First job of the day was to dismantle the damaged drivers side wishbones to retrieve the adjustable suspension. Cleaned up the front strut, and started on the numerous coats of Hammerite required to turn it red. Gave the hub another coat of red at the same time because it was looking a little patchy.
Set about getting the heavily mangled steering rack dismantled in order to get a look at the pinion. My suspicion is that the bearings are slightly tapered and the collision has jammed them into the mounting. Drilled a 12mm hole in the back of the housing and knocked everything apart using a 12mm bolt as a drift. My worst fears have been confirmed, the pinion itself is bent. Having left the pinion on the Cortina in Wrexham I'm going to have to try and source one elsewhere or get back in touch with the car dismantlers. As luck would have it, there is an entire Cortina steering rack up for grabs on EBay, placed a bid, The down side is that it's in Wales almost to Wrexham, which will be a long drive to pick up, although I could do with going via LC Developments to find out where the side lamp that was supposed to be coming through in the post has got to.
Picked up some new M12 bolts from B&Q and was royally fleeced for the privilege. Next time I'll take the time to go to Flints and pick up a box of bolts because they'll always get used on some project somewhere. Fitted the front sub assembly back into place on the passenger side upright, tightened it down onto the two lower mounting tabs. Thankfully they lined up correctly because I don't think I could face grinding the tab out and re-welding it. Fitted the upper mount onto the drivers side and offered up the diagonal that I'd cut in college last month. The diagonal appears to be about 10mm too long, I think I vaguely remember deliberately adding a little extra to make sure that the length could be cut back to fit, so the 10mm is a good sign. At this I called it quits for the day because the prospect of a rain shower meant that moving all of the tools out of the garage wasn't feasible. Sunday will therefore be another grinding and welding day.
The work is picking up pace, and it feels good to be putting stuff back together rather than cutting out bits of dead metal or stripping away years of rust. It's all looking reasonably hopeful to have her back on her wheels by the end of next week, and the possibly to have the bodywork in place by the end of the month.