1966 Ford Cortina GT - Cortinas 2 Cortina 2022

[cortinaman]

thanks for the suggestions kevins blackpopracing and briang



From the exploded diagram, it looks like the other end of the cable has a smaller fitting on it - so I'll look at taking off the lever for a closer look - thanks briang its often the obvious that we forget!

[consul315]

yep you can either fit it from behind if you take the cable out, or you cut the connction to the lever in the engine bay, though i fear fitting the rubber boot is easier from inside- good luck!

[consul315]

Apr 4, 2022 9:34:38 GMT cortinaman said:

Hi consul315 that's a blast from the past - I think I only went to one National at Combe Abbey, but have been to quite a few at Stratford.

Did you go on the last Cortinas to Cortina run in 2012, as we may have met!

Look forward to seeing you in Cortina

Cheers Cortinaman

yep, i have been there in a blue MK2 Estate, will have to search my pics i took then, as most likely we have met already. i hope i can make it this year again (depending on how my pancreas behaves), as for me it´s just down the road actually (230miles). though i m still undecided which car i should take?

[cortinaman]

consul315 was this you in the foreground?

[consul315]

yes indeed, that was mine!

[cortinaman]

Apr 14, 2022 9:15:02 GMT consul315 said:

yep you can either fit it from behind if you take the cable out, or you cut the connction to the lever in the engine bay, though i fear fitting the rubber boot is easier from inside- good luck!

Hi consul315, I took the hand brake lever off tonight, but can't see how you disconnect the cable from the lever, can you shed any light on the subject please?

[consul315]

hi, had to find me one with the cable and as you can see, there is a slot near the mounting bracket.

[consul315]

pull back the handle till the small end of the cable is there, than remove and pull back the lever a little more to make room for the cable, then you can remove it and change the rubber. hope i could express what i mean-sorry for my poor english. good luck!

[cortinaman]

Apr 22, 2022 9:48:55 GMT consul315 said:

pull back the handle till the small end of the cable is there, than remove and pull back the lever a little more to make room for the cable, then you can remove it and change the rubber. hope i could express what i mean-sorry for my poor english. good luck!

Perfect consul315 - that explains it, there's no way I would have worked that out by myself!

So, Tuesday night, I got a bit of time on the car - having spent the day at my mum's putting up trellis and fence panels, I thought I would go for some easy wins.

First - change the rocker cover gasket. The engine has been covered in oil for some time and when I took it to Race Ltd the other week they suggested its likely to be the rocker cover gasket and suggested a Cometic replacement from Burtons, as it has a metal core, it is easier to keep it in place when fitting than a cork gasket which tends to squeeze out!

So off with the rocker cover -



the old gasket was pretty knackered.





shiny new gasket!





seems to fit





might be easier with the gasket on the rocker cover - held on with the bolts.

Next job - remove the handbrake lever 



So jump to today - I had a few minutes to see about getting the cable off the lever using consul315 's suggested method - all went well, I found there is a brass button you have to press to allow you to pull out the inner part of the mechanism:





So with the help of a pair of circlip pliers to pull the rubber gaiter apart enough to put the nipple through, I put it back together.



I thought I would test it before putting it back together - the inner slides in and out fine, but no clicking noise.  The ratchet seems to have stopped working.

Pulled it apart again, and the tiny spring (like a clothes peg spring only smaller - probably 0.5mm wire diameter) has broken so there is nothing to push the ratchet into the notches on the casing - the mechanism is held in with a metal pin, which seems to have been peened over to hold it in place.  



Ratchet being lifted up by the screwdriver - spring is underneath.



the pin which looks to have been peened over.

I suspect the springs are not obtainable (I will check though) and in any event, I will need to drill out the pin and replace it, in order to replace the spring.  So I have questions for the collective:

What spec of wire could one buy to remake the spring?  
What spec of steel rod for the pin and how do you go about peening it over using simple tools (read hammer and punch) 

cheers folks

Cortinaman

[cortinaman]

I got a bit of time on Saturday to work on the Cortina.

I planned to jet wash the rear wheelarches prior to squirting some bilthamber waxoil stuff.

Unfortunately:-



But fortunately I found this in stock:-



I just need to get it welded in - in the past I would have done it myself but the welder is kaput and I really don't have the time.

Any suggestions for a competent welder in the Dorking/Horsham sort of area who could do this?

cheers

Cortinaman

[cortinaman]

 got a little time on the Cortina and the Jag last night and over the weekend (don't ask about the Jag).

I thought I would go for the easy win and replace the throttle cable that has snapped (its got two so still works!). I got the old one out and had a fiddle around with the throttle pedal, only to find that it was flapping around!



See that rectangular block with the hold through it - well its supposed to be bolted to a captive nut on a plate welded to the bulkhead - it ain't!



A bit of good news however:

On the handbrake lever front, I popped into the local nuts and bolts place Margnor and got a couple of small set screws to replace the mangled pin which holds the spring and the pawl for the ratchet.



Made a replacement spring which sort of approximates the broken one, out of a miniature clothes peg spring.



Put it together the handbrake lever,



and broke out the trusty power file



to reduce the length and add a bit of heat to make peening over the end a bit easier.



not particularly neat, but it seems to be working (touch wood)



cable back in



Little spring steel thing with a button to go in the hole in the handle



Done! Just got to manipulate the rubber gaiter into position now.

cheers

Cortinaman

[cortinaman]

Hi folks, its been a while, but nothing dramatic to report. I've had some work done - the exhaust that I bought about 12 years ago but never fitted because the manifold didn't fit it now fitted, and the front suspension geometry improved, and the brakes are better but still not perfect.

So, RR collective, I have some questions:- should an exhaust be air tight? It might sound like a stupid question, but I would like to know before I complain to the firm who adapted my exhaust. They had to cut the pipes and reweld them and it sounds like the exhaust is blowing slightly - not too much just a little. I noticed some sooty deposits on the manifold which pointed to a leak, which they welded up, but it still sounded "leaky". I found a video on line (danagerous I know!) about how to find exhaust leaks by blowing a shop vac up the exhaust and squirting the exhaust with soapy water and watching for bubbles - so I did just that. And I got lots of bubbles appearing along the weld line on the manifold, and one from the gasket. Here's a really bad video but you can just about see the bubbles:

So my question is, is this level of leakage acceptable or can I reasonably say that the manifold and gasket ought to be air tight?

The other question I have, is: can is there anything other than air in the system that can cause brakes to feel spongey - they have been bled to death but still don't feel particularly hard although with a shove they lock up the wheels.

cheers chaps

Cortinaman

[westbay]

Yes exhaust joints should / need to be 'airtight' ... are you power bleeding the brakes or with someone pressing pedal etc ?

[cortinaman]

thanks mate - brakes were manually bled (pressing the pedal)

[westbay]

Try and get a pressure bleeder, you can get one that works off the tyre pressure ( don't forget to blow it up afterwards !)

link

[cortinaman]

On the way to Cortina in the Cortina

[jim]

I hope the trip goes well

[cortinaman]

Sept 5, 2022 10:44:08 GMT jim said:

I hope the trip goes well

Thanks mate, got to Speyer in Germany. The Technic Museum is worth a look.

[misteralz]

Its sister museum in Sinsheim is equally brilliant.

[cortinaman]

Sept 6, 2022 22:40:06 GMT misteralz said:

Its sister museum in Sinsheim is equally brilliant.

It is, went there ten years ago when we went to Cortina last time.