cort16's Cortina Crap - Suspicious Sill

[cort16]

I thought I'd get off my fat lazy arse and get work on fitting this new sill.

 

First I cut it off. I don't have a spot drill id any merit (this looks to be the original sills by the spot welds) so I cut it out around the sill then ground back the lip to get rid of the old metal.

 

image by cort16, on Flickr

 

Stick a fork in it, I think it's done. It's like this all the way along so I'm glad I bought the sill and didn't just try to cobble a patch on.

 

image by cort16, on Flickr

 

Once all the rust fell out it didn't look too bad on the inner sill. As long as there's no rust around the seat belt mounts then I'm good to cut the new sill to fit and get welding.

 

Ah, nuts.

 

image by cort16, on Flickr

 

I should probably deal with that eh? How does it know to rust there?  I've got some nice 5mm bar so I'll cut the mounts out and weld in the bar and weld the old mount over the top of them.

I also started figuring out how to mount the new seats. I think I've got a plan but I'll need to totally dismantle them to do some hard-core-welding to the frames. Better that than set it on fire i suppose.

 

Bets on it being finished by the time the mot expires in July?

[cort16]

For those who are interested (of which I barely count myself) here's bit of history on this thing.

It's a 1977 mk4 Cortina 2 door originally in 1.3 base spec as can be seen by the original vinyl back seat. Unfortunately the fronts have been replaced with incredibly uncomfortable semi broken ghia ones that don't fold forward, which is incredibly useful on a 2 door car. 

This was back in the days that 2 dr cars got bought by mingebags who'd happily sacrifice the comfort of their family for saving a 50 quid never mind the slow pace of having this thing dragged around by a 1300 crossflow with about 50-60 bhp. Originally I think it was painted in highland green but at some point it's been painted (pretty badly) in this darker green. I like the colour and I'm pretty sure it's out the Ford books . Also being the base model it has black bumpers, door handles and exterior trim pieces. If this was a BMW they'd call it shadowline and charge you an extra 300 quid. The interior on mine has been tarted up a bit with a ghia binnacle with rev counter (doesn't work) and centre console and clock (not wired in) , which I've now removed as I thought it looked shite.

 

Highland green.

 

 

Here's one hanging about in the background of this advert trying to look cool.

 

 

The how many left figures are even more confusing than normal as it doesn't seem to differentiate between the 4 door and 2 door base model. I suspect there's maybe 4-5 of them left as they do very occasionally come up for sale in various states of broken ness for reasons obvious in this thread.

Originally I thought the 2 door was smaller than the 4 dr but I recently bought a 4 door sill and it's exactly the same size as the 2 door one. I think they extended the doors to make access into the back easier and it changed the proportions of the car making it look smaller. I still think it's a much neater design than the 4 door ones and is well fit.

 

At some point between 1977 and me buying it 2 years ago the old crossflow was dumped and it was fitted with a 2.0 pinto and 5 speed type-9 box, which previously had been my ideal Cortina spec and one of the things that drew me to it.  I really love Cortina's and after I sold the SD1 I was determined to get another one. I thought i'd spend a bit more and get a nice one (remember this is 2 years ago before prices went really mental) after having a pretty shonky 2.3 auto a few years ago. That really worked out for me.

 

I went to see it, fell in love and arranged to gotand pick it up from Fife with a mate. I got 1 mile before one of the callipers seized on and smoked the brakes.

It should also be noted at this point it had no working temp gauge or speedo. Eventually the brakes free'd with the calliper seized in the off position so I had a very slow journey home contemplating what exactly would happen if I was forced to stomp on the brakes really heavily.

 

IMG_0980 by cort16, on Flickr

 

I fitted new calipers and got the temp and speedo gauge working then had about 3 weeks of driving it before the mot ran out. While it was driving it ran really well other than the infuriating 2 minutes of cranking to get it started from cold. It still has the 1.3 diff in it so it never really felt quick but it went okay. There is a definite flat spot, around what I presume is 3500 rpm (the rev counter doesn't work). I never really got into looking at that it could be something to do with a weak fuel pump and the starting issues. I'd like to fit an electronic fuel pump to it but as you can see I've got bigger fish to fry.

The 5 speed box makes it a bit easier to live with but it drives like a 29 year old Ford. I.e. pretty shite. Some of this was probably down to non existent sub frame mounts and a bust spring but during some of the recent work I fitted brand new -1 springs all around and replaced all the usual bushes and it probably drives better than it did new. There's some charm to it and once I put the sound deadening I've got back down it should quieten down a bit.

Another issue I had with it is it always ran a bit hot. It never over heated and I fitted a new stat to it but it always ran about 3 quarters of the way around the gauge, which for me is never enough wiggle room for an old car.

It's possibly the clutch on the fan that's the issue and I guess it requires a bit more fettling if I decide to do something crazy like drive 7 miles to Tesco.

The worst bit about driving it is the brakes. They are awful. I fitted new pads, calipers, flex pipes etc but they're mega shite. They are boosted (I think) but they're not vented and are generally terrifying. I recon the P6, which is 7 years older and probably about a 1/3rd of a ton heavier could stop in about half the distance. 

 

I do like it but I'm a bit disappointed in the work it requires but what am I going to do? I can't sell it like this so I'll just need to plow on. I've been looking at new welders and it looks like I can get something decent for a couple of hundred quid, which will hopefully make any further work slightly less painless.

 

This one.

 

 

http://www.thewelderswarehouse.com/Welding/Mig-Welder-BlueMig-140T.html

[mat_the_cat]

The worst bit about driving it is the brakes. They are awful. I fitted new pads, calipers, flex pipes etc but they're mega shite. They are boosted (I think) but they're not vented and are generally terrifying. I recon the P6, which is 7 years older and probably about a 1/3rd of a ton heavier could stop in about half the distance. 

 

Vented discs will only help with brake fade though, not give you better brakes in the first place which I think you're after. How is the master cylinder? I'm not sure what original Cortina brakes were like, but the standard ones on my Stellar were OK, nothing special but certainly would stop it. A little prone to fade under hard use though.

 

I upgraded them to vented discs, Austin Princess 4 pot calipers and a Mazda 323 master cylinder, and would say they are now excellent but I'm not sure what made the biggest difference. I got the calipers from a scrapyard car, which tells you how long ago it was! Unfortunately they would probably cost more than £20 now...

 

As for the welder, this is the one I have which I really rate.

 

 

I've had a Clarke 150TE and a Sealey Supermig beforehand (plus briefly a Screwfix cheapy), and this is in a different class. The one you've linked to sounds good as well though, and a decent machine will really make it so much easier

[cort16]

I never remember them being really awful on my old cortinas but then again it's been a while . It feels like there's no servo assistance, which isn't impossible even though there's a servo there .

 

I'll check out that welder.

[oldford]

The brakes on mine were a bit wayward, despite the previous owner having new discs, pads, calipers and a master cylinder fitted.  They were pretty well glazed up and used to brake unevenly, I spent a morning changing the fluid, cleaning & adjusting the rear drums, skimmed the discs and fitted some Pagid pads from euro car parts.  They now work like new, stop in a straight line and the pedal is right at the top, I even had to slacken the hand brake cable so the lever would reach the first click and there is no bind on the brakes whatsoever.

 

The standard brakes can be made to work effectively without the need to upgrade them, however I would advise that as your car has a 2 litre engine that you get the 2 litre rear drum set up which increases the drum diameter from 8" to 9".

 

 

[danthecapriman]

My Capri (probably) has the same brakes as your Cortina. Non vented disc, two piston caliper, with servo.

Although my Capri has the old two line brake master cylinder. Dunno what your Cortina would have.

 

The brakes aren't anywhere near modern car standard, but are easily good enough for the car. I would think yours do have something amiss if they are as bad as they sound. Maybe master cylinder or servo could be faulty?

I don't see the need to upgrade mine anyway, since they seem perfectly capable, and I've used them hard on a few occasions over the years. That said my Capri is a 1.6 4 speed so it's not as fast or powerfull as your Cortina. I'd definitely have a look at the servo and it's vacuum hose, and the master cylinder anyway.

[cort16]

That's good to know. i'll add it to the list. It did pass it's mot like this so must be within legal standards. I thought it was just going from a 2 year old C class Mercedes to this that made it feel so bad but the brakes on the P6 are so much better I can't think they should be this bad.

[fordperv]

A good upgrade for the brakes is a land rover master cylinder

[Angrydicky]

New pads absolutely transformed the brakes on my Victor from 'a bit wooden' and 'needing a bit of a shove' to having the pedal right at the top and just a light touch now pulls them up sharply like a modern car. They were so crap before I did at one point think the servo might not have been working. Of course, as soon as I sort it out I sell the car!

[cort16]

I've got new discs and pads in the boot, not that they're doing much good there. It didn't fail it's mot on them so I presumed it didn't need them, which by the sounds of it was a mistake.  I only realised recently the 2.0 axle had bigger drums on it. 

[cort16]

I bought that blue mig. I've really got no excuse for shite welding now.

[matty879]

For those who are interested (of which I barely count myself) here's bit of history on this thing.

It's a 1977 mk4 Cortina 2 door originally in 1.3 base spec as can be seen by the original vinyl back seat. Unfortunately the fronts have been replaced with incredibly uncomfortable semi broken ghia ones that don't fold forward, which is incredibly useful on a 2 door car. 

This was back in the days that 2 dr cars got bought by mingebags who'd happily sacrifice the comfort of their family for saving a 50 quid never mind the slow pace of having this thing dragged around by a 1300 crossflow with about 50-60 bhp. Originally I think it was painted in highland green but at some point it's been painted (pretty badly) in this darker green. I like the colour and I'm pretty sure it's out the Ford books . Also being the base model it has black bumpers, door handles and exterior trim pieces. If this was a BMW they'd call it shadowline and charge you an extra 300 quid. The interior on mine has been tarted up a bit with a ghia binnacle with rev counter (doesn't work) and centre console and clock (not wired in) , which I've now removed as I thought it looked shite.

 

Highland green.

 

 

Here's one hanging about in the background of this advert trying to look cool.

 

 

The how many left figures are even more confusing than normal as it doesn't seem to differentiate between the 4 door and 2 door base model. I suspect there's maybe 4-5 of them left as they do very occasionally come up for sale in various states of broken ness for reasons obvious in this thread.

Originally I thought the 2 door was smaller than the 4 dr but I recently bought a 4 door sill and it's exactly the same size as the 2 door one. I think they extended the doors to make access into the back easier and it changed the proportions of the car making it look smaller. I still think it's a much neater design than the 4 door ones and is well fit.

 

At some point between 1977 and me buying it 2 years ago the old crossflow was dumped and it was fitted with a 2.0 pinto and 5 speed type-9 box, which previously had been my ideal Cortina spec and one of the things that drew me to it.  I really love Cortina's and after I sold the SD1 I was determined to get another one. I thought i'd spend a bit more and get a nice one (remember this is 2 years ago before prices went really mental) after having a pretty shonky 2.3 auto a few years ago. That really worked out for me.

 

I went to see it, fell in love and arranged to gotand pick it up from Fife with a mate. I got 1 mile before one of the callipers seized on and smoked the brakes.

It should also be noted at this point it had no working temp gauge or speedo. Eventually the brakes free'd with the calliper seized in the off position so I had a very slow journey home contemplating what exactly would happen if I was forced to stomp on the brakes really heavily.

 

IMG_0980 by cort16, on Flickr

 

I fitted new calipers and got the temp and speedo gauge working then had about 3 weeks of driving it before the mot ran out. While it was driving it ran really well other than the infuriating 2 minutes of cranking to get it started from cold. It still has the 1.3 diff in it so it never really felt quick but it went okay. There is a definite flat spot, around what I presume is 3500 rpm (the rev counter doesn't work). I never really got into looking at that it could be something to do with a weak fuel pump and the starting issues. I'd like to fit an electronic fuel pump to it but as you can see I've got bigger fish to fry.

The 5 speed box makes it a bit easier to live with but it drives like a 29 year old Ford. I.e. pretty shite. Some of this was probably down to non existent sub frame mounts and a bust spring but during some of the recent work I fitted brand new -1 springs all around and replaced all the usual bushes and it probably drives better than it did new. There's some charm to it and once I put the sound deadening I've got back down it should quieten down a bit.

Another issue I had with it is it always ran a bit hot. It never over heated and I fitted a new stat to it but it always ran about 3 quarters of the way around the gauge, which for me is never enough wiggle room for an old car.

It's possibly the clutch on the fan that's the issue and I guess it requires a bit more fettling if I decide to do something crazy like drive 7 miles to Tesco.

The worst bit about driving it is the brakes. They are awful. I fitted new pads, calipers, flex pipes etc but they're mega shite. They are boosted (I think) but they're not vented and are generally terrifying. I recon the P6, which is 7 years older and probably about a 1/3rd of a ton heavier could stop in about half the distance. 

 

I do like it but I'm a bit disappointed in the work it requires but what am I going to do? I can't sell it like this so I'll just need to plow on. I've been looking at new welders and it looks like I can get something decent for a couple of hundred quid, which will hopefully make any further work slightly less painless.

 

This one.

 

 

http://www.thewelderswarehouse.com/Welding/Mig-Welder-BlueMig-140T.html

I just looked at this via the link,it looks like a very compact unit,ie no room inside for cooling fan and lack of vents to let heat out of machine,it also makes me wonder if you can go higher than a 0.7kg spool of wire,and does it come with c02 regulator? it comes with "gas inlet pipe" looks good with the trolley though.i would google the user reviews and perhaps spend a little more at machine mart

[matty879]

if your ever fortunate enough to get any 2 door doors theyre worth a mint to early p100 owners I needed a window for drivers side on a p100 I was fixing,i had to buy the entire door from scrappy for £15 had the window out and left the rest with the chap just in case.he then sold it £70.00

[cort16]

It has a cooling fan and can take a 5 kg spool. I've already got the regulator and all the other gear.. It seems a decent compromise to me, hopefully it'll help with finishing the wreck.

[BavarianRetro]

Sold by the Welders Warehouse rather than Screwfix/B&Q/Argos too.

 

They supply decent stuff and only welders/welding gear. It'll be better than anything for a comparable price in Machine Mart.

 

The one one step higher at £279 looks the business for the money.

[Bren]

I am fairly certain your car has been through my mates hands and has lived on Merseyside.

 

An ex work colleague spent a fortune on his 1300 cortina - it ended up a solid car but 1300cc just isn't enough.

[cort16]

It could well have. I've no idea of it's source before I had it. At one point I found a picture of it in highland green online and didn't save it (like a fud) now I can't find it again.

[The Reverend Bluejeans]

No Highland green in '77, that arrived late 1978/79. As with a lot of Fords of that era, the V5 might not really relate to the actual car. Doesn't matter now. Only greens in 77 were Laurel (dark. colour code K), Peppermint (T) and Jade (light green metallic, 5) as well as Signal green (P). You'll need to get the colour code from the VIN.

 

I had a 1300 Cortina once. I bought it in 1987, a W plate Mark 5 4 door in Diamond Shite. It was rusty and I had to replace all four doors (used) and front wings (new, pattern). I bought four doors from a Mark 4 not knowing the window frames were wrong. 

 

I even bought the car wrong. I saw the 'Cortina L' boot badge and just assumed it was a 1.6. It was quite slow but once up to speed, not too horrific. I added Crusader type stripes and sports steels from a Capri and - whoooooo!, colour coded the bumpers and front grille.

[cort16]

I'm pretty sure it was none of those colours. I'll have a look at the vin and take a snap of the boot, which has the original colour in it tonight.

[garbaldy]

Is the Tina really as bad as your suggesting though,

I've followed this thread and for an old ford I wouldn't say the rust is that bad.

[cort16]

For an old Ford it's not that bad in the grand scheme of things but for an old ford I bought on the premise it was 100% rock solid it's bad. I expected to do 0 welding to this in the first year or so not replace the floors, a-pillers, sills, seatbelt mounting points etc.

If I'd bought it as a resto project then fair enough.

[320touring]

Noce of you to get it ready for me;)

[cort16]

Just get my Ford Scene tax cheque for 10 grand ready and you can pick it up any time

[320touring]

Can I pay in alfa 156s mayte?

[cort16]

A 1000 of them?

[320touring]

A 1000 of them?

Never in the history of mankind has a man needed 1000 Alfa 156s..

 

How about 1, and 4k my way;)

[nacho man]

It's all money in the bank getting this bad boy fixed up though.

 

It does look pretty fly for a white guy, in green and a three door.

[garbaldy]

I was wanting to bid on this one. The left hand drive bit didn't seem to devalue it any.

 

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Taunus-/222009320797?nav=

[Felly Magic]

Atl least it isn't as bad as Swampy the mk3 was. Not much of the original car survives there, perhaps just a bit of floor and bulkhead

[cort16]

I was wanting to bid on this one. The left hand drive bit didn't seem to devalue it any.

 

http://m.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Taunus-/222009320797?nav=

 

That looked nice given its not got similar hidden grot issues as my one.. .I like the thought of the 2.0 v6 too, which is something a bit different.