Saturday 23rd May - A very long, very hot, but rewarding day!

I had a very early start this morning as Dave Maton was coming up to help install the Lotus engine and I had a few jobs to get done before he arrived. The first job was to install the new engine mounts and this was straight forward and didn't take long. 
Next was fitting the dynamo bracket as I thought this would be a lot easier to do whilst the engine was out of the car. Again, this was fairly easy although I did have to re-cut the thread on one of the bolts as it wouldn't go all the way into the block. 
Dave arrived just as I finished this job and after a brief chat and catch up we mounted the gearbox onto the back of the engine. Before we joined the two properly, we had to adapt the spacer plate with a bit of cutting and grinding. Due to the new alloy sump and the new rear crankshaft seal plate, the original spacer plate doesn't fit properly, so it has to be adapted.
With this done we then got the engine crane ready and lifted the engine and gearbox into the car as one lump. It wasn't too bad a job and we had it done fairly quickly. 

The gearbox is a 2000E item only with a remote gear change so this had to be removed before the gearbox was fitted in the car and re-fitted once in the car. (Which isn't easy!)

The split propshaft was next on the agenda and the centre bearing bracket has to bolt through the floor, which means moving the carpet out of the way. This wasn't too bad a job though and again, we had it done fairly quickly. 
We decided to bleed the clutch next, but this is where our problems started as the clutch pipe didn't seem to want to screw into the brand new slave cylinder. With numerous attempts all failing, we then removed the slave cylinder and managed to persuade it to behave once it was on the workbench! 
Eventually we had a working clutch with no leaks, so with our confidence restored, we decided to bleed the brakes as well. 
However, before bleeding the brakes, we had to adjust the handbrake. These cars were fitted with a 'self adjusting' system, but like every other car built in the sixties, these never work, so we had to adjust the brake shoes manually. After doing this we then bled the brakes. This took some time as the car has been fitted with all new brake pipes, rebuilt callipers, new rear brake shoes and a rebuilt remote servo as well as refurbished clutch and brake master cylinders, so the brake fluid had some ground to cover before it reached the bleed nipples. Eventually though, it all came together and we now have a good brake pedal. 
While I was tidying up, Dave fitted the starter motor and by now it was around 4pm and my garage was extremely hot. Before we gave up and because we are both big kids, we wanted to see what the engine looked like with the newly refurbished twin 40 Weber carbs on, so we put them in place without bolting them on properly. I have to say, it does look good and I cant wait to hear the car running. There's still quite a bit of work left to do before then though. What a buzz that thought gives me though. 😁

Sunday 17th May - The engine returns!

 Today was the day I'd been waiting for for some time. The twin cam engine for the Lotus Cortina was finally finished, complete and ready for collection. I had started to run out of jobs to do on the car, but now with the engine finished I can get ready to fit it and then see if there are any other parts missing and start working towards getting the engine running, and the car driving for the first time in FORTY NINE years! 

So this week, I will start getting the engine bay ready and fitting the engine mounts and start organising the engine electrics. (Plugs, leads, etc) The plan will be to fit it over the long bank holiday weekend and then take my time and make sure everything is spot on before the big fire up. I'm looking forward to it!

Saturday 16th May - Billericay Breakfast Meet.

 Today, at long last would be the day that I finally got to take the Green Cortina out for yet another test drive. I had had a bit of a play with it after I drove it last, but didn't have time to test it, so today would see the result. of my tuning.
We made the short trip to the Cosy Cup Cafe at Billericay and it drove a lot better with hardly any back firing or popping, so things were looking good.

It was a really good meet as well and good friend Matin brought along his beautiful Mk1 Cortina GT. He's had a lot of issues with this car regarding the fuel tank, so it was good to see it back on the road again. I think it's a great looking car and I think the blue and black colour scheme works really well. (See below)

There was another nice Mk1 Cortina there as well and this one had a Duratec engine fitted with the biggest Turbo I have ever seen. A proper wolf in sheep's clothing this one as the outside and inside looks very standard. It's only when you see what's under the bonnet that you realise that it's a bit special.

It was a good morning (Although the weather could have been a bit warmer) but I had things to do, so I left there around half eleven. The car still ran well on the way home, but I did get a couple of 'pops' at low speed, so I'm not quite there yet. It's so close to running perfect though, that I'm reluctant to put it in for a rolling road session. The reason being that no matter how little they do to the car, they will still charge a minimum £300 plus parts and vat, so I think I'll just persevere for the time being. 

Saturday 2nd May. More work on the Lotus Cortina

 I was supposed to be getting the engine back this weekend and was looking forward to fitting that, and the gearbox back into the car, but apparently my engine builder is still waiting for parts. Very disappointing!

So, I decided to get on with other things instead. First on the agenda was the works fuel tank that I have decided not to use due to the amount of holes in it. It's still part of the cars rallying history though, so I decided to repaint it and put it back in the car.
I gave it a coat of grey primer before refitting it and to my surprise, the grey primer showed up a lot more pin holes than I'd originally spotted! Once the primer was dry I then gave it a few coats of satin black. 
While waiting for the paint to dry I found the spare wheel bracket and cleaned that up and secured it to its proper place in the boot floor. I then put the spare wheel in although the 175/70x13 tyre isn't too keen on fitting properly in the original spare wheel well, but it did go in.....sort of!

With the paint now dry, I then refitted the works fuel tank and bolted it in place. I also had to re-route the original fuel line as this will now have to feed off of the main fuel tank in the boot floor. I also fitted an inline fuel tap so that I have control and can shut the fuel off if ever I have to drain the tank, or have a leak any time.

My next job was to fit the rear bumper. I had this chrome painted last September and it's been sitting in my loft since then. I had to find some suitable nuts and bolts for the nearside as both of the captive nuts have been broken off at some point. This wasn't too bad a job and it certainly makes a difference to how the car looks from the back. 

With not much else I could do, (Not on my own anyway!) I decided to put the propshaft back together complete with it's new bushes for the centre bearing. I also then fitted the new clutch release bearing into the bellhousing complete with all the retainer mechanism and springs. (What a pain that was!)

By now it was getting on for 5pm, so I decided to call it a day. There is still plenty to do yet, but my massive list is definitely reducing. (Along with my bank balance!) I'm going to pester the life out of the engine builder over the next two weeks so that I can have my engine back and ready to fit on the next Bank holiday weekend. Wish me luck!