SusanButcher

Spray colour works well for black loop pile, at least. Spray on vinyl colour, brush the fibres when dry to separate them, and add extra colour where needed. If you were dealing with something like blue or beige carpet, you'd get some improvement, but it wouldn't look brand new.

Is the Tudor pump that is part of the early version Cortina Mk2 wiper switch also the same as, or usable for, the Zodiac III and Corsair 1500 with variable speed wiper switches? (Phew, I'm out of breath after that sentence!) I''m asking because I have another Corsair 1500 coming.

OK, I have the answer. The suffix AE means "acrylic enamel", as opposed to a cellulose finish.

I saw a man about Corsair parts yesterday, and looked at a 1965 Corsair 1500 deluxe. It has been resprayed in the past, seems to be Ambassador Blue, but has a slight metallic tinge to the paint. The paint code is MAE. I know M is Ambassador, but what does the AE mean? The roof may have been grey originally, and the paint on the dash is a mid-blue that matches the blue interior. Any ideas?

Unless you want them to send to Australia, which is an extra 30 quid!

I've measured the size of the filter I use in my GT air cleaner: inside diameter 18cm, outside diameter 23.5cm, height 5cm. This isn't an original Ford filter, it was an altered Mazda unit, but it fits well.

I guess that's it. It also simplifies the lower part of the cleaner, with the two bolts going into threads cut directly into the metal, and no bracket interrupting the air flow.

That''s the early version. After December 1963 the lid was held on with two bolts. But the later one has the same arrangement of two crossbars and four nuts spacers and grommets holding it to the long studs on top of the Weber.

Mk1 sump removal without engine removal. I've never done this, but some people have, apparently. Block up the car. Support the engine on chains. Take off the front wheels. Unbolt the front engine mounts, the strut top bolts, and the cross-member to chassis bolts, and drop the front suspension assembly enough to enable the sump to be removed.

Big and heavy is more likely to mean slow. Now the Corsair's gear lever rattle is fixed, I can confidently overtake huge SUVs struggling up hills. I expect they could maintain a decent pace if they wanted to, but putting your foot down in something that size costs a lot in petrol.

I think the South African "Corsair 83" had Deluxe trim and a GT engine like the Corsair S. I've no pictures, so I can't be certain.

It looks like the beige colour had two dye components, green and red, and the red is fading. I've got the same problem with the brown carpet in my Saab boot, and I'd thought of painting dilute red dye on the faded areas. The black loop pile carpets in the Corsair were really bad for fading, turning to a dirty beige colour after three or four years of driving. However black's easy to restore.

No trouble Alan. Good luck sorting out the heating. I should also mention the non-heated "fresh air" system. This has the same basic box as the one-flap heavy duty system, but no heater core or fan. Most Australian Cortinas had this setup because it rarely gets below zero here, and if it's really hot you just reverse the front quarter-lights for a blast of air in your face. No good in a traffic jam though! Same deal in South Africa I expect.

Apologies if you know this already, but the normal Mk1 heater system doesn't have a water valve. The hot water circulates constantly through the heater core, and the amount of heat reaching the car's interior is determined by the position of the two flaps in the heater box that control the air flow through the core. If your car originally had the "heavy duty"' heater system, then there is only one flap in the heater box, and there would have been a dashboard-controlled water valve that screwed into a hole on top of the engine block. So if you've got the normal constant-flow system, the flaps are faulty. I think the circulation of the heater water is in the opposite direction to the arrows, because the water flows down the radiator and into the pump.

An aside: E10 should be OK in early Cortinas because ethanol/petrol mixtures like Cleveland Discol were common in Britain up to the mid-Sixties. The Mark 1 had nylon and metal fuel lines, no rubber, and the original carburettor parts must have been ethanol-proof too.