1966 Mk1 Cortina GT

6 minute(s) of a 210 minute read

After a relaxing week away I finally bit the bullet and removed the engine to sort the leaks, I have been trying to sort the oil leak for a while with the engine in situ and hadn't succeeded so I was left with no other option than to remove the engine and whilst I'm at it do a few other jobs that are required.

when trying to drain the coolant prior to this I had nothing the block drain tap was blocked - the irony! I had tried coolant flush in before the removal which did come out a fetching shade of rust but still nothing at the tap. I had a problem like this last year when the rear core plug leaked - it had a build up of sediment that I had tried to remove as much as possible but it appears I still had some more to remove.

After an hour and a half of picking that filth out with a small screw driver and flushing the block out with hot water I had it all out, for belts and braces I also washed the inside of the pipes and the heater matrix till they all ran clear. The aftermath of the leaking pump and clearing the heater was horrific...

Whilst the sump was off I gave the bottom end an inspection and checked the oil for any lumps and I'm rather happy to say there aren't any issues there which is also a relief!

After a refitting the sump and a new water pump the engine went in relatively smoothly given I did it on my own, I think it was all in and running in 5 hours which isn't bad considering I once spent 2 putting the inlet and exhaust on!

11-8-2021

As soon as I had the engine running with the coolant system back on and up to temperature I made some phone calls and booked the first available MOT I could get thinking that it would let me know what I needed to work on to make sure the Cortina was safe to use.

Going back a few months I have been working towards an MOT by bolt checking everything underneath including paint marking the fasteners, firstly to make sure I don't miss any and secondly to see if there is any movement. I have been doing similar for years from my motorsport prep days. On the areas where I had painted the floor white I used a rather fetching shade of pink before paint marking.

I should have fitted the washer jets much sooner but I wasn't sure if I was going to keep the old colostomy bag, I have for the moment and I think I'll try retro brighting to see if I can make it look less stained. The pump works well and makes for interesting driving trying to pump the jets, manually turn on the wipers and drive!

The day of the MOT was quite nerve racking for obvious reason! I went for a pre MOT drive to make sure everything worked and was up to temperature which was fine till I stopped in a car park and after checking a few things couldn't get the car started!

I'd like to say I kept my cool but I don't think anyone would believe me! after a mad panic that felt like a lifetime I had noticed the rev counter needle wasn't moving - so it's an ignition fault, peering at the engine I found that the fuel pump switch live feed had earthed out and blew the fuse for the coil (it takes it's feed from the coil). I'm glad I wired it this way so I had a double fail safe for the fuel system.

The engine fired up and thought I should stop messing around and go straight to the MOT station.

I arrived safely and gave the tester a few notes on what the switches did and where reverse is as it's tricky to find, all seemed well. The cortina drove in fine and I sat down and tried to relax...

A little while later I was called out because they couldn't find the bonnet release! They even had the resident old boy looking who was also drawing a blank! I asked how things were going and was told good and it's very clean underneath which made me feel good but the track rod end boots are looking a little worn.

I returned to the waiting area for another 30 mins or so and the guy came in to print some forms, I pensively asked how did it do?
He smiled and said it's passed. A little taken back I responded with "seriously?!" I hadn't expected to pass on the first swing of the bat given I was ready for a list as long as my arm!

Ramblings over I went out on Sunday to take some more photos but I'm planning on taking the car over to a friends in Lincoln to help with his 944 then go karting which is something I've got back into this year.