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Taunus TC
David Jeggo wanted a solid usable classic Ford, then he got carried away....
Having owned many old Fords, including various Cortinas, David Jeggo knew how badly they can rust. “I’d had lots of Fords until family and buying a house took priority, now I was looking to get an old car again,” remembers David. “Mainly one that was solid — I no longer want to spend months welding in new floors. I saw this 1973 Taunus TC 1600L saloon for sale in 2015 and thought it looked interesting and rust free, plus the Mk3 is the only Cortina I’d never owned so it sort of scratched that itch, too.” The Taunus had a low starting price but David was the only person to bid. “It was half an hour away so I went over with a trailer thinking if it did turn out to be rotten I’d leave it. I got a pleasant surprise because after crawling all over, the only rust all I could find was minor rot on the outer rear arches and a small patch on one sill.” There were a few bits missing but it appeared the 44,000 km on the clock was genuine. “Sadly there was no history with the car; the guy was selling it on behalf of his friend. It had no paperwork either, but the DVLA and the Mk3 Cortina Owners’ Club couldn’t have been more helpful with sorting out a V5 and age-related ’plate.” The Taunus then sat for a couple of years while David collected parts and worked out his restoration plan. “It ran and had a good engine, although the
“I DIDN’T INTEND DOING IT AS NICE AS THIS, BUT ONCE IT HAD GREAT PAINT I GOT CARRIED AWAY...”
brakes didn’t work. I had to find some missing chrome trim, a front grille and interior parts. My idea was to restore it completely standard, until I realised long-term I was inevitably going to upgrade a few things. I used to grasstrack race so I had various stuff under my workbench including a 2-litre Pinto. I built that into a lightened and balanced 2093cc with big valves, high-compression pistons and a competition Kent cam.
“I’d intended using bits from my grass-tracking days, but in the end used mostly new parts. I had to fit an RS2000 bellhousing and sump for clearance since it’s left-hand drive. The exhaust is a new-oldstock Mk4 Cortina Janspeed system with a four-branch Escort manifold I lengthened.”
The stripper
“I had the entire car apart although I probably didn’t have to,” continues David. “The body needed very little, I bought a
couple of Mk4 Cortina two-door repair panels and replaced the rusty back arches, then stripped the body to bare metal. I knocked out a few minor parking dents before coating it in epoxy primer. Then Paul at Anglia Resprays did a great job prepping and painting it in the original colour, which I believe is Sapphire Blue.
“We used truck bedliner underneath and even painted up inside the chassis rails, I wanted it nice but I also needed to get the car back on the road. There were a couple of small kinks from where it had been jacked up and I could have cut the floor open and knocked them out, but they are part of the history and that floor is rust-free. To be honest I didn’t intend doing it as nice as this, but once it had great paint I became a little bit precious. I’d had a Mk2 Cortina years back I’d put a V6 into then went overboard on, by the time that was done it was too nice to drive — so I held back a bit with this Taunus. I was very lucky since most of the parts weren’t in bad shape, the bumpers aren’t perfect but they’re shiny and usable. There’s no point in throwing away an original 95 per cent decent part for a 100 per cent one, especially since the quality of repro bits really varies.
“The rear axle was stripped, sandblasted and rebuilt, I added uprated Rally Design springs with GAZ dampers and it now sits an inch lower than stock. Being a 1600 it’s the Koln axle but I have an Atlas with an LSD to fit in the future.
“Up front I added vented Capri discs and callipers and polybushes, and when I stripped the wishbones I found the ‘17 10 73’ manufacture date still stamped in them. Most bits I needed such as trim and window rubbers were sourced through Harrie Drenth of Classic Ford Parts in The Netherlands, although the brake master cylinder was spotted on French eBay.”