Budget Woes.

so far, nothing has been done to the cortina except the guys at AMC have been moving it around their shop to make way for other cars.

apparently they're getting a welder to work at AMC itself, instead of the initial plan which was to send the car to a panel beater. harvinder guarantees that the welder is as good if not better but costs 100 to 200 MYR extra. work is scheduled to start next monday once the welder gets in.

some changes (reality checks) have been made to the items going in and out of the rebuilt cortina due to budget constraints. the major one would be retaining the 1600 pinto instead of the initially planned 2000 one.

rebuilding the 1600 shouldn't cost more than 3000 MYR as compared to the transplant of the 2000 which could escalate to more than 3000 MYR excluding misc costs that may arise. anyway, a quick search revealed that the power difference between the 1600 and 2000 aren't very far away. even torque is a few Nm off each other. so the costs outweigh the power so 1600 it is. *edit*

so the quote so is:

3400 MYR for basic welding, replacing the floorboard, pillars, door sills, front and rear windscreen frame, trunk/boot and engine area.

2200 MYR for painting the engine bay, exterior anti-rusting, doors, and interior.

an extra 1100 MYR for removing all paint to bare metal. however, this extra cash only gives an estimated 1 to 2 years extra to the life of the car on top of the expected 5 years without scraping to bare metal. so i'm skipping it.

air conditioning is estimated at 1500 MYR for a complete brand new unit and less than 1000 MYR for a reconditioned one.

any company willing to give sponsorship for this restoration project?

Engine, Out!

a week has passed and on saturday, the old weathered 1.6 pinto engine is out. along with the propeller shaft and transmission unit.

here's the car under the shade


can you see the transmission tunnel?


here you can see the rear of the slam panel


close-up of firewall, crossmember, and steering rack among other things


the garage in the background houses the a-team van, a 29 foot limo and some other classics.


transmission unit, propeller shaft and engine (l-r)


close-up of the weathered 1.6 pinto.


weathered gearbox


now the boys at AMC will be arranging the wiring loom and labeling other miscellaneous parts for storage then in the next week or two the car should be at the body shop. more updates to come when that starts rolling.

Moke Fever

this one's for the guys at AMC. remember i mentioned a Moke at taman anggerik shell station thereabouts?

well, here it is:







really well kept. took a peek underneath the car and it looks like it was repainted. but it's in good condition and i don't think the owner (old chinese uncle) is willing to part with it.

Finally! It begins, NOW!

after a long break of not posting it has finally happened. bodywork has begun. at least it will begin because AMCs welder is currently packed with other classics.

but i don't think they'll dissapoint. :)

i'll let the pics do the talking now:

Loading and transporting the 'tina















My mum getting nostalgic over the car she learnt to drive in


Harvinder's 'tina and mine, nose to nose


Sign, sealed and waiting


that's it. hope y'all enjoyed it. more to come in the coming weeks.

what's planned for the car at the moment:

1. 2000 pinto engine
2. black paint in and out (subject to change)
3. nice nice deep dish rims
4. super assuring alarm system (a must)

ok. stay tuned for weekly updates.