TinaInTheForest 1 Posted September 23, 2012 At last, an original Monaco Red 2 door GT has found its way into my life. I've been looking for quite a while for the right car at the right price! This car is known to this forum, and belonged to Keith (Ditto on the forum) for a short time. Here's a couple of pictures of the car when he had it: It's an export specification GT, with the chrome strips and window surrounds, and the opening quarterlights....on an Aeroflow. It''s an original Monaco Red car, and the red can be seen on the roof under the headlining, where that is coming down! The car is basically sound and very straight, but it's never been fully restored, and is pretty tatty around the edges. It really needs a proper metalwork restoration to justify a full re-paint, and it certainly needs that. Stu B had a look at the car a few months ago and pronounced it as 'solid', .....we'll see once the wings are off! I went down to Weston-Super-Mare to pick it up today, but it was misbehaving as was the weather. I didn't fancy the idea of sitting on the side of the M5 waiting for the RAC in the pouring rain and figured that putting the car on a trailer to get it home next week was probably the best idea. My plans at this stage are to put it to original domestic market specification, with a few period mods. I want to only do mods that can be easily reversed to make a standard car. This means.... Do the opposite of what many others have been doing, and get it back to being red all over. I like the 'Alan Mann' look, but also like the clean lines of the MK 1 rally cars. The chrome strips will go, as will the chrome side window surrounds. The wing mirrors and rear facing spot also have a short life! Install an original 1500GT engine and gearbox, and upgrade the engine to Cosworth spec of the time. If I can't find a good 1500GT engine, then a twincam will go in instead....I've got a spare one of those. It currently has a crossflow and a 2000E box, with the gearlever in the wrong place. Lotus struts and springs with reverse-eye rear springs, but keep the GT TCAs and steering arms for better self- centering. All finished off with 5.5J steels, quarter bumpers and blacked grille of course. And that's about all. So no Dave, it's not going to be white with a green stripe! I've had 4 of those, and always wanted a red one. Colin (Ginn) has the only non-rally Mk 1 Lotus in Monaco that was made, so this is as close as I can get! A couple of questions at this stage. Firstly. did the export specification GTs all have rubber mats rather than carpet? This one has them, and they certainly look original. Does anybody have some detail photos of the engine bay of a '65 GT, showing the bulkhead,. inner wings and front panel? That's really to check when I get the bodywork sorted that there are no extra holes in the current shell, and that I have all the right bits, and they are all in the right place. Lastly for now, has anybody got a gearbox (with remote and lever) and / or an original 1500GT engine, complete, that they would sell me? I'll also put this request on the wanted section. Hopefully the car will be here this week and I will put a load of photos on here for you guys to pull apart. I know about the Mk 1 Lotus cars, but I know little about the originality detail of a GT. I need to learn quick so I can get all the right bits prior to restoration. Mark Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
the-ford-cortina.com 226 Posted September 23, 2012 What country was it built for , and did it ever go there ? Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TinaInTheForest 1 Posted September 23, 2012 What country was it built for , and did it ever go there ? Who knows??!! I've seen a few in the UK over the years, and I guess they were either cancelled orders, or have returned from Jersey, Malta or South Africa, or someone at Ford fancied a GT with a bit more bling! I'll get onto DVLA when I get the car, and see if it was registered here from new. Mark Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tizwass 23 Posted September 23, 2012 Who knows??!! I've seen a few in the UK over the years, and I guess they were either cancelled orders, or have returned from Jersey, Malta or South Africa, or someone at Ford fancied a GT with a bit more bling! I'll get onto DVLA when I get the car, and see if it was registered here from new. Mark hi i have a exprt super gt 1965 that has rubber mats that was exported to belguim Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TinaInTheForest 1 Posted September 23, 2012 hi i have a exprt super gt 1965 that has rubber mats that was exported to belguim That's a relief...thanks for the info. I was chuffed to find it had the original rubber mats, and that turned to concern when I dug out my old UK GT brochure to read that they all had carpets! It seems a bit odd to add the 'upmarket' super bits like the chrome trim and the opening quarterlights, then put the base model rubber carpets in. I think they'll stay though....I like the smell of rubber in a Ford!! Mark Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
the-ford-cortina.com 226 Posted September 23, 2012 (edited) Who knows??!! I've seen a few in the UK over the years, and I guess they were either cancelled orders, or have returned from Jersey, Malta or South Africa, or someone at Ford fancied a GT with a bit more bling! I'll get onto DVLA when I get the car, and see if it was registered here from new. Mark Did they class Jersey as export then? I was thinking Cyprus or Malta, RHD cars there and not too far to bring it back from , but then it could have been somewhere in Africa like our mk2 fleet car. If it was just the bling they wanted it would probably just have the chrome - no doubt if you badgered your dealer in 65 they would have got it put on for you same as having a wood dashboard on a Mk2 Super. Edited September 23, 2012 by the-ford-cortina.com Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mk1GTstu 0 Posted September 23, 2012 Nice to see another red GT, lovely car you've got there! :thumbup: Here's the resto thread i did on mine if your interested http://www.buysellcortina.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/3813-my-mk1-gt-project/ Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tizwass 23 Posted September 23, 2012 the export super gt i have has 2 vin tags one is a chassis number tag the other is its destination Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DHV571D 16 Posted September 23, 2012 The GT gearbox is the same on the 1500 super/deluxe and 1200 super/deluxe with the early gearboxes having a larger spigot bearing to all variants, so don't pay a premium for a "GT" gearbox. The bottom end of the GT engine is identical to any 1500 pre-crossflow, the only difference being the camshaft. I would get the latest 1500 pre-crossflow engine as fitted to the Mk2 Cortina with six bolt crank and improved rear crank seal and then get the head modified by one of the Throbnozzle/Vulcan/Burton type people. If you go with this you'll have a standard looking engine with better oil control and better performance. I have all the bits you would need for this engine set up Mark, if you are interested p.m. me or you have my e-mail address. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
G.O 19 Posted September 23, 2012 Looks like you've found yourself a good car there Mark :D Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
COLIN RNK 2 Posted September 23, 2012 (edited) That's a relief...thanks for the info. I was chuffed to find it had the original rubber mats, and that turned to concern when I dug out my old UK GT brochure to read that they all had carpets! It seems a bit odd to add the 'upmarket' super bits like the chrome trim and the opening quarterlights, then put the base model rubber carpets in. I think they'll stay though....I like the smell of rubber in a Ford!! Mark I heard that about you Mark you like the smell of rubber , but well done I'm really pleased for you welcome to the monoco red club def ditch the gold don't get me wrong I like the gold to but not on a gen monoco red car , I take it the Escort twink is off the menu then , if you need any help my end you know where I am . Edited September 23, 2012 by COLIN RNK Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
consul315 180 Posted September 24, 2012 (edited) congratulations Mark, well done! :winner: i had 4 Mk1 GTs in my life and currently own 3 of them (one sold in a weak moment to an unsympathic guy who nerved me over a year) , all are aeroflow and all of them have a carpet. i v never seen a GT over here with ruber mats. i guess pics of a LHD car won t be your first choice, but if you get stuck i have a rather original low milage one if that helps. :cheers: Edited September 24, 2012 by consul315 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
tizwass 23 Posted September 24, 2012 does it have gt trim or super trim mine has gt door trims and centre consol and all the black door tops but super seats Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
TinaInTheForest 1 Posted September 24, 2012 Thanks for the encouraging comments and info guys. Stuart, I hope that this car isn't as much work as yours! Thanks for the link, I hadn't seen that before and didn't even know that Buy/Sell was that old. I didn't know that all Mk 1 gear ratios were the same (apart from the Lotus) and had just assumed that the 1200, 1500 and 1500GT all had different ratios. But looking at a couple of books, I can now see that the overall ratios are determined by the different diff ratios of the different model. A good bit of Ford rationalisation. Was it only the GT (and Lotus) that had the remote, and was the GT one always iron rather than aluminium? I did have a '63 1200 (2 door of course!) many years ago, and I remember that having a very long gearlever that disappeared under the dash somewhere! I'll email you about the engine bits as well, Rod. I haven't seen a destination tag on the car so far, but will have a proper look when I get the car here. My interior is the same as the domestic brochure (High Performance Cars....Cortina GT Corsair V4GT Cortina Lotus) which is the same as the Lotus interior. Black paintwork, but I don't know if it's Super Trim or GT trim....what's the difference? Col, the Escort Twink is ff the agenda for now. I've looked at around 20 cars in the last 6 or 7 years, and if they're restored, they've been done poorly and need doing again, or they are mint in an 1100 shell. Nothing wrong with that as far as I'm concerned, but the sellers always seem to think that a re-shell is worth the same as an original. At the other end, I've seen a few restoration projects, which are usually missing the lower 12 inches of bodywork, and the good metal looks like it's been in a giant cement mixer! So I decided that as I had a lovely original early Mexico, I would get that sorted properly instead. Stu B has been finding a bit of rust in my rust-free car....he's converted it from this old shed...... To this little beauty in a few weeks.... Unfortunately there was no option as the front wings had been poorly fitted in the 70s after a small accident, the inner wing rails had rusted and been botched, the flitch panel that extends the wing rails over the bulkhead sides had rotted, and a small area under those, where both paint and Ziebart had missed it in 1971, was also rotted. The driver door was also all over the place, and a few extra drilled holes in the rear need to be patched. But she'll be fab when finished, and Stewart is doing a cracking job in fettling it back to prime! Mark Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
consul315 180 Posted September 24, 2012 (edited) Was it only the GT (and Lotus) that had the remote, and was the GT one always iron rather than aluminium? My interior is the same as the domestic brochure (High Performance Cars....Cortina GT Corsair V4GT Cortina Lotus) which is the same as the Lotus interior. Black paintwork, but I don't know if it's Super Trim or GT trim....what's the difference? GT remote was iron and seats of your car are late Super seats (horizontal bars), though door cards are Deluxe or UK GT spec. :cheers: funny enough in this tiny Austrian brochure pic, shows the plain (UK spec) seats http://www.buysellcortina.co.uk/forums/index.php?/topic/39404-mk1-gt-lotus-brochure/page__view__findpost__p__352319 btw, accelerator pedal looks like some aftermarket (boyracer :ninja: ) stuff. Edited September 24, 2012 by consul315 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
