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An Amateurs Diary to Restoring a Mk V Cortina Estate.
| Act One. Inside the car was disgusting; it was used as a workhorse and looked it. The carpet was thick with grime, the seats also. The head lining was brown from years of smoke and greasy hair. The rear seats were from a Ghia and covered in dog hairs, I assumed this same dog had ripped the vinyl from the wheel arches. There was a damp smell from the carpet, spores had grown in the grime embedded in the steering wheel, gear leaver and hand brake and produced a green lichen growth where ever the spores had settled. First priority clean the head lining, remove the interior and give all areas a good cleaning. I used a disinfectant (5%) and bleach (5%) mix with plenty of water (90%) for the head lining. This was applied with a toothbrush in circular motion until froth appears, you can see the brown colour fade to an off white. This froth and dirt was then removed with paper towel. All but the drivers seat was discarded at the local tip, packed into black plastic bags, as they won't accept car parts. The carpet and under felt was packed up and put into store, the carpet can be cleaned but the under felt will be replaced. I've kept the original to use as a template. |
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| Act Two. The body of the car is in good order, the odd scratch and a little bubbling is all that has occurred. The lacquer on the two off side doors and the roof will require some attention but a quick rub down and blow will restore it to its former glory. It's the underside that has taken the brunt, the inner wing near the A frame shows a lot of rot. The A frame itself is still strong but will require a fair amount of patching. My intention is to repair the inner offside sill; this will give a better understanding of the shape. From there I intend to weld the full height of the A frame and the inner wing. This will allow further plates to be welded from the top down to complete the inner wing. The base will be strengthened will 2mm plate to allow the strength for the jacking point. Once this is complete I will replace parts of the drip rail, which has rotted. I could replace the whole length but may decide to cutout the bad parts and fit with sections from the new panel. |
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| The near side inner wing is no where near as bad and just requires a few plates, the drip rail needs some attention but again I may replace parts rather than the whole. Both foot wells have holes, which can be plated; the front lower panel also requires some plating. The rear chassis (the last 6 inches) will need some attention, the metal is fatigued and will require plates. As the floor around the petrol filler cover has some rot also I intend to drop the tank and weld the floor and chassis together. All of the welding that is required so far is pretty straightforward; the difficulty is repairing the body around the rear window. Water has collected and rotted around the widow framework. My idea is to remove the window and weld plates, shaped to fit, from the underside. Once in place the welds can be ground down and the area filled. |
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