Neil.

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.

I don't know what prices are these days, but it seems I see a lot of ads on Facebook, click the link & see the ebay listing has ended, so can only presume they have sold in the region of the price advertised, escorts capris especially, but mk5 cortinas only a few years ago where fairly cheap, now fetching really good money.

Just come across the 2021 Practical Classic price guide https://static1.squarespace.com/static/5d31c18a98e9ae0001ecd934/t/5fb4f08311f8333f7cd338a2/1605693576498/IPAD+Price+Guide+January+2021.pdf It doesn't appear to bear any resemblance to prices I see online What do you think the going rate is for a Cortina these days?

Best handling mk2 I had was running on 175/70/13's - better grip than a 165 but not the heavy steering of the 185

Nice to see you're still around, hopefully as long as the software works as it should, all external images are cached, so we keep a local copy which means they shouldn't disappear.

If your vehicle was built before 1 January 1981, you can stop paying vehicle tax from 1 April 2021. If you do not know when your vehicle was built, but it was registered before 8 January 1981, you do not need to pay vehicle tax from 1 April 2021. Obviously add one year for 1982 I guess you need to prove it was built before 1st Jan 1982 to qualify next year

Red did always used to be bad, but they tend to use more light fast pigments these days which don't fade, which could result in it being metameric (looks a different colour under different lights) as it would now be rematched using different pigments. I remember some fiat colours having well over 30 shades, so 8 or 9 is not so bad.

if you take it to a motor factor that deals with the trade, they'll be able to measure the colour with a spectrophotometer & give you a good match This is one I use - https://jkwrefinishingsupplies.co.uk/ The cans are really good too, they don't spit & fart like they did in the past & you get to drain the can completely

That's unusual, normally any key works in an old Ford?

You'd have to upload it to youtube & then link to it

Vin decoder should work https://www.buysellcortina.co.uk/forums/index.php?/vin-decoder/mk5vin/

It's just whilst you are a new member, it helps to cut down on spammers, malicious users etc