's 4 different speedo drives and someones created a spreadsheet trying to figure out the right drive to diff balance.

 

Next thing is to sort the seats as these ones are horrible. I was thinkng of fitting porsche 944 seats as I didn't think tombstone type seats would look too out of place.

[cort16]

Touch the temp sender wire to earth with ign on. It should bury itself into the red . If it does it's the sender , if not wiring or gauge

 

You da man. I tried this and the gauge shot up. New sender it is then.

[twosmoke300]

happy to help

[oman5]

re. seats-Ford capri recaros in the unlikely event you can find any that haven't been scenetaxed into the stratosphere price wise. they'll fit and tip forward.

 

when I had a mk5 cortina 2 door it had squishy mk2 granada seats fitted in the front. got to love the old fords for parts interchangeability.

[scruff]

Great motor Cort. What sort of noise is it on the over-run? 

[twosmoke300]

Ref your temp gauge still playing up. Has the sensor got a good contact to earth ? Not too much sealer or thread tape on it ? And are all your earths to the engine ok. Should be if it cranks ok but worth checking

[cort16]

Thanks for all the advice chaps . I'm going to need some more as this temp gauge is driving me mental.

I bought a new sensor, fitted it and it doesn't work. When I earth it the gauge goes up but otherwise it stays right at the bottom. From memory it should at least come up to the 2nd dot even if the car is stone cold steve austin.

The sensor goes right into the block and it currently has no sealer in it.

 

Originally the car has sort of copper tube around the end of the wire for the sensor that didn't fit on so I crimped one of these ring things onto it so I could hold it on with a bolt. Could this somehow be the issue?

 

tempsensor by cort16, on Flickr

 

While fucking about this gauge I managed to drop the little bolt and while trying to retrieve it managed to knock it down into the bottom pulley the timing belt goes around. Great, this little sod was now waiting to throw itself into the timing belt and kick me up the arse. After removing the timing belt cover and a lot of pissing I round I found it and managed to magneto it out.

In further new gearbox is wee'ing out gearbox oil from this core plug so I need to try to get another one as my current strategy of smearing it in sealer is obviously a poor one.

 

The odd noise is like a rattle, grinding noise. Not like a skip getting dragged along the ground but you can hear it. I'm going to check the diff oil as it's probably filled with maple syrup or something.

[stuboy]

id smoke round in that

[CortinaDave]

Don't bin the seats if you do take them out. Mk4 ghia trim is a bugger to find. They'd probably clean up.

[red5]

The sender should be a taper fit - no sealer required.

 

How far did you screw it in? if you screwed it in all the way (till the head) then whoops. You might save it if you back it off 'out ' a bit.

[cort16]

I've had it in a bit, out a bit and wombling free but i makes no difference. The old one was all the way in but saying that it didn't work either.

 

I dont mind the ghia seats its just the drivers one is burst and really uncomfy.

[CortinaDave]

My mate had a set of Hyundai stellar seats in his mk3 until he got a decent original trim. They were SUPA COMFY and actually looked bob on. He's still got them in his shed but 1) they're blue and 2) they don't fold either.

 

So no use whatsoever.

 

The seats in my S are about as comfortable as sitting on a hedgehog. But they look cool.

 

Everyone lusts after the S trim now cos it's so rare, but it's rare cos it is shit, and anyone who preferred not to have back problems threw them away.

[cort16]

How's your cortina getting on? Is it going to see the road this year?

[CortinaDave]

Welding is all done and front wings/ valance replaced.

 

Needs some work on the brakes, new springs/shock, an mot and a re spray, so it's getting there.

 

The work got stopped for Xmas cos I needed the cash... Once that was out of the way the tax bill came in, then the MG decided it needed a new fuel pump and clutch, now the missus wants a holiday , so I'm just waiting for some spare £ to be available at some point!

[cort16]

In fleet news I've loaned my SD1 to one of my mates who's into older car but is in the familiar situation of owning 2 cars neither of which are road worthy. I was sick of it just sitting there so I he's now got it and after spending a weekend cleaning it, it's like a different car, which makes me very happy to see. It's good to see it out and about after a couple of years of just moving between my lockup and my drive.

It's also finally running right, which looks to have been down to the dashpots not having enough oil in them causing the needles to come out too fast and it bogging down.

 

Here it is with the stainless steel back box I never bothered my arse fitting

 

IMG_0996

by cort16, on Flickr

 

I've had a go trying or make the drivers seat not feel like you're getting gang probed by visiting Aliens by cutting out the burst spring and linking the existing springs together with wire. It's better but still not ideal. I also made a decent effort of cleaning them up as they're bogging!

 

Okay in this picture they don;t look much cleaner but they are.

 

IMG_1009

by cort16, on Flickr

 

I also tried a couple of seats I had lieing around. I don't think black mx-5 seats would be awful in here plus they move forward for access to the back seat, which the current ghia ones don't/

 

IMG_1007 by cort16, on Flickr

 

While the brakes kind of worked after rebuilding the calipers they're pretty shit. I attempted to bleed them again using a vacuum setup but all it did was sook all the fluid out the reservoir and gave myself no brakes.

I got a pipe with a non return valve and constructed this easy bleed setup

 

Worked a treat I now have brakes.

 

IMG_1021 by cort16, on Flickr

 

While I was at the factors I asked if they had a stat for the Cortina as I've run out of other ideas about why my temp gauge doesn't work.

 

It looks pretty gungey

 

IMG_1017 by cort16, on Flickr

 

I cleared it all out, fitted the new one and run it up to temprature until the stat opened an the top hose got warm. Guess what, the temperature gauge didn't go up. Aaaargh!

 

 IMG_1018 by cort16, on Flickr">http://IMG_1018 by cort16, on Flickr

 

This is what the manual suggsted. Aye thanks, Ive tried that what do I do now then? I'm going to order another temp sensor before admitting defeat and looking into third party sensors and gauges.

 

While I was at it I jacked it up to try to figure out this weird noise coming from the back when I'm driving it. When I spin the passenger side rear wheel it's dragging so I recon there's either and issue with the brakes or I've got a shitey wheel bearing.

 

It's really bursting my plums now and the list of things is getting longer and it's less likely that I'm going to have to time to complete them. It's still awesome but I'm kind of regretting not buying something that was finished and complete so I could enjoy it. Pisshats.

[cort16]

If you're having car problems I feel bad for you son I've got 99 problems but my temp gauge ain't one.

 

IMG_1066

by cort16, on Flickr

 

This is the third temp sensor and finally the gauge is working. Yay.

I've also started breaking down the front suspension to fit the new springs. Anyone any hints on how to move the big castle nuts as when I ty to turn them they obviously turn the stub axle.

[cort16]

Remember this POS? I did some welding on it late last year and being short on time I've got a local garage to do the work who I've picked purely on the fact I often see him working on a morris ital. 

I spent last night re-fitting seat belts trim and cleaning 6 months of garage crud off it. I also fitted a glass inline fuel filter in the hope that this may help the cranking forever before it'll start issues (it didn't). I think the only solution for that is to fit a lift pump somewhere in the system.  Anyway we'll see how it gets on.

 

 

 

[stuboy]

good to see still going

[cort16]

Just had the call."You'd better come in I've a big list of parts I need you to get"