Markthree

Thanks Craige, we have spoken but never met. Hope all is well? if you have a working one? Or one with Good gears I can drop by and look at your V8 its probably the same engine as my T bird

Hi All the MK3 pick up is back on the Road after storm damage, the storm literally lifted a Clarke tent with four railway sleepers up the side and over the car. Fully sorted now, The Thunderbird is ready for shows sporting its twin rear pipes. Mine was the only year to have single pipes on a V8 . Problem solved 👍 MK3 two door is still wrapped and stored awaiting that mythical time where I will have leisure time to do it properly, I’ve bought a Rascal camper that is mint and great fun, and still got the HA. need a wiper motor for a 72 MK3, I guess they are all the same but this is a South African import so not sure if that matters. I did not see the motor personally as I asked the Bodywork guy to check it out whilst he had it, he said the motor is fine but the gears are worn, so maybe a non working electrical fault motor my work?

Thanks Pete I will ask for a quote!

My Request above is probabably not as desciptive as I meant it to be, it is a mod in that it is a custom exhaust i have in mind, in essence Im looking for someone to build a twin pipe exhaust system for me in the lancashire/ish area. I would prefer stainless but cost may make steel more the budget im thinking. Anyone recommend anyone local to me in the Chorley area?

I cant remember who it was but about three years back at one of the leyland bus shows I got talking to a couple of MK 3 guys from the st helens merseyside area and they spoke very highly of a local guy (30 miles round chorley or so) who did bespoke stainless exhausts systems. Just a shot in the the dark but I wonder if you guys are reading this? Thanks Mark

Rear vent windows. At the NEC my mrs noticed the 2 door enter rear windows on a couple of the mk threes and asked if ours had them. I paused and said I think so? I’ve just checked it has not. Was they an option on GTs? Anyone got any for sale?

Good to meet up at the show Pete and good to see the cars coming along 👍

1st class, presentation of a first class car. Well done mate

Been down to the NEC Today, saw the car for the first time, its really looking good 👍 It felt weird seeing it as it was built up bit by bit on the forum so I regognised small details like the roll bar hole things in red. Looks ready to roll just sat there, good to see it at last.

Thanks for the sneak preview pete, shell looks fantastic in its new coat of paint. Keep up the good work but remember life moves pretty fast, sometimes you’ve got to stop and look around! The pace must be getting to you. Take a day off and just stand back and look at what you have achieved so far. It’s somthing to be proud of just as it stands now.

Hmmm: Where to start, I've spent the last two weeks feasting on the reality that a hybrid or electric conversion is not going to happen quickly. The two reasons are the on line and media over-simplification of building a classic EV is both correct and a hundred miles from the truth at the same time. Yes it's within the technical capabilities of most home restorers, but for the price most of us can either afford or would be willing to invest all as your going to get is a lead acid 30-40 mile range one and half ton cortina. To get ICE range and performance is going to cost over £20k and sports performance closer to £30k I've decided to keep the same thread going as it will one day be converted to electric and some key elements will be built in at this stage. The main priority for now is to get it welded and ready for its MOT as it is certainly going to be a rolling restoration. The current immediate priority is getting it out of the rain, I have been rebuilding the garage over the past week and it will Probably take another two weeks or so to get the GT indoors again. I am a little concerned about moving it with all the holes in the floor and the O/S sills missing but it does seem to be structurally sound. When I get it indoors again I will do all the measurements before I start to put the new sills on. It helps being a two door I suppose.

Truth is that most of us simply like Old cars of all shapes and sizes but of course our preferences vary quite significantly. Some of us want true to original, some of us want to add our own unique flair to a car and improve them whilst keeping the overall classic look. I love old cars but their are things about them I find hard to live with. They are unbelievably unreliable. Old points and carburettors as well as fuel pumps and cooling systems are just my worst nightmare. They are dirty. From fumes in the air to puddles on the drive to oil in the creases of your hand. They are usually sub 30mpg often much less. My daily runner will do 60mpg and hit over 130mph and it's just a Morden day Vauxhall cresta. The brakes and suspension are simply dangerous. (I honestly believe it should be manadatory to retro-fit anti lock brakes) They are designed with so many water traps and bad seals that they rust so quickly it's surprising their are any left. Especially mk3 cortinas All in all yes I love to see an old car driving towards me but the driver of the car knows full well that the list of things above Is the price he has to pay for keeping it original. Personally if I was driving an e type that had endless torque, 100mpg equivalence modern brakes and modern car reliability I would be happier than I would with a well tuned V12. The only thing missing is the V Burble. It's only my opinion and as I say in our community we are linked by the fact that when we see an old car we smile, and when we see A Euro box we yearn for simpler times.

I had a 4.2 Jag, pepper pots and all, I loved it I've still not sold the rebuilt RV8 I got for the first cortina because of the torque and the V8 sound! I just can't let go! But: I just know we are at the foot of a new stage of classic car conversions. To me it's not about the eco credentials, it's simply that in almost all measurable ways they are better. (Except the V8 sound) and if it helps the climate all the better. It will soon be the way forward to stick in a Motor, Controller, and at least 30kw of Lithiums and as soon as the prices drop and the regulations are clear which they are currently not!, they will start popping up everywhere. Again in some ways I'm talking old school milk float technology but with modern powerful Lithiums to give it attitude. The less boards the better! An ev conversion can turn a classic into a daily driver without the can of easy start in the glove box, jump leads in the boot and oil stain on the drive. Again if anyone has any insight into the R100 £6000 Mot It would be interesting to discuss.

The fact we love old cars means that we will all be torn between the romance of the old and simple and the realities of the often better on the surface new stuff. It's funny boilers where mentioned. I'm in the same old boiler situation, the plumber said don't bother with the new eco crap as it will break one day out of warrentee. I must admit I try to avoid things with boards on them (like cars) so it's odd I am so pro electric car? When I read my own entry above it started to dawn upon me, maybe I just don't like getting oily and changing gears? Perhaps I just need an automatic that is clean under the hood? It's all academic now the cost has delayed the conversion and the R100 uncertainty makes the conversion a gamble as it may not get approved after all the expense. I'm sure as the months and years go by a whole movment of classic conversions will start and the prices will tumble and the rules will be clarified. Meanwhile I've got a running pinto with no ecu on it just forty years of oil and grease

I have dozens of VHS videos and now hundreds of DVDs I will never watch again, as the newer formats are better. I don't have a PC now just two laptops and a tablet. Things move on, sometimes it's for the worse but often it's better. It will be the same with Petrol engines. Eventually people will think, what's the point. They are unreliable, temprimental, very dirty to work on, expensive to maintain and use, significantly slower than evs and have changed very little in over a hundred years. Since I restarted working on the GT I can't believe how dirty I get every time I go near it. With an EV their are virtually no fluids, the engine bay could have a floor in it! Sure V12s & V8s sound good and will have some lasting followers, but I would rather have an engine that is super reliable, delivers all its torque at 1rpm with no gears than something that will do less than 20mpg and leak oil on my drive. Once it's set up an EV is better in every way than a ICE. Plus If it's in a classic it has soul. The day of the ICE is almost over it's just a pity that good batteries are so expensive in that home builds of a 300 mile classic EV car are more expensive than a new EV car in some cases. To build mine to a decent standard will be £20-30k and that's a lot of money for a cortina. More money than I a willing to invest at this point. I am also still looking into the ECE R100 Regs and recent changes do seem to kill homebuilds in one simple pass of the regulations, for now I'm saddened that suffient doubt has been suggested that spending a small fortune converting a classic to electric may then need a £6k MOT. If this turns out to be the case then an opportunity for a new generation of classic cars with reliability and usability will be lost. A destructive test on a home build project Really!