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Project Capri. Back on the road! New earths.


danthecapriman

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Sorted the exhaust today.

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Looks ok I think!

I used an angle grinder with a wire brush attachment and just gave the whole thing a good going over. Most of the rust just ground straight off but there were some patches where it was obviously well eaten onto the surface and just wouldn’t go. It’s solid and not holed or anything but to completely get rid of it would probably cause more damage to the exhaust so I’ve just skimmed it off as best I can and leave it at that. After that I’ve just wiped off the dust and sprayed the whole thing in silver heat proof paint, which is the leftovers from when I did exactly the same to the exhaust manifold. All the hangers and clamps have been done the same, ready to fit.

It looks pretty good now it’s done and it’s perfectly serviceable, but it won’t stay looking like this for more than a year or two before the rust starts to come through again. That’s fine though, maybe by then I’ll be looking at a decent stainless system or something anyway.

 

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7 minutes ago, Noel Tidybeard said:

get a piece of brushed stainless tube with same inside diameter as the outside of tail pipe so it looks stock but stays nice longerer without being too blingy

Good idea. I thought about getting one of those chrome tailpipe trim things but they can look a bit cheap sometimes, and the chrome often isn’t very good and starts rusting. 

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Another day spent on this. Today though was one of ‘those’ days, where you have the best intentions to get shit done but everything fights you and the time just goes nowhere.

But, I can report the front bumper is now finished. It was a bastard to get on and fitting right. No idea why, but everything was misaligned and a right pig to get right. Also, the chrome dome headed bolts have all been a pain in the arse. Remember, this bumper was missing these bolts as someone took them out before I got it to fit it on a mk3, that meant I had to buy new replacements. These turned up the other day - listed as the correct ones...

Are they fuck! They’re heads are far too big and the threaded section is also too big to go through the holes in the bumper. I could have redrilled the bumper to take them but I’m simply not doing that to my bumpers! Luckily, my other spare bumpers did provide me with a source of replacement bolts of the correct size so I’ve gone with these. However, the last one I needed from the old bumpers just wouldn’t come out. It took me all afternoon just to extract it intact and undamaged! Got it eventually and got all four of the mounting bolts back on and tight.

The next job was the front number plate and it’s brackets. The chrome dome headed bolts for this are a smaller size oddly, and both my old ones snapped so I had to find something similar to replace them. Lots of looking and measuring later I found the bumper bolts for 60’s Riley’s were about the same size so I used a pair of these. They’re not exactly the same though and needed some attention from a file to reduce the size of the square rear face of the heads to let them sit flush with the bumper. After that though they worked a treat!

Heres the result.

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The front number plate is a bit bent, so that needs a little tweak to get it to sit straighter and I could do with a couple of new white fixing screws too, these old ones are very brittle and have gone grey!

Just because I like to go overboard with things, I’ve smeared grease around all of the bumper bolt heads before fitting them, then as the nuts are tightened it squashes the grease up between the bumper and bolt heads. Hopefully, this will stop rust starting behind them. Then after they were all tight I’ve greased all the nuts and any exposed threads, again, to stop rust. I don’t plan on having to undo any of these again tbh, but it’s best to do it just in case!

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4 hours ago, nigel bickle said:

Dan, how are you getting that in/out of its garage? Isn't it time to get the b*gger running/ moving under its own steam?

Pushing it! And yes, it is frigging heavy! Much more so recently as there’s been much more nailed back onto/into it.

I can’t drive it yet, as the gearstick is currently not fitted. There’s nothing stopping me from getting running (despite the fuel tank not being fitted), but I wanted to finish a few jobs I’ve already started then move on.

The carpet needs the holes for the handbrake and gearstick cutting out, then fixing in place, then the gearstick can be refitted - then I can think about driving it.

Id like to get the handbrake and cables fitted before the fuel tank though too, as there’s more room to work without it in the way.

 

The pile of parts left to fit is rapidly depleting though, which is good. If I didn’t have to keep working I’d probably have it done in a week or so.

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Another day spent, another couple of jobs completed.

Today was the turn of the carpets. Last year I managed to get all the green underfelt cut and put in place. This came with the carpet set and actually went down really well. After that I got the carpet out and stretched it out on top in roughly the right sort of place to try to get it to settle into the right shape and to get any creases out from being folded in storage. It ended up staying like that for a good 6 months while it pissed down all winter!

This carpet is actually not quite the same as original, being in two pieces. The original ones are one piece and are moulded to shape pretty well, unfortunately though, like most things they weren’t intended to still be here nearly 50 years later so mine had well and truly worn and rotted in the sunlight so was fit for the bin. This new carpet set isn’t actually as good as the original it turns out.

Its good enough carpet but the shape isn’t quite right and some of the stitched together sections create fit problems. Originally the carpet simply sat in place and was held by the seats and odd bits of trim etc and that did the job. But on this new carpet because the fit wasn’t as good I had to resort to a few areas of trim adhesive. If I’d left it like the original it would have ended up with baggy poorly fitted bits and looked a bit shit. So I started by centring the carpet on the transmission tunnel, stretching it out to make sure it’d cover the floor properly then tack it down with a spray of glue on top and down each side of the transmission tunnel, then tightly smooth it down with my hands to get it tight and into the corners nicely. Then the same process for the heel boards and floor pans. It took absolutely ages to get it to fit properly and smooth out all the wrinkles! Like I said, it’s good enough carpet but the shape that’s been made into it isn’t quite perfect.

Ive left the sides that cover the inner sills loose for now as I want to let the main floor areas glue to go off and let the carpet stretch and settle into place for a week or so. It will also desperately need hoovering! Smoothing it down and manipulating it so much has released lots of bits of fluff and there’s also loads of green fibres from the underfelt stuck to it too! I don’t want to hoover it until the glues secure though.

After that I dug out the original sound deadening material from the floors and found the section for under the rear seat base. It’s still in good condition so I’ve glued that in place too. I also had two long bits of the new green material left too which I had no idea what they were for, so they can both go under the seat too! There’s loads of room under the seat so doubling up the material won’t hurt.

Then finally I got the gearstick out of its box, gave it a clean up and put new grease all over the fork on the end and into the pivot point. This turned out to be a bit of a pain to get fixed into place! It’s got a big threaded collar that screws into the top of the gearbox then you fold down a load of locking tabs to stop it working loose. Trouble was, I could only turn it so far by hand and you need a big offset spanner to turn it enough to fully tighten it. Which is a tool I don’t have! Grips, pliers etc etc all don’t fit, so I had to use a long screwdriver and hammer to keep tapping the collar round until it hits the end of its threads. Once that’s done just fold down all the lock tabs. Then the rubber dust boot slides down and clips under a raised ring around the hole in the transmission tunnel. I’ve checked it, clutch seems to work fine and it selects all 4 gears and reverse. So that’s that done! 

After that the handbrake lever. This is dead easy as it just has two bolts holding it to the floor. I’ve cut the carpet back so the handbrake lever is fixed cleanly and evenly to the floor. Both bolts have been greased and I’ve also cleaned all the dust and crud out of the ratchet mechanism on the handbrake and put fresh grease into it. This also has a rubber dust boot to slide down over it which I’ve fitted loose for now.

The last thing for these now is to strip and repaint the metal securing trim that fits around the base of the handbrake lever and holds the vinyl/leather gaiter in place. It’s ok now but just looks scruffy so I’ll spray it in gloss black before screwing it in place. 

Then I need to decide if I’m going to fit the short centre console again (not original to an L) or go back to standard and just fit my original gearstick vinyl/leather gaiter without the console. I haven’t decided yet!

So, before.

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And after,

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The little blue bits are the mounts for the front seats. And the handbrake lever is supposed to be bent over like that! It sort of aims over to one side slightly towards the drivers seat. It actually looks less noticeable once the vinyl/leather gaiter is fitted and the seats are in.

Not a job was exactly looking forward to tbh, but it’s now done.

 

 

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Until I actually read the post, at first glance I thought you had fitted some Alfasud style 70s hideous green carpet. 

I was thinking I don't remember seeing that in a Capri, but it was the 70s so anything is possible. 

Wondering how I could politely respond without saying it looked awful. 

Then I saw the after pic. 

Phew! 

 

Looks good Dan. On the road for the summer? ?

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46 minutes ago, Timewaster said:

Until I actually read the post, at first glance I thought you had fitted some Alfasud style 70s hideous green carpet. 

I was thinking I don't remember seeing that in a Capri, but it was the 70s so anything is possible. 

Wondering how I could politely respond without saying it looked awful. 

Then I saw the after pic. 

Phew! 

 

Looks good Dan. On the road for the summer? ?

Glad it wasn’t just me  ?

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There were options on these for interiors in lurid 70’s colours.

Black, Grey, Tan, Brown, Red, Blue and green were available on 70’s Fords. I think grey is my least favourite, all the others are fine by me!

 

Theres no way I’d fit a green carpet on a blue car though! Blue & green should never be seen...

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  • 2 weeks later...

More done this weekend just gone, it seems to be a bit slow at the moment though! Little bits & bobs getting done and little bits added here & there, doesn’t seem much but I suppose it all adds up to the finished article. 

Anyway, the handbrake gaiter and it’s metal retaining trim is now fitted permanently. Same for the gearstick one. I’ve opted to go for my cars original gearstick gaiter instead of the one with short centre console. It’s a bit more in keeping with the L trim level of this car imho, and you don’t seem to see so many without consoles nowadays so it makes it a little bit different in that respect. I forgot to take any pics of any of this though so you’ll have to wait for that!

 

The next job was start getting the fuel tank and associated crap back in. First was to get the fuel filler neck back into place. This is fitted from inside, sliding through the opening in the fuel flap opening in the rear quarter. To seal it is just one of those big rubbery O rings, exactly the same as the one that seals the filler neck into the fuel tank. Getting that O ring to fit in the quarter panel and the get the filler neck through it was an absolute twat to do! It was insanely tight, but using a smear of grease and WD40 got it there in the end, some absolutely shocking language also assisted the process!

Next was to slide the rubber dust cover over the opening in the boot floor which is held by a pair of jubilee clamps. Then the clear plastic tube for the filler cap water drain was pushed on and fed through a new grommet in the floor. Finally the plastic pipe for the tank breather could be fed through, up around a loop inside the rear quarter panel then back out through the floor. This took a bit of head scratching as I couldn’t remember anything about how it was fitted or routed! I think I’ve got it right though?

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Fuel cap still needs a clean up!

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After this the cover plate could be refitted. I actually painted this myself with aerosols as I forgot about it when the car was sprayed! Colour match isn’t 100% but for an unseen internal panel it’s fine. I’ve also cut a strip of the sound deadening stuff and stuck it to the underside of this panel as it sounded very ‘tinny’ without any. It’s a simple case of bolting it in place afterwards. Fit was perfect.

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Also, as I was doing this I noticed some of the original washers. They about sum up the British car industry in the 70’s! Some of them had the centre holes drilled off centre! Still used them though.

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I had hoped to get the tank fitted too but I couldn’t be arsed after doing the other bits, and my back was aching by then too so it’ll have to wait for now. It’s all clean and painted already though, I just need to remove the sender, fit a new seal ring and it can go back in then. The original tank retaining straps and bolts are good to go too. The last job here will be to cut a couple of new lengths of fuel hose for the breather system, then run the tank to pump fuel pipe under the car front to rear.

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3 minutes ago, Tamworthbay said:

Are you using the original petrol cap or getting a new one? One of them along with a set of steel wheels are still on my ‘to find list’. Struggling to find a supplier of a metal one though.

I think I’ll try to find an original one. This one fits and seals ok but the lock is very stiff, I used to just leave it unlocked when I was using the car before.

I did have a set of ‘dartboard’ steel wheels, the wide version exactly the same as the ones on this car but they needed blasting and painting still. I ended up with two complete sets of 5 of this type of wheel, picked the best ones for my car and eventually sold the remaining 5...

 

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7 minutes ago, Shite Ron said:

Looking good, I think the finish you have on unseen areas is well above how it would have been from the factory so would be happy with the panel sprayed by aerosol. Great work.

I see the topic total mentions gas tank. Will you be running on LPG?

Thanks.

no I’m not using LPG, I just like using Americanisms! I know a lot of people on here like them too!

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8 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

I think I’ll try to find an original one. This one fits and seals ok but the lock is very stiff, I used to just leave it unlocked when I was using the car before.

I did have a set of ‘dartboard’ steel wheels, the wide version exactly the same as the ones on this car but they needed blasting and painting still. I ended up with two complete sets of 5 of this type of wheel, picked the best ones for my car and eventually sold the remaining 5...

 

I remember the set you had, sadly I didn’t have the spare funds at the time or aI would have had them from you. Original caps seem thin on the ground. I am keeping an eye out, if I find a couple I will let you know.

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8 minutes ago, Tamworthbay said:

I remember the set you had, sadly I didn’t have the spare funds at the time or aI would have had them from you. Original caps seem thin on the ground. I am keeping an eye out, if I find a couple I will let you know.

I’ve actually just bagged a new old stock non locking version off eBay! The type with ‘Capri II’ written around it.

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5 minutes ago, Tamworthbay said:

Jammy bugger! How much was that?

 

?

£30!

I know, I know! But it’s new old stock, and I need one.

Theres a locking version, also on the Bay but it doesn’t have the ‘Capri II’ writing. Looks like an original but it’s not.

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Capri-MK2-3-New-fuel-cap-and-keys/392390832841?_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D225114%26meid%3D132b642821794747b4ab96a06d85407b%26pid%3D100675%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D15%26mehot%3Dnone%26sd%3D392390832841%26itm%3D392390832841%26pmt%3D1%26noa%3D1%26pg%3D2380057&_trksid=p2380057.c100675.m4236&_trkparms=pageci%3Ac5f58811-9379-11ea-8af8-74dbd180e3a4|parentrq%3A03794da11720aca030ac5663ffb000f4|iid%3A1

There are a few used ones but not all of them look the best!

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Just now, danthecapriman said:

The keys for that one in the pics look like the fah-ler ones that are £8 brand new. If the worst comes to the worst I will get one of those and see if it fits. Mine is key less and pretty shite.

 

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4 minutes ago, Tamworthbay said:

The keys for that one in the pics look like the fah-ler ones that are £8 brand new. If the worst comes to the worst I will get one of those and see if it fits. Mine is key less and pretty shite.

 

There’s this used one, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Capri-Mk2-Mk3-Locking-Petrolcap/174274809745?hash=item2893968f91:g:yRoAAOSw-r5etBoa

The backs a bit rusty but might clean up. Still looks ok and has a key.

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2 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

There’s this used one, https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Capri-Mk2-Mk3-Locking-Petrolcap/174274809745?hash=item2893968f91:g:yRoAAOSw-r5etBoa

The backs a bit rusty but might clean up. Still looks ok and has a key.

Thanks, I had seen that one bit can’t decide if the top is shoved in (opposite the side with the writing) or if it’s a trick of the light. I have messaged the guy as for £15 I will give it a go if it’s ok.

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1 hour ago, danthecapriman said:

Also, as I was doing this I noticed some of the original washers. They about sum up the British car industry in the 70’s! Some of them had the centre holes drilled off centre! Still used them though.

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If it had been me I would have gone to extreme lengths to obtain concentric washers the right size only to find when reassembling that there was a jolly good reason why that washer was like that and I would have to use it anyway. But then I am used to working on Citroens.

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14 minutes ago, DSdriver said:

If it had been me I would have gone to extreme lengths to obtain concentric washers the right size only to find when reassembling that there was a jolly good reason why that washer was like that and I would have to use it anyway. But then I am used to working on Citroens.

There were a few of the washers with off centre holes in the bag with the bolts removed from that panel. I just wonder, now you’ve said that if they are meant to be off centre. At the ends of the panel the bolt holes are actually cut out slots so you can adjust the position of the panel against the captive nuts on the bodyshell. But if you slide it right over one way it’d mean the washers would foul the edges of the panel or where the shape changes. Maybe that’s why they’re eccentric? To stop them fouling.

Not that it matters on this car, as the panel seems to fit well in the centre. I just spotted the washers were a bit pissed when I was fitting them. Very odd!

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