andy lowe

I took my interest in Cortina's after chancing upon an issue of CF in Sept 2000 and I first looked at a tired Mk3 in Nov 2000 at a local garage but it was up for stupid money even for then. I subsequently looked at a modified Mk1 4dr in May 2001 at another garage this time in Shepshed but when push came to shove I was never going to be able to insure it alongside my daily driver at the time being only 18 so had to leave it which was a shame because I quite liked it. I had to save for a further 18 months before I was in a financial position to buy and insure a Cortina and I found my first one, a 1600E, in Nottingham in Jan 2003. Like another poster I never had net access until 2004 so all my car hunting was at shows, CF classifieds or CCW paper.

Primary reason I gave up my subscription about seven or eight years back. I like a good read about a restoration of any car but the constant stream of Mk1 & Mk2 Escorts got plain boring with other models not just Cortina's but 100E's, 105E, Consul Classics/Capris just being dropped altogether even though there were dozens of cracking cars on the show circuit they can't have failed to spot. I still have a flick through in the local Asda if I see it on sale but little seems to have changed. It's a sad irony for me as it was a chance read of the August 2000 issue of CF that got me into Cortina's in the first place I still have every issue stored from 2000-2006 and a lot of back ones bought at autojumble that probably go back to mid-1998.

Not for a good few years now but do have this one photo from Billing in 2006. Again there was a story with it but details escape me- imported definitely- but where from I don't remember- certainly not Europe. South Africa rings a bell and was given a 72/73 plate possibly because it was a very late CKD build

I'd heard the story a number of years ago at a show which was something like the guy had a Mk1 GT possibly from new and run it a few years then when the time came to change (possibly it had been crash damaged can't honestly remember) he bought this Mk2 GT brand new and insisted the dealer have it registered on this plate. Too long ago to remember specifics but the plate definitely belonged to a Mk1 first

long time no see :) Can't believe it's 10 years already.

i'd only give £2K tops, very clean and i've always wanted one registered on the same day i was born which this is! sadly though no dice

:winner: Don't quite know what to make of that one. thought it would have been Silver as main colour.

you have a PM :blink:

one of my favourite phrases when sellers drag there heels "today i'm trying to buy the car from you, tomorrow you are trying to sell it to me again". I don't blame you Ghiaest

Have you any photos of it since you done the repairs? what is the current state of the exhaust blow back and the front brakes that you mentioned in your original post? cheers

2 year later.. Stuck clutch.. Rear brakes jammed.. Flat Tyres.. Flat batterys.. etc If I leave my shed longer than a few days she refuses to budge.. :cheers: To quote the Hoosiers song "Goodbye Mr A"

NOS? probably a small fortune. I bought a completely stripped and relaquered one in as near to new condition a few years back for.....£25 :cheers: great times!

I think this car would have been sold a long time ago and recomissioned by now if Mr A didn't make it such a pantomine to try and view it or give an indication of what he actually wants for it. I thought Ghiaests £2.5k offer was a very good one by 2006 mk5 prices.

Will contact him asap. cheers Howard.

Any particular colour Howard? i've a set of 4 black S2 1600E door cards and i may even be able to drop off in Kent as i'm in the vicinity on Fri/ Sun. £30 for the lot.

When i sold my 1600E last year i had no regrets, i'd gotten everything i'd wanted out of it and it was time to move on to something else. Not a Cortina but i often wish i'd never sold my old Pug 405 back in 2002.

Feel quite sure that in the Cortina Story book by Robson it says the early Mk3 press cars were pre-production (as Craig said) and scrapped shortly afterwards due to being pretty poorly built and indeed the Tomorrows World one blown up was one of them.

85mph :cheers: At that point it was getting scary with the wallowing side to side

It's true but the same today, you couldn't give away a tidy Mk3 XR3i or an XR2 a couple of years ago and now the prices are on the rise, just think what a rare beast the Mondeo ST24 will be in 10 years time yet you could buy one now for peanuts and mothball it.

Didn't venture into a scrapyard until 1999 by which time most had gone already but still some to be seen usually with a Sierra on top. I remember the start of the Alexi Sayle Cortina program showed hundreds of Mk1's being scrapped which i guess was 82. If i had a time machine i'd love to go back to a mid-80's scrapyard and see some of the stuff in there. Would be a better experiance than any modern motor show for me anyway :juggle:

earliest Cortina memory is a green Mk5 estate my dad had got a lend of after his car got written off. battery kept going flat and needed push started all the time! think it got sold on to some builders after that. I was brought home from the hospital in a orange Mk3 when i was born but i'm obviously far too young to remember that. Oddly i have a similar memory, I won a Mk1 Renault 5 on ebay and went to collect it from Gloucester the same day the Band Aid 20 was getting recorded (14th Nov 2004). I remember the seeming running commentary it was getting on Radio 1 whilst I drove it home which is why it sticks in the mind

(best Michael Caine voice) For anyone who applied for a provisional after 1997 it is a seperate test that must be taken... and not a lot of people know that! :winner:

socket set, screwdrivers, set of points/ condenser i'd say

back in 2003 i bought a Pug 306 from a Ford dealer in Mkt Harborough taking my 405 in as p/ex. since i had the money in the bank i decided to go and pay it in full with a bankers draft that afternoon so i went back this time in my 1600E, when i got there transaction complete etc the salesman followed me out (on the prowl for more sales) and seen my E, he said "thats an interesting car, err.....what is it?" :blink: I think he was a little dumbfounded when i explained it was a Ford!!

so to summarise, what i am doing wrong is trying to get it right in 1 go. am i right in understanding that you need to build up a few layers then sand it down progressively with e.g 240 working gradually up to 1200-1500 till the surface is blemish free (this is the part i'm finding hard).