Pinto J

Ashley have their faults, but i wouldnt dismiss them out of hand. Just remember that the most important tools for fitting them are a hammer and a crowbar, as their spacings can be a little....creative. On the plus side, they are very reasonable - and the ones ive used (sierra, Fiesta MkI and Cortina MkV) have all served me well. Spencer Ashley (MPC) is also an extremely affable chap and willing to help. Theres also a I4 manifold developed already, sorted out by the FSOC..and although its for a sierra, im sure it can be adapted quite easily

just think of the free parking.....

Shouldnt be an issue with glass lenses, as the HID kits work by fluorescing gas rather than a heated element so should run a lot colder than a standard halogen lamp (think of a striplight as opposed to a light bulb). HID's do produce hideous amounts of UV radiation in comparison, so plastic lenses get attacked badly - you can see this effect in most Mk1 mondeos still on the road - they all have yellowish-green headlight lenses ! The 4.99 ebay jobs wont be HID tho, just "Xenon" halogen bulbs, supposedly about 30% brighter than a standard bulb. Theres no harm in fitting them, as the light output from most retro fords would make a candle piss itself laughing ! Every little helps, as they say Gotta admit i'd love to see a classic with modern HID lights - probably well woth the ~ £90 odd the kits cost on ebay

What he said - you will need expensive wilwood low profile callipers (cost ~£400 a set) Biggest standard ford setup under 13's would be the 240mm brakes from the Escort/Orion range as the 260 sierra disk/ brake callipers need 14" wheels. Rally design also do a 247mm vented disk suitable for use with the AP Princess 4 pots (nice, old skool conversion ) - i have a pair i might persuaded to sell, but they will need the conversion kit too (also available from RD)

Im just known as Pinto everywhere else i go, but someone already nicked my name so I couldnt have it here Comes from my first car - MkV tina - and the fact i always had the engine apart - and the name stuck

Megasquirt II seems to be the way to go these days as its so programmable and has an aweful lot of support on the WWW ...and its cheap As to the TBs, thought about modifying some motorbike ones to do the same job ? Jenveys/weber alpha/etc are weeeeeey to expensive IMO for whats basically a butterfly in an alloy tube - and you can pick up a set of 4 bike TBs for the price of a single jenvey and still have change! When selecting TBS too, dont go overboard on sizes - 38mm bodies should be about right for the application - going too big kills the airflow speed and makes for poor atomisation and subsequently, power. Check out Ebay for TB prices.

obviously you havent been in our car lol Best thing you can ever buy for a Mk3/4/5 tina - polyurethane bushes throughout - completely alters the beast As to the classic question, i think they do warrent the title - for me a classic is a car of an age that you can look back on it with rose tinted glasses and remember youthful experiences and fond memories of watching and riding in them, and for me and many the cortina is right up there. its a quantity that shifts with passing days (and lets face it, there are probably very few of us who remember being popped of to school in the back of mums 100E Pop ) and so we need to keep an open mind.... lets just hope we're all old bones before the spectre of " Mk4 Focus - classic ? " appears on the board

You missed the crowbar and blowtorch Never had one fit "straight" yet.... in fact i had to send the manifold for my Mk5 tina estate back to spence 4 times before it was right mind you, my subframe bushes were found to be a little shot afterwards ...new polys lifted the engine nearly an inch !