Sunday 14th July - Orsett Classic Car Show

I had been having noisy fuel pump issues with my Zetec Cortina before this show, but had managed to resolve the issue, and so decided to give it a run out. 

The weather was  looking good, so I set off early Sunday morning with my flask of coffee ready to have a nice relaxing day. I arrived at the showground around 9am and it was already looking very busy. 

There were some lovely cars there, although the Triumph saloons were very thin on the ground, (none!) but there were some nice Mk1 Cortina's there. Pick of the bunch was a beautiful Red 2 door GT which looked absolutely fantastic. 

There was also a car there that even as a kid, I thought that Ford's should have built, but it never happened. I always felt that Ford's should have built a Lotus Anglia to partner the Mk1 Lotus Cortina. The Anglia was lighter than the Cortina, so it would have made a fantastic race car and rally car. In fact, when Colin Chapman first trialled the Lotus twin cam engine in a production car, it was an Anglia that they used. Jim Clark use to use it to get from Lotus cars in Cheshunt, Hertfordshire to his home in Scotland and back!

The Lotus colours on the Anglia just look so right as well. I have to say though, I don't like the banded wheels on this car and think the standard Lotus wheels would look much better, but hey, it's not my car so it's not my choice. 

It was a great show, but by 3pm I was feeling a bit knackered as I had had a busy day out on the Saturday as well, so I left for home. I had a great drive home in the Zetec Cortina and now that I've resolved its noisy pump issue, it's a pleasure to drive. It certainly keeps up with modern traffic as a few people on the A13 found out! 

Thursday July 11th- 500 Miles running in completed-As near as damn it!

The previous Sunday I had a trip to Letchworth planned and had planned to use the Triumph so that I could finish running in the new engine. However, when it came to getting the Triumph out of the garage and moving the other cars around, it was peeing down with rain, so that scuppered that plan.

I had only racked up 375 running in miles so far and was 125 short. I managed to get home from work at a decent hour tonight, so after waiting for the traffic to die down a bit, I filled the Triumph up with petrol and set out to get some more miles on her. 

I left mine at Leigh on Sea, then headed across the A130 towards Chelmsford before taking the A414 to Harlow. I then joined the M11 and headed north. I was going to head up to junction 9 and make for Haverhill before working my way back down through Halstead and Braintree.  The problem was that there was an accident after junction 8 and the traffic looked solid. So, I came off at the Stansted turn off and took the A120 towards Colchester.

Once I reached Colchester I carried on across to Braintree and joined the A12 eastbound and then exited at the A120 for Harwich. I travelled along the A120 to as far as Frating and then decided that that was enough for one night and started making my way home. 

By the time I got home, my trip meter had risen from 375 to 494, so I had covered 119 miles since being out, which is a fair chunk of mileage for an evening drive!

It's also close enough to the 500 miles required to run an engine in, so I can now set about changing the engine oil and filter and re-torque the cylinder head.

I'll need to get this done soon though as I have a Scottish Rally booked for the end of the month. All in all I was quite pleased with my nights work as I had never intended to make up the shortfall in mileage all in one go. 

Sunday 30th June - First ride in my dream car!

 Whenever anyone has ever asked me what my dream car is, I have always answered 'A Lotus Mk1 Cortina'. It stems from my childhood when our next door neighbours daughter was going out with a guy called John who used to own one. 

When he came round to pick her up, I could hear him coming from two streets away and would always have my nose pressed up against the window by the time he pulled up outside. I'd then sit and wait for it to start up again so I could watch it and hear it roar off into the distance when they were going out. I was devastated when he chopped it in for a 3 litre Capri! 

Anyway, good friend Keith Halstead (who owns a Mk1 Lotus Cortina) was going to the Lawns classic car show at Rochford, so I managed to persuade him to let me go with him as a passenger. This would be my first ever ride in my dream car and I was really looking forward to it. 

So, Sunday morning at 7.45am I arrived at Keith's house. The car was already out on the drive and looked fantastic. Keith's car hasn't got the 'Lotus' Sherwood green flash down the side as it was originally a police car for the Sussex constabulary. 

We set off for the Lawns and Keith gave the car a couple of blasts so that I could experience the Lotus Cortina noise. What a fantastic sound these cars make. 

On arrival at the Lawns we came across another three Lotus Mk1 Cortina's, as well as a Mk1 with a Honda S2000 engine, a Mk1 with a Vtec engine, and another Mk1 with a Zetec engine in. There was also a very nice 2 door GT in Lotus colours as well. 

It was a great day, but by 12pm, the black clouds and rain settled in and Keith didn't want to wait for the field to become a bog and risk not being able to get out, so we made a move. 

I thoroughly enjoyed my Lotus experience, but I have to say, I think my Zetec Cortina is quicker and also drives nicer. So as a result, my desire to own one of these classic prestigious cars isn't as strong as it once was. It would still be nice to own one, but not to the point of emptying my bank accounts and getting in debt for. A good example Lotus Cortina  will set you back around £70 to £80K, which is colossal money for a Cortina. Avoiding the many re-shells and fakes out there is a big minefield as well. 

It was a very good day out though even if it was cut short by the weather! 

Saturday 29th June - A new horn for the Zetec.

 Since I've had the Zetec Cortina, the horn hasn't been very loud. I decided to buy a new one and set about fitting it. I had a good look around the engine bay trying to find the old one so I could remove it. It wasn't on the standard horn bracket on the inner wing, or indeed anywhere in the engine bay. 

I popped next door and asked my neighbour to come into my garage and hold his hand on the car hooter, so I could locate where the noise was coming from. It turns out someone had located it up inside the nearside front wing! (Where it could catch all the rain water, dirt and mud!) 

Luckily, I was able to turn the steering on full lock and able to get to the nuts and bolts so I could remove it. I then had the slight problem of trying to find a space in the engine bay for the new one. The twin cam Zetec engine fills the engine bay somewhat, so there isn't a lot of free space. 

I managed to find a spot on the nearside inner wing that seemed suitable and set about fitting it and altering the wiring for it. In the pic below, it looks very close the exhaust downpipes, but in reality, its nowhere near it. The new horn is a vast improvement on the old one. At least other cars will be able to hear me now!

Sunday 16th June - Battlesbridge Breakfast meet

 It was a beautiful day again today, although there had been a warning of heavy showers, but I decided to take a chance and head out to this local breakfast meet. 

The green Cortina was the choice for today as it hadn't been out for some time, so I wanted to stretch its legs. It had also had a flat battery recently as well, so a run would fully charge that as well. 

I got there early so that I wouldn't get parked on the boggy part of the field and good friend Gavin had had the same idea and arrived pretty much as soon as I had parked up. 

We had a cup of coffee and sat and watched the other cars start rolling in. There wasn't as many as normal, (I think the threat of rain had put people off) but it was still a good selection. 

Around half past ten, we did have a real heavy downpour which sent everyone running for the beer tent area, but within five minutes it had ceased and we were back to normal. 

By about half eleven, Gavin and I had walked around the other cars about three times and even visited the antique stalls, so we decided to make a move. I like these breakfast meets as nobody minds if you leave early and it gives you the rest of the day to play with. 

The green Cortina was as popular as ever and every time I looked round at it, there were people looking over it. I think it's the colour that draws people.  Plus, from talking to various people since owning it, everybody's Grandad used to have one! I know that my Dad had one, it was a 2 door GT that lost a wheel and ended up in a ditch when we were on our way to visit relatives in Maylandsea! 

Funny what you remember from your childhood isn't it? 😊

Saturday 15th June - Triumph 2000 Register National Day- Hunstanton, Norfolk

 Despite my braking issues with the car, I had managed to get these resolved and was looking forward to getting some more running in miles on the engine by making the long trip to Hunstanton in Norfolk.

I filled the car up with Petrol in the morning and double checked that there were no more oil leaks. To my relief there was nothing dripping from the car with the engine running, so I committed myself to the long journey ahead. 

I left at around 7am and took the A127, M25, M11, A14, A10 and then finally the A149 to Hunstanton. The weather was good and I had planned for a coffee break on route, but to be honest, I was enjoying the drive and by the time I was yearning for coffee, I was only 17 miles away, so I kept going until I got there. 

I arrived around 9.30am and met up with Dave Harvey and Lee Godfrey near the site entrance. 

After a cup of coffee and a chat, we then moved down to the display field. It was a good turn out of Triumphs and I took a lot of pleasure from meeting people that I only normally get to see at this annual event. 

The turn out of cars was good as well and although there wasn't as many as there normally is, the quality was very good. 

Unfortunately, around 1pm it started to rain and looked like it was here for the day. I suffered it until 2.15pm and then decided to head home. I had a long way to go and the rain would make the journey slower. 

After I left, it rained for about the next hour or so and then stopped completely, so the drive home wasn't too terrible. I arrived home at 5.30pm 

The car ran very well and never missed a beat, so things are looking good with the new engine. I'm now up to about 380 running in miles, so 120 to go and I'll be able to re-torque the cylinder head, set the valve tappets again, fit a new set of spark plugs and then book it in for its rolling road session. 

Its next big event will be the border raiders rally at the end of July, but hopefully it will be run in by then. 

Tuesday 11th June - Brake repairs!

On discovery of the leaking master cylinder, good friend David Harvey sent me a seal repair kit which luckily arrived very promptly indeed. 

I'd had another issue though in that the fitting on the metal brake pipe that screws into the master cylinder, was also knackered and needed replacing! Luckily, I had a spare one of these, but the brake pipe that had to be removed runs all the way across the bulkhead and into a three way union that is secured to the battery tray on the nearside of the car. So the repair meant removing this brake pipe completely and putting a new fitting on the master cylinder end. 

With this done, I then set about stripping the master cylinder and fitting the new seals. 

This didn't take too long and soon I had the master cylinder refitted to the car. My next job would then have been to bleed all of the air out of the brakes, which I would have done had I not knocked my only bottle of brake fluid all over the garage floor! I then found I was also low on cat litter, so had to shoot down to Tesco's and buy some more so I could soak it all up. 

With no more brake fluid in stock, I then had to call it a night until I could buy some more the next day.