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Just back from a great trip across France and Spain in the Mk3. We did 2650 miles, spent £602 on fuel and £204 on tolls. The car absolutely flew down to the Costa Brava, stopping off at valensole in Provence to see the lavender fields and the pont du Gard viaduct on the way back. It was absolutely roasting as soon as we hit Lyon on the way down and we were stuck in traffic for about an hour but the car kept it's cool and trundled off with no problems! 3 weeks away we set off stopping at clermont ferrand and then driving non stop for Calais.

how she looks now with new bumpers and plates and the right spots. uploading pictures

Depending on the day of the week that could either be Vernon Kay or Rylan Clark...

Thanks everyone, I don't have a Cortina these days but will keep the site running and maintain it whilst people still use it.

Ready to roll tomorrow. Heading for Galway, about 2 hours away and nearly all motorway.

Nowadays cars are just white goods people are more interested in the gadgetry or how envious the neighbours will be rather than wether it's actually any good.

Lets see if they work eh?? And indeed they do. Passenger side one worked straight away, drivers was a bit rusty but I'll clean up the electrical connectors and take it from there. Then it's doors off, drill holes for the loom to pass through and that's another job jobbed. Thanks for looking.

You may find a couple of new members signing up…I’ve reached out to the 1500 members of Irish Cortina Facebook group recommending the Forum.

Few bits done this weekend; calipers, master cylinder, servo, steering boots, track rod ends. Still a fair way to go, but heading in the right direction

Not as odd as finding the whole database gone missing today, got back from work at 2pm to find an error showing on the website & no sign of the database on the server, over 20 years of info gone completely missing. 7 hours later, I've just this minute managed to get it back up and running!! Panic over!

Finally road legal, loving driving the old mk3 , been a long bumpy road getting this finished, random Cambridge parked at the top of my street well worth a pic

Took the Cortina out for a wee drive this evening as had a pizza to collect anyway so a nice excuse to take some pictures!

Hallo peeps how you all doing, been quite a while (understatement) Just thought i'd pop up a thread saying hi as i popped in to check out the moose I dissapeared for personal reasons and not at all cos you all smell TBH i'd put all the cortina stuff to the back of my mind but sunday i drove past the YAT and today i got an email about the moose so i took a brave pill and signed back in i may hang about for a bit, you know, eat the moderators hidden stash of biccys if they still keep them in the same place ect

I'm with what John Mack said, Facebook does my head in, this format is straightforward and logical, we never want to loose this site, it's far superior to anything else out there and is still the source of great help and great people, whoever the people are that make it happen, well done, you are stars.

yep i know about it glad she's still going Ford will be over the moon, he grew up working on it Hallo peeps, been a long time, won't take up this thread with my history just popped back in cos the email the site sent me kicked my . into action

Sunday, 1st time out in the Cortina, wee Maggie behaved herself about as well as could be expected !

Nice Article from Autocar 77 (I think) Always liked this one and the colour combinations. Also have the car framed on the garage wall. There was a discussion a while back about where the photo was taken but the conclusion was it is a painting. If it is, it's very good.

Not posted for a while but the latest from me is I picked up a bit of a bargain at the weekend. 25 quid for this centre section and it was quite local to me which is a first. Usually have to travel hundreds of miles or have it sent via a courier. I believe this is the same as the one that Motomobil supply ? It came from Poland apparently. Looks alright to me but the only downside is how the pipes are spliced together like that. I think the original system is like that but the one I have on at the moment has a nice Y section connecting the pipes together. This one even has 3 clamps and a pigs nose rubber. Bonus.

St Patricks Day parade locally

the day was dry and i needed to go to the next town for a battery for my mk4, so the mk5 came out.

For anyone interested my MK3 racer is in the latest issue of retro ford out next week. Ideal Christmas present copies can be autographed for a small donation to the site. No photos please.

Sweating power...

Really good to see another estate coming back. Keep the updates coming! Here’s mine at Silverstone late last year to keep you motivated!

Although I haven't touched my Cortina for a long time,I still lookout for Cortina stuff. I have just got this newspaper supplement off ebay,I haven't seen one before.

Well all the panels are on handles rubbers ect not in these pics been a mammoth task getting gaps and flush fitting all round but I think Im there now had to finish corner of wing bonnet divers side in these pics I've drilled pined hindgis bonnet boot doors ect now onto final filler and then start with some primmer

Thank you guys, sat down with Wife last night and come to the conclusion that she is now one of the family and isn't going anywhere. I would never forgive myself nor would the kids. Guess I will just be doing alot of over time for the next 7 years.

Bit of time on the cars this week Put GT in epoxy primer lead loaded quarters on join and round boot let it sit for a week then get on with more body work Blue ones having glass fitted next week

I've recently put all my classics through the MOT having got lazy because of the exemption. I am however capable and knowledgeable enough to keep the cars in proper safe condition. All are passing with no problems. One reason I am putting them through again is to have an independent mileage record to prove low mileage if I ever want to sell them. I've used the same test centre for many years and have a good relationship with the testers, partly because I look after their guide dog while the do the test.

the autochoke is all about technique, follow the correct procedure and they aren't too bad.

Bugger, it's not too much welding though, at least you are getting yours MOT'd and it doesn't need one, the exemption was the most stupidist thing to ever be passed.

Thanks,been a long time since viewed my thread,but not a great deal happening with it apart from using it Here's a small update,I did it last year but no one seemed to notice,which means it either looks right or nobody wants to disapprove. I've always thought there was too much silver going on at the back and wanted to differentiate it from the XL boot trim. So here it is ,just two extra black lines painted on to it,not to original spec I know,but it's this car. I guess it's kind of like a negative of the 2000E trim, anyway if want to see how it looks on you own GXL just have a try out with some black insulation tape first,hope you like it,I do

https://www.irishamerica.com/2015/10/henry-fords-ancestral-home-opens-in-west-cork-2/ https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/arid-20445694.html

Rear axle seems like an important part to have in a car so I started to sort my collection of bits. To have a good look on the innards I first made a slide hammer from a great big honking bolt and a bunch of different sized pipes welded together; Switching sides on the halfshafts is not advisable so remember to mark them. I removed the halfshaft bearings and keepers with the old grind almost all the way through and split with a chisel trick. Not a scratch on the shafts! Two of my rear axles had a ratio of 4.125 and the housings were not in the greatest shape so I could dismiss them right away. One turned out to be 3.89, why Ford WHY! Had a good housing though. My original was of course the correct ratio of 3.90 but it's mounts were rotten. And lastly I had a loose mystery diff with 3.90 ratio. So that leaves me with two diffs to choose from, more on that later. Normally I like to keep things original but I did make a small modification on the "good" axle housing. Hand brake lever thingy will over time oval out the holes where it pivots. To fix this I drilled the holes to 14mm, made and welded in bushings to have a little more meat in this spot. To be fair I get it why they did it like they did, cost and less likely to get stuck with rust. Mostly cost though. In series 2 the R-clip mounts on a different spot in the shaft because of course it does; There were also small differences on the length of the breather tube between housings but I let that one slide. To prep the housing for sandblasting I made blanking plates out of acrylic sheet salvaged from old broken monitors. Nasty stuff to work with as it's quite brittle and sticks to cutting tools if it gets too hot but essentially free which is nice. To make these seal better I smeared the mating surfaces with grease. Much easier to handle without all the innards. Then it's time for; Blasting. Priming. Painting. In the middle there I had to do a small repair. I ground a v-groove almost through the material and laid a bead with the welder set to high. Easy fix. Now that I had the housing more or less sorted I gave my two 3.90 diffs a spa day. As expected gears on my original diff seemed quite worn but to verify that I checked the backlash. Diff bolted to plate to keep it upright and the pinion still. Measured in multiple spots. Backlash on the original diff was way over the limit but the spare was acceptable and the bearings on it seemed ok. I will need to recheck backlash and test contact pattern after changing the pinion seal which should be doable by carefully marking the position of pinion shaft, bolt and flange. I will temporarily mount the diff on a spare casing to do that and to paint it. If everything goes as planned I do not need to touch any settings on the diff. New axle bearings and pinion seal have been ordered and are on their way. After all is done there should be only the halfshafts and some nuts and bolts left from the original.

+1 My Mum liked you too when you ate her biscuits.

You did a lot, the main thing was you were yourself, a real genuine character that a lot of the people on the site can relate to and more important than anything they can trust. You'll always be respected and appreciated for everything you've done.

that´s very good news Rob! i would have contacted you anyway within the next days. sorry for having not written for so long, but times were not so good as well! and last year was the first year since 1978 i haven t driven a Cortina. hope i can get some of my spirit when i have to collect a car tomorrow! see you soon-hopefully - cheers Hans

Not much but something is always better than nothing. I gathered all the pieces I had prepared for the rear license plate lamp; Polished stainless cover, cleaned lens, no idea what part? was cardboard but that seemed silly so I made another from thin black plastic, gasket, 3D printed housing, bulb, wire harness with socket and connectors (taped with proper loom tape and electrical tape at the ends) and a label (though probably did not come with one originally). Rubber plug for the bulb was omitted as the new socket will seal just fine. Assembled; Picture from the parts book; Note that in the book connector ends are both shown as being the bullet type but this is not correct. Rubber bung is wrong way around on mine (oopsie, but trivial to fix) and I need to dig from the "archives" a correct rubber grommet for the boot floor pass through. Other than that ready to go.

Sorry I missed this! Yes still got both cars! Here’s the Huntsman at Silverstone last year and at Aylesford. 😀

Hey all, its been loooong time since I've been here! Very happy to be back, although not for a good reason! My Mk3 has had a total re-furb but I've recently noticed that both the fuel gauge and temp gauge have stopped working... now would this easily point to the dial cluster having an issue as they both sit on the same cluster OR could they simply have not been re-connected the last time we had it sent into the garage? (Slight update on reason for garage situation: It had to go in for inspection and somehow the idiot garage it went to managed to screw up the electrics in a phenomenal way so we took it back from them and had to get it into an old timer auto electrician and we think the gauges haven't worked since then.) Thanks in advance! Pics for fun!

Bought this cause it 1st car I owned in 1984 when I was 18 it's a south africain import waiting on logbook then be using it shell is unreal all original needs a better grill paint stripped it and scratches all over it. Got 2 overidders one bolt missing haif inch 😂 had loads off old bolts do you think I find one. So had order some. Why in pic only got one on Bought 2 off ebay 2 different sellers. Need 2 for the back putting halogen headlights already been fitted with alternator and spin off oil filter just weekend car go up the lakes and local shows yes I know it's not cortina

washed it.... ditched the number plate surround and AA badge.

Good news, bad news I started at a new full time job so the updates might get sporadic for a bit while I get up to speed. However this will help lubricate the rusty hinges on my wallet as it will be easier to justify spending some of that hard earned on parts and services. Just refurbishing the head alone will cost a kings ransom and should I ever find a painter that is actually willing to take on the job it surely won't be cheap either. Considering today's economy and as I was starting to pack things up for the winter anyway this was the perfect timing. Talking of parts here's one; New coil (Lucas DLB102). I did not want to risk using my original as it was not in the best shape. I received the ABS filament so I printed new license plate light holder with it; Had to crank temperature settings all the way up on my printer. More brittle than PLA but should last better. Some environmental testing; I baked the holder in my hotbox at about 40°C with voltage set to 14.2V for couple hours and apart from the raised section surrounding the bulb the plastic did not get soft. I might remove that raised bit it or make it little shallower as it is not that important. I will give the holder a passing grade of: Usable.

Rubber should be fine on a std front subframe.

No Don't ride anymore, Wrong age to do any damage to myself. 71 is not a good age to break a Hip. This the last one that I restored. I have another 3 in mid build.

I think this forum is a doddle to use, like FB you can see all the recent posts......or you can search different topics like "cars for Sale" or "Events".....not sure if you can do this on FB. I've looked at FB but much prefer this forum. Thanks to all who make it what it is.

Nice to see you reappear Bortaf! Used to love this forum and kenet back in the day, but my interest fizzled out when the forums did although I still look in now and again. My white 2.0S is still sitting in a lockup, where its been since I last used it in 2011. Needs a bit of tlc these days but don't we all😄

I thought they made plastic plants confuscias.

Thank you so much for dropping in and replying to my mail. I'm sorry if all of this has some bad memories for you, it must be difficult signing back in after so long. I hope I can do the old girl and you proud, its been a slog to get where it is now but its getting exciting as the Yat is less than 2 weeks away.

Good to see you are still around Rob, the place is not the same without you