Neil.

I'm no legal expert but if it comes under the same invoice titled engine rebuild then I'd hope so. Best thing to do is read your terms and conditions on your credit card regarding section 75 I believe there are some exclusions such as holidays through a travel agent as it's not a direct relationship with the supplier, but in general it means the credit card company is liable for the purchase as much as the supplier, it's a good insurance for anything you buy between £100 & £30,000 and if you get refused you can appeal via the financial onbudsman

Just read your post, hopefully it's not caused any damage.

If you are paying out a lot of cash, it's worth paying £100 on credit card as it covers you for the whole amount, even the portion paid by other means. It's a bit late now but for the future more info - https://www.moneysavingexpert.com/reclaim/section75-protect-your-purchases/

The other thing to bear in mind - did you pay by credit card, you may be covered under section 75

I'd have thought you should be able to see whether the distributor is worn enough not to drive the oil pump. Re synthetic oil in your first post, I have known a Savage owner to use it to find that it caused a newly rebuilt engine to seize. Did you carry on driving with the light on?

When I've had engines rebuilt, the distributor is not always included, so if the hexagonal key within the bottom of the distributor is worn, it's not necessarily part of the rebuilt? You probably need to look at the agreement and see whats included and what isn't I had a different problem with an engine I had rebuilt, I had it rebuilt as the cam chewed all the teeth off the distributor drive, and still had the same problem after the rebuild, I never sorted it as the car was off the road soon after.

Neither can I, I'd rather drive them than look at them but the fact that prices are on the up does make restoration of the cars more likely.

With escorts going for silly money, it's bound to filter down to other fords as people move to something more affordable. There's nothing to lose by testing the water at a high figure initially, there are some people out there that want things regardless of cost. Things might change this coming year though as I'm sure interest rates will start to rise again, which means that other investments maybe become more preferable for those with plenty of cash to spend.

I know my Dad bought a shop with a 3 bed house for about 2k in 1971 so it's not that cheap for a car that'd be rotten in about 4 years time. I just wish I'd bought lots of trim and 3.54 diffs etc in the early 80's to sell on ebay now

I sold one only a few months ago. I now wish I'd bought everyone I saw in the past.

I doubt you'll get any info that way, Willment was dissolved a long time ago, and it's doubtful anyone would keep paperwork that long anyway as there is no great reason to do so. If it's a car of any interest, I'm sure people on here will probably know more about it than any car dealer will. Is it a Savage as Jeff Uren used to race for Willment Racing Team?

Check battery voltage, should be above 13volts, mine struggles when it gets as low as 12.4 volts. You can buy a multimeter for a few quid to check it. check terminals on battery, I've had ones that don't tighten up well and caused issues or the terminals corroded, so need a fine sand with emery paper, also make sure it's earthed properly, you can always run a jump lead cable from the battery -ve to the engine block to make sure its earthing correctly.

If that's the case, why are prices of everything going through the roof? I don't understand it?

do expresssed have what you need - https://www.steelpanels.co.uk/category/ford/cortina-mk-3/body-side-cortina-mk-3/page/2/ Otherwise I'd buy an English wheel & sell it again when done, you'd probably get whatever you paid for it, so just a matter of fuel & ebay fees to consider or the other option is just use a sheet of steel with the original as a pattern and do it in sections or bend it to shape. It just takes time and patience. e.g this panel made from scratch with no more than an hammer and a few bits of steel

I know what you mean, much better for a car to be in the hands of an enthusiast rather than an investor. I look at cars I' interested in and they are a similar value to the cost of my first house, it's difficult to justify spending that amount of money.