Wednesday 18th June - More seat fitting.

 Despite the heatwave, I headed into the garage after work today to continue with the seat fitting on the project car. I had already removed the race seat from the car, so it was now just a case of making up a frame for the Audi TT seat that was going in there. 
The race seat had just been bolted through the floor any old how, (I suspect I'm going to find a lot of bodges on this car!) so I found a more reinforced part of flooring that I could bolt my framework to.
It took some time to line it all up and then drill the one inch box section that I was using through both sides, but luckily I have a pillar drill bolted to my work bench, so that made things a lot easier. 
By about 7pm the passenger seat was fitted to match the driver's seat and I was very pleased with the final result. It had been very hot in the garage and I was absolutely saturated!

Black leather Audi TT seats. A bargain at £30, and local collection! 

The race seats that were in the car will now go up for sale and I should do alright on these as the company that sells them now have them listed as out of stock. (Listed at £349 the pair including runners and frames). Hopefully, I'll be able to move them on as they are now taking up space. 

(BB Race seats. Not very comfortable for long distance stuff!) 

Sunday 15th June - Battlesbridge Breakfast Meet

 It was another beautiful day today and so it was a good day for a nice chilled out morning. This would also be the Green Cortina's proper maiden voyage with its freshly rebuilt engine. 
I left early so that I would have a completely trouble and traffic free drive to Battlesbridge and as result, I got there early enough to be parked on the front row. 

The car behaved itself, other than the temperature gauge reading high, but it's always done that, so it wasn't a concern. (I've replaced the temperature sender, so it's probably the voltage regulator that needs replacing) Plus When I put the cylinder head back on I took the 88 degree thermostat out and fitted an 82 degree one, so I knew the thermostat was ok.

Good friend Gavin arrived in Triumph 2.5 Pi and other good friend Andy arrived shortly after in his Rover P6 2200. There were lots of beautiful cars there and the Ford Anglia was out in force. The Anglia was  another of my favourite cars when I was a kid, but boy, they are a small car. I think if I was to buy one I'd end up moving the driver's seat so far back, I'd be in the back of the car! (Like I used to be with my Mini's)

My Mk1 Cortina was the only one there, but only because my other friend Keith's Lotus Cortina was stuck in his garage due to the electric door packing up. 
After spending a couple of hours looking round the cars, we then decided to go for breakfast, which was a big mistake. We were told it was a 20 minute wait when we arrived, but then after 35 minutes noticed that people that had come in after us were getting their food while we were still waiting. When Gavin enquired where our order was we were told that they had lost our ticket and we would have to wait another 20 minutes! No additional free tea or drinks were offered by way of compensation or good customer relations and when the food eventually arrived it was poor. Needless to say, we wont be returning! 
By the time we returned to the show field most people had left because we'd been in the cafe for so long, so we decided to do the same. 
I got caught in quite a bit of traffic on the way home, but the Cortina handled it well and didn't cause any issues. I did notice a slight water leak when I arrived home, but this was rectified by tightening up the bottom radiator hose a bit more. 
I was pleased with how it ran. It did seem a bit slow when I first started driving it, but I need to take into account that I'd been driving the Zetec Cortina the day before, so it will seem sluggish compared to that. So I was pleased with how it droves and enjoyed my day out. 😊

Saturday 14th June. - Early start and progress on the project

 I had spoken to the chap that did my differential rebuild about my continuing oil leak during the week and he suggested I bring the car over to him so he can sort it out for good.
The only issue with that is that he is in Baldock in Hertfordshire and I was going to have to leave it with him for 4 or 5 days. Luckily, good friend Gavin agreed to follow me over there and bring me back, so we arranged a meeting in a lay-by on the A127 at 7am. Actually, Gavin rang me at 5.40am and asked if I was ready to go now as he was already awake. I was already up and about, so we re-arranged to meet at 6.30 instead.
Being this early, we didn't encounter any traffic and was at Herts & Beds transmissions just after 7.30. 

This Zetec Cortina really is a pleasure to drive now and if I can get the new project to drive the same as the Zetec, I will be more than happy. We then went for a coffee in Baldock services before setting off and again, because it was fairly early, we had a trouble free drive home. 

With the afternoon to myself I decided to finish off the job I had started during the week which was fitting Audi TT seats into the new Cortina.
Two seconds after starting welding I promptly ran out of welding wire! Luckily my local motor factors had a couple of reels in stock, so I shot down there and bought them. By about 4pm, my job was complete and I had a quick tidy up and put all my tools away.
I was pleased with how the seat looked on the drivers side, so I just have the passenger side to do now, which hopefully I may be able to get done after Battlesbridge tomorrow. The seats are not perfect, but they only cost me £30 and I only had to go to Hockley (Which is where I work) to collect them. My theory was that at £30, they were worth a punt and if I couldn't make them fit, or they were unsuitable, I haven't lost loads of money. Luckily, it looks like my £30 was well spent. 😊

Sunday 8th June. - Test drive and washy time!

 I had to get the cars out of the driveway this morning as I had finally sold my 2.6 Triumph engine on facebook market place and needed to bring out of the garage and up the driveway ready to load. I was quite glad it was going as I was getting tired of some of the dumb questions I had been asked. I.e. 'Is this a genuine Triumph engine, or did you make it yourself?'. I can do a lot of things in my garage, but casting brand new engine blocks isn't one of them! 😕

Anyway, the buyer arrived around 10.30 and I lifted the engine into the back of his Volkswagen Polo with my engine crane. (Which I had only folded down and put away in the shed the week before-Typical!) He was a nice guy and wanted the engine for his Triumph GT6. I gave him a few other Triumph bits that I had laying around and other than the Triumph Mk1 saloon I have in storage (which will be going up for sale very soon) I am more or less Triumph free now. 

Once he had gone, I fired up the Green Cortina and took it for a test drive. I only went local as its just had an engine rebuild and I didn't want to be too far away if anything went wrong. Luckily , nothing did go wrong and I had no nasty oil leaks either, so it looks like the recent work was worth the effort. 

Once back home I got the bucket and sponge out and gave it a good wash. It had got quite dusty and dirty from all that time sitting in the garage, so it was good to see it looking nice and clean again. Roll on Battlesbridge on Sunday! 😊

Wednesday 4th June -Green Cortina Tuning!

 My friend Andy was coming round after work today for a long overdue beer and curry. I had some time to kill before he arrived, so I fitted a new set of spark plugs and altered the timing and set the firing order again on the Green Cortina. 

I also wanted to set the ignition timing with a strobe light, but I can't hold the strobe light and turn the distributor at the same time, so luckily, once Andy had arrived we were able to get that done. With the engine running smoothly we cleared everything up and quickly put the tools away as it had now started raining and the car was outside the garage. 

I was pleased how things had gone, but ideally I need to get the car out for a test drive. Hopefully, I'll have time on Sunday. With our work complete, Andy and I went for our much deserved beer and curry. And very nice it was too. 😊

Sunday 1st June - Little Easton Manor.

 The weather was predicted as being very hot and very sunny today which was just as well as Gavin, Andy & Sharon, and I had booked up to visit the breakfast meet at Little Easton Manor near Great Dunmow. 

I met Gavin at our usual spot and we had a slow drive over there. It was very slow actually due to getting stuck behind an artic, who then got stuck behind some cyclists for ages! Eventually we got to the show and were parked on the lake area. 

We then headed for breakfast in the form of a coffee and a sausage bap and started looking at the other cars. Good friends Andy and Sharon then arrived with another addition to their dog family and we found a table and had a good old catch up. It was a beautiful day and it was really nice to sit in the sun and just chill out and not be working on cars for a change. I should do this more often!

It was a nice atmosphere and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves, but come 1pm I had to make a move. I had taken the Zetec Cortina, but it still has the problem of leaking oil from the diff. (Only slightly though)

I had spoken to the man who built it on Friday and he told me to disconnect the propshaft at the diff end and see if the flange nut is wet. If it is it means the flange seal has failed, but if it's leaking from inside the casing, then the casing seal has failed. 
So, once home I jacked the car up at the rear and disconnected the propshaft as instructed. I found that the flange nut was completely dry and all the leakage was from around the casing. After talking to my differential man he's told me that it can be done in the car so I don't have to remove the diff again, but he will need the car for about 4 to 5 days. So somehow I've got to find a way of taking it over to Baldock in Hertforshire, leaving it there and getting home again. What a pita! (Pain in the arse!)

This was the first time that I had taken the Zetec on a Motorway run (ok, fast A road) since having the differential ratio changed to 3:31. I have to say what an amazing difference! At 70 mph the revs per minute (RPM) is only 3,200 rather than the previous 4000. The car no longer seems like it's revving its nuts off and cruises quite nicely. I now no longer feel the need to fit a 5 speed gearbox in this car, which would have been a major job. So once the diff is sorted, I've got to be where I want to be with this car, so it should be relatively low maintenance. 

Saturday 31st May - Green car running and a new toy to play with.

 During the week, a new toy had arrived for me to play with. It was at a good price and I thought it might be a good bit of fun. It's a 1964 2 door Mk1 Cortina, but with a Nissan CA18DET engine. Which is a 1.8 litre, twin cam, 16 Valve, Turbo engine. Allegedly pushing 250bhp, but that's yet to be verified. It's also in Alan Mann racing colours which I've always liked.

I'd been to look at it the previous Saturday and when out on a test drive, it was the first time in a long, long time that I've sat in a car while the driver has put his foot down and I've thought to myself 'Holy Shit!' 

It has a digital speedo and when the seller put his foot down the numbers couldn't keep up with the speed. The scenery from my view in the passenger seat came towards me with an alarming acceleration that I'd not witnessed before. I thought my Zetec Cortina was quick, but this is something else. So, a deal was done and collection and delivery arranged. 
It's not completely to my liking, so for now it will go into the garage until it is. 

Anyway, back to the Green Cortina. I wanted to get this running today as I needed to get the new Cortina into the garage. So, I started on it as soon as I got home from shopping which was around 8am. Gavin arrived to help around 9am by which time I'd fitted the starter motor, connected the clutch cable and fitted the dust shield between the back of the engine and the bellhousing. 
We were soon ready to start the engine, but for some reason we couldn't get fuel through the electric fuel pump. Filling the fuel pump up manually seemed to bleed it and get it operating, but I then noticed that my throttle pedal was rock solid. Investigation of this revealed that the excess of the cable had found its way under the rocker box cover when I had tightened it down and was stopping it from moving! So with this corrected, we tried again. 
After various attempts, we had to alter the timing and swap some plug leads around. I'd said to the engine builder 'If you remove the distributor, can you mark it so it goes back in exactly the same place please, because it's spot on'. But he didn't. 

Eventually, we got it running good enough to drive, but it's still not 100%. By now I was running out of time as I had somewhere to be by lunch time, so we moved the cars around and called it a day. At least it's running though and more importantly, its not pissing oil out anywhere. it was good to see it out on the road as well as it's been in the garage far too long. I'm looking forward to taking it on a run with its newly rebuilt engine.