Project Project Capri. Back on the road! New earths.

[danthecapriman]

Here's the completed prop shaft.

 

IMG_0608 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

IMG_0609 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

Should look good underneath!

[fordperv]

It's looking great Dan bet your over the moon, im just picturing it wearing its fresh coat of paint

[TripleRich]

From the pics that looks very good.  It gaps correctly and has nice neat spot welding.  The quarters are on straight and the seams for them are nice and consistent down the B post. Front wing fit to the valence and bonnet is very good, that can be quite difficult to get right on the mk2/3.

 

If the doors gap up as well as the rest of the car you're onto a winner.  The crucial place I like to look at on a finished Capri is the A post area.  All the gaps should be consistent with each other, don't mind how big the gap is, just as long as they are all the same.  That is a sign of a decent car.

 

Don't forget the 3 holes for the back window surround clips on each outer wing.  Can't see them in the pics.  Best use the trim itself as a guide for drilling.

 

Take your time and enjoy that final build.  You wont know what to do with yourself when its finished!

[NorfolkNWeigh]

Here's a proper base Capri that I restored* in 1987.

 

The choice of colour and indeed the choice of car was determined by the immaculte green Ghia interior I bought for £30 that came out of a written off 23,000 mile 2.0 Auto.

I had the interior for about 6 months before this 1.3 Base came up in an auction for £100. It was blue and solid as a rock. The 5 1/2j chrome rostyles look a it dodgy now , but Mrs N loved it. It was her first car and in these pictures is about to drop our oldest- she's 30 on Saturday!

Don't know what the colour was, my mate Rich just mixed it up - he still does my bodywork too.

Swapped it for a Rekord Coupe about a year later, don't what became of it.

 

The S3 at the end of the drive was about 2 years old at the time, my work car .

[eddyramrod]

That looks splendid!  Not long now to the first Miami Blue pics!

[Guest Hooli]

This Capri is going to be excellent, it looks fantastic already.

[danthecapriman]

From the pics that looks very good.  It gaps correctly and has nice neat spot welding.  The quarters are on straight and the seams for them are nice and consistent down the B post. Front wing fit to the valence and bonnet is very good, that can be quite difficult to get right on the mk2/3.

 

If the doors gap up as well as the rest of the car you're onto a winner.  The crucial place I like to look at on a finished Capri is the A post area.  All the gaps should be consistent with each other, don't mind how big the gap is, just as long as they are all the same.  That is a sign of a decent car.

 

Don't forget the 3 holes for the back window surround clips on each outer wing.  Can't see them in the pics.  Best use the trim itself as a guide for drilling.

 

Take your time and enjoy that final build.  You wont know what to do with yourself when its finished!

Cheers Rich. I was looking at all the welding today, it really is very very nice. They've used proper spot welders wherever they could fit it in to get that factory look, in less accessible places they've plug welded with a mig set but done them slightly more regularly than the spot welds, I guess for added strength?

All the mig welds they've done really are beautiful though, it must have taken years of practice to get that good.

 

The whole car looks fantastic but it's that front end I was looking at most. The shut lines on the wing - bonnet are superb and consistent all the way down, same across the scuttle - bonnet shut line.

And, as you say, that front valance where it meets all the other panels really is spot on. We were chatting about the shut lines. He said are you happy with them! I laughed and told him he's made a better job of it than Ford did out of the factory! Probably true aswell!

 

The guys a perfectionist. He showed me some pics of a mk1 Mini he painted a few years ago, the customer wanted the entire car in Union Jack! He did it too! The finish he'd managed to get was absolutely staggering tbh. I'd well recommend him to anyone put it that way!

 

Here's a proper base Capri that I restored* in 1987.

image.jpeg

image.jpeg

image.jpeg

The choice of colour and indeed the choice of car was determined by the immaculte green Ghia interior I bought for £30 that came out of a written off 23,000 mile 2.0 Auto.

I had the interior for about 6 months before this 1.3 Base came up in an auction for £100. It was blue and solid as a rock. The 5 1/2j chrome rostyles look a it dodgy now , but Mrs N loved it. It was her first car and in these pictures is about to drop our oldest- she's 30 on Saturday!

Don't know what the colour was, my mate Rich just mixed it up - he still does my bodywork too.

Swapped it for a Rekord Coupe about a year later, don't what became of it.

The S3 at the end of the drive was about 2 years old at the time, my work car .

That is gorgeous! I've never seen a mk2 with those wheels on before either! I wonder where it is now?

[danthecapriman]

Finishing touches to the engine,

 

IMG_0610 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

IMG_0611 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

New alternator and drive belt. The original is on the floor next to the engine for comparison. It still works perfectly well but it's not exactly in keeping with the rest of the engine anymore!

Besides that the electrical connector on the back is broken and the pulley is rusty as hell so it's easier to just swap it for new.

I'll keep the old one as a spare though.

I've also used a full set of brand new stainless bolts, nuts and washers as the old ones were very rusty and one snapped in half on removal.

 

Last job is the clutch, just waiting for my alignment tool to arrive!

[richardthestag]

I've also used a full set of brand new stainless bolts, nuts and washers as the old ones were very rusty and one snapped in half on removal.

 

Last job is the clutch, just waiting for my alignment tool to arrive!

 

coming along beautifully

 

Careful not to use stainless steel bolts anywhere that might need higher tensile strength than butter. Look pretty but as weak as shit

 

I made an alignment tool out of a dowel that fit nice and snug into the spigot bush in the crank. Then cotton tape carefully wound around it to the diameter of the gearbox input shaft - i.e. the hole in the middle of the clutch plate.

 

Lined it all up and nipped up the cover plate bolts just tight enough to stop the clutch plate moving about. then installed the box. As soon as it was on, slid it back off, torqued up the clutch cover bolts and refitted the box.

[JeeExEll]

 

Go on Dan, you know you want to.

[JeeExEll]

 

Dan there's still time for a couple of body mods before the paint goes on . . .

[JeeExEll]

[brickwall]

Oh lawd!

[mercrocker]

I was really enjoying these pics until that red and white thing lurched into view once again.....Why anybody chopped a Capri into something that looks like a kid's drawing of a TR6 with a bad aftermarket hardtop is beyond me. 

 

Never mind that - the Capri is looking superb already, Dan.  Are they a fairly local-ish bodyshop because I would really like somebody with that level of commitment to rebuild one of the wheel arches on the Cowley.   

 

Looking forward to the next instalment!

[Junkman]

I was really enjoying these pics until that red and white thing lurched into view once again.....Why anybody chopped a Capri into something that looks like a kid's drawing of a TR6 with a bad aftermarket hardtop is beyond me. 

 

 

You are looking at an Aston Martin lookalike!

[danthecapriman]

My word, that red thing! I think I'm going to be sick!

 

There was a red interior colour available from new though, and green and blue. They're pretty rare now though.

 

 

Do you know, I was just looking at the body pics again and just noticed the internal bracing frame is gone too! I hadn't noticed! Must be strong enough now to have been removed.

 

I was really enjoying these pics until that red and white thing lurched into view once again.....Why anybody chopped a Capri into something that looks like a kid's drawing of a TR6 with a bad aftermarket hardtop is beyond me. 

 

Never mind that - the Capri is looking superb already, Dan.  Are they a fairly local-ish bodyshop because I would really like somebody with that level of commitment to rebuild one of the wheel arches on the Cowley.   

 

Looking forward to the next instalment!

They are local. But I think you'd struggle to find them if you didn't know about them as they're located well out the way. They've got loads of stuff in there too which always looks good.

I'll PM you their details.

[richardthestag]

is that a crack pipe I can see the centre console of that poor bastard

[JeeExEll]

is that a crack pipe I can see the centre console of that poor bastard

I wouldn't be surprised. Still, if it's made someone happy doing the conversion then that's good enough for me.

[fordperv]

I've just showed mrs fp the pictures of the red "aston" monstrosity, she looked at me and sarcastically said "Oh is it a replica?"

[danthecapriman]

I keep looking at this...

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/FORD-CAPRI-MK-2-1600-XL-1974-BARN-FIND/282593491407?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20160908105057%26meid%3D262e3ed11ebb4266bbe6486d28dfc6a3%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dpp%26sd%3D282593491407&_trksid=p2481888.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%253Ae88bbef5-8118-11e7-ae6c-74dbd1806b4d%257Cparentrq%253Ae1dd4fdf15d0a861b7fd9629fff936ae%257Ciid%253A1

 

Is that really the going rate for one like that now!?

I'd love to have it (price aside) but I think that would be an idiotic thing to do right now.

 

There's also a 1.3 L mk2 on the bay, in a red/orange colour. thats upto £4100 already.

I'm glad I bought mine when I did.

[JeeExEll]

That bronze Mk2 was last road taxed in June 1978. That was only 3 months after the Mk3s were introduced (!). Wow.

[TripleRich]

Thats about the right money for one like that.  It will still need a lot of work to get something useable.  If you want a mk3 you need 15 to 18k for a sorted 2.8 injection,  20k plus for a sorted 3.0s.  If you can find a Mk1 3000E they go for really crazy money.  The days of a cheap Capri are long gone....

 

This has recently arrived at our place.  I'm told it cost 3k and has been off the road for about 5 years.  I did an assessment for the customer and it needs serious money spending on it.  

 

Both rear quarters

Both front wings

Both rear chassis legs

Both doors

Floor corners where they meet the bulkhead

Headlamp bowels

Front valence

Bootlid lower edge

Rear valence

Front bumper mounts to inner wings

A posts

Scuttle corners

 

 

3k for Capri in that state! Madness... 

 

 

[fordperv]

I'll ask a friend if he minds me posting a few pictures of a 2.8i that hes sorting the shell out on for a mate of his, it's a right rot box everywhere you look has the dreaded tin worm, he sent me a video of him opening the doors and because the a pillars are that rotten the doors drop a good half inch to inch meaning they won't close again, but it's a heart over head thing as his mates had it years and is sentimental over it

[danthecapriman]

I'll ask a friend if he minds me posting a few pictures of a 2.8i that hes sorting the shell out on for a mate of his, it's a right rot box everywhere you look has the dreaded tin worm, he sent me a video of him opening the doors and because the a pillars are that rotten the doors drop a good half inch to inch meaning they won't close again, but it's a heart over head thing as his mates had it years and is sentimental over it

I know the feeling about sentimental attachment! I'd be good to see some pics if you can though.

I'll try to get on my old PC tomorrow and get the saved pics of mine from when I bought it. That should be interesting as it was bad then and that was 16 years ago! I'm still not sure how this things made it to now tbh! It was a scrapper really.

I've got a sticker on my toolbox which is very appropriate. 'Old Fords never die, cos' some people keep bodging em back together again!'.

[fordperv]

A few pictures of small areas on said 2.8i before any digging started there was much more visable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can imagine how much was evident after digging

[danthecapriman]

Shit! It does look rather crispy doesn't it!

 

While mines had lots done it's all really been cosmetic and had large areas of sheet metal replaced to get a good final finish and wipe away any previous repairs.

The basic frame of mine is ok and taken very little work. The chassis legs front and rear are all original, same for the spring hangers and strut tops, which still have the Ford stamped chassis number on.

 

I'll get the old pics up tomorrow and show what £100 bought 16 years ago!

[Felly Magic]

It does sound like you have finally dropped on a place that is doing a bob on job, will soon be nice and shiney with it's fresh coat of paint, no dribbling on it though

[danthecapriman]

As promised, here's what £100 got you back in 2001.

 

IMG_0613 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

Note the wheels. Original 5x13 sports steels that I threw away!

 

IMG_0614 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

IMG_0621 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

IMG_0616 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

IMG_0612 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

Original black interior (still sat in my loft) and the original base spec black 2 pod dash facia.

 

Doesn't look too bad does it? The 17 year old me was over the moon with it!

I spotted the car for sale on the roadside near home. It was parked up with a 72 K reg mk1 1.6XL, also for sale. The mk1 was up for £700 and although not in great nik it wasn't bad at all. Sadly I didn't have the money for that and it never did sell, eventually being dumped on a farm to rot!

Behind it was this mk2, up for £150. That I could afford!

I rang the guy up and viewed it that evening with my dad.

The car was clearly ageing badly and had been attacked by vandals having one door and quarter kicked in. There was rust on it in various places too. Didn't matter though, a Capri was a Capri to me and it was taxed and mot'd too so I offered £100 which was accepted and we drove it home.

[danthecapriman]

Fast forward to 2003 and restoring it the first time was underway.

 

IMG_0629 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

My old Volvo 340 behind it, which was now my daily driver as the Capri was off the road.

 

IMG_0630 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

New tailgate and door to replace rotten originals.

 

Here's some pics of the rot!

 

IMG_0631 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

IMG_0628 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

IMG_0627 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

IMG_0626 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

IMG_0625 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

This bit was really bad. After picking at it the hole it left was enormous! You get both arms through it, put it that way!

You can see previous repair involved shovelling filler over the rust to hide it. The rust carried on festering beneath, eventually pushing all the filler out.

 

IMG_0624 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

IMG_0623 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

This bit was also pretty serious.

[danthecapriman]

The car had been worked on before to keep it going, things like the vinyl roof were non original and badly fitted and the paint was a cheap respray. There were lots of cheap nasty mot plate repairs too, but it was clear the car was starting to deteriorate too badly for anymore of that sort of repair.

 

I think in hindsight it was at the point of being at the end of its life really. The rot was getting bad and it was going to take some big bills to keep getting it through the mot and I doubt it's elderly owners would carry on with it. They obviously didn't/couldn't so sold it to the guy I bought it from. A few days later I bought it from him!