Omega Owners Forum
Chat Area => General Car Chat => Topic started by: Ever Ready on 05 February 2014, 19:39:54
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Sitting here enjoying a few well earned snifters and thinking about days gone by with regard to car maintenance
As much as I like the innovations of modern motoring ie ABS, traction control, air con etc I often wish it was like the 'good old days' when you were changing points and plugs every 6000 miles, diagnosing an intermittent misfire by either watching your ht leads in the dark looking for tracking or if you were a snob using a Gunsons strobe light and of course the luxury of actually being able to work in an engine bay without feeling you were a gynaecologist working on the Enterprise :)
I have many happy memories of rear wheel drive cars trying to put you in a ditch if you drove a little too spiritedly
On the whole I like modern cars, I just don't like the fact that they can be so bloody expensive/awkward and downright difficult to pin point a fault especially an intermittent one :'(
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I've you drove an oldie now, you'd understand the progress.
Even in their day, things like Cortinas were poor handling, and horrendously slow.
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They sure were TB
On the positive side you could snap a cam belt and fit a new one without a worry that you had munched the valves etc biggest problem in the early days of the Pinto was getting hold of the 12 point spline tool for the head bolts :) The CVH engine on the other hand was a right P O S
No doubt they were slow compared to modern beasts but they did not overly flatter an average driver :)
Drive a mk3 Cortina quickish in the wet and you spent a lot of time looking out of the side windows :) boiled the brake fluid in a few of them during a 'test' drive ;D
I remember driving an XR4i Sierra when they came out :) 2.8rwd with no grip at all. If I remember correctly the police down south somewhere stopping using them as they kept ending up in hedges backwards, must have had delusions of being a 911 ;D ;D ;D
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I remember driving an XR4i Sierra when they came out :) 2.8rwd with no grip at all.
I'm not quite sure how Ford managed to get so little power from a large engine. Maybe it was because the chassis was absolute pants.
I recall a day when I was a passenger in one, we were out accelerated by a (much newer) Orion 1.6 that we were racing around Silverstone (much to the annoyance of security there), and ended up in a gravel trap trying to catch back up. I recall the driver being miffed as I was screaming to keep the power down to get out of the gravel trap (as security were bearing down on us), and the driver almost crying as he'd only got it back from a respray about 2 weeks earlier.
Youth, irresponsibility, freedom. I miss them, but not the shit cars!
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Eee when I where a lad ;D
The old stuff holds no emotion for me. It's all shite to drive.
Where's the cut off point though :-\ not sure. (Y2k? ;D ) fuel injection was a turning point IMO.
From both points of view probably ;D
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The Cologne v6 was always a bit weedy, I personally blame the siamesed exhaust ports, Essex 3.0 all the way although it only made 134bhp if memory serves, if I remembered the Cologne engine was favoured due to weight or politics, who knows with Ford management :'(
The worst thing about the poxy Cologne was its nylon (read shitty plastic timing gears)
I am quite sure you remember the Sierra Cosworth was praised for getting 200bhp from a two litre four pot, nothing now but it was thought of as fabby back in the dark ages, although in original two wheel drive form it would 'ave you as soon as look at you :) ;D
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I remember driving an XR4i Sierra when they came out :) 2.8rwd with no grip at all.
I'm not quite sure how Ford managed to get so little power from a large engine. Maybe it was because the chassis was absolute pants.
I recall a day when I was a passenger in one, we were out accelerated by a (much newer) Orion 1.6 that we were racing around Silverstone (much to the annoyance of security there), and ended up in a gravel trap trying to catch back up. I recall the driver being miffed as I was screaming to keep the power down to get out of the gravel trap (as security were bearing down on us), and the driver almost crying as he'd only got it back from a respray about 2 weeks earlier.
Youth, irresponsibility, freedom. I miss them, but not the shit cars!
Same lump as the Capri 2.8 injection (160 BHP) A friend of mine had the version with the 5 speed box and such was the lack of torque compared to the old 3 litre 'Essex lump' that fifth gear was all but useless. :-\
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Eee when I where a lad ;D
The old stuff holds no emotion for me. It's all shite to drive.
Where's the cut off point though :-\ not sure. (Y2k? ;D ) fuel injection was a turning point IMO.
From both points of view probably ;D
Aye, fuel injection and turbos was more than likely the watershed moment :y :y
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Eee when I where a lad ;D
The old stuff holds no emotion for me. It's all shite to drive.
Where's the cut off point though :-\ not sure. (Y2k? ;D ) fuel injection was a turning point IMO.
From both points of view probably ;D
Apart from my first car and the Nova I famously "found" in my garage, all my own cars have been injection. I detest carbs with a passion, mainly because they are a sod to set up if you have more than 1. I think the same with bikes, although every bike I've owned has had poxy carbs on ;D
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I remember driving an XR4i Sierra when they came out :) 2.8rwd with no grip at all.
I'm not quite sure how Ford managed to get so little power from a large engine. Maybe it was because the chassis was absolute pants.
I recall a day when I was a passenger in one, we were out accelerated by a (much newer) Orion 1.6 that we were racing around Silverstone (much to the annoyance of security there), and ended up in a gravel trap trying to catch back up. I recall the driver being miffed as I was screaming to keep the power down to get out of the gravel trap (as security were bearing down on us), and the driver almost crying as he'd only got it back from a respray about 2 weeks earlier.
Youth, irresponsibility, freedom. I miss them, but not the shit cars!
Same lump as the Capri 2.8 injection (160 BHP) A friend of mine had the version with the 5 speed box and such was the lack of torque compared to the old 3 litre 'Essex lump' that fifth gear was all but useless. :-\
I remember the original advert for the 2.8i showing lightning bolts etc ;D
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I am quite sure you remember the Sierra Cosworth was praised for getting 200bhp from a two litre four pot, nothing now but it was thought of as fabby back in the dark ages, although in original two wheel drive form it would 'ave you as soon as look at you :) ;D
Fancied a Sierra Cossie at the time (in Saphire form) until I drove one (hatchback, admittedly). Bloody quick if you had it in the right gear, but if you were caught out in the wrong gear, anything would eat your for breakfast. The insurance for an 19yr old without a garage also added to the decision to get something more modest...
...glad I didn't get one, given my subsequent issue with Fords.
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Eee when I where a lad ;D
The old stuff holds no emotion for me. It's all shite to drive.
Where's the cut off point though :-\ not sure. (Y2k? ;D ) fuel injection was a turning point IMO.
From both points of view probably ;D
Apart from my first car and the Nova I famously "found" in my garage, all my own cars have been injection. I detest carbs with a passion, mainly because they are a sod to set up if you have more than 1. I think the same with bikes, although every bike I've owned has had poxy carbs on ;D
Eeee when I were a lad you would have sold yer granny for a pair of Weber 40's or Dellorto's if you were a flash git ;D ;D
they were bloody awful to set up, twin choke were not to bad but Weber 40's >:(
Now if you want to really grind your gears then Triple webers on a Swaymar manifold for a 3.0 Essex v6 was the way to go :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
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My (limited) knowledge of Fords is from my 2nd oldest bro, and the mods he made to his (proper) Escort.
He worked at Tickfords for a while, and often got to "borrow" cars. Even then, how some of these tuned up Fords were so slow was amazing.
Now that Metro turbo he borrowed from the boss's missus, that was mental... ...until it saw a corner or needed to stop. What a little rocket.
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Bosch mechanical injection, even on a '73 Merc 450 SE, was exponentially superior to the shitty Solex Carbs with automatic choke as fitted to the non injection Cologne V6 ;D
It would have been criminal for Ford not to fit it to the 2.8i ;D
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Eee when I where a lad ;D
The old stuff holds no emotion for me. It's all shite to drive.
Where's the cut off point though :-\ not sure. (Y2k? ;D ) fuel injection was a turning point IMO.
From both points of view probably ;D
Apart from my first car and the Nova I famously "found" in my garage, all my own cars have been injection. I detest carbs with a passion, mainly because they are a sod to set up if you have more than 1. I think the same with bikes, although every bike I've owned has had poxy carbs on ;D
Eeee when I were a lad you would have sold yer granny for a pair of Weber 40's or Dellorto's if you were a flash git ;D ;D
they were bloody awful to set up, twin choke were not to bad but Weber 40's >:(
Now if you want to really grind your gears then Triple webers on a Swaymar manifold for a 3.0 Essex v6 was the way to go :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'( :'(
Ooh now on bikes its tother way IMO, carbs where at the end of their development, and EFI was the new kid on the block. And the early efforts with EFI where shocking. Trying to feed in fuel injection smoothly on the power in the rain while cranked over was a very tentative affair, due to a very snatchy delivery. So much so that the apex had long since sailed by. ::)
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Ooh now on bikes its tother way IMO, carbs where at the end of their development, and EFI was the new kid on the block. And the early efforts with EFI where shocking. Trying to feed in fuel injection smoothly on the power in the rain while cranked over was a very tentative affair, due to a very snatchy delivery. So much so that the apex had long since sailed by. ::)
How we know thats purely the mapping. Probably purposely done, like the 3.2 on initial throttle press, to get it everything at, say, 6k rpm all the way through to 12+k, giving it a good kick when you hit the power, making "injection" seem faster. Even though, in reality, it will kill you when it rains ;D
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I had nearly purged the memory of Solex carbs from my memory banks thanks Al :)
Bosch mechanical injection, K-Tronic if I remember correctly was pretty good
Thinking about a proper escort I loved the RS1800/2000 range
I know a chap with a Sierra Cosworth engine in a stripped out Mk 2 Escort that is no slouch, although considering the amount of time spent on building it it blooming well should be ;D ;D
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K-Jetronic was bad (or, being kind, "badly dated") by the time Ford started using it. It was still miles better than the crap they used to put on.
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Ooh now on bikes its tother way IMO, carbs where at the end of their development, and EFI was the new kid on the block. And the early efforts with EFI where shocking. Trying to feed in fuel injection smoothly on the power in the rain while cranked over was a very tentative affair, due to a very snatchy delivery. So much so that the apex had long since sailed by. ::)
How we know thats purely the mapping. Probably purposely done, like the 3.2 on initial throttle press, to get it everything at, say, 6k rpm all the way through to 12+k, giving it a good kick when you hit the power, making "injection" seem faster. Even though, in reality, it will kill you when it rains ;D
Well, on further examination of the Suzuki set up, they couldn't tune it out, so fitted a second throttle after the main butterfly to damp the inrush of air, which the fuelling then matched. It was still shite. Maybe they didn't have enough Bits in their initial ecu's, but most if the bike manufacturers struggled with it initially. The 04 fireblade seemed to be the first one to work.
Which is what's in my garage. :)
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Ooh now on bikes its tother way IMO, carbs where at the end of their development, and EFI was the new kid on the block. And the early efforts with EFI where shocking. Trying to feed in fuel injection smoothly on the power in the rain while cranked over was a very tentative affair, due to a very snatchy delivery. So much so that the apex had long since sailed by. ::)
How we know thats purely the mapping. Probably purposely done, like the 3.2 on initial throttle press, to get it everything at, say, 6k rpm all the way through to 12+k, giving it a good kick when you hit the power, making "injection" seem faster. Even though, in reality, it will kill you when it rains ;D
Well, on further examination of the Suzuki set up, they couldn't tune it out, so fitted a second throttle after the main butterfly to damp the inrush of air, which the fuelling then matched. It was still shite. Maybe they didn't have enough Bits in their initial ecu's, but most if the bike manufacturers struggled with it initially. The 04 fireblade seemed to be the first one to work.
Which is what's in my garage. :)
Was it around 2000ish that the fireblades got shorter? I rode a colleages one, and thought it was fine, but wasn't man enough to open it all the way ;D
The Suzuki - was it basically the same intake as the carb'd version? If so, either the carb version ran lean at certain points, or the injection mapping was wrong. It should be fairly trivial (for an injection specialist) to get the injection to deliver fuel like a carb. Even 8 bit ECUs.
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Bosch mechanical injection, even on a '73 Merc 450 SE, was exponentially superior to the shitty Solex Carbs with automatic choke as fitted to the non injection Cologne V6 ;D
It would have been criminal for Ford not to fit it to the 2.8i ;D
Unfortunately, it doesn't work very well on on the 2.8! They're pretty poor for torque anyway, and the injected ones have terrible throttle lag; it's as if the throttle cable was made of knicker elastic. Anyone who has tried a 3.0l against a 2.8 will realise that Ford simply lied about the 160BHP, as the 3.0l(with a pretty optimistic 138BHP in a late Capri) will stomp all over a 2.8i. And the 3.0l is best used attached to a length of chain with a boat hanging off it. Neither are exactly durable or economical. Both engines suffer from the stupid nylon timing gear stripping, assuming that the oil pump/distributor drive doesn't twist apart first.
The 12v 2.9 is what either V6 should have been from the start, it makes a decent amount of torque, revs like a 2.8, returns decent economy on unleaded fuel(neither of the earlier engine last for long) and has a proper timing chain. Fitting one is the best thing you can do to anything afflicted with a 2.8. Doing that turned my 2.8i Capri into the car it should have been from the start.
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K-Jetronic was bad (or, being kind, "badly dated") by the time Ford started using it. It was still miles better than the crap they used to put on.
Entirely my point :y
Having 3 out of four Mk2 Granada V6s fitted with carbs, it might be said that I am a slow learner ;D
The fact that my last one, a manual 2.8i with a fuel injection system designed twenty years previously, was noticeably better in every respect than the other three put together speaks volumes :y
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Not having had an Essex powered Ford, I can't really comment on that comparison Nick :-\ But I do know my 2.9 12v auto could drink my dog of a 2.8 carb auto under the table ;D
Best two on fuel were the manual 2.8i Mk2 and the 2.9 24v Cosworth auto, both regularly averaging 30-32mpg, and neither being driven remotely gently :y
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I have to agree that the 2.9 was an improvement on the 2.8 if only for having a three port exhaust manifold on the 2.9 as opposed to the wheezy Siamese 2.8 ;D
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If you think the 2.8 is wheezy, don't ever drive a 3.0l! The 2.8 actually needs the rev-limiter as it will easily hit it, or blow up if you remove it. Whereas revving a 3.0l past 4500rpm requires ear plugs, a total lack of mechanical sympathy and a bloody long road. You can gain another 750rpm by milling the carb divider out of the inlet manifold, but you'll be resetting the valve clearances weekly if you use it much. And if you do that, you'll wear out the 'self-locking' taper threads in the rocker arms.
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I remember going out with my Dad to test drive a 2.9 V6 Granada with that Cologne boat anchor in it. Must have been a fairly late one, around 1993. Thing couldn't pull the skin off a wet rice pudding!
We then happened across a Vauxhall dealer and decided to try a Senator 24v. Talk about night and day! He was looking for an estate but bought the Sennie anyway, as the Grandada was so sluggish and, quite rightly, he didn't want to be seen in a BMW! ;D
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I loved the old Essex, yes it was an old slouch but I loved driving them, so much that I fitted a few to various vehicles ;D
I remember a lot of time and money being spent on Swaymar manifolds and triple weber setups :'( :'(
I always longed for an RS3100 but never had the money to get one, I think there were only a few hundred made although like many low model production there were more available than were ever officially made ;D ;D
We mustn't be too hard on the old girl she was born in the swingin' sixties after all ;D ;D ;D
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Must have been a 12v one Kevin, the 24v would keep a 3.2 honest to 145 ish ::)
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Must have been a 12v one Kevin, the 24v would keep a 3.2 honest to 145 ish ::)
Yes, it was, and, whilst the 24v was better, I'm not so sure it'd match a 3.2 :-\
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Must have been a 12v one Kevin, the 24v would keep a 3.2 honest to 145 ish ::)
The 24v in a Grandad is a match for the 2.5 I reckon, but definately not a 3.0l. Not that I would be irresponsible enough to try such a thing :-X
As there is very little between a 3.0l and 3.2l, I'd say a 3.2 should be able to show the Grandad a clean set of heels.
(assuming both autos, not tried such a test with manuals... ...actually, not sure I've ever seen a manual version of the 2.9 granny)
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As for the 12V Granada, I reckon a 2.2 would see it off! ;D
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The Cossie Grandad is a fair bit lighter than an Omega and doesn't give much away in power...
Tops out at 145 (apparently :-X) so yes, a plod 3.2 will pull away eventually... having owned both, I reckon it would be closer than you give the granny credit for :-\
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As for the 12V Granada, I reckon a 2.2 would see it off! ;D
Stop picking on the poor old granny :)
I concur that a 2.2 would have a good chance of rogering it ;D oooh errr missus ;D
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Must have been a 12v one Kevin, the 24v would keep a 3.2 honest to 145 ish ::)
The 24v in a Grandad is a match for the 2.5 I reckon, but definately not a 3.0l. Not that I would be irresponsible enough to try such a thing :-X
As there is very little between a 3.0l and 3.2l, I'd say a 3.2 should be able to show the Grandad a clean set of heels.
(assuming both autos, not tried such a test with manuals... ...actually, not sure I've ever seen a manual version of the 2.9 granny)
Only way of getting a manual 2.9 is with a transfer box attached. Although it is possible to convert one. The 12v 2.9 compares OK with a 2.5 Omega, and there's nothing to choose between a 24v and a 3.0l. Autos of course, although the Ford gearbox isn't very good. A 24v in a Transit is amusing, although the mounts, gearbox and associated bits are hard to find.
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Eee when I where a lad ;D
The old stuff holds no emotion for me. It's all shite to drive.
Where's the cut off point though :-\ not sure. (Y2k? ;D ) fuel injection was a turning point IMO.
From both points of view probably ;D
Apart from my first car and the Nova I famously "found" in my garage, all my own cars have been injection. I detest carbs with a passion, mainly because they are a sod to set up if you have more than 1. I think the same with bikes, although every bike I've owned has had poxy carbs on ;D
Yep - imagine 4 x amals on a full race 1293 A series, or 3 x 45 webers on the Dino - makes 2 x 2" SUs on the 4A seem p*ss easy. Even worse to set up was the Lucas PI system on my '69 TR6. (Fuel injection on TRs introduced in '67 on the TR5)
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Saw a nice looking 2500 outside the local b&q on Monday, brought back some memories both good and bad
Had a few trumpets from the 1300/1500fwd to a 2.5pi with a couple of dollys in between
Always wanted a Stag, might get one yet, you never know ;)
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The Cossie Grandad is a fair bit lighter than an Omega and doesn't give much away in power...
Tops out at 145 (apparently :-X) so yes, a plod 3.2 will pull away eventually... having owned both, I reckon it would be closer than you give the granny credit for :-\
Having driven both I would agree with that,always found the 24v Granny bloody quick if a little challenging on the cosmetics :-X
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They sure were TB
On the positive side you could snap a cam belt and fit a new one without a worry that you had munched the valves etc biggest problem in the early days of the Pinto was getting hold of the 12 point spline tool for the head bolts :) The CVH engine on the other hand was a right P O S
No doubt they were slow compared to modern beasts but they did not overly flatter an average driver :)
Drive a mk3 Cortina quickish in the wet and you spent a lot of time looking out of the side windows :) boiled the brake fluid in a few of them during a 'test' drive ;D
I remember driving an XR4i Sierra when they came out :) 2.8rwd with no grip at all. If I remember correctly the police down south somewhere stopping using them as they kept ending up in hedges backwards, must have had delusions of being a 911 ;D ;D ;D
It was Devon and cornwall,they had four of them and wrapped up three in short order,fourth was mothballed for a while then auctioned,a trader friend of mine bought it from the auction and I remember the milage was very low for and ex plod :y
they moved onto the 2.8/2.9 4x4's after that
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Thanks for the memory refresh henryd. I remember it better now :y
Three out of three is quite a result :)
When they changed to XR4x4 it was like night and day, lovely cars to drive even if they did like to chew through transfer shafts ;D ;D
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Ooh now on bikes its tother way IMO, carbs where at the end of their development, and EFI was the new kid on the block. And the early efforts with EFI where shocking. Trying to feed in fuel injection smoothly on the power in the rain while cranked over was a very tentative affair, due to a very snatchy delivery. So much so that the apex had long since sailed by. ::)
How we know thats purely the mapping. Probably purposely done, like the 3.2 on initial throttle press, to get it everything at, say, 6k rpm all the way through to 12+k, giving it a good kick when you hit the power, making "injection" seem faster. Even though, in reality, it will kill you when it rains ;D
My kawasaki GPZ 750 Turbo came with DFI way back in 1984. :)
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Saw a nice looking 2500 outside the local b&q on Monday, brought back some memories both good and bad
Had a few trumpets from the 1300/1500fwd to a 2.5pi with a couple of dollys in between
Always wanted a Stag, might get one yet, you never know ;)
My very first car FUE 756K......a 1972 Triumph 1500. :-* :-* I still have the SU spanner for adjusting the carb. :y
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Older than mine then JOS 580L
Did you ever have to change the drive shaft doughnuts? Not too bad when supplied new with the band around them but a tad difficult when you had liberated them from the local scrappy ;D
The clutch on the other hand could be done while holding a cup of tea ;D
Similar to the cavalier, I still have the 36mm socket used to get to the input shaft
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Anyone used to get their car Crypton tuned? :-\
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I used a crypton once under the guidance of Man Father....nothing it could do that you couldn't do with a few bits of gunsons kit.
I dont miss the days of tappet adjustment, regular plug changes, fiddling with carbs, changing points, swapping condensers, dizzy caps and rotor arms, changing the air flow setting on the panel air filter from summer to winter, manualy adjusting drum brakes, setting timing, adjusting dwell yada yada yada
Pulling cylinder heads every few years for a decoke
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.........
I dont miss the days of tappet adjustment, regular plug changes, fiddling with carbs, changing points, swapping condensers, dizzy caps and rotor arms, changing the air flow setting on the panel air filter from summer to winter, manualy adjusting drum brakes, setting timing, adjusting dwell yada yada yada
Pulling cylinder heads every few years for a decoke
Agreed! :y :y :y :y
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Anyone used to get their car Crypton tuned? :-\
No, but I owned a 'Colourtune'......which was shite.
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Anyone used to get their car Crypton tuned? :-\
No, but I owned a 'Colourtune'......which was shite.
You need more than one! On single carb engines they only work if the inlet manifold is any good. If you use at least 2 colourtunes, you get a much better idea of what is going on. It's much easier to get multiple carbs right that way. A mate uses 8 at a time to adjust the mixtures on the 4 Dellortos on his Rover and his dad's Jensen.
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Those Cologne V6s certainly took some fettling... ;D
Oil changes every 6k, tappets and plugs every 12k, plus another 3k of trying to stop the rocker cover gaskets from leaking ::)
And that's without worrying about rust and coolant loss...
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Anyone used to get their car Crypton tuned? :-\
No, but I owned a 'Colourtune'......which was shite.
I'm pretty sure I could still find mine ;D ;D ;D
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I know EXACTLY where mine is ;D
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Anyone used to get their car Crypton tuned? :-\
No, but I owned a 'Colourtune'......which was shite.
I have to concur with the right honourable gentleman :y :y, (no guarantee that he is either honourable or indeed a gentleman) ;D ;D
I still have my colourtune and remember using it :) oh the shame :)
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I know EXACTLY where mine is ;D
Hadn't left it in TBs garage had you ;D
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I know EXACTLY where mine is ;D
I've had longer to accumulate crap stuff than you ...... so mine will be buried deeper ;D ;D
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I used a crypton once under the guidance of Man Father....nothing it could do that you couldn't do with a few bits of gunsons kit.
I dont miss the days of tappet adjustment, regular plug changes, fiddling with carbs, changing points, swapping condensers, dizzy caps and rotor arms, changing the air flow setting on the panel air filter from summer to winter, manualy adjusting drum brakes, setting timing, adjusting dwell yada yada yada
Pulling cylinder heads every few years for a decoke
I didn't mind those days, I was younger and you didn't have to worry about having to shell out hundreds of beer tokens for a little bit of electronic gubbins ;D
On the other hand you had to deal with Distributor drives, burst diaphragms on carbs, difficult tappets although the Kent cross flow had easy enough ones to do with their self locking adjuster :y
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Have never owned on of them horrid blue oval badged things.
repaired a few tho,and done the 1300 to 1600 swaps and gearboxes etc. :D
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Have never owned on of them horrid blue oval badged things.
repaired a few tho,and done the 1300 to 1600 swaps and gearboxes etc. :D
You missed out then ::) ;D My Mk5 Cortina was a rust bucket and broke down every other week but i loved it :-X Got me to Skeggy once :D
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Have owned several of Henry's cars, first car was a Mk3 Cortina with a good old Pinto ohc in it, I remember fitting Bilstein shocks and a Janspeed 4 in to 2 in to 1 exhaust with chrome pancake air filters to it, to a younger me it was the dogs dangly bits ;D certainly taught me the real meaning of opposite lock ;D ;D ;D ;D
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My Mk3 Capri never let me down , was a bit slow starting in winter but always started in the end . Only took me a year to change to 2.8 leaf springs and adjust the tappets ;D
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Did it have the Recaro seats with the fishnet head rests?
I once had a moment of madness and fitted a pair of recaros from an SRi into my old trusty Coke bottle Mk 3. I was king of the hill that day ;D ;D ;D
Mind you it was a small hill ;D
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Have never owned on of them horrid blue oval badged things.
repaired a few tho,and done the 1300 to 1600 swaps and gearboxes etc. :D
You missed out then ::) ;D My Mk5 Cortina was a rust bucket and broke down every other week but i loved it :-X Got me to Skeggy once :D
What was the difference between the Mk4 and the Mk5?......Not much I think.
Was the Mk5 the run-out model before the original Sierra took over?
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..... first car was a Mk3 Cortina with a good old Pinto ohc in it, ... and a Janspeed 4 in to 2 in to 1 exhaust .....
I had one of them too ....... with a GT head :y :y :y :y
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Have never owned on of them horrid blue oval badged things.
repaired a few tho,and done the 1300 to 1600 swaps and gearboxes etc. :D
You missed out then ::) ;D My Mk5 Cortina was a rust bucket and broke down every other week but i loved it :-X Got me to Skeggy once :D
What was the difference between the Mk4 and the Mk5......Not much I think.
Was the Mk5 the run-out model before the original Sierra took over?
To be pedantic ....... ::)
the 'MKV' was actually a MKIV1980 ........ there was no such thing as a MKV
the V had different bigger tail lights including rear fogs and err..... that's all I can think of ::) ::)
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..... first car was a Mk3 Cortina with a good old Pinto ohc in it, ... and a Janspeed 4 in to 2 in to 1 exhaust .....
I had one of them too ....... with a GT head :y :y :y :y
I never got a GT but bought a Rocket box although I never got the bellhousing to suit the pinto engine :(
I do love a dog leg first gear, much more sensible than the conventional H pattern....IMO :y
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Have never owned on of them horrid blue oval badged things.
repaired a few tho,and done the 1300 to 1600 swaps and gearboxes etc. :D
You missed out then ::) ;D My Mk5 Cortina was a rust bucket and broke down every other week but i loved it :-X Got me to Skeggy once :D
What was the difference between the Mk4 and the Mk5......Not much I think.
Was the Mk5 the run-out model before the original Sierra took over?
To be pedantic ....... ::)
the 'MKV' was actually a MKIV1980 ........ there was no such thing as a MKV
the V had different bigger tail lights including rear fogs and err..... that's all I can think of ::) ::)
Different Headlights/front indicators, door mirrors in the front corner of the window aperature rather than bolted to the door skin below the window line, different bumpers and upgraded interior trim, with the clock being moved and the radio being mounted differently. Apart from that, not much ;D
Oh, nearly forgot, auto choke on the V6 and possibly a five speed manual option...
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Different Headlights/front indicators, door mirrors in the front corner of the window aperature rather than bolted to the door skin below the window line, different bumpers and upgraded interior trim, with the clock being moved and the radio being mounted differently. Apart from that, not much ;D
Oh, nearly forgot, auto choke on the V6 and possibly a five speed manual option...
Now you mention the headlights ...... I remember, MKIV had indicators at the side of the headlights and the MKV had a kinda wrap round indicator that was visible from the side.
Not sure the MKV ever had the option of the 5 speed manual ........ :-\ Sierras became donors or theirs
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Have never owned on of them horrid blue oval badged things.
repaired a few tho,and done the 1300 to 1600 swaps and gearboxes etc. :D
You missed out then ::) ;D My Mk5 Cortina was a rust bucket and broke down every other week but i loved it :-X Got me to Skeggy once :D
What was the difference between the Mk4 and the Mk5......Not much I think.
Was the Mk5 the run-out model before the original Sierra took over?
To be pedantic ....... ::)
the 'MKV' was actually a MKIV1980 ........ there was no such thing as a MKV
the V had different bigger tail lights including rear fogs and err..... that's all I can think of ::) ::)
I will have you know my V reg MKV was much nicer than my colleagues MKIV T Reg and I was younger than him, oh the days of company cars......... :D :D :D
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Not forgetting the class struggle between different managers ;D
''He has the L''
''You have the GL''
''I have the Ghia''
In my dads day it was L, XL, GXL & E
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Not forgetting the class struggle between different managers ;D
''He has the L''
''You have the GL''
''I have the Ghia''
In my dads day it was L, XL, GXL & E
V6 the managers, but I was lucky, he had a saloon my company car was an estate which we would often swop at the weekend........ :D :D :D
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Mk5 Cortina has a roofline 1.5" higher than a mk4 which is a pretty major change! Although estates are the same. Mechanically they're the same, as is the mk3. They didn't come with a 5speed, although it's easy to do. Sort the rear axle bushes and they handle pretty well.
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Mk5 Cortina has a roofline 1.5" higher than a mk4 which is a pretty major change! Although estates are the same. ....
You sure? :-\ years ago, a neighbour bought a saloon door for his MK4/5 Cortina estate. Fitted great at the bottom but was short in the glass! ;D ;D ;D
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You might be right about the 5 speed, only standard on the Granada from '84... optional prior except for the 2.8i Sport :y
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Mk5 Cortina has a roofline 1.5" higher than a mk4 which is a pretty major change! Although estates are the same. Mechanically they're the same, as is the mk3. They didn't come with a 5speed, although it's easy to do. Sort the rear axle bushes and they handle pretty well.
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Void bushes were a real pain to many motorists, but were cheap to buy and not overly difficult to fit
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My 1.6 Cortina used to use more fuel than the Jeep, this may possibly have been down the the fact that; I was young, fuel was free and so was the car........ ;) ;)
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Always a good combination as I remember :y :y
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Perspective is a wonderful thing ;D
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Mk5 Cortina has a roofline 1.5" higher than a mk4 which is a pretty major change! Although estates are the same. ....
You sure? :-\ years ago, a neighbour bought a saloon door for his MK4/5 Cortina estate. Fitted great at the bottom but was short in the glass! ;D ;D ;D
Positive. My W plate radiant red 1.6Gl saloon was bought for £25 with stoved in NSF door. After MOTing, and servicing it, I used it for my 90 mile round trip every day. 3 months in, I finally acquired a perfect door off a white mk5 estate for £10. Yes, I bought a door for nearly half what I paid for the car. What could possibly go wrong? I cleaned and painted it, and fitted it one Saturday afternoon. It fitted perfectly at the bottom as you said, but there was a 1.5" gap between the door frame and roof. Which gave my club members a laugh that evening when I mentioned it, as they all knew that a mk5 had a higher roof than a mk4.
I had a good thrash every morning between the M23 and Manor Royal, as the bloke in the 325 had this weird thing about slowing down for roundabouts. Did that everyday for 5 months!
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Those Cologne V6s certainly took some fettling... ;D
Oil changes every 6k, tappets and plugs every 12k, plus another 3k of trying to stop the rocker cover gaskets from leaking ::)
And that's without worrying about rust and coolant loss...
Remind me, what is the oil change interval recommended here for an Omega V6?
Dry rocker covers are simple; get a pair of alloy covers and the late rubber gaskets from Ford. Job done. Although they were rare, and are now outrageously expensive - the last ones I sold 10 years ago went for £100 a pair. Failing that, you just straighten the flange(just like any other pressed steel cover from the last 80 years), use the spreader plates from a Pinto cam-cover and forget about it.
Coolant loss on a Cologne is down to the thermostat or water pump, both of which suffer from very long, M6 bolts which are incredibly easy to snap off. It's really rare to find a replacement waterpump that doesn't have at least one broken bolt.
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Got most of those TShirts ;D
Wasn't aware of alloy covers or rubber seals, even my early Mk2 XR4x4 had cork gaskets ::) that was a definite improvement that the 2.9 brought with it... self adjusting valve gear ;D