THE BIG RESTORATION
Nostalgia drove Paul Nicholes on to recreate the family favourite of his childhood
WORDS MATT GEORGE PHOTOGRAPHY JONATHAN JACOB
THE RESTORER
Paul Nicholes is 61 years-old and, before his retirement last Christmas, he worked for the NHS in Barnsley as a Medical Engineering Technician for 41 years. This involved repairing and maintaining all the medical equipment throughout the hospital. Monitors, ventilators, anaesthetic machines, defibrillators and incubators.
Says Paul: ‘I am no mechanic, but I do have an eye for detail and making sure things are right. I have no formal training on cars, just what I've picked up over the years, and can remember from back in the day when you had to know how to repair your car.’
Paul Nicholes is no stranger to the pages of Practical Classics, having appeared with the Bond Equipe MkII GT that he restored with his son in 2007. ‘That was an educational project for us both, and we learned a huge amount. When my son moved house, back in 2019, he took the Bond with him, and I was left with an empty garage for the first time in many years.’ So, obviously Paul’s thoughts turned to how to fill that space.
As is often the case, happy childhood memories played a part in the selection of Paul’s next project car. ‘Back in the long hot summer of 1976, when I was 12, my mum and dad bought an Onyx Green Cortina MkIII 2.0 GXL and a Bessacarr Conisbrough caravan. We had many great holidays, plus weekend trips to the coast and caravan club rallies over the following years. A time when I discovered music, girls and when my interest in cars began.
AS FOUND Paul didn’t think it looked too bad, but little did he know…
I loved the shape and 'Coke bottle' styling of my dad’s car back in the day – it was the first car that I remember falling in love with.’
So, decision made, Paul thought there would be plenty of Cortinas to choose from. Err, no. ‘I looked for ages and there were none for sale anywhere, in any condition, and certainly not in the colour combination and spec I wanted. I also realised that old Fords were expensive!’ Anything in decent nick was way out of Paul’s price range. So, he started to look for a project that he could restore and/or turn into a replica, while spreading the cost over time. After looking at a few really bad examples, Paul came across this one being advertised by a member of the MkIII Owner’s Club. ‘It was a project he’d already started, so was partially dismantled and some areas had been patched already. To my untrained eye it looked great, surprisingly solid in many of the usually bad areas, and it was a pretty good price. It was even the right colour… mostly.’ A deal was done, while some extra parts were included that would help Paul bring the car up to GXL spec just as his dad’s old one was.
That tow bar will see some use… once Paul has restored his caravan to suit!
‘Many parts had already been removed and thrown in the boot, mostly unlabelled’, explains Paul: ‘I didn't know what I had, what was missing or what was broken, but I’d taken the gamble as I wanted it so much. It had looked fairly solid, but I'm obviously no expert, because when I started to work on it, I quickly found out it clearly wasn't!’ Undeterred, Paul worked on the car most weekends and many evenings, often until very late, for nearly five years. He did all the work himself, alone in his single garage at home, apart from the stuff that he doesn't have equipment for – cylinder head skimming, crankshaft balancing and chroming.
Paul stripped the whole car, built a roll-over jig and turned it on its side to repair all the rot underneath, taking it back to bare metal by hand and learning more and more as he went along. ‘I learned many new skills as part of the project including welding, body prep, painting and upholstery – mainly thanks to the university of YouTube. I borrowed an old welder from my mate James at work and played about with it until I got the settings and technique right. I had never used a MIG welder before but picked it up surprisingly quickly, I think.’ Paul replaced both the front and rear valances, repaired both front wings, bulkhead and A-pillars, and fabricated smaller sections for almost everywhere else.
Rebuilt engine was detailed to match the body.
Extra mirrors will come in handy when towing, too.
‘I had to just buy whatever was available and refurbish it’
One of the hardest tasks was replacing the nearside rear quarter/wing, where Paul had to cut the old quarter off because it was riddled with rust in an odd ring pattern all the way across it. ‘Fitting the replacement was really difficult’, he explains. ‘Parts of it needed to go under the existing bodywork, while others went on top. Having finally got it in place and having recreated the missing inner wing sections, I hung the rear door. However, it was clear that it didn’t line up at all!’ So, the only thing for it was to undo all the tack welds and try to align it all somehow. In the end, Paul worked out that the sill had been replaced in the past, but in the wrong place. ‘I had to remove that too and refit it straight before the door gaps and swage lines all lined up at the same time! Once I was happy with the alignment, I secured it all in place and lead loaded the joints on the C-pillar, which was fun having never done that before either.’
All-important GXL badge takes pride of place up front.
One of the most satisfying jobs for Paul was inadvertently forced upon him. ‘I bought a new front valance off eBay. It was advertised as for a Cortina MkIII, but it turned out to be for a Taunus, which is a surprisingly different shape.’ As he’d had it for more than a year before trying to fit it, Paul couldn’t return it, so had to make it fit somehow. ‘In the end I had to graft the ends of the old front valance onto the new one because it was such a complex shape. It took some doing, but you can’t tell it was ever wrong.’
Away from the body repairs, every single part has been completely dismantled, cleaned, repaired, renovated, refurbished, repainted or – as a last resort – replaced. ‘Many parts are really hard to find, especially in good condition, while others, surprisingly, I found were on the shelf in my local motor parts shop!’ If good parts did come up for sale, they were usually eye-wateringly expensive.
Rostyle wheel was incredibly popular in the Sixties and Seventies.
‘In many cases, if I knew I needed to replace a part, I had to just buy whatever was available and refurbish or repair that part and make the best of it. For example, the underriders are £350 a pair. I bought a rusty full set for fifty quid, welded up the holes and had them chromed.
They look as good as new now.’
The suspension has all been stripped, painted or powder-coated and polybushed, while Paul had a new single-piece propshaft made. The rebuilt engine has been fully balanced, ported and fitted with hardened valve seats. ‘I have fitted a fast road camshaft, but it is otherwise a standard 2-litre Pinto. I’ll also be swapping the exhaust to a 4-2-1 stainless system as soon as I can afford to.’ Paul also changed the differential for one with the correct ratio for 2-litre, having discovered that at some point in the past it had been changed to a 1600 one: ‘No wonder I was always wanting the change up in fourth gear!’
‘Coke bottle’ styling still looks sharp today.
With the bodywork, suspension and running gear sorted, it was time for a fresh coat of paint. However, this part of the project was far from smooth sailing, as Paul explains with a rueful grin. ‘I had it sprayed twice. The first time it came back, the finish was beyond terrible; I was so disappointed. There was anti-stone chip paint all over my nice clean suspension and half an inch up the bottoms of the doors, and no paint at all in places like the door shuts, the boot and the engine bay.’ Fortunately, this setback gave Paul the opportunity to address some areas that clearly weren’t perfectly flat, as well as changing the colour. ‘It is now a custom mixed shade that I've created, to try and match the vibrant ‘Onyx Green’ that I remember my dad's car being. It’s still far from perfect, but it’s probably far better than I could have achieved.’
Once he’d got the car back, Paul fitted a NOS black vinyl roof, chrome trims, cloth interior, centre console, badges and quad LED headlights, again to match the GXL spec of his dad’s car. He also fitted a new pale green headlining and carpet with sound deadening beneath, plus a tinted laminated windscreen.
Paul can be proud of the result that he’s achieved.
Fresh carpets really set things off inside.
‘I’m carrying on using my newfound restoration skills’
For Paul, the whole ethos of the build was to do the best possible job, while spending the least possible amount of money. That said, if money needed to be spent, he did so: ‘I was only going to do it once, so I was doing it right!’ Paul paid £2500 for the car, which included some replacement parts, and while he did initially keep track of the cost, he quickly stopped counting! ‘Parts are unbelievably expensive! Even simple things that you used to pick up from the scrap yard for pennies, like switches, now cost £60 or more, if you can find them! I'm guessing I've spent well over £10k on the restoration, however I'm told that the car is now worth about £25k, so that’s OK’, he says with a smile.
Paul isn’t quite finished yet, however. He fitted a tow bar to the Cortina as, during the restoration, he’d shared a photo of his parents’ Cortina and their caravan on a Bessacarr-related Facebook group, and someone generously offered him an almost identical one free of charge! ‘So, my next project will be to renovate that to match theirs so I can take it to shows and places we used to go to on holiday around the country, too. I’ve also recently been given a 1968 Jensen Interceptor MkI. However, as you can imagine for a free car, it needs a lot of work! They should keep me busy long into my recent retirement and test my newfound restoration skills to the limit!’
Here’s how Paul did it…
1. OCT 2021 Front and centre
One of Paul’s first big jobs was replacing the rotten front valance. As is often the case, once it was removed, a lot more hidden rust was found!
2. MAR 2023 Made to measure
Having bought a replacement valance panel online, it turned out to be incorrect. Unable to return it, Paul was forced to work with what he had, doing such a good job that you’d never tell the difference now.
3. OCT 2023 Take two
Having been hugely disappointed with the finish of the original respray, Paul sorted out all the areas that the paint shop missed first time around (see fresh primer), before the car went away for a second time.
4. MAR 2024 Good as new
This project was the first time that Paul had ever dismantled or reassembled an engine. Hopefully he’d done everything right!
5. APR 2024 Vinyl countdown
Paul suggests that the vinyl roof is not as straight as it should be, but again, he'd never tried doing anything like that before.
TECH SPEC
ENGINE 1993cc/4-cyl/OHC
POWER 98bhp@5700rpm
TORQUE 111lb ft@5500rpm
GEARBOX 4-speed manual
0-60MPH 10.6.sec
TOP SPEED 105mph
FUEL ECONOMY 24mpg
USEFUL CONTACTS
AirbagTeam airtbagteam.com
East Kent Trim Supplies Ltd, eastkenttrimsupplies.com
Prestige Electro-Plating, 01709 577004
Rotherham Engine Supplies, theenginespecialists.co.uk Sheffield Cortina Centre, 07766 634012
WHAT'S IT LIKE DRIVE
Matt enjoyed the full Seventies experience.
The rebuilt 2-litre lump fires easily into life, and I head out onto the road to see what this Cortina is all about. One of the first things I notice is that the pedals are spaced quite closely together – something I discover when hitting the ‘Go’ pedal rather than the ‘Stop’ pedal when approaching a junction! But other than that, Paul has turned out a car that drives very well, with the aforementioned Pinto up front offering plenty of oomph thanks to that fast road camshaft, while the effect of the balancing can be felt in the smoothness of how it runs. The ride is supple and, once I’ve ensured that I’m about to depress the correct pedal, the brakes pull things up sharply when required, straight and true. I wasn’t around in the Seventies, but this car is great to drive and would appear to be an abundantly accurate tribute to the Cortina that Paul’s dad owned and cherished back then – I’m glad to have been able to get a snapshot of that experience myself.
Restorer of the Year 2026
Restorer of the Year celebrates the shed heroes who, every year, produce extraordinary work breathing life back into basket cases and bringing classics that are going nowhere back to the road. Here at Practical Classics, we’ll scour the land to bring you the very best then, early in 2026, you get to nominate your favourite restos. From your top ten nominations our panel of experts will select the top five nominees so that you can meet the winner at the Practical Classics Classic Car and Restoration show at the NEC next March.
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