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1974 1300 MKIII - Ford Cortina - Paul_1

Hi all,

Looking for a bit of advice from them in the know. I have been a long time admirer of the the classic Cortina XL.

Im on the verge of making my first classic car purchase. It is a 1974, 4-door, sedan. Does anyone know if this was a decent model in the Cortina line.

I have been hearing that the gearbox is a handful and difficult to get fixed. But being a Ford, i'm thinking parts will be easy to come by.

Any help/ opinions would be appreciated.

Thanks, Paul.

1974 1300 MKIII - Ford Cortina - Galaxy

That will probably have a Ford Kent engine fitted, the same engine and gearbox as used in the Escort. It will be very underpowered in a Cortina, which is a much larger and heavier car. Don't forget, in addition to the 1300 engine, 1600 and 2000 engines were also fitted to these cars.

I'm not aware myself of any issues with the gearbox; most of the Ford rear wheel drive gearboxes were pretty good.

The biggest enemy of these cars is probably rust. The Mark 3 Cortina rusted very badly. I would say a very careful inspection of the bodywork from the underside would be required before purchase.

I think you'll probably be able to obtain mechanical parts relatively easily because they were used in quite a few different models. However, trim and body parts will be very scarce, though pattern panels may-well be available.

Suggest you have a read of:

classics.honestjohn.co.uk/reviews/ford/cortina-mk3/

Edited by Galaxy on 12/10/2016 at 01:09

1974 1300 MKIII - Ford Cortina - Bolt

I had 2 in the early 80s and got through 5 gearboxes in 3 years, in those days I did all the work myself but did get cheesed off with sorting engine gearbox problems out

I did have a 1.3 but because it was so low powered changed it for 1.6 cortina mk2 GT unit, you can on those fit any gearbox to as they were interchangeable the only difference was propshaft length which I usually got from breakers

gearboxes usually suffered synchro problems causing gear change crunches and in certain cases not being able to get in gear.

Body is another problem as they rust quickly and on the first one I had, both front wings were replaced. I spent more time fixing those Cortinas than I have any other car, and since then only had one other Ford, a sierra 2.0 but never again!

1974 1300 MKIII - Ford Cortina - Railroad.

I too would avoid the 1300 OHV, and opt for the 1600 or 2000 OHC instead. The 2000 Ghia would've been the top model followed by the GXL. As said earlier, corrosion was this car's worst enemy.

1974 1300 MKIII - Ford Cortina - Falkirk Bairn

I had 3 x MkIII's - rustbuckets, not just underneath but everywhere- surface rust, under wheel arches, sills, roof......

A Chap I know had a brand new 1300 OHV - under 1000 miles & the engine needed new pistons & valves - it went downhill month after month & @ 20K was traded. IIRC Warranty was 1 year 12,000 miles.

It would normally have been traded by the company @60K or 3 years.

1974 1300 MKIII - Ford Cortina - RT

The 1.3 engine in the mk3 Cortina was the poverty-spec repmobile special and will have been thrashed - the mk3 wasn't the best Cortina by quite a way.

1974 1300 MKIII - Ford Cortina - galileo

I had a 1.6 Mk 3, the weak point I (and a mate who had one) found was the big nylon nut retaining the gear lever in the gearbox - with age and wear the gear lever could come out in your hand.

One design feature which was good, the heater matrix was accessible from under the bonnet by removing 2 bolts, how many other cars is it a five minute job to replace?

1974 1300 MKIII - Ford Cortina - bathtub tom

One design feature which was good, the heater matrix was accessible from under the bonnet by removing 2 bolts, how many other cars is it a five minute job to replace?

When mine started leaking in the Summer, I just 'looped' the inlet and outlet pipes until the weather got colder, then got a radiator place to recore the matrix after I'd saved a few bob.

1974 1300 MKIII - Ford Cortina - Railroad.

One design feature which was good, the heater matrix was accessible from under the bonnet by removing 2 bolts, how many other cars is it a five minute job to replace?

The 1975 - 1981 Vauxhall Cavalier. Very easy job from under the bonnet.

1974 1300 MKIII - Ford Cortina - Bolt

The 1.3 engine in the mk3 Cortina was the poverty-spec repmobile special and will have been thrashed - the mk3 wasn't the best Cortina by quite a way.

I think if I was after a cortina now, it would have to be the MK2, Gt, or Lotus, of all the classic car shows I have been to this year (3) the mk3`s were very badly rebuilt with terrible interiors, with plenty of filler in the bodywork

MK2s looked clean for there ages, and more about

1974 1300 MKIII - Ford Cortina - jc2

I think if I was after a cortina now, it would have to be the MK2, Gt, or Lotus, of all the classic car shows I have been to this year (3) the mk3`s were very badly rebuilt with terrible interiors, with plenty of filler in the bodywork

MK2s looked clean for there ages, and more about

Best of all was the 1600E!

1974 1300 MKIII - Ford Cortina - madf

If you have to ask for advice, here is mine.

They rotted when new.

Sills, rear box sections and suspension turrets at front.

If buying one you need a proper inspection of the body...On a ramp. Repair costs can be £1000ssssss

I said "proper". By an expert.

1974 1300 MKIII - Ford Cortina - Bilboman

with age and wear the gear lever could come out in your hand

Funny you should mention that - it happened to me on a practice driving session with my dad, unfortunately when I was changing up to third gear (didn't quite make it!) I can still picture the scene 30 odd years later - engine revving its nuts off on the mostly uphill journey home, hazard lights working on their usual cycle of five or six flashes then nothing for 20 seconds and the tell-tale L plates front and rear...
I took and passed my driving test first time a couple of weeks later, following a chillingly realistic reenactment of Basil Fawlty giving his car a damn good thrashing in the driveway at home that very afternoon.

1974 1300 MKIII - Ford Cortina - Paul_1

Brilliant. Thanks Galaxy!

1974 1300 MKIII - Ford Cortina - Geoffrey Courtney

What was the best model of the Ford Cortina range, M1, 2 to 3, where rust and reliability is concerned. And is it better to go for the bigger engines. Also were the automatics any good?

Thanks.

Geoff.

1974 1300 MKIII - Ford Cortina - Big John

What was the best model of the Ford Cortina range, M1, 2 to 3, where rust and reliability is concerned. And is it better to go for the bigger engines. Also were the automatics any good?

Condition is all with a Cortina especially rust rust rust, however....

I am a fan of the MKII especially with the early 1500(port side) or 1600 engines(crossflow). Saying that the suspension (rear cart springs!) and steering(old fashioned steering box and idler arm) is old school and primitive. The auto brake adjusters inside the rear drums are not great but can be fettled and beware seized pistons on front brake callipers (they are twin pistons and don't slide) as if one gums up eventually it can break the brake disk (well it happened to me).The 1600E was the best but are overpriced these days. As for the Lotus...

As a useable car the versions with the 2.0 Pinto OHC were the best especially fitted with the fabulous progressive twin choke Weber carb. Manual or auto gearbox's are both reasonable and cheap to fix if they go wrong. This can be found in the late MKIII's (better than earlier ones), MKIV and the so called MKV. Early versions were known for cam and valve issues but this sort of issue has long since been sorted on surviving examples. Every second cam belt change it's worth dropping the sump and changing the oil pump drive shaft as these can fail with predictable results. When working on these engines cleanliness is important as cam oil jets can easily block. Rear axle suspension bushes are a known fail point.

There was a 2.3v6 MKIV which was great as an auto - usually Ghia and rare as hens teeth these days - it does rather like a drink though!

CAN I REPEAT though that condition is all especially re that RUST stuff - if you do manage to find a good one then rust proof to an inch of it's existence. If it has some rust areas, small bits turn into big bits and welcome to the Forth bridge. Saying that if it's lasted this long......

My previous ones vanished into a pile of dust (this is before I could weld though)

Edited by Big John on 08/04/2019 at 23:30