I had a fortnight off work, so lots of opportunities for Corsair driving time. The first major trip was to take Nigel (Christmas Tipple post) and his son out one afternoon for a spin, so I took a familiar route down the A30 to Fovant and onto Barford St Martin and back via Dinton and Tisbury. The hay lorry over-take at Compton Chamberlyne was an exhilarating experience as well as a necessity due to the fact we were getting covered in hay as it was being raked off by the trees and bushes the lorry scrapped past. Once at Tisbury, I let Nigel drive the Corsair for the last part of the journey and he quickly had a feel for the car and the proper driving experience it provides.
All was OK, on later trips, I traced the hissing noise from the engine as being a pin hole water leak in a core plug at the rear of the right bank cylinder head. The radiator water was rather low and since topping it back up it hadn’t dropped any more in about 150 miles. There had been several local trips out and about before I took it to a drive-in event at Henstridge Airfield for the Wings and Wheels day. The Corsair was well received especially as it was the only Corsair there and also because of it’s history. A week later it was a nice cruise down the A303 at a steady 55mph, but in the other direction, towards Sparkford to go to the Breakfast Club Meet at the Haynes International Motor Museum. Once parked up, the Corsair drew some immediate interest for some former Seventies Ford mechanics and again was the only Corsair in attendance among the many hot hatches, Triumphs and Jaguars.
A few more trips are planned before further work commences in replacing the leaking core plug and at the same time replacing a rear crankshaft seal as the engine is dripping oil. Both jobs will require the engine to be lifted out of the car.