1965 Clark Cortez

[LAndy]

Hey everyone,

It's been a while!
Alot's changed since my mk1 Golf Cabby.



I emigrated to the States.

Met a girl, moved in together, got engaged... Bought an old motor home to renovate together.

So, I wanted a VW T2, she wanted a School bus. Somewhere in the middle we compromised on this...



It's a 1965 Clark Cortez. Yes, that's Clark, the company that makes forklift trucks. Back in the 60's Clark wanted to get into the RV business, to topple Winnebago, it kinda worked... for a bit but unfortunately it's never really took off. After about 3500 units made the Cortez ceased to be.

For it's time it was revolutionerary.
Front wheel drive allowed for a lower floor - The first front wheel motorhome
A unique 4speed manual box
All steel construction
Used by NASA to ferry astronaughts to the rockets during the apollo missions
Torsion bar front suspension

So, how did we find such a rare beast?
Obviously EBay. The only problem... it was 3000 miles away in California! No worries! We just shipped it! And then all of a sudden, curse word was real.

[jpsmit]

awesome - watching with great interest!

[jjeffries]

WOW! John

[Deleted]

RetroRides does it again!
I'd never seen or heard of one of those till today.
Looks cool.
And in tidy condition.

[grizz]

OK

You win.


Absolutely love it so far.

[dikkehemaworst]

Oh yes!! Love retrorides!!
Please some interior shots as well

[georgeb]

Yup, I'm in for rarity value!

Upgrade?

"In 1971, the Oldsmobile Toronado front wheel transaxle with a 455ci engine in conjunction with a GM 3-speed automatic was used."

[jamesd1972]

"Used by NASA to ferry astronaughts to the rockets during the apollo missions"
Penguin nuts that.

Good luck with the project sounds really special.

James

[strikey]

Hope you got a video of getting it off the trailer!!?

Cool looking wagon.

[brc76]

I love these oddities. I think they have a dedicated group of owners too?

[LAndy]

Jan 11, 2020 16:31:47 GMT jpsmit said:

awesome - watching with great interest!

Thanks jpsmit! There's plenty more to come!

Jan 11, 2020 18:46:00 GMT jjeffries said:

WOW! John

She certainly is different!

Jan 11, 2020 19:06:54 GMT @quickrack1 said:

RetroRides does it again!
I'd never seen or heard of one of those till today.
Looks cool.
And in tidy condition.

Quickrack1 neither had I till Laura found it on ebay! We scrambled to find information before the auction ended. Bought it completely on blind faith that it would be ok. Dumb, but it worked out lol

Jan 11, 2020 19:19:27 GMT grizz said:

OK

You win.


Absolutely love it so far.

Ha ha! Thanks Grizz! There's alot more that I need to catch up on. It's been a massive learning curve for the both of us!

Jan 12, 2020 0:02:44 GMT dikkehemaworst said:

Oh yes!! Love retrorides!!
Please some interior shots as well

Will get some shared today dikkenhermaworst!

Jan 12, 2020 3:29:39 GMT georgeb said:

Yup, I'm in for rarity value!

Upgrade?

"In 1971, the Oldsmobile Toronado front wheel transaxle with a 455ci engine in conjunction with a GM 3-speed automatic was used."

Georgeb it's already for a Dodge 360ci in it, I really don't want to make it faster! Its hilariously terrifying to drive as it is.

Jan 12, 2020 8:30:52 GMT jamesd1972 said:

"Used by NASA to ferry astronaughts to the rockets during the apollo missions"
Penguin nuts that.

Good luck with the project sounds really special.

James

Thanks James, appreciate it! We've still got along way to go and our 'to do' list seems to get longer every time we work on it!
Here's a photo of the NASA Cortez in action.

Jan 12, 2020 13:55:14 GMT strikey said:

Hope you got a video of getting it off the trailer!!?

Cool looking wagon.

Thanks Strikey! I *think* we've got a video of it. It was basically pulled off the flatbed onto a recovery vehicle, the flatbed moved, the recovery vehicle tilted the bed and the Cortez was winched down. I was a nervous wreck! ha ha!

Jan 12, 2020 14:53:21 GMT brc76 said:

I love these oddities. I think they have a dedicated group of owners too?

Thanks brc76! Yea there's couple of groups. Some people in them are really helpful... Others, not so much!

If you can't wait for my next post we're documenting everything we're doing on YouTube too. The link below is our second video where we have a good look around and inside the Cortez.



We'd love it if you could like and Subcribe to our channel!

Andy

[LAndy]

So since the Cortez arrived in July 2019 we've done alot to it but we still have a million jobs left to do.

The first thing that needed addressing was the fact that the engine wouldn't start. This was down to a dead starter motor.
Fitting a new one was relatively easy and while working on it we fitted a new live wire from the battery, the one fitted was frankly ridiculous.



Our lass wanted to get stuck in (She thinks I know what I'm doing)





The next job was meant to be the brakes, we knew that they didn't work due to a faulty wheel cylinder and broken brake line both on the front drivers side. This turned into a beast of a job taking us many weekends. Our biggest issue turned out to be figuring out what make the wheel cylinders were and what they were fitted to. As Clark weren't used to building RV's they literally pilfered the parts bin of every other manufacturer. The front's came from a Pontiac Chieftain (amongst others) and the rears came from Dodge 300 (again, amongst others). The brake master cylinder was from a Peterbilt.

Again, our lass got stuck in and isn't afraid of getting dirty (careful at the back!) and she's an absolute boss at adjusting drum brakes!

Here she is giving it some true Ugga-Dugga's!





In the end we changed:

Drivers side front brake line
Drivers side front wheel cylinder
Drivers side rear wheel cylinder
Passenger side front wheel cylinder
Passenger side rear wheel cylinder
Brake fluid (Did both the brake master cylinder and the clutch master cylinder
Brake shoes all round

It was a massive relief when we'd done and they worked!



Here's our YouTube video for the brakes:

[LAndy]

Ey up!

We're just released a new Video about our Cortez on the Tube:



Another update coming soon!

Andy

[LAndy]

Our next job wasn't a heavy one, just light!

Basically everything apart from the extremely dim headlights and one tail light didn't work.

We spent ages working through old crusty wiring and a previous owners poor job at splicing in for what we assume to have been a trailer hitch. We eventually got everything working but found along the way.

The rear drivers side lights (rear light + brake light in one) didn't work because the wiring had been cut!
The wiring from the reverse switch on the gearbox had broken
A bulb in one of the revrse lamps had blown
All the clearnace light holders were corroded. Cleaned them all up and fitted new connections
The front passenger side running light / indicatior (one bulb) didnt work because the wiring was cut
The front drivers side running light / indicator (one bulb) had blown
3 of the 4 clearance light bulbs had blown
none of the gauge lights work... And still don't. We'll tackle those when we move onto the interior work








One of the clearance lights is still a bit touchy as to whether it will work or not, a good thump usually gets it up and running - I think its a bad earth. But eventually...



Our plan is to fully rewire the RV at some point in the future. Somewhere between fully gutting it and converting the engine to EFI.

Check us out on YouTube, we'd love it if you could subsribe to our channel!
Here's a link to our videos on the lights:



and




Andy

[eurogranada]

Looks like a fun project!

[mrbounce]

Absolutely amazing piece of kit. Watching this with interest

[LAndy]

Jan 15, 2020 14:58:22 GMT eurogranada said:

Looks like a fun project!

Yea, we're really enjoying it so far! Tricky find some parts for it but it'll be worth it in the end!

Jan 15, 2020 18:28:10 GMT mrbounce said:

Absolutely amazing piece of kit. Watching this with interest

Thanks mate, plenty more to come! Thanks for your comment!

[forkliftfred]

Mobile meth lab!

[grizz]

Love your video style.

Lots of people can learn from you.

Following closely.

[LAndy]

Jan 16, 2020 8:14:25 GMT forkliftfred said:

Mobile meth lab!

Ha ha!
I've actually just passed an online Chemistry course. Got the mask so all I need now is a train full of Methylamine and some assistants!

Jan 16, 2020 8:18:18 GMT grizz said:

Love your video style.

Lots of people can learn from you.

Following closely.

Wow! Thanks Grizz! Really appreciate that! Glad you like them! Some of the stuff I'm learning as I go but I know enough to get started on most things, nothing's beat me yet!