It’s been a few months since my last update and I’ve now got the car back home and it’s going back together. It’s been slow progress as I’ve also been working on a pretty big landscaping project at home. I’ve fit up the glass to two doors. Unfortunately I had some issues with the other two and had to painstakingly remove my new glass from the runners on two windows. I also fit the door rubbers to one door only to find that they were complete rubbish so I’ve had to source some better fitting rubbers but have yet to fit these up. After fitting the gearbox the first time round we realised that I had no clutch. After speaking with the engine builder it was determined that they had supplied the wrong throw our bearing and that because I was using essentially an escort clutch I required a different bearing and bearing carrier. So it was out with the gearbox, carefully measure everything, fit up the bearing and hope for the best. The good news is that I now have a clutch. It was a prick of a job because everything is freshly painted so it took way more time than normal. All the electrical has been completed and lights fit up. I also spent a bit of time fiddling with bumpers. Unfortunately the new rear stainless bumper is a terrible fit so I sourced a pretty good original bumper and it has been sent off for rechroming. My painter and I came to the conclusion that fitting the stainless trim up using the tucker rivets was a terrible idea and we would never get a god fit. We looked at other period cars and I worked out that a system used on a lot of cars with a bracket sliding into the trim with a threaded end would be better and would allow me to adjust the trim for a snug fit. I sourced and ordered 100 Holden trim clips and spent many hours on the bench grinder trimming them down to fit. A quick coat of black and a test fit confirmed that the system works perfectly. Anyway, I should be getting back into the car again shortly and plan on getting all the glass in and door rubbers on so that I can get the car sealed up so that the interior can go back in.
Modified Holden trim clips to replace the tucker rivets. 
Modified Holden trim clips to replace the tucker rivets. 
Each clip had to be rounded off slightly to fit and push round corners. 
The original set of quarter window rubbers didn’t fit well so I sourced a new set that fit much better. 
The car back home for completion. 
The car back home for completion. 
The car back home for completion. 
Refurbished front light buckets. Original connectors with new wiring to hidden relays. 
Radiator back in. 
Orginal lights were in good nick so have gone back in. 
New retaining rings sourced from UK Cortina Club 
Refurbished indicators with new bulb holders and wiring. 
I hand finished the original lenses. Screws will be replaced but I didn’t have the correct size at the time. 
These are original rear light trims straightened and polished. 
These are original rear light trims straightened and polished. 
These are original front light trims, straightened, polished and repainted. 
Original front light trims. 
Brand new rear glass fitted with all new rubbers. 
Powder coated rear fuel filler with new rubbers and brackets. 
Powder coated rear fuel filler with new rubbers and brackets. 
Spare tyre holder was powder coated. 
Re anodised bonnet catch with new old stock mechanism. 
New bullet rear mirror. I’m only going with the drivers side. 
New front window glass fitted. Prick of a job on a freshly painted car. All new rubbers. 
Door handles have given me a few issues as the rechroming wrecked the threads. This is a pretty good original. 
Original plenum drain with powder coated bracket, new rubber and new screws. 
Headers and carby fitted back up with new link mechanism. 
Hoses fitted back up with new clamps. 
Test piece of trim fit up. Back bend needs a slight tweak but it fits tight and even to the car.
Greg's Cortina Mk1 GT Build 