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. 😊

 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. 

 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 from 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.

 It was supposed to rain today, but I woke up this morning to glorious sunshine. As a result, I put some of my outstanding work to one side and decided to go for a drive in my Zetec Cortina instead. 
Since changing the diff ratio to 3:31, this car drives a lot better. However, I'd suspected for some time that the front seal in the diff is slightly leaking and after jacking up the car on my return, it turned out that this is indeed the case. So I shall be speaking to the man who built it for me and see what he's got to say. It does annoy me when you pay a lot of money for someone to do a job and it isn't up to standard. The trouble is, it seems to be happening more and more these days. 

 Good friend Dave Harvey was down this weekend and we made arrangements to meet our other friend, Gavin at the breakfast meet. Luckily the rain that had been coming down since 5am had stopped so the meet was dry. I still think that put a lot of people off though as there wasn't many people there. 

One car that did catch my eye was a nice 2 door Ford Corsair GT. These are a very rare car now and I can't remember the last time I saw one. 

Dave and I left after a couple of hours as we had a prior arrangement on the Isle of Sheppey. (Well, I was going to look at another car!) The traffic on the Dartford Bridge was awful and it took far longer to get there than it should have. We spent an hour or so looking over the car and then went for a bag of chips on the seafront while we let the traffic die down a bit. 
Luckily, the drive home was traffic free and we made good time. Time for a nice cup of tea, then a visit to the pub! 

 I finished work on time again today, so it was time to get a few more garage hours in, especially as I'm busy for the rest of the week and this would be the only chance this week.

I had to finish off fitting the steering column shroud and parcel shelf that had been extracted when I removed the steering box, but once this was done I turned my attention to the engine. I fitted the engine mounts as they had been removed by the engine builder and also re-fitted the clutch, making sure the bolts were tightened to the correct torque setting. 

The engine didn't want to go back in first of all, but with a bit of jiggery pokery it was soon in place. However, while the bell housing bolts lined up fine, the engine mounts didn't want to line up with the crossmember. After a bit of head scratching and thwarted efforts, I decided to remove the engine mounts from the block and swap them over. I mean, they looked exactly the same shape, so I didn't think they were handed, but I reckon they must be as things then became a lot easier and I was able to get the securing bolts in. 

As it was now 7.15pm, I called halt and went indoors for some dinner. I'm not sure when I will get a chance to get this finished off now as the rest of my week and the coming bank holiday weekend is looking quite busy, but any progress is still progress, so I was pleased with what I'd got done. To be continued! 😊

 As luck would have it, one of my jobs today at work was to deliver a car back to Barking in Essex. This would take me down the A13 and past Lakeside which is where the company that did my steering box are situated. So, a quick diversion saw me calling into their workshop and the chap that runs it corrected my steering box while I waited. 

I also managed to finish work a tad early as well, so I went straight out into the garage when I got home home so I could get the steering box fitted. It's a fiddly job, so I took my time with it and about an hour later, it was in place and all bolted up. Another job off the list. engine next! 

 Today was another classic car breakfast meet at Battlesbridge Antiques Centre. I set out at about 8.30am and when I turned off of the A127 and onto the A1245 dual carriageway I found myself sitting behind a 4.2 litre E type Jaguar. As soon as he saw my little Cortina Mk1 in his mirror, he pushed the loud pedal down and tried to put some distance between us. However, he didn't know what my little Cortina has under the bonnet. (A fuel injected twin cam Zetec engine) Needless to say, at 80mph he gave up the chase as he knew he couldn't get away from me. I do like being able to surprise people with this car. 😊

It was a good meet and made all the better by my friends Russell and Jan who I hadn't seen for over a year attending. Gavin and Peter were there too and we all had breakfast together. There was some unusual cars in attendance as well and one of the things I like about this meet is that there always seems to be different cars turning up. It's never just the same old cars. (The E type that thought he could get away from me!) 



Around 12pm I left as I wanted to get some work done on the Green Cortina. The steering box had been refurbished and I had collected it on Thursday. I had spent time on Saturday de-rusting the toe board and making it look better. (Even though it can't be seen when it's in position.)

So, I got the car up on axle stands and started re-installing the steering box. It did seem a bit awkward, but eventually I managed to get it in position, but it still felt that something wasn't quite right. 
After a short investigation, I was dismayed to find that during its refurbishment, it hadn't been put back together properly. There are some mounting brackets on the column and these should sit vertically. The problem was that my brackets were all sitting horizontally, so they wouldn't line up with the fitting brackets that they were supposed to. How bloody annoying! I was hoping to fit the steering box and then refit the engine as well, but now the engine will have to wait until the steering box is corrected. 

 I had a phone call from the engine builder on Sunday telling me my Engine was ready. He was busy for the next few days, so arrangements were made to collect it today. Luckily for me I managed to finish work early, so I made the trip to Wickford to collect it. 
Apparently the engine was in pretty good condition. The pistons were new, as were the big end bearings and the main bearings. However, it looked like whoever had put the engine together originally hadn't honed the bores in the cylinder block which would apparently lead to 'blow back' and cause excessive pressure inside the crank case. The cylinder head gasket was suspect as well. 

So, each cylinder had been given a good hone and the engine was reassembled with new piston rings and a new timing chain. It had also been given a real good clean and a nice paint up as well, so it looked really smart. The engine was then loaded into my car and taken home ready to install into my Green Cortina. This wont be for a while yet though as I want to get the steering box refurbished and it will be lot easier to refit the steering box while the car has no engine in place. 

 Whilst removing the steering box from the Green Cortina I discovered another part that needed replacing. (It just keeps on giving this car!) Luckily, a quick scan on ebay found the part that I needed and it was also being sold by my Friend Keith. After a quick phone call, I found out that Keith was going to the Battlesbridge autojumble and would bring it over for me and meet me over there. The part in question is a foam gasket that fits under the column shield and as you can see below, mine was quite knackered! 

I was at Battlesbridge quite early and while waiting for Keith to arrive I met up with Gavin for a couple of cups of coffee. Upon looking around the stalls I also found a couple of nice metal plaques for my garage wall. 
To be honest, the autojumble wasn't as big as usual and I had seen all I needed to by about 12pm, so I made tracks as I had other things to do. it was still quite a nice morning and good to get out. 

 Since owning the Green Cortina I've always felt that the steering had a lot of play in it. I'd always put it down to the fact that it was due to it having a steering box, rather than rack and pinion steering which is far more accurate.

However when you compare it to driving the Zetec Cortina the two cars are worlds apart. The Zetec steering feels nice and tight while the Green car resembles sailing a boat in force nine gales. 

While the engine is out of the Green car I felt that now would be the best time to remove the steering box and get it refurbished. Having no engine in the car gives you a lot more room to work. So after speaking to a few Cortina friends for advice and reading the workshop several times, I decided to bite the bullet and get stuck in. In situations like this, I always think back to what one of my ex-girlfriends, Amanda, said to me, which was: 'Sometimes, the THOUGHT of doing something is worse than the actual doing it'. 

So with this ringing in my ears I made a start. I'd had to work as well today, but started very early so that I could have a good few hours in the afternoon to get the job done. (I had to deliver one car to Margate in Kent, then come back and deliver another car to Maldon in Essex. I started at 5am and was finished by 12pm. 

Anyway, I digress, so I drank my cup of coffee while staring into my empty engine bay while trying to figure out how the hell the steering box (and column-they cant be disconnected whilst in the car) would be able to exit the car from underneath. (That's what the workshop manual had said!)

The first job was to remove the steering wheel, then the indicator and headlight arm and then the column shroud. I then found two crosshead screws that had to be removed to relieve grip on the column. Next was to remove the parcel shelf so that I could remove another bolt that holds the column to the pedal box. The last to do inside the car was undo the metal plate that the column goes through via the firewall. This also has a foam gasket which I knew was completely knackered, but luckily my friend Keith has one for sale and will be bringing it to the Battlesbridge autojumble for me to collect. 

Work then moved to inside the engine bay where I had to disconnect the pitman arm on the steering box from the steering link. This caused no problems and I was now at the stage where the car had to be jacked up and placed on axle stands to provide enough room to manoeuvre the steering box out from underneath. 

I also found out at this point that it's easier to remove the offside front wheel to gain access to the three bolts that secure the steering box to the chassis rail. (The workshop manual didn't mention that!) Once I'd removed the three bolts the steering box was free, but I still couldn't find enough room from underneath to remove it. I then decided to disconnect the track rod from the drop arm and this then gave me enough room to 'manoeuvre' the steering box out of the car. (The workshop manual never mentioned that either!) 

So the job that I had been dreading for months and months was now complete. It took just under two hours. It will now be taken to a steering box specialist in West Thurrock in Essex when time permits. I'm not sure I would have fancied doing it with the engine in place though, so I definitely wont be refitting the engine until the steering box is refurbished and back in the car! 😊

 The 365 days since the last MOT had come round really quick and so it was time for the Zetec Cortina to be checked over again. I know that classic cars don't need an MOT, but it's a condition of my classic car insurance that this one does because it's classed as modified. (It produces twice as much brake horse power as it did when it left the factory!)

It would also be interesting to see what kind of brake readings I would get on the brake rollers seeing as I have recently carried out a rear disc brake conversion on the car.

The guy doing to the Mot was impressed with the car and the brake readings were spot on. I was worried that the new callipers on the rear would have a better braking efficiency than the fronts, (which is not allowed) but this wasn't the case. In fact, the total braking efficiency of my car was 69%, which apparently, is better than most modern cars. That's pretty good considering I haven't even got a servo fitted. 

The car passed with no advisories and I celebrated by driving round to Gavin's house and we both went to his local cafe for breakfast. A very good, successful day. 😊

(Look how small the Cortina is compared to the BMW!) 

 This was the first Battlesbridge meeting of the season and due to the bright sunshine I expected it to be quite packed. I was able to have a 'proper' drive today on unrestricted roads and test the new 3:31 ratio in the differential I'd just had built. I was really pleased with the result and I now don't feel as though the car needs a five speed gearbox. 

Even though I arrived early, there were still people that had got there before me. It looked like it was going to be a busy day. 

Good friends Gavin and Peter arrived shortly after I'd arrived so we headed to the marquee for breakfast and coffee. Cars were pouring in at a good rate and pretty soon they were starting to use the second field to get everyone in. 

It was a beautiful morning weather wise and a pleasure to be out in the sunshine again. I like this meet because as well as the regulars, there are always cars that I've never seen before which makes it very interesting. 

About lunch time I called it a day as I had things to do at home, plus I had to run some parts down to my engine builder. Hopefully he'll have my engine repaired soon and I'll be able to get the Green Cortina back on the road. 

 At last the weather was getting a bit warmer, so a visit to the Billericay breakfast meet was on the agenda. It would also be the fist proper drive for the Zetec since the fitting of the 3:31 differential and the rear disc brakes. 

I left early in case I had any issues and as a result, I was the first one there. The only trouble with the drive down to Billericay is the roads are all 50mph speed limits, so I couldn't get up to the speed I wanted to to test the diff. 

After a while other people started arriving and a few of my friends as well. We enjoyed a bacon roll and a coffee and spent time looking at the other cars. While I was there I received a text reminder that the MOT was due  on the Zetec Cortina in the next couple of weeks, so I rang the garage and booked it in for the following Saturday. 

All too soon it was time to head home and hope that the traffic wasn't too bad. (The A127 can be a nightmare when the sun comes out, because everyone heads for Southend!) Luckily, the A127 was fairly quiet and I was home in no time at all. It had been a good morning and nice to finally go out without needing a coat! 

 Despite suffering a flu bug, I ended up in the garage again today as Dave Maton was free to come over again and help finish of the brakes on the Zetec Cortina. We gave the cafe a miss this time and got started in the garage as soon as he arrived. I'd had the brake pipes made up during the week, so these were fitted and we were then able to connect the new handbrake cables. 
We then bled the brakes to get all of the air out of the system, going round twice to be sure. Then we refitted the back wheels and went for a test drive. The brakes felt good and I was happy with our work. 
It was still fairly early and Dave was here for the day, so the next job on the agenda was to turn the Green Cortina around and get it in the garage backwards. My recent attempts at curing the oil leak hadn't worked, so the next stage was to take the engine out. (Again!)

It didn't take long to push the Cortina out and turn it around. (I couldn't drive it because it would have pissed oil all over my new drive)

Once the car was back in the garage, we both got stuck into it and before long, we had the cylinder head off. I then set up the engine crane and after not much longer we had the rest of the engine out and on the floor. This is now the third time this engine has been out since I've had this car, so this time it needs to be done right. It will be going to an engine specialist soon and hopefully, all the problems will be rectified. 

 Today I was lucky in that good friend Dave Maton was free to come over and help with my proposed rear disc brake conversion on my Zetec Cortina. 

We had a quick meet in the local cafe for breakfast before work commenced, but then got stuck into it. The first job was to get the  car up on axle stands, remove the rear wheels and then remove the drums, shoes and backing plates. 

The rear disc brake conversion is a fairly new kit from RetroFord and at present there are no instructions with it, so some educated guesswork was required. 

By mid afternoon we had done all we could do. I now need to get some brake pipes made up and then once they are fitted and the brakes bled, then we can connect the new handbrake cables. 

I was quite pleased with the days progress even though it left the car unusable. Another couple of hours work once the brakes pipes are done will see it back on the road. 

 I hadn't planned to enter this event this year, but good friend Richard Warr wanted to do it. The only snag was that his car is still in the workshop having some major work done, so I agreed to do it with him and use my Triumph. 

The only snag with that was that my Triumph was in storage at Colin Wake's place in North Essex. Luckily, Colin joined us as a third crew member for the event, so he spent a couple of days using the car for work to make sure it was all ok. 

Richard made the journey to my place and stayed over on the Friday night in readiness for the event start at Saturday tea time. We just had a few drinks on the Friday night and a takeaway as we didn't want to feel like crap Saturday morning with so many miles ahead of us. 

Saturday morning saw us make the 50 mile journey to Colin's to collect him and the car and then after a good breakfast in a local cafe, we made the 200 mile journey to the start. 

The start was at 'The Great British Car Journey' museum at Ambergate in Derbyshire. We met up with the other crews and after dining on jacket potato's and plotting part of the route, we set out into the evening. 

The theme for this event was motor sport, so extra points could be gained by visiting race tracks and race car manufacturers, so the first part of our route took us through Staffordshire, Worcestershire, Herefordshire, Gloucestershire and Warwickshire, before nipping into Leicestershire on our way to the halfway point at Rugby Services. 

After a mandatory 30 minute break, we set out through Leicestershire, (again!) Rutland, Cambridgeshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, Bedfordshire, Buckinghamshire before heading for the finish in Northamptonshire. We visited some great places including Snetterton Raceway, Silverstone, Rockingham and many others. 

By 8am we were at the finish and awaiting the results. Colin had done really well and had acted as navigator and spent all night plotting and directing. Richard and I took turns to drive. 

The finish was an interesting place as well with plenty to look at while we enjoyed a bacon bap and a much needed coffee. 

The results were announced and Colin's hard work had paid off as we were rewarded with 2nd place. (We weren't that bothered about winning, as the winners have to organise next years event.😉)

We all had a great time, although we were pretty shattered by Sunday morning. Colin still hadn't had enough and wanted to drive home as he hadn't driven on the event. We were back at his by about 11.30am and enjoyed a cup of coffee in the sunshine before making our separate journey's home. 

The car did well and we reckon we covered just over 750 miles in total. The only time we opened the bonnet was to check the oil before heading for home. It seems to be back to its old reliable self. 😁

 I finally managed to order the correct dipstick tube for the 1600 Mk2 Cortina GT engine that's fitted in my Green Cortina. Or so I thought. When the tube arrived I found that it was a very loose fit going into the hole in the timing cover. It needs to be a tight fit so that the oil wont seep out of the gap. 

So, I decided to remove the timing cover so that I can take that, and the dipstick tube to engineering company to see what they can do for me.

So, I've now removed even more parts from this car in order to complete just one job. I said to my mate Dave on the phone 'it's one of those cars where one job turns into three or four more!'. 

I have to admit, I'm getting to the stage now where I'm considering selling it and replacing it with something else. (Maybe a Ford Anglia-Another favourite car from my childhood)  I'm a bit tired of throwing money at it, only for it to cause me a different problem. I honestly think I've spent more time laying underneath it, or with my head under the bonnet, than I have actually driving the bloody thing! 

 I received a phone call the night before from good friend Dave Maton saying that he was coming to Shoeburyness on Sunday morning to collect a fuel tank for his Morris Minor. he knew that I'd got myself into a situation of having an immobile car in front of the garage and a mobile one trapped in the  garage, so would I like a hand to 'shunt cars around?'. What a top bloke! So I gratefully took him up on his offer.

So, Sunday morning, I filled the differential with oil and bled the clutch master cylinder while waiting for Dave to arrive.  

Once Dave arrived we got stuck in and pushed the Green Cortina onto the drive and I reversed the Zetec Cortina out of the garage. Temptation got the better of us both and we couldn't resist taking the Zetec round the block the couples of time to 'get the oil in the diff circulated'. 

After having a bit of fun, we pushed the Green Cortina into the garage where I could resume my latest challenge with it at another time and Dave set out on his journey home. (He had other stuff to do) He certainly done me a favour though, so it was a very worthwhile morning, plus it's always good to see your friends! 

 I had taken my Zetec Cortina differential to Herts & Bed transmissions in Baldock, Hertfordshire the previous Saturday for him to replace the crown wheel and pinion and also fit a limited slip differential. 

The crown wheel and pinion are a new item from Retro Ford and the ratio is 3:31. I've bought this in the hope that it will bring the revs down enough and I can avoid the huge task and cost of fitting a five speed gearbox. Calculations show that it will reduce it by 300 revs, which doesn't sound a lot, but is. (If you drive your car at 2000 revs, then increase it to 2300 revs, you'll see how much more the engine has to work)
I also purchased a Blackline limited slip differential which will also stop the accidental wheel spin that the car gives me in the rain as the LSD will provide more grip. 

I set out early and was at Herts & Beds transmissions  at 6.45am. Luckily, the top man was already there and after paying my bill and having a bit of a chat, I was on my way home. 

A trouble free drive saw me arrive at my friend Gavin's house in Wickford and after a cup of coffee, I left my car at his place and jumped into his Triumph and we went to the Billericay classic car breakfast meet. It was still quite cold, so there wasn't that many cars there really, but a beautiful Cortina Mk1 2 door GT had come down all the way from Bury St Edmunds. All of us Cortina fans at the meet had never seen this car before, but all agreed that it was a very nice car indeed. (See below pic) 

We spent a few hours at the meet, but left when everyone else started leaving. On arrival at my place, I changed into my overalls and went into the garage to refit my differential. It only took an hour or so to get the rear axle back together including refitting the half shafts and bolting the propshaft back on. 

I then refitted the back wheels and all I had left to do was fill the new differential with oil and bleed the clutch master cylinder. (I had removed it and replaced the seals the week before) By now though my long day was catching up with me. I'd got up at 4am and was doing my Saturday shopping in Tesco's Baldock at 6am. so I could be at the transmission place for 7am!  I was starting to feel cold as well, so I called time and went indoors.