- 17 hours ago
Category
🎥
Short filmTranscript
00:00Hey, what are you doing? I'm having my picture drawn. I've always wanted to do this. Wherever
00:08we go away, we've never had anything like a little memento. So this lovely lady here,
00:13Izzy, has decided to do an artistic impression of my good self.
00:17You are ridiculous. You're so vain.
00:20What do you want me to be in it? Just take the weight off. Why not? Come on,
00:22look at this. Just smile. I think this is going to be really good. The culture here for classic
00:28cars is rich. They've imported classic cars here since the First World War. So this is,
00:34sorry Izzy, this is going to be great. It is going to be great. And on top of all of those
00:38lovely things you just mentioned, sun shining. I love the sun shining. Which means the classic
00:43cars don't rust to bits like they do back in the UK. Yes. So what's the chances we can find
00:48a British classic from like the 1960s, 70s that hasn't got a dot of rust on it? Well,
00:53the chances are higher here, that's for sure. Right, that's it. Okay, we're done. Right,
00:59let me take a deep breath. Yes. Come on, let's see it Izzy. Deep breath. Ta-da!
01:05What is that Izzy? What is that? How come he looks chiselled and handsome and sort of racy
01:12drivery? And I just look like a, what? That's not fair. I just draw what I see. That's all.
01:18What do you mean draw as you see? That's unbelievable. That's amazing. I hate paying for that. I can't
01:23believe that. Get over it, Mike. It's a paranoia. No, I'm not going to get over that. That's going to
01:27haunt me. Right. That's amazing. We've got a car to buy. Come on, you can pay for it.
01:33Mate, you didn't pack much, did you? No, mate, I don't need much. I just need my knowledge and
01:37that's all up here. We've packed our bags and our spanners for another globe-trotting car-fixing
01:44adventure. Vamos! Yay! Sorry. We're hunting down some of the world's most iconic cars. Does it get much
01:57better than this? Oh, I can't believe we're standing here in front of an SP2. Leaning on local wheeler
02:05dealers? Because he really wants it. Would you take the 30,000 euro? No, impossible. That's not
02:11going to do it. To rescue these national treasures on a wheel and a prayer. Please let me find a set of
02:17wheels. That's all I'm asking for. And make a few euros, pesos. I think we have a deal. Yes! And Real as we go.
02:24I absolutely love it!
02:36Mate, I'm so excited about being here. I've always wanted to come to Malta and pick a car. It's got
02:42rich pickings here because this place is full of like 30,000 classic cars all stuck on this island here.
02:48And look, MGB on the side of the road. And, you know, there's only about half a million people here.
02:54It's brilliant, isn't it? Everything from Jaguars, British Leyland products, Fords, and of course,
02:59cars like this Land Rover. Yeah, exactly right, yeah. We're here for something that I know that you've
03:04been looking for for a very, very long time. I just can't believe we've never done this car before.
03:11Yes, for over 20 years, the legendary Ford Cortina has managed to elude us. Designed and built in Dagenham,
03:17for years the Cortina was a staple of British life. A bestseller throughout the 70s, it was as popular
03:24with families as with travelling sales reps. It was the same story here in Malta, where British cars
03:31used to be assembled in a dedicated factory. And while most British Cortinas had come to rust,
03:38Maltese cars were preserved by the dry climate. Making this the perfect place to try and finally track
03:44one down. Right, we're going to see a Mark II Cortina, but like most Cortinas of a certain
03:52generation, it may have been around the block a little bit. The problem I've found here in Malta,
03:57is lots of the cars are fully restored. A lot of the cars are absolute basket cases,
04:03and we'll never do it in the time we've got here. So I've gone and found something in the middle,
04:08so, you know, just take a deep breath when you stand in front of it.
04:14The car belongs to an Australian expat called Dennis, who lives on the outskirts of Malta's
04:19capital, Valletta. Well, this is the address, and that looks like the guy.
04:25G'day, Mike. G'day, mate. Are you Dennis?
04:27I've been waiting for you here. Yeah, nice to meet you, Dennis.
04:30Yeah, mate. This is Elvis. Elvis, how are you?
04:32I'm good, my friend. Good, bro. Fantastic.
04:36Right, here we go. This is why we've travelled a long way.
04:38Let's have a look. Yes, baby. That's what I'm talking about.
04:42Oh, yeah. Oh, well, I love the colour, Dennis. The colour's good.
04:45I like the colour. Yeah, the colour is good.
04:46So is there any chance we could pull it out, Dennis?
04:49Yeah. Yeah, no problem at all.
04:53And it's got a sticky starter motor.
04:55It's also an alarm bell. Yeah.
05:00Oh, and it sounds fruity. Did you see the smoke? Look at the smoke.
05:06Keep coming, Dennis. Keep coming, keep coming, keep coming, keep coming.
05:09That, don't you, mate? Oh, my goodness. What a noise it makes.
05:13Have you seen that? I can climb inside that. Look at it.
05:18I didn't do it. You didn't do it?
05:20That's how I bought the car. Any problems?
05:22The engine needs a good service. The exhaust pipe, it smokes a bit.
05:26Yeah. So if you wouldn't mind just leaving us to it.
05:29Yeah. And we'll come and find you at the end and tell you what we think.
05:31OK, mate. Nice one, Dennis.
05:33Right, OK. Somebody's packed this car into a car spare shop,
05:37and they've gone to town, haven't they?
05:39But what I'm seeing is a lot of the period correct details are still there.
05:43Like, you know, the chrome bumpers front and rear,
05:45all the chrome round, the light's really nice to see.
05:47Yeah.
05:48The wheels, they're definitely deep dish aftermarket mini lights.
05:53It's been boy racered. That's my issue, right?
05:56Look at the parcel shelf.
05:57Someone's put massive speakers all the way along there.
05:59But that's what you did in the 1970s, 1980s.
06:03We can repair that.
06:04Yeah, we're not going to sell it like that, are we?
06:06You know, smoking as well, that could be something as simple as valve stem oil seals.
06:10That's quite common.
06:11Or broken pistons.
06:11Or broken pistons.
06:13It could be rings. It could be anything, couldn't it?
06:14So, there's a number of red flags and alarm bells that make me sort of think
06:19I need to be a bit hesitant.
06:20Without taking the engine apart,
06:22it's impossible to know if the smoke is a minor issue or a major headache.
06:26Let me have a look in the bonnet.
06:28Er...
06:29Oh, look, there's bits missing.
06:31It's missing an air filter. It's missing a cam belt cover.
06:34Yeah.
06:34The engine's been swapped for a later Pinto unit,
06:38and it seems whoever did it forgot to finish the job.
06:41It's missing the vacuum pipe.
06:43Oh, yeah.
06:44It's snapped off or something.
06:45Oh, yeah.
06:46So, there's stuff missing.
06:47Look, that's broken as well.
06:50That's the accelerator cable, innit?
06:52How does the throttle work, then?
06:53Well, it's half in, but it's not fully in.
06:56But, look, what that highlights is a total lack of maintenance, doesn't it?
06:59Yeah.
07:00It's been modified in all sorts of ways.
07:02It's not been well looked after.
07:04Well, I can tell you the good news.
07:05It's got the original bright work at the front.
07:07Bumper looks in good shape.
07:08Looks like it's never been straightened.
07:10Yeah.
07:11So, that's all good news.
07:13And let's not forget this Cortina's trump card.
07:16The beauty and the benefit of buying a car here in Malta
07:20is that you do get a car that has very minimal rust of this period.
07:24The body works great.
07:26It's everything else I'm worried about.
07:28Oh, stop fretting and jump in.
07:30Bumper.
07:32Bumper.
07:34Bumper.
07:36Bumper.
07:38Bumper.
07:40Bumper.
07:41Bumper.
07:42Bumper.
07:43Bumper.
07:44Bumper.
07:45Bumper.
07:46There was me thinking my boy racer days were behind me.
07:52Oh, it's bliss.
07:53Oh, no brakes, no brakes, no brakes, no brakes.
07:55I mean, literally, no brakes.
07:56Oh, my God.
07:57The brakes are in a different county.
08:02Don't look out the back.
08:02Don't look out the back.
08:05Smoke.
08:06A little bit of smoke.
08:07It's only a little bit of smoke.
08:09Don't panic.
08:10What are you seeing in this car?
08:12It's a Cortina.
08:13Listen, I don't think I've ever gotten a Cortina
08:16from this period of time
08:18that hasn't been around the block a few times.
08:20But it's rust-free.
08:21It's solid.
08:23After 20 years of looking at rusty Cortina's
08:25black and blighty, this might be the one.
08:28All these things like the brakes, which don't work,
08:30the smoke coming out the engine,
08:32all of that stuff is bolted to the car, right?
08:36The actual car itself is a solid car.
08:39I just think we've just got to buy it.
08:41I agree with you.
08:43Rust is much bigger of a problem to fix
08:45than bits that we can take off and service.
08:47But there are so many bits that need
08:49attention and servicing,
08:51I don't even know if we've got the time
08:52or the budget to do it.
08:55Look at the suspension.
08:57I mean, these roads are awful.
08:58It gets worse.
09:00Oh, my goodness me.
09:02It doesn't have any suspension.
09:03No, I don't think it does.
09:04It looks like it's been lowered.
09:06And I think over the time,
09:07it may have worn out a little bit as well.
09:11Oh, it's dying.
09:13Oh my goodness me.
09:14Is it actually dead?
09:15Yeah, it's actually dead.
09:16Oh, for goodness sake.
09:18I think maybe.
09:19I'll tell you what's happened.
09:20Something's not the battery in the back.
09:23What are we doing?
09:25What are we doing?
09:26I have researched this island that loves their classic cars.
09:30A good one of these is 20 grand.
09:32The one that we're sitting in is 12,000 euros.
09:35No, absolutely not.
09:37It's 12,000 euros.
09:38We are not spending 12 grand of our money on this.
09:40So I'm just going to phone Dennis,
09:42and I'm going to tell him that I'm not bringing it back,
09:44and I'm going to send him the money.
09:45Mate, you have honestly, you've lost your mind.
09:47Come on.
09:48You've lost your mind.
09:48Come on.
09:49Where's the adventure?
09:50You've lost your mind.
09:51What's the point of buying cars that are already fixed?
09:55You know, it's why the world needs us.
09:57Yeah, but it's me who'll have to fix the engine.
10:03At least you were right about the loose electrical connection.
10:09Hey, Dennis.
10:12Yeah, sorry we're not back.
10:14Elvis?
10:14Yeah, he's over the moon.
10:16He loves it.
10:17Yeah, no, it's great.
10:18Is there any movement on the price?
10:21Right, okay.
10:22Yes.
10:23I'll tell you what I'm going to do, Dennis.
10:24Deal's done.
10:25Yeah, lovely.
10:26And I'm going to drive it away from here.
10:28Fantastic.
10:29Oh, we're over the moon.
10:30Cheers, Dennis.
10:30Bye, bye, bye.
10:31Yes.
10:32Carl's done.
10:33We got it.
10:33It's ours.
10:34And you've got it running.
10:35Woo-hoo.
10:36Come on.
10:37Ah, hello, my little baby.
10:40Guess who's your daddy now?
10:44You've done some crazy things in the past, but this tops it.
11:01Honestly, you are going to love where we're going.
11:03We're going to meet a fella called Martin.
11:06He's got a classic car workshop that's like unbelievable.
11:09He is like the Michelangelo of Malta.
11:12It needs to be like the Harry Potter of the classic car.
11:14Oh, I'll give him this.
11:15Obviously, he needs to walk.
11:18Martin and his team at Malta Classic Car Works are British car specialists and have offered to
11:23help us rescue our Cortina.
11:25I hope they're feeling brave.
11:26Hello.
11:28Martin, how are you?
11:30Hiya.
11:31Hiya, Mike.
11:31Good to see you.
11:32This is Elvis.
11:33Hi, Martin.
11:34Nice to see you, man.
11:34Is this your team behind?
11:36Yeah.
11:36Charlie.
11:36Charlie.
11:37Charlie.
11:38Enya.
11:38Enya.
11:39Very nice to meet you.
11:40Nice to meet you, Charlie.
11:40Hi, I'm Elvis.
11:41Hi, Enya.
11:42Nice to meet you all.
11:43Are you fans of Fords?
11:45I do like Fords.
11:46You like Fords.
11:47That's good.
11:47Martin, what's your thoughts?
11:49Fords are the bane of a mechanics life because people do so much to them,
11:53which means that then when they come into the mechanics workshop, we have to unscramble
11:58everything that's been done.
12:00It's funny you say that because this car is exactly that.
12:03There's going to be a ton of stuff I haven't even found yet that someone's done and a lot of it we
12:08do have to undo.
12:09If it's anything in my past experience, yeah, we'll have our work cut out.
12:15But as it's nearly 6pm, there's not much we can do right now.
12:18Right, well, let's get the car on the ramp.
12:20I tell you what, it rolls quite nicely.
12:24That's a positive.
12:26Mate, what have we done?
12:27What have we done?
12:28Bought a Cortina.
12:29I've always wanted a Cortina.
12:31I've never felt like we've made a mistake more than I feel that right now.
12:43Look at that.
12:44Isn't that lovely?
12:46What a cracking morning.
12:47I've actually got my talent here, you know.
12:49I'm excited about it, Dave.
12:50We're going to go and work on a Mark II Cortina.
12:54Ross-free.
12:56I'll give you that.
12:56That's it's one good strong point.
12:58There's many strong points, but that's one of them.
13:04Oh, mate, stop here.
13:05Stop here.
13:05Stop here.
13:05I need you to stop.
13:06I love these.
13:07I wanted to try them.
13:08Stop, mate.
13:09Just stop.
13:09Stop.
13:10These are pasticis.
13:11These are a local delicacy.
13:12I've always wanted to try them.
13:14Mate, we haven't got time for that.
13:15You've got the pasticis.
13:16Yeah.
13:17Yes.
13:17And what flavour has you got?
13:18So you've got the ricotta over here.
13:20A ricotta.
13:21Yeah.
13:21Can I get a few?
13:22Yeah, of course.
13:23Yeah.
13:23Lovely.
13:24Oh, they look amazing.
13:26They are amazing.
13:26So they're a local delicacy.
13:28Yes.
13:28Yes.
13:29Yes.
13:29For many years, more of us have been producing this.
13:31Hurry up.
13:32Super, I'm coming.
13:33I'm coming.
13:33One second.
13:34I'm going to give you more.
13:35Come on.
13:35Lovely.
13:37It's worth it.
13:38It's worth it.
13:38Mate, come on.
13:40Sorry.
13:40Right, I'm coming.
13:41Sorry, mate.
13:42I'm sorry.
13:43It's pasticis.
13:44Come on.
13:44Hurry up.
13:44I had to.
13:45One second.
13:46That was worth it.
13:46I'm telling you.
13:47We're coming.
13:48Sorry.
13:50They better be good.
13:55That's nice.
13:56Oh, my God.
13:57Pasticis.
13:57That is delicious.
13:58Straight to the workshop.
14:06We've only got four days here in Malta.
14:08So whilst I start climbing a Cortina-shaped mountain...
14:13I'm going on a parts hunt.
14:16I've got a nice, big, chunky shopping list sent to me by Elvis.
14:20He needs lots and lots of parts.
14:22And I need to get him back on side because I've got a special plan for our Cortina.
14:27At the moment, it's a bit too one-coloured.
14:30A bit boring.
14:31But I reckon separating it into two colours with a nice contrasting colour is going to be absolutely perfect.
14:38And a vinyl roof is a great way to do that.
14:41Plus, a vinyl roof is sort of period-correct on that generation of cars.
14:46The kind of thing my dad was doing back in the 70s.
14:48And I reckon that's exactly what our car needs.
14:51All right, go for it.
15:00You can take it over the top.
15:02Thank you very much.
15:04All right, now I can see what I'm working with.
15:07Of all of our Cortina's problems, it's the smoking exhaust that worries me most.
15:12Blue smoke means the engine's burning oil, and I need to find out why.
15:17I'm going to start stripping this down to get into the cylinder head.
15:20Right, Enya, do you mind taking the exhaust manifold off?
15:24And Martin, if you're happy to take the inlet manifold and carburettor off,
15:28I'm going to get into the rocker cover and down towards the cylinder head.
15:33And it might seem slightly weird to have so many people crammed into this tiny little space,
15:36but there is so much to do on this car.
15:38We literally need everybody working flat out all of the time if we've got any hope of getting it done.
15:50Right, if you guys want to have a quick clean-up for me in there and have a little look around.
15:53Will do.
15:55If oil's leaking past the pistons, the engine will need a costly rebuild.
15:58So whilst Martin and Enya look for signs of wear, I'm checking the cylinder head.
16:05Head gasket doesn't look too bad.
16:08No obvious signs of that blowing.
16:11Right, so that looks good.
16:14Now the head itself.
16:16No signs of obvious damage or distortion.
16:21The valves look in pretty decent condition, I'd say.
16:24There's a little bit of build-up of sort of carbon deposits on the exhaust valves,
16:28but kind of what you'd expect.
16:30Certainly nothing that would give me too much concern at this point.
16:34Seems the cylinders are in good shape too.
16:37No really obvious signs of wear.
16:38No.
16:40OK.
16:41Pistons are in good, Nick.
16:42Which leaves one other possible culprit.
16:45One of the reasons that we might be getting the blue smoke out the back of the car
16:49are these valve stem oil seals.
16:51Yeah, it's a little rubber seal that sits around the valve and prevents oil from running down the side of the valve getting into the combustion chamber.
17:02To see if these seals are the cause of our problem, we first need to remove the rockers that open and close the valves.
17:08Right, that is all eight of my rockers removed.
17:14The oil seal is buried inside that spring and to get to it, I need to remove the spring itself.
17:19And to do that, I've found a little gadget.
17:21This is an old converted drill press.
17:25But it's definitely had some use and it looks like it's going to do the job perfectly well.
17:30So I'm going to move this over onto a bit of cardboard.
17:32Oh, everything's heavy.
17:34Enya, do you mind, give us a hand?
17:38If you come round this side and use one of those, I don't know which one,
17:44but as I compress the spring here with this machine, you're going to see the top of the valve appear
17:48and the two little collets at the top.
17:51It might take a couple of goes to just pop it out.
17:57There we go, all right.
17:59So you see them, you should be able to pick...
18:01There we go, there you go, beautiful.
18:04You should be able to take that spring and spring cap.
18:08There you go, lovely.
18:09And there's the valve.
18:10Right, just seven more to go.
18:13Trainee mechanic Enya has been working here for almost a year.
18:18Are you slightly unusual amongst your friends in that you're into cars, but particularly classic cars?
18:24Well, Malta has a lot of classic cars and a lot of people still have a lot of love for them.
18:30Most people my age, if they're involved with cars,
18:34they're usually, they've grown up watching their fathers work on their cars.
18:38So you're learning all of those skills from your family, from your father,
18:42from your parents about keeping cars going.
18:44And when they do break, you're primed to fix them.
18:46Yeah.
18:47Love it.
18:49Right, I'm just prizing the oil seal off the valve stem and I can already see.
18:55Yeah, look at that.
18:56It's got a crack in it.
18:57That is absolutely destroyed.
19:01Now, obviously, the valve goes through the cylinder head, but this oil seal sits over the top of the valve stem.
19:07You can see how the oil seal is rocking around.
19:10It no longer hugs the stem like it should and that's the reason oil is finding its way past that seal
19:16and consequently into the combustion chamber coming out the back of the car as blue smoke.
19:20The good news is a complete set of new seals costs less than 20 euros.
19:28And I am fairly confident that that's going to fix our issue.
19:31Of course, we won't know for sure until we fire it up.
19:33The good thing about Malta is around the back streets you can find these garages selling new
19:46and used parts absolutely everywhere.
19:48I just hope the place I'm going to, apparently it's a guy called Fred,
19:52he's got everything I need on this list.
19:56Fredu has spent decades amassing a warehouse full of classic car parts.
20:03Look at this place. Everything, look.
20:07Hey, you must be Fred.
20:08Hey, how are you?
20:10Nice to see you.
20:11I was told that you've got loads of parts.
20:13I need some parts for a Ford Cortina.
20:16Yes, we have.
20:17You have parts for a Ford Cortina, good.
20:19Okay, it's a Mark II.
20:20Mark II, yes.
20:211970.
20:23Yes.
20:23I've got a list of parts that I need.
20:25Shall I go for them one at a time, yes?
20:27A cam belt cover?
20:28Yes, we have.
20:29Follow me, please.
20:32Now, you've got everything in here, haven't you?
20:34All the lovely badges, bonnets, hoods, grills, steering wheels.
20:38Cortina, that's a bit old.
20:43Second hand, it's been used.
20:45Is it for a Mark II, yes?
20:46Yes, Cortina, Mark II, yes.
20:47It's actually got two written on it.
20:49Look at that.
20:49Okay.
20:51Yes, I'll have that.
20:52That's fantastic.
20:53So far, so good.
20:56Oh, yes, you are kidding me.
20:59I thought this was that little wee shop up there.
21:02Oh, Fred, this is incredible.
21:05Next on the list, a new distributor.
21:08Look at this, you've just got banks and bank.
21:11You've got distributors that go on forever and ever and ever.
21:14You found one?
21:16Yes.
21:17That looks good, that one.
21:19Let's have a look.
21:20It's like a new.
21:21That's, I'll tell you what, that's not bad.
21:24I haven't stumped him yet.
21:25There's more stuff down here.
21:26Let me just leave that distributor there.
21:29But then again, he hasn't seen the full list.
21:32Ready?
21:32Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, yes.
21:34Oh, my God.
21:39The car needs a bit of work.
21:54Right, the suspension on this car is in desperate need of attention,
21:58like most other stuff.
21:59Before I can even get to these rusty old leaf springs,
22:02I need to remove the exhaust and I've just found out
22:05it's only hung on with a little bit of fencing wire.
22:20With the exhaust out of the way,
22:21I can set about unbolting the old leaf springs.
22:27I could feel it when we were in the car with Mike,
22:29but I can actually see it now.
22:31These leaf springs are heavily corroded, but they've also sagged,
22:34which is not uncommon.
22:35And that has the effect of lessening the springing effect
22:38or the supporting effect that it will give the car bouncing down the road.
22:42But luckily, I think there's a nice little upgrade we can give to our car.
22:46And to show you why we need it, I've rigged up a little demonstration.
22:52What I've got here is multiple pieces of MDF,
22:55representing the multiple layers or leaves of metal that make up our leaf spring.
23:00They are mounted, of course, on the car at either end.
23:02And as the car bounces up and down, you get this springing effect supporting the car.
23:06If you zoom in, what's actually happening is the independent leaves are sliding over the top of each
23:12other. Only by a small amount. When the springs are brand new and the metal is clean,
23:16you get this really nice smooth effect, where two pieces of metal slide over the top of each other
23:21in a really smooth fashion, and it gives you a nice smooth ride.
23:24But if you get corrosion building up between those leaves, you get a very different effect.
23:29And I can demonstrate that by using some of this Maltese honey between our MDF leaves,
23:37representing the spring on the back of the car.
23:41The stickiness of the honey mimics the friction effect caused by corrosion of the springs.
23:46It now becomes much, much harder to move these pieces of metal over the top of each other.
23:53And the effect inside the car is that we no longer have the smooth ride that these
23:57springs were designed to give.
24:00Fortunately, there's a modern solution to this problem, which we're going to use on our Cortina.
24:06This is our old multi-leaf spring that we're getting rid of, and this is our brand new
24:11single-leaf parabolic spring that's going in its place.
24:14Instead of multiple leaves, parabolic springs are made from a single piece of steel.
24:19The spring action comes from the clever way in which the metals formed.
24:22This one is thicker in the middle and thinner on the outer ends, which means we get a progressive
24:27spring rate. And importantly, we don't get those inherent issues with those leaves rubbing
24:32against each other that we had on this car. Right, it's going on.
24:37Each end of the spring is mounted to the chassis with a single bolt.
24:41Getting it into position is easier with two people.
24:44And yeah, can I give us a hand? That's in at the front there. What we can do is just hold this up
24:52while I get the other bracket in. There we go. Pop the nuts in there, you can relax a bit.
25:00The next stage is to attach the spring to the rear axle.
25:03What you can do is you can drop those two U-bolts. You know where they go, don't you?
25:08That's it. Let's pop that plate on the bottom. If you can sort of wiggle those around,
25:16we'll try and get them lined up. At around €800 for the pair, the springs aren't cheap,
25:23but they should transform the way the car drives. What are your thoughts now? We've done a bit of
25:28work on it. It's been a nice, good challenge. What about driving it? Could you see yourself
25:32driving something like this? Definitely. For sure. I need to come clean about my vinyl roof plans,
25:45so I've decided to soften Elvis up with a beer and bocce.
25:57So this is a very ancient and traditional game here on the island of Malta. It's quite complicated,
26:02you know. It's not that easy. It's like a game of chess and bowls. So I've got to stand in the
26:06circle. You ready? Launch it, son. Launch it. You ready? That is going to be...
26:11Look at that. That's a beautiful... 25 foot away. Just get it close to that, yeah?
26:15Go for the blueberry. There you go.
26:21Nice. What we need to talk about is aesthetics, because being that the car is sort of, you know,
26:26just all one colour, I'm thinking we do a dark red vinyl roof. I mean, vinyl roofs are all the
26:32I mean, period correct. My dad put vinyl roofs on cars from that era. We haven't got time for all
26:36that stuff. That's so far down our priority list. No, it's not. I reckon a vinyl roof will make our
26:42Cortina stand out from the crowd. How about this for a deal? If I win, we do the vinyl roof. If you win,
26:50we don't do the vinyl roof. We haven't got time. Don't worry, we'll make time. Go on then. Ready?
26:57Oh, you've got a good little belter. That is not bad, actually.
27:06Look how close that is. You jammy devil. That actually happened. That really just actually
27:19happened. I think that's called winning a bet fair and square. Oh, come on. You're going to make me
27:25beg, aren't you? I really wanted to do the vinyl roof. It looked lovely. I mean, the car's kind of
27:30basic, all one colour. I think a vinyl roof with the red stripe down the side, it would really
27:35transform the look of the car, and I think it would have helped sell it. I mean, sounds lovely,
27:40but this was your game, and I won. Oh, man. Of course, you can have your vinyl roof. Can I?
27:45Can I really? Yes, I win. You can have your vinyl roof. Oh, yes. Oh, thanks, bud.
28:01Right, we need to get some petrol in the car. There you go. Yeah, yeah, this looks nice,
28:05doesn't it? I can do it here. Here we go. Yeah, let me go, let me go, let me go. I've got to beat that
28:10person to the pub. I'll beat them to it. Simple as that. Yes, thank you. Sorry. Sorry. What'd you say?
28:20What's that mean? How do you know that? Mate, I'm getting my Maltese on, aren't I? Yes, lovely.
28:26Thank you. Yeah, please. So this roof, I can already see what's going to happen. It's not a
28:30quick process. They need the car. Thank you. Don't worry about that. Enjoy the scenery,
28:36enjoy the sunshine in Malta. You get a coffee. I am doing all those things. I'm enjoying all of that.
28:42I just need the car. I need the car. I need to have it in front of me, and if they're going to take it,
28:47how am I going to get all the jobs done? Oh, look at the streets. How nice is that?
28:53Eh? Come on. You don't get this in Bister.
29:00Well, one thing's for sure. The car isn't going anywhere until we've got the engine back together.
29:07Head gasket down. Yeah. Right. Okay.
29:11You ready? It's going to be heavy. Super careful, and it needs to go down nice and evenly.
29:21How long are you going to have to take this car away from me for? It's going to be at least a day,
29:25mate, so we're going to have to find some other stuff for you to do while the car is away. I mean,
29:29it's not like we're short of stuff to do, just most of it's on the car.
29:33Before the Cortina goes anywhere, we need to see if the new valve seals have cured our engine.
29:37Turn the key. We're going to fire it up. Hopefully, there's no more smoke out the back,
29:43and at that point, we're nearly then ready to let you have it.
29:48Oh.
29:52Any smoke? No smoke. Nice one. Right.
29:55No smoke. Happy? Yeah. Right. Good. It works.
30:00The engine's a relief, but there's no time to celebrate.
30:03Great. Right. The brakes are terrible, so they need to be addressed. The discs actually need a
30:11proper good clean-up, because they've clearly been sat for a long, long time. But because Mike needs
30:15to take the car away to get the vinyl roof fitted, I'm going to get the califers off the car and onto
30:19the bench so I can refurb them.
30:30Time to get the car loaded up. Nice. Come on. On we go.
30:35I need this back as quickly as possible, mate. Seriously.
30:37We'll come back, I promise you. Look at that.
30:40I won't be long. I promise. Hurry up. Hurry up.
30:44Hey! I think that's loaded. Honestly, Elvis, you worry too much.
30:49Well, with only two days left here, can you blame me?
30:53The only bits that we've got left here in the workshop, while Mike's got the car away
30:57fitting the roof, are these, the brake calipers. And they do need a full service and overhaul,
31:02so that's exactly what we're going to do here. Martin's got this brilliant little machine here
31:06that he's hooked up out of spare old car parts, which almost replicates the system of the car
31:10itself. This pump acts a little bit like the brake pedal. When we pump it, it pushes fluid from this
31:16cylinder along this pipe here and into the caliper itself, which then pushes the pistons out. Now,
31:20in service, of course, that's clamping brake pads onto the discs that are rotating and that's what
31:25slows the car down. In this instance, what we're trying to do is push the pistons out of the caliper
31:30so we can get a seal on the back end.
31:32Leaking piston seals can cause a loss of hydraulic pressure. Keep going.
31:37And in turn, braking power. OK. Now, hold it for a minute. I've clamped one in place,
31:44which means the other one is now going to start pushing all the way up. Indeed, and it's moving.
31:48You can see it over there, look. OK, hold it right there. OK, once we get the piston out,
31:54we can actually get to the seal on the back of it, put the new ones in, clean everything up,
31:58and get the whole lot back together. Hydraulic pressure has allowed us to get
32:03the pistons most of the way out, but to finish the job, we need to split the caliper.
32:08OK, so the two halves just starting to separate now.
32:13Looking at the state of these pistons, it's not just new seals we need.
32:17All right, so have we got new ones? Yes, we do.
32:19So we're going to put in brand new pistons and brand new seals, and that should give us a nice
32:24working caliper. When everything's cleaned up, we'll put it all back together and it should work
32:29a treat. First job is to get the new seal in, which is easier said than done.
32:34Now that's just popped out. Ah, almost. But eventually, that one in there is sitting beautifully,
32:42which means we're ready for a piston. There we go.
32:49Well, that is a fully refurbished caliper with brand new pistons, brand new seals,
32:54now going back together, and when the car finally turns up, we can bolt them back on again.
33:05Right, now, I know Elvis is panicking over me taking the car away, but it's already here.
33:10Look, it's at the shop. I've got this crack team of people here already lined up so we can do the roof.
33:17It's going to transform the look of the car. Here we'll get the car back. Big smile on his face.
33:22Job done. Right, let's go meet this team.
33:25The man in charge is Norbert Cutterjar. Norbert and his team of upholsterers work on everything from
33:31cars to high-end furniture and even boats. Heard a little rumour that you may have done
33:37a oligarch super yacht. Yes. Is that true? Yes, yes. Then I know that was probably one of the nicest
33:45things you've ever done until this moment when my Mark II Cortina 1600E rolled into your workshop.
33:53Not sure he quite agrees. Anyway, moving on. So what I was thinking, Norbert, is we would put
34:00a vinyl top on because, as you can see, it's all one colour. It's grey. Okay. Spending some time here on
34:06the island, the colours, they're bright, they're poppy, and I think a nice bright colour up here would
34:13really add to it. Fitting the vinyl roof would be about a thousand euros and should only take a day
34:18to complete. So what's the first job? Do we need to remove glass or trims or...? Exactly. So basically,
34:24we need to remove the nickel. We'll have the nickel, remove the glass, remove the rubber, take glasses
34:29out. Nice one. Okay. Well, I need to get the car back to Elvis quickly, so should we make a start by
34:34popping the red screen out? Yes, we'll do. Lovely. The vinyl will cover every inch of the roof, so we
34:41first need to strip everything off the top half of the car, starting with the rubber seals around the
34:46windows. Basically, detach the rubber from the glass. Then the glass itself.
34:56Let's do the other side, say, no, no, be careful. Okay, all right, that's it, done. And that is how
35:02you remove the rear screen. Next, we need to prepare the surface. Is it just a case of, you know,
35:10just keying it out like a nice, gentle... Exactly. But it's easy, very easy. Once you do like this,
35:15and across, so it's not just one way. One way, it's two ways. It's like a mesh. You have to do it
35:20like a mesh. This side and that side. That's it. Sand in the paint creates a rough surface for the
35:25vinyl to adhere to, meaning it won't peel off over time. I bet you've seen all kinds of cars come
35:32through this workshop, haven't you? Yes, definitely. All types, of course, I would say. From...
35:39Cortinas. You've seen Cortinas? Definitely. Well, my father had one,
35:43to be honest. Yeah, nice. From Cortinas to Jaguars to Aston Martin. Ah, lovely Aston Martins. Yeah.
35:50As you can see, put your hand like this and you start feeling it smooth. Yeah. That's where we know
35:55that it's done. Sand in done. Now, I just need to choose the colour for our vinyl roof.
36:01So, these are the swatches? These are exactly the samples. You can go through. Oh, that's nice. You know,
36:06like a wine red. A wine red on the top. That's nice, but that's the wrong material. That one. Oh, hello.
36:15Now, that. Boom. Right there. That is it. I want that in a vinyl. Look at that. That's brilliant, isn't it?
36:23Yeah. Hold your horses. One second. This is not in stock. Can we get it quick?
36:28I have to ask. I have to start by checking if it's available or not. I definitely want this colour,
36:35so I'm going for this colour. I will do my best about it. I have to leave the car with you.
36:40Unfortunately, yes. Elvis is going to kill me.
36:43Any time now. Stop worrying, all right? Any time. You have been saying that for about two days.
37:01He's very accurate, this guy. As I said, any time now. Oh, look at that. Come on, give it to me. Oh,
37:07I tell you what. I will give you that. The colour combination. That does look good.
37:14Waiting for the red vinyl might have held us up, but it's given our Cortina the X Factor.
37:19I love a car like that. Yeah? Yeah. It's a very nice colour composition. I'm sorry. I just can't get,
37:24I can't get this smug look off my... Yeah, yeah. You can be smug about the way it looks. You can't be
37:27smug about how much time we have left to get it finished. Because with flights home booked for tomorrow,
37:33the race is now on. Come on, let's go. Let's go.
37:37For starters, there are bits from Mike's impressive parts hall that need to be fitted,
37:44like the air box, cam belt cover and starter motor. I've also managed to pick up a replacement exhaust
37:50for a very reasonable €150. Here we go. This is way, way better. Standard exhaust tailpipe. Yeah,
37:59I mean, that thing that was on there before was part of an industrial building that was missing.
38:04Yeah. We've swapped those aftermarket alloys for a set of period-correct Ross-style wheels.
38:10Oh, look at that. They look good, don't they? They're just sort of correct, aren't they, for the car?
38:16And Norbert's team have made me a nice new parcel shelf to match the roof.
38:23There you go. Are you sure you don't need these? What have you got?
38:26I never thought we'd get there, but with Martin and Enya's tireless help, the end is in sight.
38:35Oh, ye of little faith. I think that's it, guys. I think we've hit the finishing line.
38:41After 20 years of waiting, we've finally ticked the Cortina box.
38:50It was a risky project, but luckily the smoking engine turned out to be an easy fix.
38:56Which meant I could splash out on a show-stopping vinyl roof.
39:00And with modernised rear suspension, the Cortina should now drive like a dream.
39:07The car now owes us €14,500, which would give us plenty of scope for a profit.
39:13Right, let's get it out on the road. This is good.
39:16Hold on. Let's see if it drives as well as it sounds and looks.
39:20Let's go.
39:24That hurts backwards.
39:25Let's go that way. Right, let's go.
39:38Right then, fella. Here we go.
39:40Now, is this your first ever drive of a Mark II Cortina?
39:44I think it is, you know. Is it?
39:45Yeah, I think so. It's not bad, is it?
39:47No, it's a great car, but just look around us, man.
39:49We've got blue skies, sunshine, what a Mediterranean island with a sea just behind us.
39:55This is a great experience.
39:57In a Ross III Mark II Cortina, which is now sorted.
40:01Mate, I feel like we've pulled off a miracle here.
40:03This car was screaming, screaming out for me and you to arrive all the way here to come and save it.
40:09I can't think it was just screaming.
40:12Go on, tell me, what's it like?
40:14It feels great to drive, I have to say.
40:15Those single-leaf parabolic springs, they give a much more modern feel, but still look traditional,
40:21still fit onto the same fixings.
40:23It's a really nice upgrade to do, you know.
40:25It's lovely, isn't it?
40:26I love the way it sounds.
40:27It sounds great.
40:28Now we've got rid of that ridiculous exhaust pipe.
40:30And the brakes?
40:31Brakes, this thing will stop on a sixpence, mate.
40:33It's really good.
40:34So, good ones are these on this island.
40:36I mean, mint ones.
40:38They sell for €20,000.
40:40This car isn't that, right?
40:41It's a nice car.
40:42It's a usable classic that performs.
40:45Yeah.
40:45So, I think we should be marketing it and getting it out there for €16,000.
40:51Yeah, I think that's fair.
40:52Show us a nice little profit.
40:53Yeah, and I think when we put this in front of people who appreciate the British classics,
40:58someone is going to fall in love with it.
41:01Well, it's funny you say that, Elvis.
41:08How good is this?
41:09Lovely.
41:10Look at these cars.
41:11Amazing.
41:11A classic car meet in the shadow of Malta's iconic red tower is the perfect place to show our
41:19Cortina off.
41:21Oh, mate, look at that.
41:22A little Hillman Imp Super with a Scottish flag on it as well.
41:27Oh, yeah.
41:29The cars all seem to have benefited from the Maltese climate.
41:33Oh, this is nice, isn't it?
41:34Look what's in Cambridge at 8.55.
41:36Great condition it's in.
41:37It's beautiful, isn't it?
41:38Really lovely.
41:39What year is this?
41:40It's 1956.
41:41Wow.
41:431956.
41:44And it's still in that condition.
41:45Even the fairies are still original.
41:46It's still original tyres with the original air inside.
41:51That's amazing.
41:52And it's not just the British classics that have turned out today.
41:56Alpha Spider, lovely.
41:57Oxblood leather as well.
41:59It's absolutely beautiful.
42:01What a wonderful looking car.
42:03Perfect for the climate here, right?
42:04Yes, absolutely.
42:05I bet you never put the roof up.
42:07No, never.
42:07It's always that.
42:08It may be among fine company, but our Cortina is getting its fair share of admiration.
42:17You like it?
42:18Yeah?
42:19What do you think of the colour of the vinyl roof?
42:20I like the combination.
42:21Yes?
42:22You like it, doesn't it?
42:23We drew inspiration from the red tower.
42:25Oh, that's right.
42:26A little bit of Malta on the top of the car.
42:29Yeah, I think it's an amazing job.
42:30Yeah.
42:31Well, thank you very much, guys.
42:32Thanks very much.
42:33Appreciate it.
42:34Did you manage to catch a glimpse of our Mark II Cortina?
42:36Yes, lovely car.
42:38Yes, nice.
42:38Lovely model.
42:39We used to have many of those on the roads in Malta.
42:42It's going well, isn't it, mate, eh?
42:43People like the car.
42:44Yeah, it's good.
42:46Am I wrong, but me and Elvis have just noticed from afar, you were kind of gazing adoringly,
42:52like you wanted to own a Mark II Cortina in your collection.
42:56My first car was a Mark II Cortina.
42:58Oh, was it really?
42:58Yeah, and I had a 1600e later on as well.
43:00This is almost meant to be, Mark.
43:01It's meant to be.
43:02Sometimes that's just how it works.
43:04I can feel the trouble starting now.
43:07Well, look, because, I mean, even if you're not interested in buying it, do please spread
43:10the word around the island, amongst the community, because it is for sale, yeah.
43:13That's good to know.
43:14Thank you very much.
43:14Cheers.
43:16Our Cortina's been a real hit with a Maltese crowd.
43:20Yep, and I don't think it'll be long before it finds a new home.
43:23I'm proud of it, considering where it started to where it is now.
43:27That is one heck of a journey, isn't it?
43:28So, where to next?
43:30Well, I mean, do you know what?
43:32That's inspiration, isn't it?
43:34About Scotland.
43:35Do you know what?
43:35That's not a bad idea, is it?
43:53So, what do you think it's about COVID-19 women's lives including the family who are
43:58knowing where it is?
44:00I Kristin Pooke's way of hanging to you.
44:02We killed the family back over Te inventor and heland, right?
44:03That's a problem.
44:03That's a good thought.
44:04I we know the the hardest part of it is we should never have a team at midnight now.
44:06You won't find us.
44:06You won't be a trained person at midnight now.
44:08Although there's only one day before we ever leave theмотрите to the highest ground.
44:11We've struggled more than anyone facing us, right?
44:13Of course, that's been done.
44:14Low-Fence, right?
44:15Thanks, right.
44:16Well, this was a great experience to come up the long term.
44:17If you would ask me by gossip, groaning it,
44:18how do you think?
44:19How do you have the same capital?
Recommended
46:22
|
Up next
24:49
45:10
26:56
45:14
48:13
23:17
1:24:20
22:14
26:43
47:58
47:58
24:00
2:13:52
2:25:29
1:13:55
2:13:53
1:03:41
41:56
43:00
28:49
45:45
42:11
Be the first to comment