Needing some advice re 2door

[Khayman]

Hi everyone,

very nice site here. i have owned a 2 door mk1 since i was 17. it was first registered in early 64, so its either a late 63 or early 64 i guess. it has the grill that has the horizontal bars - not the mesh type. anyway i am now looking at doing a little work to it (after 15yrs) and am really unsure as to what to do. i don't want a beast or anything and would just like a good daily driver that runs well. what sort of base costs would i be looking at for a jap conversion (4agte, ca18, or the like)? would i be better off going for a 1600 cross-flow? i will get some pics soon and post them, the car is very straight and has no rust at all - its been garaged its whole life. I managed to get it from a cousin who got it from the origianl owner (i still have the original purchase papers).
sorry for beintg a bit random and jumping round a bit. I would be very appreciative of any info.

Thanks in advance.

[jewels]

hi khayman and welcome :)

lucky you to have such a good 2 original 2 door
the easiest way to tell the model is does it have a bar type speedo or 2 circles?

going to a 1600 crossflow is not a big leap in performance really

changing to a later model 5 speed gearbox is one of the best things you can do as it makes a so much better car to drive


it depends on how much you want to spend
if you want ,
post some pics of your car
love to see them :)

[Khayman]

The gauges are the 2 circles. i have always loved the look of it and can;t bear to get rid of it. i havent driven it for a few years and i would rather spend a little bit of money on getting it up and running than buying a second hand car. i guess i would like to get it on the road for about $5k, but i could always talk to the lady and possibly get a bit more towards it. i don't really want it to be a show car but would like it to be a decent car eventually. the interior and paint can wait for a while so the first priority is the drivetrain and suspension and brakes.

[zombie289]

Is the grill made of steel and painted the body color?? Sounds like u might have a 220....

[jewels]

as zombie said is the grill like this below...

also on this page on my website you can find handy info on how to work out which model you have

HERE (http://www.cortina-mk1.com/models.php)

when you get a chance you can post your corty piccys in the 'my cortina' section :)

[Khayman]

yeah the grill is made of steel and is the same colour as the body - which is a really dull green colour. it has the 1200 engine which has one of the smallest holleys ever made on it. looking at the pics of the dash it sounds like the air flow model, and the cortina on the boot is on the right hand side as well as across the bonnet - so maybe i got the dates wrong and it was first registered in early 65