1982 Ford Cortina Crusader from UK and Ireland - Comments

Not much it needs a new exhaust centre pipe luckily I am a welder by trade. I managed to Angle Grinder out a holed section and weld in some similar Pipework,should get me down the road for cheap a while longer.

Had to replace the back passenger door after my brother bashed it in with his Montego.It is now Silver with one Red door.

The Exhaust was sagging so I made up some brackets out of some old Angle Iron I have lying around and simply welded it all in to the frame.

Replaced the front right driveshaft

Found a small Oil leak co just applyed some sealant around the area of the Oil Sump and the Top Engine Cover/Box.

Carburettor needs a regular blast of carby Cleaner.

We replaced the Battery as a matter of course.

Rust everywhere!

I paid next to nothing for this vehicle and am quite pleased so far.

A rare sight on our roads these days, current owners have taken to flashing their lights at each other.

Not very economical the best I have managed is 14MPG so far.I think the Spark Plugs need wire brushing.

I am a member of the Owners club mainly for spares availability as well as some usefull technical tips.

Has stranded us twice. Although it was not easy the second time we broke down because we were towing our caravan and I had to replace the driveshaft on the roadside.

It is a bugger to start in damp weather.

Does anyone know why it misfires and is hard to start when raining?

Come to Australia where there are a few still around. They still rust, but not as quickly as out roads don't get salted.

We had the engine options of 1.6L 4 cylinder right up to 4.1L 6 cylinder versions (straight out of the locally made Ford Falcon).

Interesting view and I thankyou for your comment on my Review. What is an outroad? Is that like the Outback? I realise that you are writing from Australia.

I should just remove the Plug Wires and WD40 Them out. That should cure your misfire. Any frayed/worn sections of Plug Wire can simply be repaired with Standard Electrical Tape. I enjoyed your Review, you seem to enjoy Cheap Motoring as much as I do.I am running a 1982 Cortina Carousel.I am not just Tight I am Water Tight!

Take your distributor cap off mate and sandpaper your rotor arm until shiny. Then wd40 off the inside of your distributor cap then blow it off with an air line. It will run sweet as a nut after this treatment gov.

I will give you 40 notes for it mate.

Sandpapering or otherwise mechanically abrading contacts on rotor arms or distributor caps is not a long term solution as they are generally coated to reduce arcing and increase service life. Scrubbing off this coating will result in the contacts wearing back quickly.

A new rotor arm and distributor cap is a much better solution.

I wrote the first comment, gee that was nearly 3 years ago and I was just going through the Cortina reviews again and remembered writing that one. Out roads was a typo, I meant Our roads don't get salted. We still have some Cortina's rattling around, mainly the 6 cylinder ones.