Restoring my family's old race car (Ford Cortina restoration EP1)
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 15 มิ.ย. 2024
- Part one in what will be a series of videos following along with my 1964 GT (Replica) Cortina restoration. Hope you enjoy!
00:00 Intro
00:52 Family connection
01:10 The engine and first fire up
04:12 Parts collection
05:26 Custom made wide wheels
05:55 Tramp rods vs trailing arms
07:10 The body
13:45 "Pre-Airflow"
15:08 GT goodies
17:51 Weber carburettors
18:08 Brakes and some more parts
21:55 Plans for the project
23:53 Interior plans
25:06 Next episode
27:56 Outro - ยานยนต์และพาหนะ
![🎮เกมยิงปืนใหม่ ภาพสวย และ สมจริงที่สุดในโลก [ BODYCAM ]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/My3l1owRY9I/mqdefault.jpg)
Hi Sean, this video brings back memories for me as I can remember going with my dad in March 1964 to a garage in Welshpool (on the English Welsh border) to collect his brand new Mk1 Cortina Gt, which was exactly like yours with the triple gauge panel, indicator stalk and early front indicator lights. It was a big step up over his Vauxhall, especially with the disc brakes and (for the day) a perky engine. He took it rallying through the motor club at his works and I can remember my mum going apeshit when he came home with the car flooded out. Apparently he went off the road into a river and had to open the doors to sink the car to prevent it floating away down stream. After that he stripped the car and flooded it with the precursor of waxoyl so the car lasted many years in the family. I don't recall the extra tramp bars on the rear suspension or the Mustang style strut braces. These are mod done to yours for racing. Also I think the stock carb was the Weber 28/36 down draught. One of the issues with the 40 DCOE's on the Lotus engine was the constant need to keep adjusting them as they seemed sensitive to wandering off tune.
Thanks for the comment! Great story!
And yes, the mustang style braces as you mentioned were fitted to “export” model cars. They were required for the car to meet Australian standards I’m fairly sure. In any case all Aussie Cortina’s have them. The tramp rods however were fitted for racing. The GT would have had the trailing arms.
HI, I have not seen these braces on any UK cars even up to the early Escorts. Some rally/racing Escorts were fitted with a gusset between the chassis rail and firewall. I have a 65 Mustang where I have fitted the stronger export brace and a Monty Carlo bar between the strut tops. It has stiffened the front end up a lot so I would recommend fitting an MC bar to your Cortina
It is great to see you restoring something that has been in the family for so long, thank you for sharing it on TH-cam.
Thanks mate! Glad to share, if others enjoy seeing it happen, it gives me some additional motivation to put more time into the project, it’s a win win.
Dad had a two door GT Cortina in the ‘60s when we lived in Launceston, Tasmania. It was written off after a crash in a one-way street when a Blitz tow truck collided with us.
It will be so interesting to see you doing all this! Very clever guy!
ive just seen the project and im already loving it.i had a 66 four door gt in the early eighties.i swopped a vauxhall viva hb for it.try doing that today.looking forward to more episodes.keep it up
The engine sounds great considering it wasn't set up. I'll be following this restoration👍
Cheers Jim! Yeah you’re right, I’m hoping that after checking all tolerances, and replacing seals and gaskets, it wants for nothing else. Have been watching with a keen eye how you’ve been shoehorning that mx5 box into yours, that’ll be such a great upgrade 👍🏼
My first car in the UK was a 1963 Mk1 1200 deluxe. The instruments were different in that it had a strip speedo, not circular dials. Great project you've got there.
Nice! Yes I’m pretty sure the 1964 was the first year with the round dial, essentially making it a single year only thing
Wow! Looks like you've got a great start there, mate. Plenty of bits - and spares for them too - and all the major components checked off at least. She' a pretty solid old girl by the looks and having all the genuine GT bits certainly puts her in a winning class to look spot on when done.
The Cortina is only rotten in a few of the typical spots and what I see wouldn't scare me on a rebuild. You've certainly got the right idea in regards to stripping back areas of concern so that there are no surprises, although if you are sending her off to a sand blaster, be prepared to see things that will curl your nose hair and make your wallet whimper.
A bare-metal teardown is potentially one of the most soul-destroying things a bloke can endure...although the upside is you know every battle scar and dodgy repair that was hidden, so now know precisely what you are working with. The stripper idea is a good one, although it can have the same result and any filler it touches will need to be removed completely to stop contamination of whatever goes over the top. Both are worth it to do the ultimate finish on the car, but just be prepared to see things you didn't expect. Alternately, if you're looking at all the visible nastiness yourself, maybe just a dose of 80 grit on the pad would be enough to level the old paintwork after the bodywork is done and leave it to a good coat of filler primer to take care of.
Agree totally with the idea of letting the upholsterers do the work if you're not familiar or comfy with it. I do the same myself - stick to what I am good at and let the pros bring the other bits up to the standard I'm looking for. Upholstery - like mechanical prowess and bodywork - is something that some people can do and others cannot. I cannot, so I leave it to them!
The gauges you have are DEFINITELY all Mark 1 gauges. The Mark 2 GT never had the word Cortina scripted on the face and the needles were longer, all white plastic with a black centre in the pivot and came to a needle point at the end rather than a mitred one. The difference between the outer casing style is the rev counter and speedo on the triple gauge cluster are from a 65/66 GT (the enclosed indicator grille model), so they mounted differently into the Bakelite two-gauge pod in front of the driver (installed in on an angle and turned clockwise to lock in place in the pod). Another way of telling is that the odometer's numerals are a different font on each of the two speedos and the one in the two-gauge cluster is for the 63/64 model. Easy enough modified though.
I had a late '65 GT myself back in the mid-80s as my second car. It was considered a rather powerful vehicle (although it was standard in GT form) and the only way I could be insured in it was if I was a named driver on a policy my parents took out! Scary when you think of the likes of today's learner drivers easily being insured in the likes of a Suzuki Swift or Mazda 3 that has more horses than the old GT could have hoped to be packing! It too had the entire stainless strip trim either side of the scallop on the sides and also around the upper door frame. I was told by some Anoraks in the UK that it was not standard on the GT and was an option only, but every GT I've seen over here (NZ) and ones in Oz have all had the trim you mentioned. Must have been a local thing, eh? The stainless side trim was also an option on the Super over here, but not the Deluxe. The cars look somewhat strange without it to me....
Like the idea of the black - mine was a very dark blue. The yellow in the scallop (when viewed on my screen) looks quite stark at times, but quite a dark yellow (almost gold) in others and the goldy colour I quite like as the contrast. A red interior ALWAYS looks good, but I myself might consider black carpet in order to make the red vinyl on the seats, door cards, console and dash really pop at you. Also hides the dirt better :)
Anyway, enough from me. I look forward to seeing more on the series as you get around to it. I particularly like the family connection you have with the car and note that you are a braver man than I am by tackling it! All the best
Thanks mate! Yeah the car could honestly be so much worse than it is, rust-wise.
And yes, plenty of spares, luckily the grandfather in law has essentially a life's collection of parts.
You caught me regarding the gauges! I realised after watching it back after the upload that what I meant to say was Mk1 pre vs. post facelift rather than Mk1 vs Mk2.
And yes that's what I was told too, the UK cars missed out on having the extra trim as standard. Agree that they don't look quite right without it, especially when two tone in colour.
The yellow in the scallop is kind of like a primary colour type yellow, not too fluro, or shiny like gold, it looks very faded now, I'll have to get the colour matched to a section I have that isn't faded.
Agree on the black carpet, that'll be a must, and as you say, makes the red pop!
Cheers for the comment mate I really appreciate it!
great video mate
Sean, very impressive introduction to your series, looking forward to following your progress.
Excited for the next chapter.
Thanks so much for the comment! Next part coming very soon
Good stuff. Just subscribed.
Cant wait to see the progress
Nice project. I had three Ford Cortina’s back in my younger days MK1 GT was my first car followed by two Lotus Cortina’s.Looking forward to watching future vids👍
Thanks mate! Appreciate the comment
It sounds like you were already doing ok for yourself back then! I had a pretty nice mk1 Escort but of course the Lotus Cortina was my dream car in those days! 🙏 kind regards.
Omg i know that shed and car been there chatting with him many times will be great to see it rebuilt
Storing it warm and dry - forever now!
I love the yellow on black with the black rims 👍
Thanks! So do we, I haven’t seen another one like it yet. Originally it had black minilite rims with yellow outer rings, but they’re long gone - I think I like the wide steel wheels with dog caps better though
@sean-mccarthy the steelies are definitely more in keeping with the age of the car. Imo anyway 👍
My dad had a white two door back in the early 90's here in the uk. He turned it into a lotus rep, minus the engine. Two or three weeks of having it on the road it got pinched. The guys who stole it must have been gutted to find it still had its 1.1 motor still in it 😂
Nice work Sean. Are we looking at the next Project Binky 😅.
Thanks Clayton! Hope you’re well. Haha I don’t think it’ll be anything close to their level 😂
The deluxe model you have is what we call an export model the deluxe and gt didn't have the chrome side strips in England the only mk 1 in England that had the chrome side strips was the 1500 super also those braces that are on the top mounts are usually found on export models
MK1 Cortina was my first car, wish I never sold it
And to be that age again!
Its OHV not OHC it doesnt have lifters it has cam followers
Yes my mistake, there were a few slip ups for names of things, some I added on screen text to correct for and some I forgot to do that on. Thanks for watching!
Think VW copied the headlight switch for its drive, park, reverse switch in its electric range…
The Mk2 cortina didnt have the name on the face of the speedo and rev counter
Yes I was mistaken in the video, what I meant to say was pre vs post airflow, not mk1 vs mk2.