LagoonBlue

Some odds and sods.. I helped a friend with installing glasses on his project. Some strange non Ford thing i believe Extremely good practice for when it's my turn. Was much easier than i thought, just keep rubber lubricated with dishwashing soap + water in a spray bottle and do the string trick (though we used electrical wire instead). It's definitely a two man job. Stripped the spare wing. Front has some damage and back end had a fair amount of filler. I have yet to decide whether to fix this one or the original, i will sort that out when it gets a bit warmer outside. Next i plucked engine out of the running jig; And installed it on a proper engine stand (was on sale for 69€) Block heater will definitely be deleted later on.. Stand is rated for 450 Kilos (1000 lb) but that feels a bit optimistic so.. Off with his head! Much lighter now and sooner or later it needs to come apart anyway. Only broke one exhaust manifold bolt in the process, manifold itself is a goner too but that i knew already and have another prepared. Now i can also see what's going on inside; One small scratch on number four cylinder.. And a sizeable step on the back wall. Cylinder four is the worst as usual but others are also fairly worn too as i can jiggle pistons quite bit in the bores. Beyond honing but that's no surprise, from the start i knew that it will need a thorough rebuild. This thing must of smoked like a chimney back in the day I do not have a proper bore gauge but roughly measuring with dial calibers the bores seem to be the stock 80.9mm so there should be enough meat left for oversizing. I bathed the upper part with WD40 and strapped a plank to serve as protection for now. Luckily the plague has not reached here for the time being but for when it does i rummaged around the house and found these; *all bought ages ago, i might be bit of a hoarder but not an a-hole. Should last me a bit this lot plus i have this social distancing thing well practised as i did it even before it was cool.. In the mean time i still have to go to work as usual (hands on job) even though it's not something i would call even remotely essential Well that was longer than i thought, stay safe out there!

Checked the door seals, they are the "budget" glue on type without the molded edge or clips. Profile is quite close to the originals (flat). Material seems to be some sort of urethane rubber (a bit spongy) instead of real vulcanized stuff which is understandable due to presumed volume of sales. All in all seems serviceable but might be bit of a mongrel to install. When i was compiling my order Burton had the molded type still in their catalog but with 0 in stock so i went with East Kent offerings instead. Now Burton has dropped the better type altogether in their catalog which is a shame. I still need to buy rear side window seals and with those my choice is limited as i think only one company in Australia makes them. Should really get that done while still available..

Thanks! I will be first to admit that i went full OCD on these but for a first try not all that bad Such loads do not come for sale often, i must have poached around the net for years before coming across this lot. Luckily it was during holidays and fairly close by so i was able to quickly snatch them up. Fella had recently sold his MK2 (i think a driver or mild project) and these were left overs from that. Chrome caps are indeed better, they have a different hue and deeper shine and i presume that they do not need as much polishing when in use. But stainless is easier to rework. Door seals are still on their wrappers but i will take a peek during the weekend. I should still have the originals stored (somewhere) to compare against. I know that East Kent has a patchy reputation but at least from a cursory glance these did not look horrible, though i will only know for sure when they are fitted to the car.

Thank you all for the tips! Here is one thrown on an old rim. Not perfect but certainly passable. It's going to get dusty and scratched after a few miles anyway I think that the most important thing i learned was to get all the scratches out before continuing to the next step as any left behind will stick up later like a sore thumb. Quite obvious really but learning to read the surface takes it's time, many a times i had to go back a step or two. Gutter trims and the like should not be too big of a challenge after these. And i tip my hat for anyone capable of doing a truly flawless mirror finish, it's a lot off work!

Oh, i did not spot that. I can see how it can be beneficial to use one to get a flatter result. You learn something new everyday, thank you! Which type do you prefer the most? Plain sand paper, mixed type with paper and 3M (scotch brite stuff) or plain scotch brite? I think we have most types available locally.

As these were my first practice pieces i wanted to go slow on them, now that i have a bit more experience under my belt i might start with flap disks as you suggested (i have plenty but thanks for the thought ). Might also try a wool or foam buffing pad as the last touch, the sort that's used on paint. At least compared to chrome these are much more forgiving to fix. Though i wonder when they switched from chrome to stainless Would be interesting to know as my "collection" is roughly 50/50.

I am still on the fence whether to make those myself or buy them, though there is a fair discount on buying the full set. I think that the gasket on link goes between body and plastic extraction box but hard to say from the parts book pics. Might be a model year thing too. And thank you! Were MZ's common in the UK back in the day? I must confess that i yet know very little about the marque.

Due to unusually warm winter here i have been able to do some work in the garage. All these little things take their time so good to have them ready. I needed rubber washers for the C-pillar vents, simple enough to do myself. Of course i did not have the right sized hole punch for the outer circumference but i quickly made one from a suitably sized pipe. For the inner hole i used plier type tool. Done. I used adhesive backed 1mm silicone sheet, should last a lifetime or two. Next i wanted to have my stainless steel hubcaps sorted. This job turned out to be much harder than i first thought.. I do not know what alloy these caps are but they sure are tough. These are the main tools that i ended up using. First i banged most of the dents out and used files and rough sand paper to smooth them, after that i ground off small pitting with scouring pad type wheels on an angle grinder. Next was sanding to 800 grit or there abouts followed by buffing. After much experimenting it became obvious that buffing wheels and rouges from local shops did not cut it (pun intended) so i ended up buying a set from Eastwood. Since my bench grinder is a bit wimpy at 750 Watts i opted for the 150mm set augmented by one larger wheel that i had from before for the middle step. For the finishing touch i hand polished with stainless steel polishing paste. This is a messy (wear a respirator, really) and time consuming job and frankly i would of been better off by buying a set of reproduction chrome caps but i wanted to hone my skills for doing the gutter trims later on. Not perfect but better for sure. Still got two to do when i feel up to it again. Also did some house keeping at my parts stash. Shelving i got from work for free, now i can actually find stuff if needed Got a "new" toy too. This 1963 MZ ES250/1 was gifted to me by my dad as it was surplus to his needs. Luckily it's in fairly good nick, though it has sat for couple years so at least the carb needs a good clean. Registered as an historic vehicle so insurance on it is cheap as chips too. One ugly pig of a bike at first sight but not too bad once you get used to it I think it will compliment the Cortina just fine

Seasonal greetings to all! Though the project is still on it's winter hiatus i made some purchases for future in mind; A big box of seals from East Kent trimmers. Rear quarter rubbers were out of stock when i bought these a while back ago, will need to buy those at some later point. These were not cheap (those rear quarter rubbers will cost a fair bit too) and there are differing opinions on the quality, especially on the window seals. Reading up on the subject i have gathered that these should be ok for series 1 cars like mine, i hope they are. And just couple days back i spotted a job lot of MK2 parts for sale on www.tori.fi (our equivalent of Craigslist/Gumtree). In no time i closed the deal and hauled the loot back home, was only 110Km drive away so fairly local too. And for my 300€ i got a literal shed load; Not too bad for the price i'd say. Granted that some of these i have no use for, such as Type 3 gear boxes (3pcs. on this lot) or the door, bonnet, tank and so on but i can pass them off to someone else later. What i was really after was the LH wing and rear axle and though the wing in particular is a little rough the bumper mounting area should be salvageable. Everything else is a plus on my book. Some of this stuff (seats and glasses) i moved straight to my long term storage to clear the shed but others i need to go through as time permits. Ps. out of curiosity i checked the door skin near the quarter window and i found it to be cracked so that's 5 out of 5 this far

Thank you. On to some better news. I might have found a source for, if not the whole LH wing but at least patches to fix mine; I have the patch for corner closest to the windscreen from my spares car and rear edge is doable from sheet but making the bumper mounting area from scratch would be really tricky due to it's complex shape. Though it's getting a bit nippy outside so welding will likely happen the next year. Meanwhile i more or less got the sewing machine sorted so I practiced on how to do the piping for the boot carpet with some scrap material. Sorry for the many pics, easier to show than tell; First sew strip of vinyl upside down in parallel with carpets edge (badly cut thin leather in the pic since that is what i had in hand, ready made vinyl strip can be bought cheaply from the Bay of Ees). Fold over and sew from the top. Thread vanishes nicely in the carpets nap. Bottom view. Goes through like butter with the Singer. And the finished article. That's one way to do it at least, with little more practice should look the part.

I sand blasted couple parts small enough to fit in my blasting cabinet; I have already sorted a later series 2 type heater box with plastic housing but after that i came across this correct metal one that will be going in the car. It's a bit colder now so better for the compressors, not so good for the painting though. And a small side project related to Cortina (if i did not have enough already..). i found this cobblers sewing machine that someone had chucked in a skip; According to the serial number it is a Singer 29K1 made in January/june 1911(!) in Clydebank Scotland. Casting had cracked in one spot but i did a quick fix on it. Brazing would of been better but this should work for now. Thread tensions need to be set and it's a bit worn in places but for the price (of nought) no complaints from me. And if you are wondering what this has got to do with Cortina it has more than enough capacity to sew piping on the boot mat that i made a while back. Might be sometime before i have the chance to do any meaningful work on the car, hope you will understand. In memoriam Grandma 26.1.1926-29.9.2019

Thank you! Though i am fairly sure i will go through a tub or two (or three, four..) of the stuff. I also still have small areas on the body shell that need to be worked over with hammer and dolly. Not ideal since it's been painted now but i could not postpone the painting any further back then. Will have to touch up the epoxy where needed, not a big deal. And talking of hammer and dolly; I gathered these tools, and refaced my (cheap) hammers and dollies. If not cared for they will turn into a stamp and die set Sadly that and couple hours worth of work on the wings was all i could muster up this week.

Mainz was nice but good to be back home! First thing i did after i returned was to change the wheels on my jig. I was tired of the previous tires going flat all the time and these will allow me to push the shell sideways in the garage more easily. On the garage floors the new wheels work really good. Then i hung the bonnet up with a ratchet strap and rigged one of those new LED ceiling lamps with bungee cords. I modified lamp into a work light by fitting a flex and plug on it, later if needed i will cobble together a stand for it. Smearing on first blotches of the fabled restoration paste.. I am rubbish at using bog but all the more reason to do it and learn.

These were only on series 1 cars, Lotuses had them on both wings. I do not know if all the trim levels had these installed, but they were definitely dropped with the series 2. Though series 2 did get Ford badges added to the sill plates instead. ..and i'll go hang off my anorak now

Again regrettably little progress on the car Just have not gotten the time nor energy. I will be away on a work trip in Mainz (near Frankfurt) for most of the next week so no chance then either. Only been doing some little stuff again, here's a wee sample of such since it's shiny and i like shiny; Bought me one of those reproduction wing badges, not too bad though the blue is a couple shades too light (camera lies a little, not this light in the flesh). Shape and size seem to be ok from what i tell by comparing to pics on the net. This was one of the few parts that was outright missing in my car. Of course it had a different hole pattern than the original.. But that did not matter because i had not yet drilled holes for it (Goes to the other wing for you guys). Hole spacing for this was 46mm with Ø of 4.5mm. Obviously wing needs "a bit" more work done on it but every little thing forwards helps.

Did not get much done during the week being too spent after work. Saturday was mostly lost because i had to help my brother out due to his T25 Avensis failing it's MOT. RH side lower control arm had a rust hole on it, common fault on those i believe. Simple enough to fix but a hoist would of been nice to have.. Got the bonnet and boot lids reinforcements glued on the areas where there was none, and on the same go i glued back together the rubber strip that goes on the chassis below the bonnets rear edge (not present on series 2 cars). I used my favourite 2 pack industrial strength glue on these. Sticks to anything and remains a little flexible. Not cheap if bought, got mine for free since it was little past it's use by date. Also did some little stuff here and there, though nothing to write home about.

Thank you! Still loads to do before winter comes. First thing that pops to my mind is to find a better wing for the drivers side. One i have could be repaired but it would save me a lot of time to get a better one, difficult to find but surely not impossible.

Went to MOT my daily hack, failed due to corrosion on sill ends and surround of boot air outlet flap plus three burnt out bulbs (figures that the only time i do not check the lights beforehand..) Fair enough, joys of driving around on a 20 year old car. I did quick MOT bodge patches and changed out the burnt bulbs and got it to pass. Was kind of an liberating experience after the precision work on the Cortina. Should last a year or two but i really need to start consider getting a new ride. Back to Cortina; I blasted and primed the hinges, And couple other parts whilst i had everything setup. And threw on the bonnet. Not yet gapped but one more step closer to finish. That's it for this vacation, not all i wanted to accomplish but nothing to sneeze at either. I will take rest of the weekend off to relax some and continue with little stuff after getting back on the swing of things.

Reinforcement panel stripped, blasted and acid treated. I added a small angle to bonnet catch area as it felt a little soft, not a place you want to fail. Did not bother to completely linish the welds on the underside. After this i fully welded in the patch to the bonnets edge and painted undersides of both the skin and panel. Next i welded the panel to the bonnet and prepared it for epoxy primer. I did a quick test fit with the front aluminium strip after welding, should be ok. Primed, I will let this cure for a day or two before installing it. I opted to glue the rear edge of the reinforcing panel after coating (mostly because i forgot to buy some). Does not need to be fully glued, only enough to stop any rattles.

Thank you for the heads up, I measured mine as; 300 (front overhang) 285 380 340 305 (rear overhang) Units mm, seam to seam. Sadly my original ripped to shreds back when i removed the headliner rods and i have since disposed of the remains. However compared against the rod mounting holes in the roof it should fit. Seems likely that where ever Aldridge got their measurements for Corsair they got it wrong. One would think that they should know their business by now, hope that they will recognize their fault and refund you in full. Little progress on the bonnet, Got the reinforcement panel mostly sorted. Needs sandblasting next. Also started work on the front edge. Patch between clamps is salvaged from the fern green bonnet.

I stripped most of the paint from the cars original bonnet; But at this point i found couple hard to repair dings (would of needed to remove a corner reinforcing panel to repair) and large amount of rust was dislodged from innards. This might get hard to follow.. Picture of my bonnet collection for reference; Lets call these A, B and C from left to right. A is the spare i bought for the aluminium strip (white paint is from my test sprays), B is original to my car and C (fern green) is from my spares car. Bonnet A has had rust repairs done to it's front. It had been painted over when the front was repaired. Work had been done quite well and the additional layers had kept it's top rust free. C is from a dutch built '69 (note holes for the letters) and is very rotten but the front part is usable. Of interest is one of the longitudinal reinforcements. This is as it left the factory, looks like someone stepped on it and used it anyway.. Should be like this. Also note the damage caused by stuck hinges. In summary; A; "Spine" (style line in the middle of the bonnet) little bit bent (might been leaning against something when loose), front edge rusted. B; Too rusty, hard to repair dings, "spine" bent . C; Spine good, front edge usable, otherwise rotten. So my plan now is to use bonnet A. I stripped it back to bare metal, banged the spine roughly back in to shape and fixed couple easy dings on it. Next i will remove the front step from C and use parts of it to repair A's front edge (not flat, patches would be hard to make). I will try to keep seams hidden behind the aluminium strip, should be the strongest area. After that little sandblasting and reattaching the front reinforcing panel. Which also needs blasting after i linish the welds. Will paint the skin and bottom of this panel before it goes back in. Ran out of epoxy primer when i did the doors so got to buy more. Couple interesting points on this bonnet, seller had a '69 boot lid (letter holes) from the same car but this bonnet is '68 or late '67 (i think early '67 had an extra reinforcement bar in the middle?). Reinforcement panels are firmly glued as opposed to the other two that barely had any, seems to be better as it makes the skin much more rigid. When i dug the fern green bonnet from my stash i quickly checked my spare doors for cracks on the window sill but did not find any so at least they did not leave the factory as cracked:)

I must remember to check my spare doors when i next visit my parts stash, they should be from a fairly low mileage car. Yesterday i had to do some repairs on my daily hack in preparation for MOT. Nothing too major, rear brakes were binding so cleaned the calipers and changed the pistons on them. Hopefully nothing else pops up during the inspection as my Maxima is slowly starting to show it's age. Today i removed the reinforcing panel on my bonnet. This was even easier than on my practice piece since there was only a touch of glue and many spot welds had not taken. One of the longitudinal reinforcing strips even came loose on it's own. Rather crispy, will see what's left after sandblasting. I would rather use this bonnet over the spare since this one is little bit straighter. Maybe folks at Dagenham had other things on their mind when mine was built.. Was reading the great thread on Pete's gorgeous Corsair on Retrorides yesterday ( http://forum.retro-rides.org/thread/200957/1967-corsair-restoration-ghost-busting?page=76 ) and spotted that the author on no uncertain terms disapproved of Aldridges method of shipping their headliners. I can see how this might be an issue so i unfolded mine and loosely rolled them over PVC pipes; As these will not be needed for quite some time they might now survive on better condition.

I painted the drivers side door and threw it in to get it out of the way. Not gapped yet but looks promising. Next i think that i need the bonnet installed to align the wing. Or rather wings but have not even started work on the left one yet.. This is where the spare bonnet came in handy, I practiced removing the front reinforcing panel on it. Came out easier than i would of guessed. Glue on the rear (tougher than seam sealer, maybe closer to panel bond?) was removed with heat and a thin blade. Note the "hidden" spot welds on the sides, on the actual bonnet i will drill these with a smaller bit. Might need a little bending and joggling to get the panel out but otherwise fairly straight forward operation. To sort this area properly the panel really needs to be removed. No paint or other protection inside as far as i could see.

I wonder that as well, On mine other side was cracked also. Classic stress fracture propagating from a weak spot. Got to remember though that It's a (heavily used) 50 year old car so understandable. This door (Finnish, so drivers side) also had a cracked rear window frame. I closed the gap with a ratchet strap and welded it shut. After stripping and sandblasting there was a small pinhole on the bottom corner that needed patching. Other pitting visible in the pic was borderline acceptable after blasting and acid treating. Luckily no mirror holes this time. Temperatures should drop for tomorrow so i will likely prime it then. Got alignment on the other door reasonable close, mostly by luck. Ca. 5mm all around, except the wing which is not installed yet and gets it's alignment from the door. Window frame tapers shut a little on the upper corner but i suspect that it might have been so from the factory. Does not really show on the pic but more noticeable in person. Everything else lines ok so i think i'll leave it as is.

No replacement hinges to be found, so had to repair the old ones. Might not be permanent but allows me to continue. I removed the old pins by grinding the "small end" flat and tapped them out whilst heating the aluminium. Most came out ok but on right hand side hinge pins were broken and shank had come one with the hinge, could not remove them even with my press. Luckily i had spares. Plan B would of been to buy some alum and chemically remove the steel shank, have not tried that method myself but i have read that others have done so to remove taps from aluminium parts. After dismantling and cleaning the parts i drilled holes to 7.8mm in my pillar drill trying to keep everything as straight as possible. Then i cut 8MM (nominal OD) bolts to suit and polished their shanks to make them smooth and reduce their OD ever so little. On upper hinges i had to ditch the spacers under the nut as otherwise it was interfering with the door mounting screw. Next i greased the bolts and tapped them in place with original brass washers on the inside. Right hand side came out surprisingly good. Left hand side might be a little stiff, will have to test how they feel with the door. I can always hone the hinge pin bores on the inner part if needed. And naturally i fixed the wrong side hinges first by mistake.. At lest both sides are now done. On a side note, these hinges are very poor design by all measures. Must of been built down to a price.. Door mounted, now i can start lining it up. Had to scoot the shell to other side of the garage, these doors are ridiculously long :)