Newbie saying hello.

[RattyCortina]

Hi all, newbie here...


In September I bought a 2008 Berlingo 600 HDI LX 75 van to replace my Vauxhall Combo, which I scrapped after a major MOT failure. I was pointed in the direction of the forum as it has cooling system issue which I will post up in the appropriate place. I have a van as a runabout, I don't do many miles as I tend to only use it at weekends as me and the O/H work together so use her car daily. I am into anything old and mechanical/industrial, I have a small collection of Villiers industrial engines. I also collect old signs, machine plates and old cans ect. I have had loads of 'classic' and modified old cars over the years, my current project is a 1982 Cortina MK5 estate which will have rat rod/surf wagon kind of vibe. I have had it for 8 years, about 2 years ago I took it off the road but the project has stalled at the moment as I have had to move it to smaller lock up which isn't practical for working on it. I am hoping to find a decent sized garage/workshop to rent in the new year and get it back on the road.

[Sol]

Welcome to the forum! Get some pics up of the Cortina! My first car was a MK3 GT with a 2.0L pinto. Loved it.

[RattyCortina]

Welcome to the forum! Get some pics up of the Cortina! My first car was a MK3 GT with a 2.0L pinto. Loved it.

This is how it looked a few years ago.


...and this is what it looks like now, it started off as a quick tidy up! You can see why I had to move garages, mine was the the only one still occupied in the block, the empty ones had been broken into and there was an epidemic of fly-tipping.

[Sol]

Lovely old thing. Aye it looks like Beirut round there. I'd have moved her too.

What's the plan for her long term? (Wheels, paint, motor etc)

[RattyCortina]

Lovely old thing. Aye it looks like Beirut round there. I'd have moved her too.

What's the plan for her long term? (Wheels, paint, motor etc)

It was a shame about the garage, it was a good size and reasonable rent. It's all going to be demolished so I'd have had to move it anyway.

I've got a set of 14" Sierra steels for it, the rears have been banded to 6.5" inch and they're powder coated black. It got 40mm lowering springs on it, I fitted them a while ago when it failed it's MOT on a broken front spring. Paint will be red oxide primer, rattle cans or roller. I've tried to get rid of the plastic bits as much as possible, I've got a plain chrome MK4 rear bumper for it, still looking for a front one.

The engine is a 1.6 'E- Max' pinto out of a Sierra, it was in it when I got it. I may look at swapping the engine at some point, sadly the days of scrappies full of cheap 2.0L Pintos have long gone...

[Sol]

Aye sadly they must be like hen's teeth.

The only good thing about the Sierra version was the cam followers were no longer made of chocolate...the Pinto had a bad rep of camshaft clatter, but I found it was actually the followers / rockers that were wearing, not the cam. It was so badly thought of at one time, Kent wouldn't take the cams in PX. I discovered if you went to a scrappy and found a scrapped Sierra, and nicked the rockers (could be pulled out by hand) then fitted them to your own Pinto....it went from "drumming with spanners" to "church mouse" immediately.

Mind you, you'd have got a kicking if they caught you doing that in the yard, pulling the rockers from a working 5 yo engine lol.

I think if it were mine, I'd consider fitting the 2.0 Duratec motor. Probably easy to get hold of now. Plus I'm sure you get kits to mount it in a MK2 Escort shell, so there must be scope to drop it in the the MK4 Cortina bay. I've seen the MK2 with the Duratec so there has to be gearbox adaptor plates and engine mounts available.

Wheeler dealers dream cars got hold of one for a contestant. Was a peach.

[RattyCortina]

I changed the cam and rockers on it when I got it, was ratting like a good 'un. I can't work out why Ford didn't design the Pinto so the cam came out of the front of the head, so it  could be changed with the head in situ.

It had one lady owner for the first 25 years of it's life, then another owner for 5 years who traded it in to the dealer I bought it from on ebay. I have all the paperwork, old MOTs ect right back to the original receipt. But it appeared to have been run as an old banger on a shoestring. As well as the cam it needed a new radiator, fuel tank, exhaust and 4 tyres before I could use it.

[Sol]

I'd have a MK3 again, loved mine.