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!