Hmm.. Might be a good time to update this thread as the car has gone through quite a bit in the past 2 months or so. I got the rack and pinion steering finished and working in July in time for the bigassroadtrip people coming to Finland. The new sump I had made for the car caused some issues with oil pressure and leaking, and the vibrations were ever present, so I didn't get to drive it all that much. Took it to a sports car breakfast club event, where I found the first mk 2 Cortina I've seen on the roads since I bought mine:
This one was all original and registered as a historical vehicle, so it was quite nice to play spot the difference
Also, other gearians:
2 days after which, this happened:
An oil pressure switch adapter broke due to the vibrations and resulted in an impromptu rust-proofing for the passenger side inner fender. I was pretty sure before the conrod bearings on the engine wouldn't be in tip-top shape, but after this a checkup was in order. And sure enough:
The crankshaft was still completely fine, so I fitted all new bearings to the engine, made a new sump, and it was good to go again:
When I first got the rack-and pinion sorted I was running without an anti-roll bar. The car handled well, but I still felt that it would be a welcome addition, especially if I decide to start running grippier tires. I had to make special brackets to mount a modified stock Cortina ARB on the car, as I no-longer had the option of using original fixing points in the track control arms, which resulted in this:
I used 16mm rose-joints on the parts as I had a couple spare ones and thus would only need to buy 2 more. They are completely overkill for the application, and add quite a bit of unsprung weight, so I might go back and redo the mounts for smaller joints..
Added some chassis strengthening for good measure while the engine was out. These gussets were added where the front chassis rails meet the bulkhead. You can see the compression strut mount is right underneath, so this is a high-stress area in the chassis. It might have been able to cope in standard form, but I did this for peace of mind.
And to finish off the suspension mods, this was in order as the front track width is now significantly wider than standard:
Interior is also finally getting done "properly", bought an unnecessary accessory:
..And finally getting the GT-dash top finished in lovely, genuine leather
With all the mods done, I could bolt all the engine bits back together:
.. And she runs again!
Drives better than it ever has before. Very oversteery and you can have a lot of fun even at slow speeds. Still feels like a hooligan car
Vibrations are also greatly lessened as I fitted a different prop shaft