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

[fordperv]

Do you know I couldn't give a low mileage sierra type e 4 speed box away a while back

[Tamworthbay]

Do you know I couldn't give a low mileage sierra type e 4 speed box away a while back

Funny isn't it, even 2.0 pintos were hard to shift 5-10 years ago, even a couple of year back they were sensible money. Just seem to have gone stupid over the past 18 months.

[Guest Hooli]

I once broke a type9, one of the shafts snapped next to the 3rd gear cluster. I can't remember which shaft but it make a hell of a noise unless it was in 3rd. That was when I found out a 4cyl type9 bolts straight up to a 2.8 V6 even though everyone says it doesn't. The input shaft is too short so it wouldn't have lasted long though, but I wrote the XR4i off long before killing the 'new' box.

[danthecapriman]

Heard back from the new bodyshop guy.

All looking good! The work is all doable in my budget, the rear quarter panels will be getting fitted in full. I was going to just use the lower half of them to replace the rotten bodged originals but the guy said it's not going to save me anything doing it that way so you might aswell use the whole thing and cut down on welding right way across the panel. So they will be getting spot welded on as they would have been from new.

There's nothing particularly troublesome left really and he's confident it's a simple job, just needs everything aligning properly. So that's all good news!

 

The painter has said it's a really good car too, he said my colour choice is good for it as he's done another Capri in Miami blue and said it does look lovely.

The VIN tag I did looks great now it's had a few coats of lacquer so I think it's going look brilliant with the car in this colour.

 

 

I've been doing a bit of checking up on the engine now it's clean and the details are readable!

The engine number is the same as the end of the VIN number, so it is indeed this cars original unit! This is a nice little detail I think that it's managed to retain its original engine for its whole life.

The date code for the engine is May 1974. This ties in perfectly with other markings etc I've found on bits of the car. So it's looking like my car was built in May 1974, making it a pretty early one! I think they started in January 1974 for the mk2 so given how few must be left now mine must be amongst the oldest left by now.

 

Hopefully this weekend I'll get the oil out of the engine, sump pan off and start fitting the new gaskets and painting the block and sump. I've got everything I need now, the only outstanding part left before the engine goes back in is a clutch kit. Seems to be a few variations with these (diameter and number splines) so I'll take the old one off and measure it up before getting one from the local motor factors.

Also got to paint my new leaf springs this weekend now the paints turned up.

 

Good news all round so far! Mojo is returning for this at long last!

[fordperv]

Keep up the progress it will soon be done, even though I havnt updated my thread i have been chipping away

 

What colour are you going for on the engine?

[BorniteIdentity]

I'm so excited for you!!

[danthecapriman]

Keep up the progress it will soon be done even though I havnt updated my thread i have been chipping away

What colour are you going for on the engine?

I'm going for pretty much factory look for the engine.

Block and sump will be painted in black engine enamel.

Rocker cover and cam belt cover will be Ford corporate blue enamel.

Dizzy casing, inlet manifold, fuel pump, water pump etc will be left unpainted ally colour.

Exhaust manifold will be blasted then painted silver/grey.

 

The gearbox has a black bell housing and main body with the inspection cover etc left silver.

Axles, crossmember, struts, etc etc are all satin black.

 

Any nut or bolt heads showing will be either painted a suitable colour or plated in that goldish silvery colour as factory.

 

The enamels are actually American ones but should be close enough, and they are good quality (expensive!) so should go on nicely and last well. They are exactly the same as the ones used on my Mercury's V8 engine and do look very nice.

[danthecapriman]

Progress update.

 

I've removed the engine oil, which was still gold coloured and clean! I don't have an engine stand or crane so I've had to improvise a bit to get the sump off! Crude but does the job!

 

It made my attempts to clean off the old gasket a bit more difficult but I've done it.

 

IMG_0500 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

Not that easy to see but it all looks good underneath. The inside of the sump pan was pretty much spotless too.

All the bolts for it are currently sitting in a pot full of engine cleaner and are coming up like new.

 

IMG_0501 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

The sump itself has been cleaned back, rubbed down and degreased and it's now got two coats of black enamel on. It's not a perfect finish but it's good enough for an old original part. There's a bit of pitting in places from rust and the bottom of the pan is dented a little but it'll do and it's better than it was by miles.

 

IMG_0504 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

While I was in the mood for painting I've degreased the new leaf springs and given them a few good coats of por15 satin black chassis paint.

They look great now and the paint should keep them rust free for some time. All that's left for them once the paints fully hardened is to thin down some engine oil and pump it into the leaves and let it soak in just to lube the leaves and stop future corrosion between them.

 

IMG_0502 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

The old springs are also in the pic and are clearly past it!

 

Also, no pics yet but I've been down to a local blasting place. They've got the rocker cover, cam belt cover, exhaust manifold, engine pulleys etc etc which they are going to blast to bare metal for me. I'll paint them myself once it's all home at the end of the week. £20 to blast all that. Bargain!

They also do powder coating, so I've taken my steel wheels to them too. They'll be blasted and powder coated in the same metallic silvery colour as factory and should look great when done. £100 for five wheels which I'm happy with.

Just have to see what they look like in a few days time. If they're good I'll be taking the Volvo's alloys to them for the same treatment!

[Christine]

get every last bit of sand out of the rocker cover..

[danthecapriman]

get every last bit of sand out of the rocker cover..

Definitely! I'll wash it out with some degreaser when it's back and check it thoroughly. It'll need repainting inside aswell as out too.

 

 

The thermostat housing in the above pic is brand new btw. The original cast ally one was in pretty poor nik and new cast ones were out of stock when I went for a new one so I spotted these shiny polished billet ally ones instead for a few quid more! It looks nicer and it actually weighs nothing! I'd have had the original cast type quite happily but I'm impatient! There's a new stat, sealing ring and metal spring clip inside too.

 

I've also bought a new sump plug too...

Not just any sump plug though. This ones got a really strong magnet in the end of it which should help keep things clean downstairs! Sad aren't I!?

[Christine]

Your engine stand is fantastic!

 

I cast dozens of crossflow  Mk1 Fiesta xr2/1300 housings a few years ago.. unique to that car..unobtainium now also..

 

 

And XR2 round headlight adjusters too. Injection moulded plastic...made a mould ,bought a benchtop injection moulder ....Hundreds of the pesky buggers !!!

 

 

 

 

[danthecapriman]

Your engine stand is fantastic!

 

I cast dozens of crossflow  Mk1 Fiesta xr2/1300 housings a few years ago.. unique to that car..unobtainium now also..

 

olym pics 032.jpg

 

And XR2 round headlight adjusters too. Injection moulded plastic...made a mould ,bought a benchtop injection moulder ....Hundreds of the pesky buggers !!!

 

 

bitza plasticky stuff 010.jpg

 

 

Xmas Oakey 001.jpg

They look brilliant. I've considered buying and learning how to use a 3D printer before. There's all sorts of little bits and pieces that you could make with one.

I need a pair of the plastic covers for the interior door pull handle on the Mercury, obviously they're impossible to find over here but using one of the others as a pattern then 3D printing a few followed by silver paint would do the trick.

[Christine]

I find that 3d printing interesting too. But i have no idea about programming the thing !  I'm still on  XP and have a phone with buttons .

 

Interesting .. https://www.impactbumpers.com/forum/index.php?/topic/30246-rear-speaker-grills-87-coupe/&

[junkyarddog]

May be worth your while to replace the front and rear crankshaft oil seals,

while you have the engine stripped.

[junkyarddog]

 

 

The thermostat housing in the above pic is brand new btw. The original cast ally one was in pretty poor nik and new cast ones were out of stock when I went for a new one so I spotted these shiny polished billet ally ones instead for a few quid more! It looks nicer and it actually weighs nothing! .

 

 

That housing looks good,

 

Don't think it will make much of a difference to the overall weight of a Pinto though

 

20 odd stone IIRC.

[egg]

Re gearboxes, I loved the 'snick' and feel of the 4 speed gearbox in my Mk2 Escort, far superior to Sierra, Mondeo or Fusion that I've owned.

 

Great work you're doing.

[danthecapriman]

May be worth your while to replace the front and rear crankshaft oil seals,

while you have the engine stripped.

The front crank seal and the cam seal were done not that long back so 'should' be ok. I'll do the rear crank seal though, as the engines out. Best time to do it!

 

That housing looks good,

 

Don't think it will make much of a difference to the overall weight of a Pinto though

 

20 odd stone IIRC.

No, I don't think it'll make any difference either!

It was just amazing to pick the old one up then pick up the new one and the weight difference was unbelievable for such a small part.

 

20 odd stone?! Is that what they weigh?

I know they're bloody heavy that's for sure! I've had to lift that engine across a workshop, into a van, out of a van, down a driveway, across a driveway into a garage... I hate the bastard! But at least it'll outlast ally engines, it'd probably survive a direct nuclear missile strike!

Mind you, I can't say my having to carry the Capri's body shell around was much of a pleasure either. That was awkward and heavy too.

[junkyarddog]

Yeah,I was sweating,puffing and panting just getting my spare pinto in to the shed

[fordperv]

You sure do get a good workout throwing a pinto engine around, looking good and I love the engine stand

[Guest Hooli]

get every last bit of sand out of the rocker cover..

 

Very true.

 

My Bonnie was blasted before I got it & they didn't clean out the frame (also the oil tank). It ate about four oil pumps before I found out why.

[Stanky]

Also, no pics yet but I've been down to a local blasting place. They've got the rocker cover, cam belt cover, exhaust manifold, engine pulleys etc etc which they are going to blast to bare metal for me. I'll paint them myself once it's all home at the end of the week. £20 to blast all that. Bargain!

They also do powder coating, so I've taken my steel wheels to them too. They'll be blasted and powder coated in the same metallic silvery colour as factory and should look great when done. £100 for five wheels which I'm happy with.

 

Dan, can you share some details via PM? I have 4 alloys which need blasting and powder coating in a light silver too - best price I can get is £200 for the 4. We might be able to get a deal on your five plus my four?

[Vince70]

Those old ford sumps are quite robust I remember back in the mid eighties fitting a OHV 1600 GT engine from a Capri into my 1300gt Escort and I had to reuse the escort sump.

I found the sump wasn't quite big enough for a 1600 as something was fouling so I bashed the innards of the sump with a ball peen hammer so it had some nice big dents on the inside and it worked a treat and never leaked.

 

The old Ford parts bin on 60s and 70s cars was great, I sold that car to a friend who decided to bolt as much of an old 3 litre Capri in the shell that was possible on that car but I think he ran out of talent when it came to the engine.

 

But Original spec is the thing these days as another friend of mine is converting his old 1600e cortina back from a botched 3 litre Essex auto conversion to a manual Crossflow.

[Felly Magic]

Making nice and steady progress there Dan, can't be many 1974 survivors left

[danthecapriman]

Another progress update! It's funny, all the time I didn't have any of the cars parts with me at home I couldn't really be arsed doing anything with them myself. Now I've got loads of it back home I'm actually enjoying doing stuff on it. I wasn't sure if I'd be into working on this again after the shit it caused but I needn't have worried. I'm sure now I made the right choice to stick with it instead of getting rid!

 

Anyway, the bits I sent to the blasters are back. It's cleaned up well and there's no blow through anywhere it was rusty either so that's good. Just needs painting now.

 

IMG_0513 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

IMG_0514 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

Also, I've painted the engine block now. It's looking superb in black enamel, much cleaner and tidier.

 

IMG_0512 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

IMG_0511 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

IMG_0510 by Dan Clark, on Flickr

 

I've painted the two pulleys in the same black enamel but only on the outer faces. I didn't want paint on the teeth or anywhere near the cam belt as it'll just rub off on the belt and make a mess once the engines running again.

Also got all the bits and pieces to go back on, manifolds etc which I'll paint around once their on, I don't want paint on the gasket surfaces! I've got new oil filter, plugs, oil pressure switch, temp sender, fuel pump etc etc too. I've left the old ones on (now covered in paint) to protect any gasket surfaces or threads during painting.

[junkyarddog]

Looks good,

 

Tell me the secret of how you stuck it to the ceiling please,

looks a good way to maximise your workspace

[danthecapriman]

Looks good,

 

Tell me the secret of how you stuck it to the ceiling please,

looks a good way to maximise your workspace

Ceiling? Are the pics upside down? They look ok for me...

[twosmoke300]

Fine to me too

[Eddie Honda]

Tell me the secret of how you stuck it to the ceiling please,

looks a good way to maximise your workspace

They're upside-down to me on thread (Chromium browser), but if I open the images in their own tab, the face the right way up

[fordperv]

Looks great dan (they are showing the wrong way up for me as well)

[junkyarddog]

Ceiling? Are the pics upside down? They look ok for me...

Yes,wrong way round,

doesn't matter though,engine looks great.