Wednesday 22nd March- Mot time!

 I had another busy morning before work today. I had tried to start the green Cortina the night before so that I could get the Triumph into the garage. However, it wasn't playing ball as it has now developed an electrical fault. So I spent an hour or so this morning chopping out unnecessary and excessive wiring and started work on locating the battery under the bonnet as opposed to in the boot where it presently resides.

I couldn't spend too much time doing this though as the Zetec Cortina was due for an Mot test at 10am at Phoenix Mot at Basildon.  The day had started wet and miserable, but the rain had stopped by the time I was ready to leave. I did have a bit of scare shortly after leaving when the engine started hesitating and felt like it was going to cut out. Luckily whatever it was soon cleared and the remainder of the drive was trouble free. 

I've been going to Phoenix Mot for over 20 years now, so it's almost like a social occasion when I visit. All too soon though, the car was Mot'd and thankfully it passed with flying colours. (Just as well because it was due to expire at midnight)

I then had to get a move on as I was due at work at 12pm, so the car had to suffer some spirited driving to get me there in time. A good day though and another job off of my ever growing list. 

Tuesday 21st March - Gertie2 finally returns home.

 September 17th 2022 was the date that Gertie2 moved into storage in North Essex. Now, due to impending work required and some Club Triumph events coming up, it was time to bring her home. 

I had spoken to Colin Wake (who was the guy storing it) on Friday night and asked him to just check her over over the weekend to see if all was well or if was going to be a problem waking her from her long winter hibernation. To my surprise it turned out that she started straight away and didn't even need a jump start! Not bad for a car that had been sitting out in the open all the time. (Although it was under a car cover)

My next task was to figure out how I was going to get up to Colin's at Frating, north of Colchester tso I was able to bring it home. Various phone calls were made and favours asked and eventually a plan was formed. To cut a long story short, I was collected from my home at around 7.45am by my friend Nick where we then sat in his workshop at Great Baddow, near Chelmsford drinking coffee and eating jaffa cakes. (Strange breakfast!) 

I was then picked up at around 9.45am by another friend, Sally,  who then dropped me off at Colin's as she was working in Colchester for the day. The big challenge in all of this was that I had to be back in Chelmsford for work at 12pm. Colin already had the car uncovered and ready to go when I arrived, so we had time for a quick coffee before I departed. 

I checked the fuel gauge and was pleased to see there was just under half a tank of petrol in there, and then it suddenly dawned on me that the last time I had put petrol in this car was in Rolduc in Holland on the penultimate day of the 10CR. Over six months ago! 

After finishing my coffee I went to start the car, but then disaster. 'Click, click click'. The starter motor wouldn't engage. Luckily, it just turned out to be a loose terminal lead on the battery. God knows how! 

With this sorted, she started no problem and I set out for work. 

I had a trouble free drive and arrived at work with 15 minutes to spare where I parked it in the warehouse. I also had a trouble free drive home after work as well. It was quite low on fuel by the time I got home, but I didn't want to put any more petrol in as I'm going to have to drain the tank anyway so I can remove it and fit the injection tank. All in all, a long but successful day. 

Saturday 18th March - Brake bleeding time!

Now that everything was back together on the Green Cortina, it was time to get the brakes bled and get it back down on it wheels. 

I started with the fronts and found no problems there, but when I did the nearside rear, I found that brake fluid wouldn't come out of the bleed nipple and the pedal would go firm. So, I then took the bleed nipple out completely, but no fluid came out at all, so I put it back. Removing the brake drums revealed that there was no problem with the wheel cylinders and both were moving freely. 

I then wedged the brake pedal down with a long bar between the pedal and the seat to simulate pressure to the brakes. Then I removed the bleed nipple again, but still no brake fluid came out. This was looking like the flexi hose in the brake line was either blocked or had collapsed internally. So, I removed the bar from the pedal and seat and started undoing the flexi hose. There is only one and it's on the driver side. I undid the end going to the wheel cylinder and once again, no fluid came out. I then undid the other end which is attached to the metal brake pipe coming from the front of the car and that was when the fluid started leaking out, so there was indeed a blockage in the flexi pipe. Once I had syphoned all of the fluid out of the master cylinder, I removed the offending flexi pipe all together. Blowing an airline down it proved it was completely blocked. In fact, I cut it in half and blew air down both ends and both of them were blocked! 

I didn't have a spare flexi pipe, but a phone call to my friend Keith in Wickford found that he had one, so I made arrangements to collect it the next day. I wouldn't be able to finish the job until Monday now as Sunday was 'Mothering Sunday' and I was meeting up with my family. 

Monday morning was the next chance I had to work on the car, so I was in the garage bright and early to get things moving. The flexi pipe was fitted and the brakes bled up first time with no issues. I then refitted all the wheels and lowered it back to the ground. 

The new nine inch springs and standard hubs were well spaced and the tyres wont be rubbing on the struts like I've had issues with previously. (They look like they are touching in the pic, but they aren't- it's just the angle of the camera)

The strut brace was re-fitted and I had also recently found a genuine Lotus badge that my Dad gave me from when he was working for Pickfords and helped move the Lotus factory from Cheshunt to Norfolk. I was only young when he did this so I've had it a long time. This car reminds me of my Dad as he used to have one, so I fitted the badge to the grill as a tribute to him. 

With all of this done, it was getting towards the time that I have to leave for work, so I called it a day and went indoors to get ready. I was pleased with the mornings work and also pleased that I'd discovered that blocked flexi. I'm pretty sure that this will turn out to be the remedy to a few other issues that I've had with this car since owning it. (Sticking rear brakes etc) I can't wait to drive it again now! 

Saturday 4th March - Work continues

 After collecting a few parts during the week I was ready to continue my work efforts in improving  the Green Cortina. I had thought that the original front hubs on this car were just standard ones, but trial fitting of a standard hub just saw it jamming against the calliper and locking the wheel up.

A lot of searching was carried out online and after finding out part numbers etc, it turned out the car had been fitted with Mk2 Cortina 1600E hubs. (and also with 1600E 12.7mm discs) So a trip to a friend in Grays, Essex followed and I purchased a pair for £30. 

Despite the cold, I ventured into the garage and got on with my work. My first job was to replace the spring on the nearside as I had only managed to do the driver side the previous Saturday. I got this done quicker than I thought I would. Good start.

The next job was to fit the new hubs with bearing races and wheel bearings. Again this went smoothly and before long they were assembled on the car. 

With things going so well and whilst the car was still up in the air,  I decided the replace the starter motor. There's nothing actually wrong with the existing starter motor, but it does crank over quite slowly when cold. The car has a brand new battery, (made for a Transit van) so this isn't a battery problem. The replacement start motor is a 9 volt one, so when the battery drops voltage, it will still crank fully. It also has an extra tooth on the trigger wheel, so it should spin the engine faster. If this doesn't solve the slow cranking issue, I may look at moving the battery back to the under bonnet area. (It's currently in the boot)

Last job of the day was to replace the remote brake servo. The first one that was on the car was faulty and wouldn't release the brakes fully after operation. I then fitted one that had been sitting in my shed for seven years that I had as a spare. This was working ok, but the last time that me and a friend drove this car, we both felt that the brake servo wasn't doing its job. Luckily, I had purchased a brand new one from MGB Hive when they had a sale and had put it to one side. 

It was now time to use it. This was a bit tricky to fit on my own as I have to be outside the car to hold it in place and inside the car to put the nuts on and tighten them. Being ever resourceful, I chocked the servo up with blocks of wood while I secured from the inside. The brake pipes were then attached and that was another job off of my 'pending' list. I have to say, the new servo has smartened up the engine bay somewhat as well looking all shiny and new.

By now it was close on 2pm and the cold was starting to get into my bones, so I called it a day and had a hot shower to warm up followed by lunch. I was pleased with my days work though. It had been a very productive session. All I need to do now is bleed the brakes so I can see how she drives. 

Saturday 25th February. Front suspension re-visited.

Another cold day and another day playing musical cars. I had to get all three Cortina's out to get photos for my insurance renewal.  Whilst doing this I also decided to put the newly painted wheels on the estate. I think it look good. It's certainly given it a more 'sporty look'. 

The Green Cortina was then moved into the garage for further work. I haven't really been happy with it since fitting the alloy front hubs. They have a 10mm offset and make the front wheels stick out wider than the rears. You can see in the pic below how much further they stand out compared to a normal hub.

Now, ideally I'd like to fit my original hubs but I have a problem with that in that one of the holes for the studs has lost all of its splines, so the stud wont stay tight in the hole. This means I wouldn't be able to tighten the wheel nut, or if I could, probably wouldn't be get it undone again. So for the time being, I'm unsure hot to get round this problem. It's either find another hub (Which are rare because they are GT ones) or look at having the stud welded into the stud hole. (I'm not happy with this idea I have to say)

While I had the car jacked up I decided to replace the front springs. I currently have 8 inch springs with 'assisters' fitted, but I've never been happy with these either, so on Monday I purchased a pair of 9 inch springs from Gaz shocks at Basildon. 

I managed to get the driver side done, but by then it was 3pm and my nice warm house and some lunch was calling, so I called it a day. I can't really progress until I get the hubs sorted anyway, so there's no rush on this job. 

Saturday 18th February. Various Jobs!

Today was the day that I needed to play musical cars so I could get the estate out of the garage at long last and get the Zetec two door in. 

Before moving the estate I needed to adjust the clutch. Since fitting the new clutch the pedal had been too high. With this done, I then had to shunt all three cars around to get them in the right position. 

Whilst I had access to the Green Cortina, I jacked it up to adjust the rear shock absorbers to give it a softer ride. It's still banging and rattling on the back end, but I think this is the exhaust again. It also feels like the brake servo isn't working as well, so this will be investigated soon. 

I then moved the two door Cortina into the garage and got it up on axle stands ready to do some work. After the ball joint sheared on the drivers side, I wanted to remove the nearside and check that one out as well. 

With the ball joint assembly removed I then disassembled all the parts and checked them thoroughly. I did have a spare complete ball joint assembly, but that was for the drivers side. After checking the existing ball joint itself, it looked a bit dubious to me, so I stripped the new assembly down and robbed the ball joint out of that. 

This was a job that I had wanted to do for some time, as I had been put off driving the car since the offside ball joint near disaster last year. The problem was, other cars being stuck in that garage had prevented me from doing so, so I was pleased to finally get it done. My next job on this car is to get the oil pressure gauge working and bleed the slave cylinder as I think it has air in it. 

On a different note, I had been painting a set of wheels nearly every morning this week for the estate. I had a seen a Cortina Mk1 saloon for sale recently in exactly the same colours as my estate. It had Ford Rostyle wheels fitted and they looked really good. I tried one on my estate and thought it looked good as well, so I managed to buy a set that needed restoring.

I'm looking forward to putting them on the car, but I need some centre caps and chrome wheel nuts for it to look the part. As soon as I can find these, the wheels will be fitted. 

Saturday 4th February. Clutch Replacement

 The clutch that I'd ordered from The Cortina Mk1 Owners Club arrived on Thursday evening, so I was all set to get it fitted and get the engine back in this morning.

Luckily the weather was quite mild and I was in the garage at the bright and early time of 08.30. The first job was to fit the clutch to the flywheel which was easy enough. I had borrowed a clutch alignment tool that had been made out of a first motion shaft from a Cortina gearbox, so that saved a lot of time and inconvenience. I also replaced the thrust bearing, but this was a pain in the arse and took far longer than expected. I then started work on lifting the engine in, but this was a pig to line up as well and it even got to the stage where I turned my back on it and went indoors for a cup of coffee as my frustration had put me into swearing mode!

After some calming caffeine I then tried again and this time the engine lined up on the splines and slotted in first time! I gradually went through all the other bits that needed to be bolted on or connected up and by lunchtime the engine was in properly and running. A bit of shunting up and down in the garage showed that the clutch was working as it should as well. Good news. 

I then refitted the radiator and the bonnet and then called it a day with this car.

My Green Cortina was the center of attention next as the new rocker cover that I ordered from Burton Power Products last November had finally arrived. (It arrived the day after the clutch actually)

With a new gasket fitted as well the rocker cover was installed and I have to say look's really good. In fact it's almost a shame to have to have the plug leads and strut brace running over the top of it. 

 The strut brace had been sitting in the boot for months now. I hadn't bothered fitting it because I'd been waiting for the rocker cover to turn up, so now it had I was able to put it back on. With the plug leads reconnected and the strut brace now on it was time to call it a day as it was 2.30pm and I hadn't eaten all day. A good days work though and I had achieved everything I wanted to.