Mk2 Cortina?

[sjabrown]

I might be completely mad, but I'm in the middle of dragging this 1968 Mk2 Cortina out of its resting place for the past 25 years. 1300, was running when it was parked up. Interior looks in good condition. Bodywork frilly in many places, chassis maybe not too bad. A brave restoration??
IMG_4706 by S Brown

[Andy 308GTB]

Looking at that bonnet I'd guess the visible rust is the tip of the iceberg.

[Mercky]

I wouldn't worry about the bonnet, there were many cortinas running round not much worse than that 35 years ago.

[sjabrown]

The bonnet is certainly the most rotten panel on it. I'll hopefully finish dragging it out tomorrow, and get it trailered home. I've been told the first owner painted the underside every year in pipeline paint that was supposed to be used on the local hydro scheme pipes: that will either have helped save it, or there'll be half an inch of paint covering the rot!!

[mac96]

I really hope you can save that. There is so much nostalgia wrapped up in cars like this, and so few left.

And it's certainly true that there were some terrible rusty ones on the road 35 years ago- one of those was mine!
More pics when it comes out?

Good luck with it.

[Mr Tidy]

Wow! You may be just short of mad OP, but you are definitely brave! (Mind you the way old Ford prices are going you may prove to be inspired).

My first car in 1976 was a 1967 Cortina MKII 1500. It was a real base model with rubber mats on the floor, but had a 1600E dash and remote gearchange!

I put plenty of metal and filler into the bodywork, then improved it by fitting GT badges I bought in scrapyard and 6.5 inch wide banded steel rims on the rear! (My excuse is I was young and therefore foolish)!

Still remember that car with a mixture of fondness and horror, but I'll never forget it!

Good luck with your project.

[Brum_Brum]

Post up some more pics on what you find,. fingers crossed it's not that bad,..

[mgv8]

Brum_Brum said:

Post up some more pics on what you find,. fingers crossed it's not that bad,..

Just what I came to post, love to see how things are going.

[Huntsman]

I suspect that'll be far too far gone, you'd be chasing rot right round the car.

Best thing wold be to carefully harvest the useable spares to help other cars.

[sjabrown]

An update. It does look too far gone. Certainly too far gone for a sensible restoration!
The background: it's a 2 owner 85,000 mile 1300 Deluxe. The garage that it was residing in needed taken down, so the owner needed the Cortina gone. Most of it is now here, some of the exhaust departed on the 12 mile journey home!!

[fttm]

Had a few of these back along , one 1967 1500 was rotten right through at 11 years old .
OP ,hard to tell from the pic but it'll be rear inners ,boot,all the usual places of course .Best of luck .

[Humper]

Maybe just me, but I don't think it looks too bad?

[iSore]

Put it on Ebay as it is, and watch the bids come flooding in. That'll make a couple of grand. Nice old bus and better than the Mark III.

[Mercky]

That car is in superb condition for its age! The front wings which are a known rot spot look almost perfect, probably worth £400 apiece to someone, if that car is as original as it looks its certainly worth restoring IMHO

[rallycross]

Humper said:

Maybe just me, but I don't think it looks too bad?

looks good from those photos whats the floor and chassis legs like

[mac96]

Certainly looks better than the one I had 35 years ago.... Inside OK?

[347Andy]

My first car was a 1968 Mk2 Cortina 1300 (pre crossflow) in a turquoise blue colour !

[SiredR]

There's a big following for these cars , now getting quite rare as they rusted so well It's the bulkhead and A post area that will define if it's a keeper but then there's all the chasis rails , inner sills , outer sills etc. It's actually easier to restore an E type Jag in terms of availibility/cost of panels.If it does become a breaker there's big demand for good trim and fittings and of course if it's in good nick the glass won't have rusted ! Nice colour by the way

Edited by SiredR on Friday 9th December 21:13

[wack]

A Mk 2 cortina was for sale at the NEC show last month for 60k

Some guy started telling me about it , I said it was nice but I wouldn't want to pay 60k for it , they must be on drugs, then I realised it was his car, oops

Classic ford values mean almost anything is worth restoring if you have the time and skills and somewhere dry and warm to do it , if not put it on eBay for 99p no reserve and wait for your jaw to hit the floor in the last 30 seconds

[SiredR]

To give you a rough idea on panels - these are the best ones

http://www.steelpanels.co.uk/category/ford/cortina...