How hard is it to get a new water pump for a Ford Zodiac? It all started with a little trip on a sunny day…

After a stop at a cafe I noticed that the big Ford was spilling (a few drops of) coolant on the parking floor. Because we were only a few miles from home, we decided to go home, drive slowly and hope for the best.

During the short drive the car lost more and more coolant, the temperature indicator went in to the red area and at our destination almost all of the coolant was gone. Inspection of the engine bay revealed that the coolant was leaking from the water pump.

The search for a new water pump.

Although the car is over fifty years old a lot of new spares (door cards, rear light lenses and most engine parts for example) are easily available. A new water pump for the big ford, unfortunately, is not one of them.

Very quickly I became aware that the only pumps available were refurbished ones. When I found one on a British site for a reasonable price and tried to order it the site crashed.  I send them an e-mail but the response took some time so I continued my search. This is when I found motomobil

These guys are from Germany but they have a lot of spares for old British Fords including the Zodiac MK1, MK2 and MK3.

I placed my order and within a few days the new water pump arrived. Complete with a new gasket and installation instructions. It even came in the original box from Ford! And when I send them my old water pump (in the original box and with the installation instructions) I even got some cash back!

Replacing the pump was straight forward and after topping up the coolant the big Ford was running smoothly again 🙂

Classic car oil a must for classic cars or not? Some people do not tolerate anything else in the engine of their classic car, others think it is a lot of b*****!

In this post I will share my thoughts about this topic with you. I think that every serious gearhead knows that the price of engine oil for premium brands is too high. Marketing / branding tries to make people believe that a premium oil is a must have and budget brands are no good. But why? Financial gain! I personally have driven roughly 10  cars for private use in the last twenty eight years and have never noticed any significant difference in reliability or performance. Both with premium brands and with budget brands. The only thing that I look for is if the specifications meets the minimum requirements for that perticulair engine! And change the oil regularly.

But these cars where modern cars and not classic cars. I believe that in certain cases classic car oil is the right thing to use.

Use classic car oil if:

• The car is a high end classic.
• You drive a classic car every day for a long distance.
• You go for a very, very long roadtrip.
• If you believe it is the best thing for you to do!
• If you think it is the best thing to “give” to your car.

Do not use classic car oil if:

• The car is a classic that you enjoy but is not a high end one.
• If you try to keep your classic car in shape but the maintenance cost low.
• When your classic will not be driven daily.
• If you think a premium brand is just all about marketing.

Classic car oil or budget oil, keep the following in mind:

• Use what feels right for you and your car.
• Modern engine oils can affect some seals and lines. Check if this is the case with your car (car – club, manufacterer).
• Check your seals and lines periodically.
• Most classic engines do not thrive on semi or full – synthetic oils. Unless the manufacterer of your car says otherwise, use a full mineral oil compliant with the manufacterers requirements!

These are just my two cents about classic cars and classic car oil…

If you want to know, I use castrol classic engine oil for the Ford Zodiac MKIII and it runs fine!