rudeboy

iTrader: (2)

I thought I'd start this thread so we I can watch my car change whilst I've got it. I've waited a long time for my Cosworth so I am going to hold onto this one for a while ... but I do have a few plans for it

With inspiration from some fabulous threads and awesome cars on here I am going to try and achieve a strong, reliable (?!), neat street car. I am hoping to keep it on the roads as much as possible whilst I am working on it but I have a few other commitments that keep me busy: shift work, young family,old house

I got the car with a full service history and genuine milage. I got it with a full folder of receipts spent on it and I am going to continue to keep all receipts from what I spend (although I will never add them up ... I really do not want to know how much that is ) I do all my own servicing, so all my servicing check lists will be kept. I have heard of bad experiences of guys taking their cosworths to Ford dealers and thats in the UK ... I'd hate to think what would happen here in Australia

I want to keep it looking as standard as possible, but I will choose quality and performance over Ford items as required Everything I do shall be reversable so if one day I want a totally original car again I can

Well here she is ...







getting a good clean ...



I have driven it often in good weather whenever I could ... and its street presence in Australia is awesome.

Then then one day whilst I had it parked (securely) at work I came out to find a puddle of coolant under the car. Long story short: my water pump was leaking from the shaft seal so it was off the road for the car and time for a newy.

I had a few other issues that needed sorting so this was the time. I knew that to make this car reliable I need to replace any 20 year old (original) perishable items (hoses,belts etc) that might let me down at the worst time. Things I wanted to do included

1. replace the water pump
2. power steering fluid lines were seeping (the ones at the bottle) ... they needed to be replaced before they failed
3. fix up any messy electrical wiring (particualy at the battery. I'm not an electrician but i am very fussy and I HATE messy wiring
and a general tidy up was in order.

So I went from this ...





to this ...





And no ... I am not taking the engine out. Yet

More details to follow

rsnissan

iTrader: (9)

nice work.............................

when you taking the engine out then

dont fight it.....................all us 3dr owners do it, its a right of passage

Good luck with it all must be awesome oning one of those all they way over there

Dutch XR4i Driver

Hey Very nice car

I no that there are not a lot of them in Australia
and I saw one in that colour there
How many are there in Australia 3 Door cossie's

Cheers Wiebe

lamb chops

You tell him Andy, engine out its the only way


Very nice motor though love it!!

rudeboy

iTrader: (2)

[quote="rsnissan"]

when you taking the engine out then

Thanks Andy ... I have seen the trouble you have caused with your banter This has taken me long enough as it is and I want it on the roads before it gets to hot ... no aircon and Australian summers remember

I'm not sure how many are in Australia, off the top of my head I can think of 4-5 three doors that I know of that get driven but there would be many more than that (does anyone know?) ... I know many are tucked away and hidden. You never see them on the roads but there is often a car advertised for sale.

Anyway here's some pics to show you the level of detail I am going to.

Fluid bottles out and getting a clean (PAS is done to ... no pics though). I have bought a sticker kit for the bay and a black cap for the header tank.

Before ...



after ...



The brackets were looking a little scabby so they got blasted and painted by me in my makeshift spray booth! ...





Has anyone else got rubber inserts on their MAP sensor bracket ... mine are a bit second hand and I want to replace them but when I asked the question it seems that nuts welded onto the bracket and no rubber is the norm

Anyway I got rid of this (it looked worse in the flesh) ...



and bolted on this ...



then I sanded down (as it was a bit crusty to) and sprayed my bonnet stay and whacked in a new fitting kit



Yes I have polished my bonnet



and this needs a polish ...



More to come.

Moser

Ryan

just so you know you can still but washer bottle and power steering tanks from ford, and there only cheap, about Ł15-17 each.

dave cos4x4

iTrader: (5)

nice car from the off.

AJC

iTrader: (6)

cossie4i+

iTrader: (15)

Best colour mate

Good luck with the tidy up.

Steve.

mk2rstaff

very inspirational mate, i hope to bring my cossie over there when i move out in a few years time, not sure what i will have by then, but i shold get about 50k in my hand off the army for my time served then it seeing whats on offer then, RS500 or if i am lucky (hers hoping) an RS 200, i intend trying to join your defence force until i am 55 then retire out there fingers crossed

rudeboy

iTrader: (2)

Thanks boys for the comments

rsnissan and lamb chops I've enjoyed reading/watching your threads ... thats why mines up here now

Ryan cheers for the heads up on the bottles ... being in Australia I'm faced with wicked freight prices so if I can clean up a part to my standards then I'm best to stick with it. How's the water pump ... 70GBP for delivery ... but in the long run its good to know whats available and whats not (just in case I f@#k it, cleaning it )

dave cos4x4 I wish I could work as fast as you ... love your projects man (if I could justify three cars a mk11 cossie (olympic blue BTW) would be just brilliant )

mk2rstaff come to Aus man ... and bring a '500 with you, we cant have enough in this country. It will last forever (we dont have enough water to wash cars at the moment let alone rust cars ... sad but true).

AJC & cossie4i cheers ...

Sticky.

iTrader: (4)

Agreed

Good luck with the project...stunning 3dr

rudeboy

iTrader: (2)

Righty'o time to get serious ...

One of the things I had to do was get stuck into the PAS system ... the return line (small dia) from the metal cooler line to the reservoir was seeping fluid ... in a year (with not much driving) it had gone from 'max' to 'min' and you could see it was wet with fluid ... not good enough for me . Also the supply line from the reservoir to the pump was cracked ... sure to fail one day

Whilst I had the PAS system open it was time to replace all rubber hoses so nothing (fingers crossed ) would let me down. Also the cooler line was terribly crusty and looked shite ... (it looked worse in real life) ...



Out came the pump for a clean up and this was the line that was poor ...



some piccys of what I could see on the hose ...





Aaahhh those clamps ... next was to replace all clamps with these awesome full stainless (no more rusty) clamps. I actually found the listing of these clamps in the 'concourse' section of pf and discovered they are made in Australia ... solid band too so they dont cut your hose and with a bit of metal polish come up SHINEY ... fully recommended.

rudeboy

iTrader: (2)

I got onto Ford UK and the only hose I could get was the main one from the pump to the rack (the only one that wasn't leaking BTW ). As I was changing every rubber hose out it came, heres the old and new ...



With the metal pipe it was blasted, zinc primed and engine enamaled. I got new hoses from a hydraulic hose specialist and reswaged them on (trying to look standard ... I know the 'ears' are to large but oh well ) ...



and how sad is this: I even removed and polished the Ford identification plate to put on the hose ) ...



Here's the pump cleaned up (surface rust was disolved with rust eating acid), painted and with it's replacement hose (check out that clamp ) ...



Heres a box o' bits ready to go ...



and the hoses in place (note the ID plates ) ...



... that is now all rubber hoses replaced and metal items sprayed in the PAS system (reservoir and fluid yet to go).

I've sprayed all the brackets ... I just need to find one replacement saddle clamp rubber for the cooler pipe as the leaking fluid had disolved it Can anyone help?

Moser

JETTEC03

Good stuff Moser!
Will enjoy watching your progress on the forum and hopefully be able to come round to check it out/give you a hand soon....

Cheers

rudeboy

iTrader: (2)

OK I have now removed everything that I need to ... the offending water pump is out ready for the new one, I've taken out the thermostat for a clean up and a newy I've removed all the hoses around the turbo (in and out) for a clean up and for access ... now was a good time to check that it was in good nic to

Some bits ...



and this is the extent of the bay strip down (although since this pic the airbox came right out to give me access for another job ... photos later). I was going to remove the alternater for a clean and a respray but I soon discovered that the lower mount bolt is to long to come out without removing the radiator fans ... I'll just have to save this job for when I 'overhaul' the cooling system



Good news is the turbo compressor blades look good to me ...



... and if there is one thing I've seen a few of in my time are blades (although on a slighty larger scale )



Heres my makeshift spray booth in use again ... this time for the water pump pulley and bolt heads and I thought I'd give the lifting eyes the once over. You'll see one of the bonnet catch screws from the slam panel there ... I have repainted those and the alarm sensor mount at the front of the bay ... so everything is the colour it is meant to be





More to come ...

Moser

BRAMMER

iTrader: (23)

Lovely looking car, Coming along nicely

graeme

where abouts in NSW are you based

Munch

Was a Lovely car before you even started


cant wait to see it finshed

baggydog

marco polo

iTrader: (1)

nice car mate

it's coming along nicely

Twins

iTrader: (18)

Nice attention to detail

rudeboy

iTrader: (2)

Thanks boys for the postive comments

JETTECH03 hello mate ... thanks for checking out what I've been up to ... its taken a while but I'm getting there I can't wait until your project reaches the country ... I've got to see it in the flesh (it will bring back memories of my first project , although mine never got back on the roads )

graeme you have pm

Twins as you would agree ... its the attention to details that make a car unique

rudeboy

iTrader: (2)

and just quickly ...

I must say that I was more than impressed with the condition of the cooling system on my cos (except of course the water pump which had decided to drop its guts ) The coolant was clean, the components weren't rotten and the hoses were in pretty good condition.

I got a new water pump sent out with new bolts from the UK ... although only one of the three bolts were correct so I went to a local engineering joint and put the bolts on the bench ... and he came back with new identical bolts (same head markings) for the total sum of f@#k all! I think next time I'll just source bolts locally

Anyway here's the new pump and new hardware ready to go on (plus a cometic reuseable gasket)



... and all bolted up ...



all ready for a set of new belts to drive it

Brian

iTrader: (2)

Brian

rudeboy

iTrader: (2)

So when I peeked down behind the lower airbox I could see the wiring harness had seen better days ... so now was the time to get in there so I took the airbox right out so I could have a proper look .

Like I've said before , I'm not an electrician but I've seen a few cable runs before and I hate messy wiring (and I know that sort of frustrating issues it can cause )

With the airbox out I was faced with this, pretty good really as all the wiring and insulation was in good condition it was just the harness protection that had fallen away ... it was a fabric type material , and it was time for better (oh and the inner wing was in good nic to ).




I had been recommended to (find and) use this stuff by a sparky at work ... it sh#ts on PVC tape . When you stretch it then wrap it it sticks (fuses ) to itself. It lasts longer and offers greater protection than vinyl (although it is quite thick ) ...



which gave these results ...



then I realised that someone (surely Ford wouldn't ) had decided that a bit of gaffer tape to the strut was good enough ... not good enough for me though ... I had to do this properly :



now that I was happy with the harness , the airbox got a good clean, some Autoglm vinyl protector, a new decal and some new hardware (sourced locally this time ) oh and a spanking new K&N panel filter ... stock looks remember

ready to go ...



... and all bolted up



... oh and I couldn't help myself with a trial picture with the header tank and its new decal and black cap put in postion ...

CossieGirl

Coming along nicely.
Car will be better than new

RS_Gav

Just awesome mate!

Like the others are saying.... It is just a matter of time before that motor comes out!! Look at me!!! I just wanted to change the bloody clutch! Next thing I know... its all on!!... or should that be out?!?

Good work.

rsnissan

iTrader: (9)

Nice progress mate

JamesS2RS

Looking good fella

rudeboy

iTrader: (2)

Thanks Debbie ... thats the plan





baggy dog, Brian cheers lads

BRAMMAR, Sidewayz, marco polo, rsnissan and JamesS2RS thank you for the comments boys it keeps me posting

RS_Gav I'd love to take the engine out and do this all at once but ... have you noticed that most of my photos are taken on a concrete floor ... I dont even have a bench to work on Maybe one day heh

rudeboy

iTrader: (2)

When I walked out to my car and found the puddle of coolant under it the first place I could find that was wet was the thermostat elbow ... so I thought the gasket had let go . After I got the car home I took off the cam belt cover off and saw that the water pump was leaking and the cam belt/pulleys had thrown the coolant back up onto the thermostat elbow even though it (probably wasn''t) leaking but I had already decided to take it apart and change/reseal it anyway so here we go ...

heres the old one taken off ...



When I had ordered the pump from the UK I had also orded the theromostat (and new seal and retaining ring) ... just as well 'cause I had a bastard of a time getting the old one out

On the outide I was surprised how good it looked but when I tried to take out the retaining ring ... oh my god The seal under the thermostat had swollen and hardened and I couldn't get the ring out. I took it to work and got the assistance of an extra pair of hands, a heat gun and a couple of screwdrivers plus a pair of pliers ... and got out the retaining ring

Long story short ... I cleaned up the thermostat housing and got it ready for new seals and a splash of paint ...



Then I got all the new bits together (seal, ring thermostat and bolts) ...



... and assembled it



Here she is, bolted up with some paint-on 'Hylomar' instant gasket. How long do you think those belts will stay lined up Note the new coolant hose, clamps and bleed plug (no clamp on this yet ... I'll do this after I've bleed the coolant system when I first run it

mk2rstaff

looking better each time i se this one mate

R5COS

looking good m8

rudeboy

iTrader: (2)

mk2rstaff thanks for the comments

R5COS cheers Did your mate source the paint?

Hopefully an update soon ...

JETTEC03

Great progress mate....

scotty4130

i'm getting inspired to do more to mine after reading this! keep up the good work mate, coming along very nicely!

rudeboy

iTrader: (2)

JETTECH03 thanks buddy, good to see you the other day

scotty4130 cheers for the comments ... I really only started this 'cause the water pump failed and one thing lead to another

rudeboy

iTrader: (2)

Well firstly my daily driver finally let me down it burst a coolant hose whilst I was driving home from nightshift ... so the worst has happened ... both my two cars are both off the road at the same time .

On a lighter note ... I've had heaps of fun buying tools for this job , heres a selection that I've used on the following wiring repairs



that butane powered pyropen rocks .

Anyway the water pump is in , the power steering hoses are replaced so now I am up to sorting wiring . The first place I started was with the wiring going to the bonnet sensor (at the slam panel) I assume it is for the alarm ... this is what I started with, bad tapeing and a dodgy join ...



so I took out the sensor components and cleaned/painted them (half of the screw sensor so I knew where to adjust it to and cut out the old wiring. I then used new wire, protected it with heat shrink and cooked it on with my pyropen and crimped on (with my new kit) the correct terminals



Heres the sensor remounted on the slam panel and the wiring tucked up and hidden along the inner wing nice and neat . Note I've already reprotected the washer bottle harness



Whilt I was working on the alarm it was time to clean the alarm's siren and remount it neatly and tidy its wiring to ...

rudeboy

iTrader: (2)

Looking down the inner wing along the chassis leg I saw this (which I had already cleaned up/degreased previously) ...



so some more cleaner , some rubber fusing tape and a little force resulted in this ...



The worst of it cant be seen ... there were two main positive leads that ran along the chassis leg (up in the photo) which had no harness protection (just insulation) so with a heavy application of rubber tape they came up well

Now I/m getting somewhere ... MAP sensor and bracket installed and PAS bottle bracket on ...



and heres to the reason why I started to tidy the wiring, what I was faced with at the battery conections ...



to start with I dropped the battery (new) into place (with the most powerful CCA battery I could find ... for ballsy starts ) I was surprised it filled the try ... not much room between it and the alarm siren . I have already started to reroute the wiring ...



I have taken out the main earth lead and found it to be badly chaffed ... but I was shocked when I removed the main positive lead to the starter it was TERRIBLE (photos later) but I have a plan