Wibble’s Wittering - Cortina, Senator & occasional Skoda & family ramblings, soz!

[Bren]

4 minutes ago, Wibble said:

In further efforts to find some mojo, I’ve ordered a pair of these for the Cortina:

Now I need to buy a finger file I think, to grind off the rivets holding on the originals.

I know what you mean. I started on my SD1 again to get some mojo. Getting older is crap.

[danthecapriman]

26 minutes ago, Wibble said:

In further efforts to find some mojo, I’ve ordered a pair of these for the Cortina:

Now I need to buy a finger file I think, to grind off the rivets holding on the originals.

They’re the same on the Granada. When I had my mk2 they were original riveted on ones so I used an angle grinder and a big hammer & punch. Still a right battle though as they’d rusted solid to the arms!

[Wibble]

30 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

They’re the same on the Granada. When I had my mk2 they were original riveted on ones so I used an angle grinder and a big hammer & punch. Still a right battle though as they’d rusted solid to the arms!

Yes, I’m not looking forward to it, so who knows when it will actually be attempted. I’ve done original lowers before but that was over thirty years ago.

[danthecapriman]

42 minutes ago, Wibble said:

Yes, I’m not looking forward to it, so who knows when it will actually be attempted. I’ve done original lowers before but that was over thirty years ago.

Getting the ball joint section off wasn’t so bad, it was battering the rusted decades old rivets out of the holes that was the bugger. Lots of heat and battering it to death shifted them on my Granada. Eventually.

[RayMK]

1 hour ago, Wibble said:

In further efforts to find some mojo, I’ve ordered a pair of these for the Cortina:

Now I need to buy a finger file I think, to grind off the rivets holding on the originals.

My first Stellar had Cortina MK 3 suspension front and rear because HyundaI had previously made the Cortina under licence. The front ball joints were the first to go at around 70K but before its first MOT. I bought Cortina parts as they were cheaper.  It was a laborious job using a drill and punch to get rid of the rivets. The rear end rubber bushes which give some lateral location and torque resistance on the axle (diff mounted) were even worse to do and became an annual task for the MOT. Doing 4 took a whole weekend.  Fortunately my next Stellar had struts at the front and a panhard rod at the rear to supplement lateral location of the axle,  a set-up which proved much more durable except that replacement front struts were a nightmare to find (No Ford or Mitsubishi equivalent). When the strut leg spring mount failed through corrosion, it took several months to find something that could be made to work with no machining or geometry problems. Mine thus had late Pony front struts with the Stellar's springs.  I class these jobs as masochism.  I hope your mojo will not be dented too much, quite possible if it goes well. Good luck!  

[Wibble]

51 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

Getting the ball joint section off wasn’t so bad, it was battering the rusted decades old rivets out of the holes that was the bugger. Lots of heat and battering it to death shifted them on my Granada. Eventually.

Yep, that’s my memory too. The car was half out of the garage, I remember having to go to work,  leaving the door pulled down half way and then worrying all day about what would be nicked. I seem to remember using a club hammer and chisel but it was a long time ago and I have better tools now.

[Wibble]

40 minutes ago, RayMK said:

My first Stellar had Cortina MK 3 suspension front and rear because HyundaI had previously made the Cortina under licence. The front ball joints were the first to go at around 70K but before its first MOT. I bought Cortina parts as they were cheaper.  It was a laborious job using a drill and punch to get rid of the rivets. The rear end rubber bushes which give some lateral location and torque resistance on the axle (diff mounted) were even worse to do and became an annual task for the MOT. Doing 4 took a whole weekend.  Fortunately my next Stellar had struts at the front and a panhard rod at the rear to supplement lateral location of the axle,  a set-up which proved much more durable except that replacement front struts were a nightmare to find (No Ford or Mitsubishi equivalent). When the strut leg spring mount failed through corrosion, it took several months to find something that could be made to work with no machining or geometry problems. Mine thus had late Pony front struts with the Stellar's springs.  I class these jobs as masochism.  I hope your mojo will not be dented too much, quite possible if it goes well. Good luck!  

The rear axle void bushes were a total nightmare when I did them back in the late 80s, so I feel your pain there. Even with the correct tool it was a fucking battle. The one time my Dad helped me with a car job.

Fortunately, current Cortina has been polly bushed there but is pulling through a front crossmember bush, so might farm that out.

I would certainly appreciate @sheffcortinacentre’s advice here on ball joints and bushes.

[danthecapriman]

21 minutes ago, Wibble said:

The rear axle void bushes were a total nightmare when I did them back in the late 80s, so I feel your pain there. Even with the correct tool it was a fucking battle. The one time my Dad helped me with a car job.

Fortunately, current Cortina has been polly bushed there but is pulling through a front crossmember bush, so might farm that out.

I would certainly appreciate @sheffcortinacentre’s advice here on ball joints and bushes.

The void bushes are an absolute barsteward to do sometimes. I’m sure you can use V6 estate bushes (more heavy duty) on all models though which can give them a bit of a longer lifespan. 
Another one that could sometimes be a nightmare were the rear trailing arm bushes on the front drive Rover 400/600 etc etc. I remember having an absolute mare with one of those once.

[sheffcortinacentre]

Yep all same size (prefacelift lower arm body end are smaller).

[comfortablynumb]

Iirc if you get estate void bushes, the name is a bit of a red herring, because they're actually solid, I remember vaguely doing them.on my MK3 estates and MK4 saloon several aeons ago.

Of course if it's polybushed that's absolutely no use for you at all, sorry 😁 

Edit , just saw @danthecaprimanbeat me to it anyway!

[Wibble]

No progress to report, as mojo still non existent  but I might make another Scotland trip in the Skoda this week.

It’s my late parent’s birthdays this month and I’m thinking of heading north to visit their grave. Number one son has some leave to use up, so it might be nice to rope it in with a visit to Maybole whilst we’re up. Any recommendations of where to stay around Maybole? If not, it will be the Premier Inn at Linwood, as usual. Any shiters fancy a pint?

[Wibble]

We’re heading up on Wednesday, Linwood is out, they’ve no bar or restaurant at the moment, whilst they change it to their absolutely shit in house effort no doubt, so we’re in the Marriott at the airport.

First thing Thursday is the “Electric Brae”, as, to my shock, apparently my youngest sister hasn’t experienced this!

[Wibble]

Sister declared the electric brae witchcraft and doesn’t believe it’s an optical elision. #1 son says Maybole felt like the set for “Chernobyl”. Vehicular highlight on the drive home was a G suffix NSU RO80, immaculate in white, which we came across on the M40 and held a steady 70mph down the A34 too.

[Wibble]

Sorry, I forgot the red Mk2 Mondeo speeding past me in lane 3, whilst I was doing 80 in lane 2 on the M6 around the Lake District. Made me smile and no gaffer taped bumpers either.

[mintwth]

On 02/11/2025 at 22:54, Wibble said:

No progress to report, as mojo still non existent  but I might make another Scotland trip in the Skoda this week.

It’s my late parent’s birthdays this month and I’m thinking of heading north to visit their grave. Number one son has some leave to use up, so it might be nice to rope it in with a visit to Maybole whilst we’re up. Any recommendations of where to stay around Maybole? If not, it will be the Premier Inn at Linwood, as usual. Any shiters fancy a pint?

Bit late now but:

In/near Troon there's Highgrove House or Piersland House (the Mews are better than rooms in the house if they've got an event on). If you're feeling flush there's also Lochgreen House.

The Carlton in Prestwick. 

Western House in Ayr. 

Brig O'Doon in Alloway. 

Think there's a Travelodge and Premier Inn on the Ayr bypass (A77). They'd be handy for Maybole. 

[Wibble]

1 hour ago, mintwth said:

Bit late now but:

In/near Troon there's Highgrove House or Piersland House (the Mews are better than rooms in the house if they've got an event on). If you're feeling flush there's also Lochgreen House.

The Carlton in Prestwick. 

Western House in Ayr. 

Brig O'Doon in Alloway. 

Think there's a Travelodge and Premier Inn on the Ayr bypass (A77). They'd be handy for Maybole. 

Thank you mate, but yes, back home now. Interesting that you know so much about the area, when we met in a WBAC  at Hedge End. The bypass was of Maybole. My Dad, as then chairman of the parish council, started the campaign for it back in the late 70s. Sadly he never got to drive it but was aware it became a reality in the end.
 

[Wibble]

With employment proving so difficult, I have to approach the very hard consideration, of selling my cars. Pricing is a problem, I’ve no idea where to pitch them, so would welcome some thoughts.

The Senator is hard to sell, I’ve had it since 1998 but, it needs work on the rear arches(don’t they all?) and the head lining has dropped and currently held up by pins. It has a bit of lacquer peel too, to make it more appealing and a dent in the near side front wing. MOT is out on 1st December too. I’m really selling it here aren’t I!😆

How many left, which we all know should be taken with a pinch of salt, say this is the only 2.6 injection saloon left. It’s a rare base model. There may be some 2.6CDs, I don’t know. I fitted CD alloys 23 years ago but still have the original steels and wheel trims. Wheels probably fucked now, tbh.

Next is the Cortina. I paid £5.5k for this, some years ago and shouldn’t have. I was so desperate to have it, I ignored its problems. It is a really good car and worthy of the work it needs. Kelsey publishing like to use their photos of it a lot!

Its had a lot of paintwork, which looked great but is now blistering. I was gutted , obviously.

Paintwork aside, it now needs a bit of welding on the near side inner and outer sill, a fuel pipe and upper ball joints, to sort the crazy heavy steering. I also have a new clutch cable, which needs to be done. My local garage say it’s amazing underneath otherwise and I posted photos of this before.

My main reason for posting is to get an idea on values but I know that’s not easy. Hopefully things will change and they can both stay🙂

 

[comfortablynumb]

Can't help with values, but just here to say, sorry it's coming to this @Wibble😕

[danthecapriman]

^^what he said.

It’s a crying shame it’s come to this. Hopefully something will come up and turn it around for you though.

Im no good at all with values I’m afraid but maybe a look on eBay for sold vehicles similar to yours might give you an idea? 
I must admit though your cortina is incredibly appealing…😉

[Dobloseven]

Is there any way you could use the time that you'd have to spend if you were working, improving the cars,making them more attractive propositions?

[High Jetter]

I also hope it doesn't come to selling them before you want to - but at least you have the possibility of raising funds there. 

[Wibble]

4 hours ago, Dobloseven said:

Is there any way you could use the time that you'd have to spend if you were working, improving the cars,making them more attractive propositions?

I should have done this over the summer but mood was/is low, so didn’t get around to it. Hopefully I can do this in the spring.

Thanks everyone, I never thought it would come to this either. I can and will hold on for a bit longer but have to start being realistic and face the fact that they will have to go, if things don’t change in the next few months.

[Knotty Ash Towers]

I really hope you can find a way around this. It must be an awful situation to be in, especially with the Senator, as you've had it for such a long time.

[Wibble]

33 minutes ago, Knotty Ash Towers said:

I really hope you can find a way around this. It must be an awful situation to be in, especially with the Senator, as you've had it for such a long time.

Thanks, it is shit but I’ve been refusing to think about it for too long now.

[Boycie]

Linwood , I work just along the road at the airport , plenty places in Largs to stay 

[Wibble]

2 hours ago, Boycie said:

Linwood , I work just along the road at the airport , plenty places in Largs to stay 

They seemed to be demolishing the last of the Rootes Group offices when we were up recently😞

Largs was always visited when we were up seeing my parents. Excellent fish and chips(the one with the astronaut outside), followed by ice cream from Nardini’s😋

[Boycie]

Yeah the admin building , the last of it knocked down last week ,  the Blue lagoon chippy is good 

[Boycie]

If you think BL was bad I worked with a fella who worked there in the 70s , they all went out one day on strike because the toaster was on the blink .... He had a imp which ended up with a end of line tartan interior .... total cost zero if your pounds ....his mate was on security 

[Wibble]

1 hour ago, Boycie said:

Yeah the admin building , the last of it knocked down last week ,  the Blue lagoon chippy is good 

Blue Lagoon, that’s the one. I love it that folks in opposite ends of the uk know the same places!

[Boycie]

It's won a lot of awards , however the best chippy in Ayrshire is The Wee Hurrie at Troon , it's at the harbour right next to the fishing boats .... fair to say theres a good choice , and it's always got a queue 

https://www.zmenu.com/the-wee-hurrie-troon-online-menu/