nascar66 74 Posted May 15, 2022 Good on you for using some decent PPE. Too many people spend thousands on their cars but little to nothing to protect their health. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LagoonBlue 124 Posted May 15, 2022 9 hours ago, SusanButcher said: The cast iron Ford used for the track control arms is fairly soft. On the Mark 1, just tapping the ends to loosen the ball tapers can leave dents in the metal, so I'm not surprised to see a bend like that. Better it should bend than break! Ah yes, makes perfect sense. Good to know for peace of mind since those cast TCA's came from my car. Nothing else seemed to be tweaked on the steering setup but I will definitely take a closer look. 8 hours ago, nascar66 said: Good on you for using some decent PPE. Too many people spend thousands on their cars but little to nothing to protect their health. Yep, I would like to enjoy my Cortina as long as possible once it's done Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LagoonBlue 124 Posted May 29, 2022 After a cleanup of herculean proportions I reclaimed enough space in the garage to work in relative comfort; At least I can walk around the car now Loads more junk still to sort through but beats working out in the rain. Now I can start gapping the panels, a mind numbingly boring process but one that can not be skipped. First I roughly set everything in place and quickly found the first issue. The bonnet was too low on one side, even with the rubber bumper at the upmost setting. Luckily was not that far off so poor mans frame rack got that sorted Chain attached to the frame rail kept the jack from running away. Next step would be to line up rear edges of the doors and from there step by step towards the front. Rinse and repeat until good enough.. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LagoonBlue 124 Posted June 3, 2022 Received today my new track control arms from the other side of the globe; Seem decent enough, because ball joint is a different design the dust boot (if you can even call it that) looks a little iffy but with proper care should not be a problem. Even came with grease nipples. Not that there are much options anyway, NOS TCA's come up for sale every now and then but can be quite pricey. However these were not free either; Parts 133,77£ Shipping 28,83£ Customs 53,85£ Finnish post handling fee 2,49£ -------------------------------------------------- Total 218,94£ One more thing to cross of the list so that's good. I should have new inner bushings that fit these. After checking some diagonals I found out that one edge of the front valance needed to be ~10mm forward; Small relief cut. Sorted. Took a lot of massaging but got left hand gaps to a somewhat tolerable state. Very awkward job to do with only two hands. Pair of welding magnets and pieces of allthread with wide washers at the end held the door in place long enough for me to tighten the screws. About as good as I can get it. Wing might shift a bit when welded. Gaps are about 5-7mm. Got to remember that it's a Ford not a Ferrari Having a decent worklight helps a lot. I made this from a LED ceiling light by fitting a flex to it, maybe not something to copy if you need to pass the PAT but that is something I do not need to worry about. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
GhiaMk4/5 206 Posted June 5, 2022 Just seen a £65,000.00 restoration on a Mexico, panel fit all over the place, yours is looking pretty damn good. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LagoonBlue 124 Posted June 6, 2022 On 6/5/2022 at 12:00 PM, GhiaMk4/5 said: Just seen a £65,000.00 restoration on a Mexico, panel fit all over the place, yours is looking pretty damn good. Thank you! Takes it's time but well worth it. Right hand side gaps came out actually fairly good, except this bit; Lower edge too narrow. Much better after a quick cut and weld. Lines up nicely. I am happy with that, must remember to pin the hinges (Drill small holes through hinges and A-pillar,two pins per hinge) so that removing and reinstalling doors will be easier in the future. I predict lots of this in the near future; Not a sack of potatoes but will definitely need some attention. And naturally there is sound deadening right where a need to use a dolly. Comes off easily by warming up with heat gun and using an oscillating multitool thingy with a smooth edged blade. Does not cause any damage to metal. But first I need some practice in a less conspicuous spot. Engine bay will do nicely, some small dings and patch seams to hide. Wings are on with self tappers for now and will be welded later. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LagoonBlue 124 Posted June 16, 2022 To work on the rear valance I dragged the car out into the sun; Really not that bad, weird how issues get blown over proportion in ones head over time. Just to make sure I shoveled some filler on it to see how much it would take, actually not much at all. Shot with filler primer to protect the metal. Will still need some work but should come up ok. Looks that I do not need to use my NOS valance after all, would of been fairly big job to change. This was also my first time trying out some Mirka mesh type sanding paper that my friend recommended to me. Yes, it's a bit more costly than the regular stuff but well worth it. Also remembered to pin the hinges. First I thought about using 3,5mm roll pins but those would of been hollow so instead I used precision ground 4mm alignment pins that i found in my junk drawer. Easy to install and punch out when needed. Of course the hinges and backing plates are now "paired" and can not be switched around willy nilly. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LagoonBlue 124 Posted June 23, 2022 Still no real progress on the bodywork, I have an estimation lined up for next week so fingers crossed those guys are up for a challenge. In the meantime I have done lots of small stuff and here is one of them. Since one of the TCA's was bent I was suspicious of the spindle arms (3014E-3130-B and 3014E-3131-B) so decided to check them and was I glad that I did. One was bent upward by about 3mm. Luckily I have spares, so gathered them all in one pile and after wirewheeling the reference surfaces clean did some measuring. Surface plate optional but smoke 'em if you got 'em, right 24-25mm from here to plate. 90-91° 93-94° View from top down, angles measured in parallel to bolt holes. That should be suffice, hard to see how these could be out of whack without effect to measured points. I also did some visual comparison side by side and stacked top to top. Luckily my best ones were also the least rusted so I protected the tapers and after that sandblasted and primed them. Added to my growing heap of bits to paint black. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
consul315 172 Posted June 24, 2022 brilliant work (as ever) and interesting read! coming along nicely, good luck with the future work! Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Deano66 205 Posted June 24, 2022 Good stuff mate Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LagoonBlue 124 Posted June 25, 2022 On 6/24/2022 at 8:26 AM, consul315 said: brilliant work (as ever) and interesting read! coming along nicely, good luck with the future work! 22 hours ago, Deano66 said: Good stuff mate Thank You! Yet another parts haul.. I certainly have enough bits already but for a fair (for today's market) price of 45€ how can I say no Especially interesting to me were those rubber bumpers for the doors. Up and middle in the pic. Came from here; and here; No idea what happened to my original ones but I am (almost) fairly sure that they were missing when I got the car, the holes are there. Lower bumpers did came off quite easily so might have fallen decades ago. I checked the parts book and sure enough these do have parts numbers; Bumper (door upper) right 3014E-7023032-A ,left 3014E-7023033-A Bumper (front door lower) 3014E-732033-A Upper bumper mounting screws are a special type with a tall-ish barrel shaped head. 2 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LagoonBlue 124 Posted June 29, 2022 A friend came to visit with his latest acquisition; -72 Morris Marina 1.8 Super DeLuxe. 1.8L Big Block. Fun little car, this one is a light rolling restoration. Better than their reputation warrants, yes the front suspension is quite peculiar in these early cars and brakes are not the greatest but still going strong after 50 years. And remember that Roy Haynes designed this after MK2 Cortina so can't be all bad. Just keep it hidden from Jeremy Clarkson There were some screw holes from long gone speaker pods in my kick panels. To make them at least a bit less noticeable I plastic welded the holes shut. Usually I snip a sliver of material from somewhere that will be hidden but in this case I had a scrap kick panel to nick it from, needs to be the same material for this to work properly. Using a temperature controlled soldering iron helps a lot. I filled the holes from the backside to make less of an mess, very similar process to TIG welding. Will stink, try not to inhale the fumes too much. And done, still visible but no more holes so already a million times better. If really needed these cold be textured to make the fix almost disappear but these are out of the sight line under the dash so plenty good enough. 1 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
consul315 172 Posted June 30, 2022 well done and i like the Marina (there have been plenty on the road back in the days, but now they are all gone-unfortunately), went to see this 3yrs ago, but price/condition ratio wasn t within my range.(sorry for highjacking) Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LagoonBlue 124 Posted June 30, 2022 12 hours ago, consul315 said: well done and i like the Marina (there have been plenty on the road back in the days, but now they are all gone-unfortunately), went to see this 3yrs ago, but price/condition ratio wasn t within my range.(sorry for highjacking) No worries I would say that you made the right choice, a little too far gone. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
LagoonBlue 124 Posted July 3, 2022 Ever paint a bunch of parts and after the fact find out that you forgot that one little pesky washer? Do not succumb to despair, instead dust off the Worlds Cheapest Airbrush™, source a graduated syringe and load up the required amount of paint straight from the can. Suck up the hardener and thinner from a cup as to not contaminate the hardener jug or use a different syringe. Mix thoroughly and shoot the part with paint. Experiment with different speeds and/or settings to get the desired thickness. Saves on paint and cleaning the airbrush is heaps easier compared to full size gun. Will also work for those little spots that you missed because it was too dark/bright, be prepared to buff out the overspray though. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites