82 Cortina Crusader - Now with new owner

[SmokeEm]

Well, here she is. Purchased blind from ebay late one night last week. Picked her up Saturday from near Stansted which was a 200mile round trip for me & MrsSmokeEm. She is far from mint and the pictures probably flatter her somewhat but she is mine and I love it. The drive back was uneventful, the engine runs like a sewing machine, having only covered 54k from new. The auto box was silky smooth and other than creaky suspension bushes and brakes that need a weeks notice to work, everything works as it should.



Right, the brief - Bear with me. Never done a build thread before so will learn as I go along.

The brief was, to buy, modify & have in regular use, an 80's RWD auto Ford for under £4000. This kind of narrowed it down to a few models for me - Sierra, Cortina, Capri or Escort 1/2. (Had a Granada, too big for Mrs to use daily if required) The sierra was discounted quickly (No real reason), the Capri was considered but Auto's are thin on the ground and the one I found was 4k and so left me nothing to modify with. There was a mk2 Escort Auto that was in budget and I love them BUT... I am a big old chunk and I thought the Escort would be a bit small for me. With my budget, there were plenty to choose from although not many Auto's. There were two main choices, a Gold 2.0 Ghia and this one. Both were similar price with similar work required. This one was chosen purely that it had been owned last by a RAC man & so I figured would've been well maintained? We shall see.

The plan - At this time I need to say that I do realise that some of what I plan may not be to everyones taste - I can live with that so please don't feel that any comments you make will upset or annoy me - it won't. Each to their own and all that..

I plan to have the brakes, bushes & suspension problems addressed 1st. I am hoping to fit fully adjustable Gaz shocks all round, -2" Burton Springs, new rear Poly Void bushes, new discs, pads & rebuild calipers.

After that, I will see what funds are left to fit a decent exhaust & change the wheels etc.

1st job is to identify which carb I have? All I know is it's a twin choke? It start's fine in the morning so whatever it is, it's working atm. If it's a weber, I can then fit a K&N?


What to you guys think about the plans?

[qwerty]

Plans sound good. If it's a twin carb it is most likely a weber 32/36 so get a K&N whacked on it. If you're changing all the front brakes it might be worth upgrading to vented at the same time. You can buy a complete kit with new everything, including calipers, from rally design for a surprisingly small amount.

Love the colour, can't beat a bit of brown.

[Copey]

Plans sound good to me look forward to updates

[SmokeEm]

A small result - I noticed that the joystick adjuster on the drivers mirror was snapped off so put a cheeky bid on a used pair on ebay - just won them both for £10.95 posted! Not sure of condition but look ok in the pictures. Looks like 3 screws to change it over. Am I right?

[hamps]

I love a mk5 Tina, bookmarked

[Mercdan68]

nice one look forward to seeing the pics,,,,great to see youve got one at last
all the best to you and the family fella

[darrenh]

serious nostalgia, dad had a crusader in this colour scheme

[bortaf]

Feb 3, 2014 14:34:24 GMT SmokeEm said:

A small result - I noticed that the joystick adjuster on the drivers mirror was snapped off so put a cheeky bid on a used pair on ebay - just won them both for £10.95 posted! Not sure of condition but look ok in the pictures. Looks like 3 screws to change it over. Am I right?

Unscrew the chrome ring around the adjuster then take off the cover, there are pegs that locate in the door so pull it off square as you can and then yes 3 phillips head screws and some sticky foam gasket

Nice corty there mate not the usuall blue and being 2tone you have the black bumpers which is allways a bonus
If it's a 2.0 then as said it will have a weber 32/36.

[SmokeEm]

Thanks Bortaf - Was worried I was stuck with the dreaded VV as the auto choke seems to work ok at present.

Used it for work yesterday which highlighted lots of creaking noises so will probably end up renewing loads of bushes and ball joints etc whilst hitting it with the lowering stick.

[69royal]

cant wait to see what u do to this whatever wheels you choose i think they should have gold centers, alleycats would look good imo

[Mark]

Lots of nostalgia here too, as my Dad's final car was a blue Crusader. He had Fords all his life, apart from a year or so with a Golf and an Audi 100. He was pleased to go back to the Cortina though. I wish I'd taken it off his hands, although I always had MK3's in my late teens.

Anyway, look forward to seeing progress. Isn't a 3.0 Capri Weber a good mod' for the 2 litre pinto? I recall putting one on my RS2000 a few years ago.

[SmokeEm]

Feb 4, 2014 8:13:26 GMT Mark said:

Lots of nostalgia here too, as my Dad's final car was a blue Crusader. He had Fords all his life, apart from a year or so with a Golf and an Audi 100. He was pleased to go back to the Cortina though. I wish I'd taken it off his hands, although I always had MK3's in my late teens.

Anyway, look forward to seeing progress. Isn't a 3.0 Capri Weber a good mod' for the 2 litre pinto? I recall putting one on my RS2000 a few years ago.

Yes Mark, a 38DGAS upgrade does work but only really necessary when power level is above 140bhp. I'm not really intending to do much to the engine other than maybe a K&N, 4 branch & electronic ignition. I would do more but I am not sure how much power/torque the std auto box can take as no-one usually tunes them.

[grifterkid]

Very nice...

I had 2 Mk5 Cortina's when they were dirt cheap (about 10 years ago now!) and I loved them both, they were great and I wish I could have kept them both!!!!!!!!!!!!

I look forward to seeing how this ends up...

[qwerty]

Your engine mods sound pretty much exactly what I'm doing to mine. I am jealous of your black bumpers, I think I'm just going to plasticoat mine.

I have a pair of -2" springs that are brand new and have never been fitted as I bought -3" springs. Can't remember if they're front or back. I'll have a check if you're interested.

[SmokeEm]

Not being a Cortina guru (This is my 1st) I didn't realise black bumpers were unusual lol. Glad I have them though - saves me trying to paint them later.

Might be interested in springs, I am currentl waiting for my mechanic to get back to me with a supply/fit price as he gets 20% discount from Burton.

[SmokeEm]

The guy that is fitting the suspension gear just got back to me - Gaz don't make the springs so I may as well order the shocks, springs & poly bushes from Burtons. Does anyone know how to get a discount as likely to be £500+?

[qwerty]

Feb 5, 2014 10:33:28 GMT SmokeEm said:

The guy that is fitting the suspension gear just got back to me - Gaz don't make the springs so I may as well order the shocks, springs & poly bushes from Burtons. Does anyone know how to get a discount as likely to be £500+?

Is he sure? I got my -3" ones from Gaz.

[SmokeEm]

Yes mate. They do make them but have no stock and they can't tell me when more will be made. Typical.. Still, in no real hurry for this build.

[sierra1off]

I love the Mk4 & 5 Cortinas bit of a comfy cruiser.

You could save a fortune and put standard shocks on,

I don't imagine your going rallying in it so would you want a harder ride ?

Also i would'nt replace all the rubber bushes with polybushes, maybee do one end of each wishbone only otherwise you will get loads of road noise transmitted into the car, again making it a harsher ride.

Nice car, especially like it being automatic.

The axle will not break as the automatic soaks up all the shock loads that manual gearboxes normally pass along to the diff and half shafts.

[SmokeEm]

Very interesting Mr 1off

I looked at the powerflex website and they have a handy diagram of the bushes. Could you take a moment to look at it too so you could advise which ones to change? I am deffo not going rallying, I just want a taut, good handling 2" lower road car that I can use daily? I was going for Gaz shocks as they are adjustable. The reason I 'Was' going all poly was so that I never have to change them again but I deffo don't want to make the car horrible to use. The voids are a must to poly but which others do you suggest? The site makes it quite clear which ones go where.

Any savings I make on not changing bushes is money I can spend on exhaust etc. How much 'Pinto' power can the std auto box take?

I am in your hands!