Benno

Got a few questions to ask the wise ford gods....
regarding a 78 TE Cortina cast iron 4.1L auto

Firstly I pulled the dash from the old girl the other day. When I disconnected the speedo cable I found that the clip was broken, me being curious me I pulled the whole cable from it's sleeve but when I pushed it back in it no longer worked. Is there any bodge up job to make it work again or do I just have to go spend $75 and get a whole new cable whacked together??

Also, I've never personally played with a carby until I got this car, and until I got the workshop manual for it I thought the fuel/air mixture screw was the idle control screw. Kinda works the same :S (with some side effects I soon discovered) Can anyone give a clue on what too start with when tuning a carby?? I've tried all different combinations but it either doesn't start good after sitting and when it does it runs-on when I turn it off. Not sure whether the mix screw in or out is rich/lean :S

Lastly, brakes.... it has drums on the back, how well is the disc/drum combo meant to brake?? Should it stop virtually instantly from about 60 km/h?? Because if I had to stop for a youngen chasing his ball across the road.... it wouldn't happen. A week or so ago I completely bled the whole system, but absolutely no improvement.

Just one more question... When bleeding the rear drums the workshop manual says to only bleed the right rear because they are connected, when doing these together how long should it take to completely flush once air has entered?? A couple of times during while bleeding I forgot about the fluid and air ran into it, but it took ages to get the air out with a one man bleeding aid. Not sure if air was leaking past the nipple or what was gong on.

Much appreciated guys, without this forum I wouldn't be able to get advice (no thanks to the snobby mechanic down the road)

Regards, Benno

TaraHymen

$20.00 will get u a second hand one

screw the mixture screw in until it stops but not tight. screw it out 2 1/2 turns and that'll be good enough to start it. to set the base idle speed, disconnect the big solenoid looking thing which is attached to the throttle linkage. with an accurate tacho, adjust the idle speed screw(on rear of carb) till u have about 500rpm. plug the solenoid back in and using a small spanner screw the solenoid centre shaft in or out to set your idle speed. now in theory when u turn the key off it'll drop back to 500 rpm before it shuts down stopping it from running on.


welcome to the wonderful world of cortinas, do a search thru the forums, u'll find heaps of threads regarding brake upgrades.

it takes ages

__________________
TD Cortina ED XR6 Engine, T5, 9inch, Boyd billets, 4 wheel disc etc
AU XR6 - All the usual goodies not worth bragging about

See them both here <=-- Page Updated 15 October 2006

Benno

Thank you tara for your reply, helps me muchly especially with the carb explanation.

So basically you are saying that is about all I am going to get out of the drums??

Once again thanks,
Benno

TaraHymen

pretty much

__________________
TD Cortina ED XR6 Engine, T5, 9inch, Boyd billets, 4 wheel disc etc
AU XR6 - All the usual goodies not worth bragging about

See them both here <=-- Page Updated 15 October 2006

skid

hey
sloted rotors and better then say bendex standerds will help but on the old 13in rubber much increase in braking is serverly offset in the wet with locking brakes.
try adjusting your rear drums up to as tight as you can will help a bit.
oh btw drums arnt that bad and still more effective on 1st stop then a set of simerlar sized disc brakes its the stops after that kill them with heat.
skid

__________________
Fear leads to arrogance
Arrogance leads to over confidence
Over confidence leads to
your suffering
remember this young grasshopper

TaraHymen

cortina brakes are good enough to lock up in the wet. "locking up" as not a measure of efficient brakes.

sure, better rotors and better quality pads are gonna help but not to a degree where u'r gonna do it and be so pleased with the final result that no further brake attention be required.





whoever told u this has got thier hand on thier knob and u've contradicted yourself. adjusting up the drums "as tight as u can" is gonna create heat.
heat is a major enemy of brakes but u have to get the drums pretty damn hot before they become inneffective.

btw drums are that bad, no car since the 70's has drums on the front, and no mentionable(i use the term loosely) car has had drums on the back since the late 80's. i find it hard to believe u find discs and drums comparable.

there's a reason why there's a market for off-the-shelf cortina brake upgrades. they were sh1t when the cars were new and still are. it's a fact of life.

__________________
TD Cortina ED XR6 Engine, T5, 9inch, Boyd billets, 4 wheel disc etc
AU XR6 - All the usual goodies not worth bragging about

See them both here <=-- Page Updated 15 October 2006

skid

hey
when i mean adjust the drums up as much as you can is when i have ever checked cortina rear drums they have been way out of adjustment due to not being adjusted for 20 years which makes the back brakes activate slower and leaves a lot of braking force off the rears making the front work harder again at pulling up a car which is a weak spot all ready no point in making it do more work is there.
not adjusting them up so they are actully rubbing on the drum as thats just shear stupid.

rtfs if you read the statement i dont say that drums are better then disc's infact i show the drums weak point i also how ever show the disc weak point as well i am simply stateing that drums are not as bad as everyone makes them out to be hell ive riden in identcle cars one with disc rears and one with drums and the drums use to pull up better till about the 3rd stop.
and that is drum brakes are more effective in a 1 stop only application then disc brakes due to there wedging effect of there action being able to apply more force to a given area.
the reason drums are no longer used on larger heavyer faster cars is they can not disapate heat quick enough reducing there effiecency. which ironicly is the disc brake strong point as it can disapate heat much more quickly and effiencently then drum brakes but they can not apply the same force as drums for the simply fact they are rubbing not wedging.
for lamens terms spin a wheel on a car grab on the side to stop it how long does it take.(disc brake)
now spin the wheel again same speed and grab on tread pushing your hand into it with the same force the wheel will stop quicker. (drum brake)
and yes you do have to get them pretty damn hot same as discs but the discs will cool shit load quicker then drums ask kevin bartlet that.

ok ill explain this then though you should know considering the dicks you have to deal with every day.
locking in the wet will happen with less effort then before due to increased stoping force. this becomes a problem with your average driver as when the wheels lock up and they dont slow down as quick as they like there natural rection is to press harder on the pedal which may even lock the rears (the reason why abs was invented) makeing an all ready out of control car even less incontrol.
so this becomes of concern to him as he may want to take an advance driver day etc so he can learn to modulate the pedal in the wet so as not to lock and go against his norm reaction with the better brake's.
and yes cortina brakes are crap but no less crap then cars of that era and if there are no major engine upgrade's or sprited driving on mountain roads then he wont need to add larger disc's calipers master cylinder's disc ass ends so long as he makes sure the system is kept in good condition.
btw yes i do prefer disc brakes over drums and am converting my car with larger front an disc rear due to more power coming along and i like to drive mountain roads with brakes not with out like i currently did.
skid

__________________
Fear leads to arrogance
Arrogance leads to over confidence
Over confidence leads to
your suffering
remember this young grasshopper