Greg's Cortina Mk1 GT Build

Restoring a 1966 Ford Cortina Mk1 GT

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Bodywork Bonnet Brakes Chrome Diff Electrical Engine Gearbox Interior Lights Painting Parts Plating Powder Coating Rotisserie Rubbers Seat Belts Seats Stainless Steel Trim Steering Box Steering Wheel Suspension Trolley Washer Wiring Loom

Build Diary

Every post from the restoration and beyond, newest first. Search the diary or browse below.

  • Parts

    Parts

    This afternoon I prepared a load of parts to be taken to the powder coater. I already took one load of interior parts a few months back and have been collecting all the rest of the parts to be cleaned and powder coated. I have a small sandblasting cabinet at home so I can do…

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  • Body work

    Body work

    I have so far stripped back the boot, bonnet and all doors. There was no major rust in any of them but there was evidence of some older repairs. All doors have been repaired at various times, with one having a re-skin. The bonnet was pretty straight and the boot had some small damage repaired.…

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  • The Engine

    The Engine

    After looking around for an engine builder, I couldn’t find anyone locally in Sydney who impressed me with their knowledge of the little Kent engine. So, after speaking with Jamie Larner I decided to pack up my engine for a trip to Melbourne. The plan with the engine is to build a solid street motor…

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  • Rotisserie

    Rotisserie

    I still haven’t found a shop to do the paint, but I have found a restoration specialist to help me with the initial bodywork. He convinced me that in order to get a good 2 pack paint job I would need to go back to bare metal. He recommended that I paint strip the car…

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  • All in

    All in

    The more I thought about all the things I wanted to do to the car, the more I decided that the best plan of attack would be to go all in on a full ground up nut and bolt restoration. The goal being to end up with basically a brand new Mk1 Cortina GT, just…

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  • First steps

    First steps

    Initially I was just going to get the car running and driving so I put a new generator, starter, plugs and gave it an oil change. It ran…badly. It had a lot of surface rust underneath from sitting for so long so I decided to paint underneath and paint the engine bay. All the old…

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  • The Car

    The Car

    The first car I owned was a 1970 Mk2 Cortina. It was a low mileage one owner car, white with a blue interior and automatic. It had a few bumps on the outside but no rust and the interior was immaculate. I don’t think anyone had ever sat in the back. When we picked it…

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