Mk2 Cortina - Ermine time!

[orionmojo]

I copied most of this from another Forum so sorry if some of it doesn't make sense. After advertising my Cortina for about 6 months, having numerous leads and inquiries, dropping the price again and again then selling it for the third time on ebay, and being let down... for a third time i've had a chat with my dad and i'm going to keep it, reinvent it and use it again for the summer. I love the car and have had some brilliant times in it and didn't really want to sell it deep down but the orion takes too much money to keep on the road to warrant 2 lots of insurance and petrol. but I cant get rid of it so i'm going to push through the bank balance and get it back on the road. The orion wont be going anywhere soon though dont worry the Cortina hasn't seen tarmac since april 09 and that was only a brief stint whilst NMS was fettling the orion. its been off the road really for about 15 months. which is bad, too bad for a classic sitting outside. its aged very well however and went though her MOT yet again straight away Happy days. It will look drastically different to how it does now when i've finished. The orion has the wood and leather interior also, i cant have 2 1600E's now can i, that would just be greedy Stripped out racer look is what i'm going for. I know i'm counting my chickens as i haven't started yet. theres some suspect areas on the car especially around the windscreen, so it could be the beginnning of the end for the shell. i'd sell just the shell off i think rather than scrap it, but buy a better one, or keep the running gear for a mk1 escort if it turns out theres too much grot. My uncle is on hand however and he's restored loads of british classics, a few mk2 jag's, a jag 420, a few astons, and a good few others so it takes a fair bit to scare him. How she looked when i got her. May 2006 Circa April 2007 June 2007 (Run to the Sun) 560 miles in 1 weekend, and she never gave any trouble. July / August 2007. The day before ford fair. I never got to go because I forgot to tax it 3 weeks after those pictures were taken, I flew off to Australia. When I got back I used it for a few months when I was turboing the orion in late 2008, then again for a week or two in april 2009. that brings me to now. On a different Reg. ready to be sold, but still polished up nicely. Started after 5 mins or so too. Not too shabby for a 40 year old motor! It will be stripped, slammed, caged/roll hoop, bit of a dash, some cheap bucket seats, but no halfords crap. Twin 40’s would be superb, but the running gear is staying exactly the same for now, they might come later, hence the all show no go title. its nippy enough, but not going to be setting any track records I want the cosmetics done first. I’m aiming for something between these two, for some proper fun summer blasts. Sorry about the life story, I’m abit bored at the moment lol but also really excited about starting this. I thought some of you might like something abit different Wish me luck. Joe… And if i never update this thread, you can assume it was totally rotten and i sold it on cheap.

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[Twins]

Love a cortina ,my mate dave has a mk1 he has just totally restored running a 2.0l pinto on bike carbs

[orionmojo]

I was following that thread. Didn't see it finished though tbh, i'l look it up . i'm toying with a million ideas at the moment, i realise that cortina's dont have the race heritage the escorts do now, but i love the look of this. proper no frills, built for purpose. thats what i fancy doing, but keeping it road legal.

[Jimmyc]

It looks great bud, never realised how much the mk2 cortinas look like a baby bro of a '69 Dodge Dart
Good luck with the project!

[orionmojo]

I started to strip the car down today, as I wasn’t working to see what I had to work from. I’m over the moon in to be honest, I couldn’t have a better start for what I want to do.
First on all I jacked up all 4 corners and had a good poke around too see if there was anything obvious that needed attention, but its all undersealed so you cant see a lot, plus, it passed the rubber mallet test anyways so I’m happy to leave that ther for now at least.
I then started in the boot, armed with the dustpan and some scrapers. I Took all the carpet up, some of which was glued down, along with the rubber sound deadening material on the boot lid which had gone soft, but also held water. Luckily though nothing more than a few surface scabs. One small hole in the floor which I already knew about, surface rust in the spare wheel well. Very solid overall. Touch!









Carried on through the firewall, although a cardboard firewall might not pass many safety tests today haha rear seats…



Up! …




Completely Solid again



Front seats out, drivers one fell apart but the passenger one is alright. I might try and sell that one with the rears. Not sure yet.




This is how much sponge was in the drivers seat




Carpet out, Passenger side front and rear is very clean. I was well surprised. Drivers side which I knew was damp was also completely solid I can’t believe that one. The carpet and underlay was knackered and rotten ,but the metal underneath is 100% . I must remember to say my prayers more often




















This is how much rotten underlay I took out.



And the tools I found under the carpet, Woo! Lol



Random



I’m So chuffed with it though. It’s a million times cleaner than I was expecting it to be, its been round the block a few times all the inside floors need are a degrease, rub down and paint. I’ll chequer plate some of it aswell, so the welding will be covered too. I’m off to buy a lottery ticket.

[DHMC]

mate was it sitting on mini cooper wheels in one of them pics?

[PeterRST]

That really is a good shell to start with. Can't believe it's over 40 years old! I've seen Mk4 Escorts that were more rotten...

Fantastic project, too. However I wouldn't strip it out. Keep the interieur as I can't think of a cooler car to do a road trip in with your mates.

[nuttynil]

love the mk1,2 s cortina good shell u gotta get some lotus steels on it with hub caps ..Neil

[orionmojo]

Originally Posted by DHMC

mate was it sitting on mini cooper wheels in one of them pics?

Same style yeah, 6x13" superlites.

Originally Posted by PeterRST

That really is a good shell to start with. Can't believe it's over 40 years old! I've seen Mk4 Escorts that were more rotten...

Fantastic project, too. However I wouldn't strip it out. Keep the interieur as I can't think of a cooler car to do a road trip in with your mates.

Interior is going mate, its knackered and for what it will cost to repair and replace i'm just going stripped out look. someone else said this on another forum, but the thing is there are hundreds of mint 1600e's out there, mine is never going to be mint, i just want something cool for the summer.

Originally Posted by nuttynil

love the mk1,2 s cortina good shell u gotta get some lotus steels on it with hub caps ..Neil

not sure on final wheels yet. might just get low profiles on these wheels. i know they're only 6j but its a cheap and cheerful tart up i'm after on this one, simply because i couldn't sell it as said above.

[Glenn.]

Nice project.

[orionmojo]

oh my god i can hardly move!

I'm not long back in from removing underseal and contorting in every position with a hammer and chisel, and then a petrol wipedown. I'm not even finished. its B***ard stuff to get off. I only did an underseal patch about 14" x 6 " and that took me over 2 hours! it was the boot floor, i needed to check arround the floor near the offside where the recess is. i spoke too soon about the welding needed i decided to see how big the hole would get that would need welding, and it turned out to be quite abit bigger than i thought lol i'll get pics tomorrow. i had the missus inside scraping away at the sound deadening, then once i'd finished underneath, i carried on helping her do that, not finished that either lol. Still it looks better without it and it should give me a better finish afterwards with the paint.

not a huge update but i did do some shopping. I got various parts from rally design this morning, i cant wait until they get here

[ScottCos]

Cool project a bit something diffrent

[boothy]

Good work mate love a mk 2 tina

[orionmojo]

Cheers fellas , i cant believe how clean it is considering its been in all weathers for 4 years now and its not watertight 8) . i've found a fatigue / stress crack on a seat mount now though too, not a big issue, it will be sorted when the cage is made.

I've been chipping away at sound deadening for a while after work yesterday and today though, boring tedious job, and nothing to report on it. I did get a small delivery though!

My Rally Design stuff is here, i love getting parts 8)
Nothing exciting lol, but i got some -2" lowering springs, and i already had the -2" blocks but threw them in for the picture , for continuity



I robbed the battery cut off switch off my dad, i have no idea where he gets this stuff lol, but i'm not complaining as it saved me a few quid.
Fire extinguisher pull Cable (this will be wing mounted along with the cut off switch, but i'm using it to open the bonnet instead of an extunguisher. )
bonnet pins with recesses
boot clamp spring thingies!
harness eye bolts and backplates.
I'm well chuffed with my haul. it keeps me inspired whilst chipping away at sound deadening anyway

Joe.

[orionmojo]

Update from yesterday and today.
How it started this morning.





I took the brightwork off from around the doors, i gave it ago and it wasn't too bad, steady but firm is the way to go. I'm leaving the windows in for now. It makes sense to leave it as water tight as possible until the last minute.



The rostyles haven't seen a wash in about 3 years The weather has been lovely though, the snow has nearly all melted now.

and the dash, just to prove i did it! (no prizes for guessing what colour it used to be) Taking a dash out of a cortina shouldn’t be that difficult. A truly horrible job.



theres some hideous bodges behind there though. its all fun and games!

Heres how I left her after todays work.


That door is pissing me off. Theres no easy way to fix it. It’s a wing off job to set it straight, but everything has been modified around it. The bonnet, slam panel, and the wing. It makes no sense. I think I’m going to have to live with it. 



I took all the door rubbers off, sill covers, doorcards are gone but will return once cleaned. Err. Wheels and general bits of trim.

Joe.

[G950KDT]

superb stuff mate, cant beat a classic!

[orionmojo]

Cheers mate

Small update, I've been cleaning and scrubbing and polishing endless amounts of parts over the last week or so, heres a very small part of it.



Rear plate night is badly faded and they're very expensive if they come up NOS.



but i polished it up with some cutting paste and some wet and dry, its about 70% better. the pic didn't come out though.


i took the amber bit out, i'm not sure if i like it or not on an old car. i'll fit them first then decide.


New one on top its much nicer than the bottom one i took out.


Random polished parts.


AND!!! I Had a morning spare today, so i finally got her off for paint at last now it can progress more. i told him what i wanted, he said "no probs". Mint! 8)

So in a week or so i should have a half decent looking ermine white mk2 'tina :mrgreen:

On my uncles flatbed




And in the yard at the painters. dont worry they do have proper prep rooms and a huge lorry sized oven , thats just where the cars and trucks are jetwashed first.

i took the windows out too, i hate mask lines with a passion, theres just no need, but i do need some new window rubbers now!







cheers for reading,

Joe.

[duncansharp76]

love it dude!!!! painted a friends mk2 just before christmas and loved every second of it!!!! go retro rides you just cant beat them

[oxb1l]

That's cool !

Keep up the good work

[GrimV8]

Looks like it'll be a cracker when done

[orionmojo]

Its been back from paint a couple of weeks now and i've been building it up whenever i get an hour or a day to work on it.
Wat it came back like.


















I've spent the last 2 days on it and its looking like a car again. I replaced the starter as it was lazy, burnt out half my loom and had to sort that mess. (not my fault when half the loom is white though ) fitted some more bits and turned it round now its on the key again.
I'm really proud of it now. i think the red stripe and cage will just set it off. 8)

[pjv7771]

thats lovely mate, id have another mk2 in a heartbeat

[foreverford255]

thats awsome mate
id love an old cortina

[give it some stick]

love mk 2 cortinas i think you should go for some deep dish rims with low profile tyres would set it off a treat in my opinion, you have done a fab job so far

[Glenn.]

Nice mate.

[Twins]

Looks fantastic in white

[RSTAaron]

Looks lovely mate! I'd love a mk2 2 door done in pro street style with a ford small block in. lol

[DarylC]

love it

cortina's are great cars, keep up the work

[orionmojo]

Cheers for the comments. i'd love new wheels, low profile rubber too but i can't afford it yet. i just want to get out and use it first. but it will get both.

i'm hoping to have the floor finished by the end of the bank holiday, i.e finished sanding, red lead and white over the top. then its a case of bolting in the dash pad, and seats and driving it to my dads mate who's going to make a roll hoop for it.

[Steve the Plumber]

Looking good.

[orionmojo]

After a 3 day weekend spent on the car its "finished"
i took it round the block tonight on a test run and after replacing the plugs as it was running on 3, she's sweet as a nut again. good old fashioned engineering :thumb:
I can now get it to the metalwork man and he can make a half cage with harness bar, and alloy firewall then she's officially ready for the open road .









Soon i'll give it a proper polish and clean. the interior will get touched up afterwards too, once terry's been in there scratching it up to make the hoop, i'll probably black the number plate surround then too. i wasn't sure about it before but i think it will look better.

With no interior its loud as hell, and with the single seat and no seatbelt (yet) it feels dangerous as f**k too

[Twins]

[ADT168]

nice build