1965 Lotus Cortina Total restoration |
The power of the Internet...
I was recently contacted by a gentleman called Mike Morgan, who had owned and enjoyed our Lotus Cortina in the 1970's. Curious as to what had become of his old car, Mike put the power of the Internet to work and found his former ride looking back at him from these pages.Mike told me how he had put the original 'remote shift' transmission for the Lotus in the basement of his former home in San Diego, California, leaving it behind when he sold the house and retired to Mexico a few years back. Armed with the name (Dan Vincent) and email address of the person who bought Mike's house, I fired off a hopeful inquiry and was delighted to hear back from Mr. Vincent the same day. He said that he didn't think there was a transmission in his basement, but that he would investigate further when he returned home from a trip a few days later.
Shortly thereafter, Dan got back in touch and reported that he had indeed found the transmission languishing in his basement, along with a Lotus Cortina grill. Furthermore, he kindly agreed to pack everything up and ship it to me!
So, thanks to the power of the Internet, and the enthusiasm and kindness of two complete strangers, my car now boasts its original, matching number gearbox.
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We have now received the car back after being media blasted, and thankfully there were no nasty surprises. The blasting process revealed a couple of fairly crude patches in both doors and both rear wings, but other than that, everything was pretty much as expected. In the next week or so we will get the body restoration underway.
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in good shape |
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are not in bad shape |
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primer |
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extensive repairs |
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With the body off being blasted back to bare metal, we have been busy trying to make one good bonnet and one good boot lid out of two pretty nasty examples of each.
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but has a nice patina |
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of bonnet is nasty |
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will be transplanted |
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from parts car |
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similar surgery |
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from underside of roof |
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We have now removed the engine and drive train and hoisted the car on a rotisserie jig. We will be sand blasting the monocoque next week...
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be restored |
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All that remains is to remove the engine, transmission and suspension before the car can be placed on a rotisserie jig...
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I am pleased to report that we now have this restoration underway. Our first task is to completely disassemble everything and build a rotisserie jig that will accommodate the monocoque while we deal with the tin worm.
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car comes apart |
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large jagged one isn't |
replaced |
a creamy hue |
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strap under rear floor |
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The Lotus has arrived safely at CJ in Austin, Texas and we will have the restoration underway very shortly.
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replaced with Lotus wood rim |
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beneath yellow stripes |
good shape |
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inside the engine block ! |
100% rust free |
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retained |
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right hand shock tower |
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will be restored |
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has wrinkled with age |
and wooden shift knob |
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powder coated |
in England |
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license plate |
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Lotus Cortina |
and carpets |
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threshold plates |
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