stopsy

I'll watch for it on ebay then

What casting number is the blick 711M or 681 and what you looking for just for the engine

There was one on my route to work, often had a 'for sale' sign in the window. Bit tatty but I often see the car out and about so usable and MOT'ed. I'll have a look this week

I think people presume they are watching someones life when watching TV. Remember nothing happens on TV that isnt aready set up and arranged months before, just look at Top Gear havent you ever wondered how they manage to get the perfect camera angle when something 'unexpectedly goes wrong' its called good planning. The shows like Wheeler Dealers & Car SOS aren't aimed at the likes of us, they are aimed at people with no practical experience working on cars. Lets be honest it would make very boring telly for the majority if they went into detail as to what they were doing. I have met Mike outside of his 'day job' and he is a genuine car fan, the TV persona is taylored to suit the audience, he may be full of himself sometimes but you don't end up on TV if you are boring. Unless you go on Eggheads that is.

Any ideas out there before I start stripping things down. I pushed my 1600E about 10 feet forward to get to rear of garage, upon pushing it back it moved about 3 feet and locked up, I pushed it forward again with no problem but pushing back caused same problem. I jacked it up and spun both rear wheels, offside rotates both forward and backwards however nearside rotates forward but when rotating backwards it locks up. It feels mechanical almost as if its in gear or the prop is being impeded. Any ideas, its not the brakes binding as ive slackened them right off.

Thats what convinced me, took it for a gentle spin and it at one point bogged down a little and then gave a big plume of smoke out the back

Yeh it dose have servo, it did cross my mind. I'll have to a take a look. Cheers

Im at my wits end, can anyone help. I hadnt visit my 1600E for a couple of weeks and on pushing brake pedal it went straight to the floor. I checked fluid and reservoir was empty. I had recently bleed the complete system. I filled reservoir and re-bled the system again yesterday which again had the brakes working well with very good feel at the pedal, but today the level has fallen slightly again. There are no evident leaks internally or externally, ive checked all connection etc, and there is no trace of fluid on the floor. Any ideas ?

Are E's really going for this sort of money? What are the ones you see advertised for 5-6k really like? Do they still need work. I think I'd better change the agreed value with my insurance company...

Hi, with the high cost of decent rechroming I have been considering buying Stainless steel bumpers for my 1600E. Has anyone here purchased or seen these items in the flesh and what are your opinions of quality, fit etc..

I'm looking for all four, they just dont seem to be about

Hi does anyone in Essex area have a very good condition drivers front window glass.

Thanks for suggestion, I have found kits for around £50. I have now rebuilt it using separately sourced bearings, oil seals and cut by own gasket. Total cost incl all postage £8.55

Does anyone here know where I can get rebuild parts for Mk2 steering box.

Is that the remnants of a furry dashboard I spy, Oh those were the days

As a lot on here are expressing taste/style is always going to be subjective and down to an individual, a bit like judging the aesthetics of each others chosen partners. What you can't get away from is the workmanship, hard graft, passion and not to mention cold hard cash that anyone puts into their cars. Would the car even exist today if the guy had not chosen to express himself?. It is a bug bear of mine the differences in attitudes between the classic car and custom car fraternities. The dyed in the wool classic guys seem to want every car to look the same and comparable against each other where the custom guys are more interested in the quality of the work and skills required to carry the work out. If when the owner opens his garage and he smiles and feels good about himself that is worth a hell of a lot more than the guy saying 'I wouldn't have done that etc...'. Instead of spending their time expressing their obviously better ideas and design traits I wished these guys would go out get a car (any car) and express themselves as we all do.

Mine

I have a 1600E that runs fine but would like to check the timing. The timing case has two marking but the bottom pulley has only one, haynes manual only shows timing positions for bottom pulley with two notches, is there anywhere i can get the correct positions for the set up i have.

When i had a large workshop with all my toys in one place it was costing me 150 a week, it lwas situated on a quiet side street with no real outward signs of what it was used for but everyday people would pop in and ask me to do some welding or other work on their cars. I started to do a couple of jobs a week to pay for the workshop and overhheads, which gave me more money to waste on my toys, probably could have done 5 times the amount but it was my hobby not a means to a living which ment i could always say no. If i had taken that route i would probably be trying to fit in 20 jobs a week to earn what i do sitting on my . for 38 hours a week.which give me all the time in the world to play with the toys

Like a lot of other guys on here the skills i have piicked up have been almost by accident, ive always played with cars since i was 15. Had built a MK1 capri 3lt pickup truck by the time i was 17, purely because i believed i could do anything. Looking back there was plenty of bodging but hey i was young and stupid. I think most on here like to be different from the madding crowd and cortinas are their outlet, but as with everything else in life not everyone earns or possess the money to just hand over their car to an "expert". But also as in life just because someone sells a service doesnt actually mean they are any good at providing that service. Some of the best and inspirational work on all sorts of cars has seen has been produced by amateurs. Myself i just cant bear to pay someone to do a job i think i could possibly do, no else has worked on my Cortina and as others have said im proud when i look at her, it may not be concours (wouldnt want it to be) but its all my own work. When i was younger lots of people said i should modify cars for a living, luckily i chose not to, theres just not enough money in it. If i had taken that road i wouldnt have the toys i have now. Being a slave to normality does have its benifits after all

Thanks for the kind comments, it's definitely coming out this summer

Very nice, very retro

Thanks, I have only ever mopped it the once, that was after I sprayed it about 15 years ago. the rest of the time it is good old fashioned elbow grease. Unlike some I don't enjoy polishing, my day to day car hasn't even been washed once in six months. I have never been too bothered what products I use, but I tend to use Farecla 3M and Autoglym products. I really like the Autoglym Extra Gloss Protection, It brings the child out in me as when done properly if you pour water on the bodywork it just rolls off in beads.. I once used Simoniz Original Hard Wax, I ached for days afterwards.. I'm on the interior today now I'm in the mood.

Thanks it does come up quite nice when I put the effort in Excuse the messy garage

Took advantage of the lovely bright day today and gave the old girl a good clean up, and took her for a quick spin to shake of the cobwebs.