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FUTURE MODIFICATIONS
As many a kit car owner knows, a self build car is never finished...
Things I would like to do when time and cash flow permits :-
The Engine :
Well a 1.6 pinto doesn't cut the grade in this car. Recently (2003) the cortina 1600 unit was replaced with a Sierra's 1600EMAX PINTO. This was due to the desire of being able to use unleaded fuel and the luxury of a 5 speed gearbox. Restricted budget and not being able to source a decent unleaded unit prevented the fitting of a 2.0 pinto at that time. The fitting of the 5-speed resulted in modification of the chassis cross-member and a new custom made propshaft being fitted. Those two modification has paved the way to allow the ease of fitting of a 2.0L and 5 speed without further time consuming and costly modifications.
But current engine is in good working order and I'm not about to ditch it for the need of speed and power. So when the day the engine dies of abuse or natural causes, that will be the day to look for a more suitable lump.
Ignition :
Upgrade from standard Cortina Contact Breaker Points system to electronic.
No longer on my list of things to-do. I carried out this modification on the Cortina engine a long time before fitting the Sierra engine. The components where gained from an early Ford Sierra. To my surprise it works fine, a great improvement, highly recommended. The modification only took a few hours to complete. Visit a scrap yard and find a Ford Sierra fitted with a 1.6 pinto. If all looks in good condition, take the distributor, coil, ignition module and associated wiring loom, these cost me £15 in total and scrappy did the removal work, I didn't need to get my hands dirty ! With the aid of a Haynes; Cortina and Sierra Manual remove the old and fit the new, make wiring modifications where necessary. The sierra was fitted with a different solenoid, but I retained the Cortina's. The most important wiring modification is to bypass the Cortina's ballast resistor. Without bypassing the ballast, after the engine has started only 7 volts instead of 12 volts would be fed to the coil (I actual measured that 9 to 10 volts was supplied with ballast retained and probably the reason why the ignition still worked, but I guess your asking for trouble...so bypass it to allow the correct voltage supply !) You can take a look at my circuit diagram for this ignition modification by clicking HERE. Please don't rely on my circuit and wire colours may differ, you should carefully dissect the circuit diagrams of the Sierra and Cortina provided by the Haynes manuals to make sure you know what's what. Also you may find that the cable gland attached to the new distributor may foul the timing belt case for your relevant timing setting. I didn't need to but you can cut a clearance hole in the belt cover to allow for this gland, you'll find there is plenty of distance from the actual belt at this location. The module (the brain the scrap man called it) is attached to a heat sink. It maybe beneficial to attach this heat-sink to a flat metal surface to aid heat transfer and possibly use of heat transfer paste. I bolted it to the engine mount bracket, it's not an ideal flat surface and I didn't use heat transfer paste...... no excessive heat has been monitored. I am, in all, pleased with this modification.
Interior Roof lining:
Red carpet that has blue and yellow stripes, kinda looks like playroom carpet. Plain red carpet would have caused no concern but the current 'design' just sucks big time. It very neatly fitted though.
Wheels:
The spare wheel needs a decent cover. I have seen chrome case type covers used on cars in kits car show, I like them... I want one.
Fuel Tank:
The current tank is originally from a Ford Escort van, and it has a rather small capacity for a touring style car. So a custom made bigger capacity fuel tank is on the wish list.
Glove Box:
The glove box needs a design re-think. The current box is prone to hurling its entire itinary onto the floor.
The following are some modifications that where on the wish list and now have been completed:
New stainless steel rad grill.
Replace horrible modern square aux lamps with classic design (fog front and rear, reverse, extra side lamps)
.
Fit a decent electric cooling fan.
Calibrated Electronic Speedo.
Replace Ford VV carb with Weber.
Fit electric fuel pump.
Re-plumb and fit decent cooling system expansion tank.
Replace car radio.
Fit larger and modern fuse block.
