For the 2022 Lancaster Insurance Classic Motor Show with Discovery we featured this year’s Cortinas to Cortina run which we had organised to celebrate the launch of the marque 60 years ago in 1962.
Time for a quick wash and polish before the build up begins
There was getting on for 40 Cortinas of all types on the Cortinas to Cortina run but sadly we could only display three of them at the Classic Motor Show.
AHJ 556E
The modified 2dr GT of Eddy Castrey
Eddy and Lesley had already owned MkII Cortinas for many years longer than they care to remember when they joined the 50th anniversary Cortinas to Cortina run 10 years ago in 2012. They were going to take part in a MkII that Eddy was rebuilding with a Ford Cosworth YB engine but they were to be disappointed, it wasn’t ready so they ended up in the family Ford Focus instead. Their aim was the same this time round but with the Cosworth engined MkII still not running a Plan B was needed.
Plan B arrived in the form of AHJ 556E, a recently restored and modified 2dr GT that Eddy spotted for sale on the Ford Cortina MkII Owners Club Facebook group in May this year. The modifications include the engine from a ST170 Focus (fitted with Nodiz Pro Ignition and bike carbs) mated to a 5 speed Sierra T9 gearbox and a brake upgrade with larger disks and 4 pot Wilwood callipers up front and Sierra disks and callipers on the back end. The colour has also been changed from the original Alpina Green to Audi Dakota Grey and has the front seats of a VW Sirocco and original the rears retrimmed to match.
At first glance, the GT appeared to be spot on, but it still managed to give Eddy a few headaches. Those front Sirocco seats needed to be remounted to lift them a couple of inches while an oil leak between the engine and gearbox turned out to be a blessing in disguise. The leak was eventually found to be coming from the sump gasket (solved simply by nipping up the sump bolts!) but only when the gearbox, clutch and flywheel had been removed. When putting everything back together Eddy noticed the clutch cover had no chance of clamping down correctly – the bolts were too long and bottomed out in their holes. And then there was the wobbly bottom crank pulley that needed changing.
The replacement pulley was faulty and shredded the cambelt on the way to our National Rally in August, leading to a ride home on the back of a tow truck with 16 bent valves. There were just 3 weeks to get the engine rebuilt if Eddy and Lesley were to avoid joining another C2C in the Focus, but thankfully Eddy managed it in time and the GT completed the 2500 miles to Cortina and back with no issues at all.
BAN 311G
The 1600 GT Crayford of Chris Dean
Chis joined us at the Ford Cortina MkII Owners Club last year to meet other MkII owners, get advice and access the club spares scheme [big shout out to Rod Smith! – Chris], but while he might only have been a club member for a relatively short time the exact opposite can be said of his ownership of the GT Crayford for he bought it all the way back in 1987. Aged just 21, Chris found his Crayford in Exeter for £700 and had it recovered back to his home in Buckinghamshire on the back of a Harvey Frost MkI Transit. It was his everyday transport and never imagined he would still own it today, 35 years later.
After a minor fender bender damaged the driver’s side front corner in 1988 Chris took the chance to smarten up the Crayford. The whole car was stripped right back and found to be in good condition, the colour was changed from red to the white you see today at a time when you could get a full repaint for under £150. The finished car was never meant to be a showstopper, it was still very much his everyday car at the time, but this wasn’t to last forever.
Driving the Crayford through two winters was hard work and Chris soon got fed up scraping ice of both sides of the windscreen in the morning. The Crayford was put into semi retirement with a more modern car bought for everyday work. Chris has always used the Crayford as often as possible over the years, with four weddings – including his own to Sandra in 1992 – and a prom under its belt too.
Chris and Sandra couldn’t believe their luck when the MkIIOC announced the trip to Italy and jumped at the chance to drive the Crayford across Europe into countries they never thought they’d take the car to. Preparation work for the big trip included fitting new steering bushes, new gaskets for the engine and gearbox, rebuilt clutch cylinders and a new gearbox mount. The propshaft also got new UJs.
They had a great time on the trip and despite only previously having previously only met one of the other participants they finished the trip with loads of new friends, some that they have met up with since.
RCD 966G
The 2dr 1600E of Graham Orchard
Graham had been planning to be taking his MkII Lotus Cortina Crayford on this year’s 60th anniversary Cortinas to Cortina run. Nearing the end of a major long-term restoration, he got the engine fired up for the first time in over twenty years in the spring this year, but it would only run for a short time before it burnt out the condenser. Unable to trace the reason for the failing condensers, and with Cortinas to Cortina fast approaching, Graham decided the best way forward was to find another Cortina to take on the run down to the Dolomite mountains instead.
He had looked over a few cars that didn’t quite fit the bill before stumbling on an advert for this very rare and very original low mileage 2dr 1600E one Sunday lunchtime in early June. It had been a one owner car in Sweden when it was sold at auction and ended up coming to the UK in 2019.
Once Graham got the E home, he found the car wasn’t quite as described and needed a great deal of recommissioning work. The road tyres looked good and had plenty of tread left but were 20-25 years old with the spare being so old it didn’t even have a date code on. The steering was in a bad way with worn track rod ends and draglink bushes that were crumbling with age. Replacing the bulging water hoses revealed some very badly corroded fittings while on the brakes, the master cylinder was leaking, the shoes had been fitted incorrectly and the rear flexi hose between the body and axle was perished and dangerously expanded when the pedal was pushed. After dealing with these issues Graham took the E out for a test run late one evening only to discover the car still had its LHD headlights fitted! And if all that wasn’t enough, a rear wheel bearing failed and the clutch started slipping during the club’s National Rally weekend just three weeks before setting off for Italy – during which time a charging problem also developed, something that was still being investigated on the morning of departure!
Thankfully, with all this work completed the E ran almost perfectly to Italy and back again. It covered the 2100 miles with only an engine oil leak from the rocker cover gasket and a little axle oil making its way into a rear brake.
And before we knew it, the 2022 show season was over.
Thank you everyone for another great year at the NEC:
To Eddie, Chris and Graham for bringing their cars along. To Eddie and Mark for their continuing support in manning the stand. And to Adrian for the organising everything.
See you all in 2023, if not before!
All photos © Cortina MkII Owners Club LTD unless otherwise stated
