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I've had some time on the Cortina over Christmas as Mrs Jim had to work over the holidays, this gave me some time to finish the tunnel panelling I had started (albeit takes in still). Before getting starting any more panelling I wanted to sort the gearstick position, when I decided to use the MX5 gearbox I went with a mk1 as the whole gear selector housing is separate to the main casing which means it can be moved. There are a few videos online of people moving them forward which is a process of making brackets to support the housing, drilling the selector shaft and cutting off the excess and then put it all together in time for tea and biscuits! Nobody has extended one and the more I watched these videos my concern for alignment and how I would extend the shaft without compromising gear selection or longevity for 20mm seemed overkill at best. That is how the stick sits within the centre console which I'm adamant on keeping as it's a big part of the GT interior as I keep my sunglasses in it, a quick trawl on eBay showed that I could replace the gearstick for another used item for £12 so why not modify this one and if it all goes wrong I can replace it rather than messing up the gearbox internals and writing it off. With the gearstick on the bench I could have a proper look at it, at first I thought the stick was 2 pieces that have been pressed or welded together and filled to give it a nice weighted feel. As it turns out they are 2 pieces but the bulbous bit is filled with rubber and that's what gives it the weight and bonds it all together. This was found after I started to grind the bulbous bit down with the angle grinder and the heat build up started to melt an evil black material forced it's way out! A quick change of plan to use a blowtorch, my heavy duty air filter mask and extreme prejudice soon had it split. Back in the Cortina I placed the lower part back into the gearbox with the centre console to take some measurements and using some flat bar I had left over and the threaded part of the stick I welded the lot together and made this... [Imgur](https://imgur.com/yf3yjuG) The reason for the chody shifter wasn't for a cheap gag, it was so that I could use an aluminium gearstick extension that would make the whole lot look like the original GT selector. This is purely for appeasing the rivet counters but I quite like it too! The best part is that I can get all 5 gears and reverse, it's far more precise than the 2000e and has a shorter throw! Before I remove the gearbox for a lengthy weldathon I figured I would get the bucket seats in and positioned, I purchased a pari of universal runners which sit under a little bit of tension to get parallel but I should have this sorted fairly quickly.
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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With the gearbox mounted I still had the problem of the hole I had made in the floor, I thought I'd make a start on the tunnel rather than the selector because I need to modify the gearbox to get it to the position of the original selector which is a job for another day! After some time and many pieces of roughly cut card I started to make a tangible tunnel which is roughly how I had imagined it, I would have preferred to make it from fewer pieces but I don't have the tools/ experience to do so Whilst tidying the folds I had made my hammer decided to break - fortunately nothing was harmed and I have a drawer of hammers waiting to go but I've never seen something like this happen before! Moving on from the demise of the hammer I managed to get the last few pieces finished, I have only tacked it for now knowing I need to try the gearbox back in there just to confirm what I have done is correct.
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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Thanks chaps, I've had some problems logging in but I have been beavering away on the Cortina in the meantime and made a decent amount of progress! I've had a grid few hours/ days of thinking how I would mount the gearbox to the chassis in a way that is: accessible, strong enough for the job, not overly complex to fabricate and works Having seen other attempts in an escort that essentially was a flat plate and bolted through the floor didn't seem ideal to me. If I needed to remove the gearbox once all this was finished i.e. a clutch swap I wanted the mount to be accessible from underneath and not having to remove the seats/carpet. A measure of the chassis rail made seemed like a good place to start, it's essentially 50x50 box and surprisingly in line given that it has had sections replaced! For a starting point I decided to use 50x50x3 right angle steel - it's easy to acquire and work with and would use the chassis to align with. The gearbox side of the mount is further forward than the rail but for this I thought I would use another angle section that sits over the 50x50, essentially making a box with enough room to access the nut for the rubber mount. Some time was taken getting the height correct! I'll also point out that using pink tools enhances all work... I used an offset from the 6mm plate I used for the adaptor plate which unfortunately wasn't long enough for the job but enough to test height etc, jigged up into the chassis and aligned meant I could start working on the chassis legs. As they are now load bearing for the gearbox I didn't want to just drill through and use a bigger washer on the back side of it. To support the leg where it would be drilled I decided to use some 10mm ID tube to act as a crush tube, this will support the fasteners for alignment/ prevent the leg from being pinched if over torqued. As a belts and braces job I also welded a 1.5mm thick fish plate on the back side. I must admit that drilling the leg took some building up to! It all paid off as the mount aligns perfectly and the bolts just slide though the tube without any issue When I sat down to draw all this out I had anticipated the exhaust being slightly closer to the N/S of the tunnel but as it turns out it's closer to the centre than expected. cutting this section out made the 50x50 so close to the mount saddle tricky as I didn't want to weaken anything or ruin the alignment. After careful cutting and filing the exhaust could be tucked up into the tunnel where it had been before, I then bent a piece of steel plate (4mm I believe) which I will seam weld in once I've finished the mount. Even with some tacks an a seam underneath it doesn't flex so I'm happy that it will more than make up for what I have removed. The gearbox mount was mocked up using card then transferred to 6mm plate steel which again I'll make look fancy before it's put on for the last time. I was relieved when I removed the trolley jack and the gearbox stayed where I'd mounted it - especially as I was laying under the thing at the time! Next up is to start re-panelling the tunnel I removed which will be a series of plates rather than a 1 swooping curve of steel as I can't fabricate stuff like that!
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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Nov 28, 2023 18:19:15 GMT
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I've just discovered this, it's shaping up to be a cool rod
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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Nov 27, 2023 14:25:55 GMT
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I'm still plodding on with the gearbox mount but I've had to build up the courage to drill the chassis legs for crush tubes etc and waiting on some steel so I got on with another job I'd be procrastinating on. Last year I bought a GT cylinder head on eBay that appears to have been found at the bottom of a canal I spent some time trying to remove the valves (2 of which had corroded heads which was a novelty!) I removed the moss too which is something I haven't had to do to a cylinder head before. Unfortunately 2 of the valves decided they didn't want to leave despite using hammers, heat and foul language. On the whole the head doesn't look that bad apart from the mating surfaces which look like the surface of the moon but it hasn't been ground yet or had the ports/ combustion chamber played with so that's quite a rarity. I want to clean this head up so that I can see how bad the damage is and use it for some designing/ fabrication for things that I would like to do in the future, I have a couple of spare heads but they're both standard 1500 items. To remove the rust I could have used electrolysis which I have had success with in the past but this can lead to hydrogen embrittlement as hydrogen is given off in the reaction, weakening the head and the hydrogen gas can easily ignite which is a problem if I was to do this in the garage as I like how it has walls and a roof! I had seen citric acid powder in the supermarket and thought of the old cola on a coin trick (although that's phosphoric acid but similar PH) I'd buy a box and put the head in a small water bath and see what happens. This was after 5 hours. When setting this up I had a great idea (they don't happen often so I will blow my own trumpet this time) to use a small water pump to agitate the water and keep a constant flow through the coolant chamber and help remove the rust/ deposits. Happy with the results so far I left the head in there overnight and returned to it after 24hrs. I was amazed that with the result given the £2 investment! I rinsed the head with clean water and dried it to prevent it rusting, There is some grime in the oil galleries and coolant chamber which I have thought about setting up another bath with a dishwasher tablet (we used to clean heads that way at uni) but this isn't as important. it's hard to tell from the photo but it will need some serious skimming but there aren't any crack so I'm taking it that this head could be saved.
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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Nov 20, 2023 13:55:57 GMT
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Thats great work, interesting to see how unchanged it will look when youre done. Certainly tight in the tunel, the adaptor plate looks mega too! You'll be offering kits next! That's the hope, I'll be able to keep up with you on the motorway next time!
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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Nov 20, 2023 13:55:01 GMT
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I don't envy you having to do body filler - it's a soul destroying job!
I'm interested in seeing the wipers and switchgear stuff you've got planned
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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Nov 16, 2023 11:57:06 GMT
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I've a few spare heads at home which I keep having thoughts on how to make my own down draught head
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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Brave work cutting up your nice shell. The end result will be worth it though. It was a little odd doing it but I've not regretted it.
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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there cant be much more I need surely!? A turbo?
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Last Edit: Nov 15, 2023 9:48:30 GMT by jim
1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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The ford clutch wouldn't work with the Mazda box which is a shame so I purchased a 1.6 mx5 clutch as it's slightly larger but unfortunately too thick to use the ford pressure plate Whilst I was working on the adaptor plate for the gearbox I took my spare flywheel and a 1.6 mx5 clutch to a friend of mine who is an excellent engineer. He turned a piece of aluminium that would centralise the flywheel to the clutch so new pins could be put in and then drilled and tapped so it can be bolted down. All together and it's not a major change in weight which I was concerned about and the Mazda pressure plate doesn't overhang either.
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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I have probably missed something here, Going back a few month you said you could not afford lotus crank??? AFIK they are 1500 cranks, early ones were 4 bolt and later ones 6 bolt, but still only a stock ford crank, 4 bolt ones seem to command a bigger price, probably due to Homologation engine requiring period correct parts. You're right about the crank and yes it drives the price up when they come about, the last one I was asking about wanted 650 from a supposed racing twin cam but it had been ground to 40 thou and I was suspicious about why he couldn't send me in close photos of the journals - I don't think it would get another polish/ grind if required.
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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Oct 23, 2023 13:46:42 GMT
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Ermine white suits the Escort, it's good to see it having some colour applied Jonsey
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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Oct 23, 2023 13:31:56 GMT
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Since deciding on the MX5 gearbox I have been working on a way to get the engine to marry up to the gearbox successfully, doing some research I thought had the process all worked. Aligning the plate to the ford box was easier as I knew where the plate should be drilled in accordance to the centre of the plate - I had found the dimensions online and printed a drawing which all worked well On the Mazda side I aligned the plate and spent some time carefully finding the centres of the holes. Once the holes had aligned to the gearboxes I welded nuts to the plate - this meant I could carefully mate the engine to the gearbox (the plate is only 1.2mm so didn't want to bend it anymore than I had to!) A look through the clutch arm hole confirmed that I had managed to align the gearbox and crank which was a huge relief! The major issue was the starter motor as the clutch arm on the Mazda box is exactly where the ford starter would live, I figured it would be easier to move the starter and leave the clutch arm as standard as possible. The starter has been located to the opposite side so I will need to hear shield it from the exhaust but that's not a problem the main thing is that it works. I set about remaking the plate in 6mm which should be enough to work but it was. huge pain to cut using a jigsaw for the inner and angle grinder for the outer! If I had to make another I'd love to have plasma cutter it would have taken a fraction of the time! Next up is sorting the flywheel and clutch, they're off being aligned and drilled to suit - it's a standard 1.6 MX5 clutch on a ford flywheel which just fits but needs locating pins which is a little out of my expertise!
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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Oct 19, 2023 11:09:05 GMT
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Mrs Jim and I were in Prague last week, this Skoda was being used to give tours of the city - I found out the day we was due to leave!
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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Sept 25, 2023 15:25:37 GMT
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Right I need to get this back on track as I have been procrastinating and I have lots of ideas but I need to either get them finished or at least actioned! I pulled the 2000e gearbox from the Corina to find that one of the bolts have made a break for it and the others were on their way to escaping too! The threads on the casing don't look stripped but they aren't factory fresh either, after dropping the oil I was relieved to not see any shrapnel so I think I have got away with this apart from the input bearing that has taken some of the loading and it's loose! With the 2000e out I could compare it to the RX8 which on reflection is a behemoth of a gearbox in comparison! Surprisingly the shifter sits 50mm further forward on the Mazda box... Knowing 1st is going to be a crawler gear I don't think it's the way to go so thanks to kevins and jonsey for their advice I have been out and purchased a mk1 mx5 gearbox which has good ratios (not as quick as a 2000e but not far off). The casing isn't as big as the rx8 and it weighs less than the 2000e which is a nice bonus! The shifter is only 25mm further forward minus the adaptor plate so in theory it's not going to be far off. Looking at the bell houses the only issue I can see is that the starter motor on the 2000e is where the clutch lever and slave cylinder live so I will move the starter around to the exhaust side which has it's own problems but I'd like to keep the mx5 stuff as close to standard as I can I've got some materials coming so I can get on and make the adaptor plate and hopefully make it in a way I can take some dimensions from it!
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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I hope so a new head is 3 grand! I am pretty sure there is enough room to go to a slightly larger bolt and drill the front cover to match even there's not enough for a helicoil. I keep looking at then, then I have a little cry! I'm sure there is, indid similar to my inlet/exhaust bolts for the same reason. They're m8's now
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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Aug 29, 2023 18:34:22 GMT
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Are they that bad at the front? You can get them dry but invariably they start to leak somewhere around the front cover or backplate fairly soon, mine's particularly bad because one of the threads on a bolt between the front cover and head is stripped and had been stuck in with silicone. One day I will get round to lifting the head and fixing it properly. (the stripped thread is in the bottom of the head). They're like most fords then! can you helicoil it where it is? I've had to do a few on my front cover threads as my block came from a technical college so dry stored but awful threads!
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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Aug 29, 2023 18:29:09 GMT
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Shame about the graze. Will you repair it yourself or ship it out? I'm not sure, I might try it myself as I've done a few stone chips but nothing as big as this
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1966 Ford Cortina GT 2018 Ford Fiesta ST
Full time engineer, part time waffler on Youtube - see Jim_Builds
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