Mk5Mike

I'll have a rummage in the shed tomorrow - might have one or two lurking in there somewhere...

Will do.

I can raid one from the VV I've recently replaced on the two door - carb itself is knackered but the solenoid was working fine.

Thanks - Aaron has found a decent one which hopefully I'll have time to fit on Wednesday but I'm a bit paranoid now (those big doors are proper heavy) so if you've got a driver and passenger side bottom hinge available I'd gladly take both to have spares in stock...

I know what you mean - I'm almost persuaded to go and clear up my little shed/workshop which is a sea of car parts liberally coated with sanding dust and overspray!

Thanks - I think the rear bottom hinge might be the same too, will check the Crusader later - also same hinges on Mk3&4. Checked eBay last night, I missed a complete set of mk3 hinges for £19.99 incl p&p by about 15mins - and from one of my preferred suppliers too (hellooo Dave.com)! :smashcomp: There's someone in South Shields selling a NOS one but that's starting at £20...

I just couldn't shift the pin and my drill bits weren't up to the job, so for the moment I've just hammered the hinge back into place and rehung the door. Getting in and out through the window isn't as easy as Bo and Luke made it seem!

I'm on the case now but it's proving to be a bit tricky.

The two door is currently a one door... Drivers side bottom hinge pin has sheared off - probably been like that for some time by the looks of it, the door had dropped noticeably with recent use but the hinge is now well and truly fubar and I can't drift out the remains of the pin. This is a particular problem because the car is on the drive minus the door and my lock up is half a mile away! I might just have to take it back there beach buggy style but if there's anyone with a spare hinge within an hour or so of Harrow, I'll come over to collect. Here's hoping... Clare is on her way back from the Ladies FA Cup Final and isn't going to be happy seeing this in the hallway! :wife:

Those look superb :thumbup:

I've been using that stuff for several years (I wait for the the ECP web offers to come along and then pick up a few 5ltr packs for stock when they're half price) with no problems, just change it every two years and you should be fine.

Like Dave says - it should turn and come out easily once you've freed it off. Did you get a new rubber seal with the new sender? Watch out when you're fitting the new one - you'll need to tap it to lock it fully into position, the first replacement I had was pretty poor quality and the back plate came off in the process... Don't know if it helps but here's a photo of the sender in situ - bit easier to fit when the tank is off the car!

I'd wait until a sprog arrives before you make any major decisions like this. I'm a father of four and when we were expecting no.1 lots of people were saying you must get a bigger place, change the car etc etc. Luckily we ignored all that and just took things as they came, didn't move from our 1 bed cottage until after no.2 was born and only got a "modern" family car when no.4 arrived because that was the only way to fit us all in together. New/newish cars are a total money pit - could you use the wife's car as family transport when the time comes?

Looking good Pete - the paint and the chrome have come up a treat!

Thanks both - Duke, I'll send you a PM

The dash speakers in both of my Mk5s are knackered - the cones must be shot, all I get is a distorted mess like a chorus of kazoos! Does anyone have the exact dimensions of the speaker or can recommend a straight swap replacement? I should have checked while I had the dash stripped out of the two door but forgot... I'm guessing that finding a new direct replacement will be tricky because of it having only two mounting tabs on the centre line rather than one in each corner like eg standard 6x4 speakers. Otherwise, please let me know if you've got any second hand working originals kicking around. Thanks!

No worries, thanks for looking.

Thanks - unfortunately it looks like I'll be driving up to Yorkshire first thing Saturday morning for family reasons in which case I'm going to miss the Ace despite it being just around the corner... I'll send you a PM in a mo.

Back from work now so just poring over the workshop manual. If you can select Park and it's working then the external linkage must be ok. Odd that you can start the engine in all positions - either the inhibitor switch is bust or something has gone awry internally. Sounds like it might be time for the transmission witch doctor...

Selector linkage is easy to check - from memory, there's a rod that runs down the passenger side of the box and connects to an arm on that side of the box. There should be markings on the gearbox casing which show which position the arm is in (ie P R N D 2 1). I haven't had an auto Cortina since the late 90s so memory is a bit hazy!

Has the selector linkage broken (with the box having slipped into neutral)? That would explain all those symptoms. That's the extent of my expertise I'm afraid - autoboxes are dark magic...

Mine's not a lot better, looks like it's been tacked on too so I guess that's how they fitted them at the factory :shocking:

Wicked - that's bedtime viewing sorted then!

Thanks Dave - and if you come across any decent main sections of gutter trim, please can I join the queue?

I'm after the offside corner piece for my 2 door (as modelled here by my Crusader):