Mk5Mike

That is gorgeous - Cosmos Blue is a cracking colour, in fact all the Mk4 metallic colours look great.

Good selection of 13" tyres on Oponeo. 185/70 - http://www.oponeo.co.uk/tyre-finder/s=1/summer/t=1/car/r=1/185-70-r13 165/80 - http://www.oponeo.co.uk/tyre-finder/s=1/summer/t=1/car/r=1/165-80-r13

Nice one Dukes - hope all goes to plan on Friday!

The paint finish looks superb - is all this still with rattle cans? I followed your tip and got one of those Plasticote squeezy-handle things, made a massive difference when I was spraying up my wheels.

A is power feed to electric aerial (it's switched by the radio on/off knob), B is +12V in from the loom (yellow wire on standard mk4/5 loom, switched from ignition key switch position I), C and D are - and + speaker output for a DIN speaker plug like these:- http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/maplin-in-car-speaker-2-pin-plugs-l41az

I got a genuine mk5 one there last year, managed to chip the guy down to £90. Is 200T's current one past saving?

I haven't seen a new mk4 valance (even a pattern one) up for sale for a long time now - mine's a bit crusty around the edges too. Your best bet might be a mk5 one and then get the lower cut outs welded up.

Seems to be luck of the draw - I fitted the basic Accuspark kit (ie using existing distributor etc) to my Crusader two years ago and hasn't missed a beat in several thousand miles since.

Cheers Martyn, I'll get measuring tomorrow!

Cheers Steve, that's really helpful. Did you have to extend the wires from the module to the window element or are they long enough as is?

Cheers Jim - Mark (Cortinax14) is letting me have the cowl off his scrap mk4 rad so I'll give that a try and if it fits then then mk3 one will be up for grabs.

I think the pinto sender is supposed to have a white plastic bit, so could be that you've got the wrong sender in there (but if it's the black V6 sender you've got then you should have the opposite problem as they're supposed to run cooler so the gauge should read too high...) If the fuel gauge is underreading too then it sounds like a faulty voltage regulator.

I've got the opposite issue on my two door - running fine, thermostat is opening as it should etc but the gauge stills rock steady about four-fifths of way up once it's up to temp. In my case I reckon it's the voltage regulator as the fuel gauge is a bit on the optimistic side as well but I don't know how the PFL mk3 gauges are wired. What colour is the plastic bit on the sender?

Thanks Kev - I'll get the tape measure out!

Yep - it's nothing special, just "Simoniz 5 Wheel Steel". There's also "5 Wheel Silver" but that's quite a bit brighter than the steel version and I think the darker shade looks more like the original colour. I got a couple of cans at a show last year but you can pick them up at Halfrauds and lots of other places

And less grip.

Hi Mark, sent you a PM about the cowl... Mike

Good day today despite the weather - all three Cortinas have had a run, the Crusader passed its MOT with no advisories and I managed to nurse Clare's Mk2 Golf through its test as well...

Cheers Gary - really looking forward to taking this to Monmouth. Steve, good thinking on the Sierra aerial set up - you'll have to show me how you've got it rigged on yours. Kevin, thanks for the info on the cowl - can you tell from the fiche what the full part no is for the Crossflow cowl?

If it's driver's side then yes please - ta. I think the old hinge is beyond saving so no good as a spare - the remains of the pin are well and truly seized and the top and bottom of the central section of the hinge have been worn down, pin must have snapped ages ago...

A pleasure Gary and I'll look forward to that beer!

Ta - will send you a PM

Thanks guys. Very happy to do fan cowling swapsies, especially if this help complete one of Pete City's cars. Talking of Pete, I've been inspired by all his recent electronics stuff to sort out a decent radio and ipod hookup. This is very lame by Pete's standards but I picked up a very nice Blaupunkt AM/FM "Munster" at a flea market in Hamburg last October - doesn't look that different from the original Ford P21 radio but as well as FM it has the all important DIN socket on the rear. Which means I can attach this:- I'm going to stick the wee box with the 3.5mm socket underneath the console so it'll all be out of sight but once you plug a headphone jack into it, the radio feed is cut off and the input from headphone jack is cut in - neat and very simple. It's all tested and working, along with a replacement dash speaker supplied by Dukeblues :thumbup: , should get it all fitted back into the car tomorrow. The one thing missing from all this was an aerial. I don't fancy cutting into the new wing until I've got a proper Ford aerial to fit so for the moment I got a Blaupunkt amplified windscreen jobbie off ebay - haven't tried it on the move yet but seems to be a really good strong signal so hopefully a good interim solution. Ideally of course this would be a proper Ford branded system - I've got a P32 and a P42 radio but both of them are faulty at the moment...

I've now got four repainted rims and new tyres on the car. The second pair of wheels I tackled had been powder coated (badly) in the past and I made the mistake of just giving them a rub down - the zinc primer reacted badly and I ended up wire brushing them back to bare metal and starting again. I should of used some high build primer because there was lots of pitting under the powder coat but the results aren't too bad (the photos flatter them a bit!). Next up, new windscreen trims (I cheated with these - old school windscreen fitter did them for me). Exterior jobs left to do are gutter trims, painting the sills and touching up some chips on the wing and B pillar from where the drivers door dropped. I found what I thought from the measurements was the correct fan cowling but it didn't fit. Anyone know what it's actually off? Then I thought what the hell and tried it in situ - although it's a bit wonkoid and only held in with two nuts, it clears the fan and makes a massive difference to the airflow so I'll keep it on until I find the right one!

Big shout out to Aaron for getting a new hinge to me today - not only is it in excellent nick but the same ruddy colour too! Fitted tonight before the rain sets in (which stuffs my plan for painting the sills tomorrow...)