1966 Mk1 Cortina GT

7 minute(s) of a 210 minute read

During the christmas break I had a few days to myself as Mrs.Jim was working so I figured I would do a big job - the headlining.

I bought a new headlining back in September because the original looked like a cross between the shroud of turin and a scouts tent, I'm glad I kept the rods in it as I would have really messed that up! A few people gave me pointers like "you'll struggle" you know, the heart warming words to get you motivated get on and do it.

It took a few hours of fettling but I was happy with the fitment

I left it for a few days over Christmas and boxing day and came back to the garage to find nothing had moved - those Amazon bulldog clips were working overtime!

The problem was when you do headlinings you need heat so naturally I picked a day when it snowed! The heaters were on and it was rather nice in the garage but I'm afraid that the police now thing I'm growing "medicinal plants" in the garage.

But I pressed on and started the glueing

The next day I removed the clips and again it held - but I had a new scary job to do, cut holes in it but fortunately it worked out.

1-13-2021

In between doing the headlining and finishing off the christmas break I got a few more jobs done that have been gnawing at me for a while.

When I put the engine back together (a few years ago) I was working on a bike carb conversion but struggled to get it to run - I like the idea of it and I may go back to it but I was lead to believe that it would be problematic to use a vacuum advance distributor which is similar to when running DCOE's

As I left the bike carbs on the bench and reverted to the original Weber 28/36DCD as it's tuneable and would get me to 100hp with little issue, that doesn't sound like a lot but for a mk1 that's lively - I know I have the supercharger but that's more about torque! I digress, the mechanical advance distributor wasn't right for the level of tune plus when I went back to the supplier to ask about the amount of advance etc they couldn't tell me what it's set to - that's a bit worrying!

Fortunately a quick ebay session yielded an original Lucas 25D for £10, a few days later it arrived and they actually sent me 2! which means I have a spare I could tune further should I decided to push the NA engine.

After a strip down and new vacuum advance unit, sparkrite electronic unit, cap and rotor I had this

The engine seems to run smother since I changed distributors so something has improved, the starter however isn't in a great way, it's struggling to turn the engine despite having charge and the earth lead on the engine was toasty - I've checked the windings for resistance and it's a consistent 0.6 Ohms so I'm tempted to get another starter and get the current one a proper rebuild as a spare.

With the headlining in I wanted to fit the front and rear screens, the front had some serious chips or something buried into the glass. I stopped counting at 8 - after a quick call to the insurance company they're willing to replace it for £90 fitted which was actually done yesterday. Going back to new years day - the rear window needed a clean which I was going to do once fitted but I needed to remove the old stickers.

The Mk1 owners club sticker was from a previous owner which I don't dislike it but it's not mine so I may put one on but quite frankly I like the clean look at the moment, RTTS is from run to the sun which is a VW aircooled show in Newquay so naturally a Ford would be the perfect vehicle to go in, it was a fun road trip and part of the engines decline (that and a few goes on the quarter at Santa Pod)

The screen went in with little fuss which was pleasing as I did it solo but if you can get a second pair of hands or a garage wide enough to walk around your car then you're on to a winner!

Just before Christmas I ordered a few parts from the owners club - a few easy wins as I want to get the bulkhead sealed. Knowing the headlining was going in and I was starting on the glass the next logical thing is to seal the rest of the shell so I can get the interior in. The throttle gaiter was straight forward as was the gear stick seal but the handbrake gaiter was a fight! With no help from the owners club I found the best thing was to put it in hot water and pass the clevis through that tiny hole - it'll look like an elephant giving birth but after some deep breaths and a lot of pushing it was sorted!