Project Buying a Crapi - 2020 Update!, Still slowly bleeding me dry

[coalnotdole]

I've always been keen on the styling of the Capri especially the later mk3's for some reason.

What with oldskool ford pricing these days I had come to terms with them probably being forever out of my price range.

 

However someone I know is looking to shift what was intended to be his project car so I suddenly have the option of buying a 1985 2.0 Laser with about 75000 on the clock.

 

 

It was mot'd until april but needs some welding to the headlight bowl areas and probably the passenger side inner sill to pass another.

Both front wings are rotted through at the very fronts where it appears it has been parked up and partially covered with a tarp at some point. apparently the front 6" of the bonnet was also rotten (has been swapped for a good used one)

Outer sills are both crispy and have been patched at the rear end for the last mot. Rust hole in either side of the scuttle panel.

rear arches are crispy around the edges but don't appear too bad.

 

"A" posts appear good as are the strut tops. Roof and gutters appear good. Two new wings are included as well as a front end (valance, headlight bowls and slam panel) chopped from a donor car. Interior is fairly tidy, Dash top is cracked but a undamaged used one is included.

 

Starts and runs and is fitted with the 5 speed box.

 

 

Now with the exception of making up new sills for my Suzuki van and sticking them on and doing wing swaps on accident damaged cars I've never got involved with bodywork welding - or steel cars in general!

 

It appeals to me as its fairly original and unmolested - doesn't appear to have a million badly welded patches or 3 layers of outer sills. One of my pet niggles is undoing other owners bodges so to have something thats mostly original to work from seems a good starting point.

 

Its also literally over the road from me - Living on an island this is quite a big bonus and an instant £350+ saving over getting one dragged back from the mainland

 

On the negative side its still a reasonable financial outlay on a vehicle i don't actually need and which will probably go backwards before it goes forwards. I have lots of other car and boat related projects to keep me busy anyway...

 

Any thoughts or tips from people with more experience than myself would be much appreciated!

 

Dave

[320touring]

Got to be worth a punt!

[cort16]

It’ll be worse once you dig into it they rot everywhere . Defo easier if it’s not been lashed up before though.

 

They don’t drive that great but they have their own charm .

 

The inner wings will likely need work it’s a classic rot spot for these and cortinas. Make sure the doors close okay that will prove the a posts are okay.

[Tamworthbay]

Have to disagree, nothing and I mean nothing drives as good as a decent Capri. As long as your definition of good is tail happy to an almost suicidal degree in the wet. And why would it not be? They are ridiculously fun cars and despite having had some seriously nice cars I have gone back to my first car and first love and have another. Cort is right though, it may well be worse when you have a dig. Lift the carpets and check the inner sill ends at the front, put your hand inside the wing and feel the nose of the inner wing bottom/sill. There is a rustbtrap under the front wings- just put your hand up from the wheel. At the rear check the spring hanger mount area, several panels come together there and it’s a fiddle to sort well, but not impossible. Front panels are obscene prices but can usually be saved, mine took a month on and and off to rebuild. Mechanicals are simple, cheap and shared across other fords.

 

Go for it, and if you don’t can I have the details?

[richardthestag]

get it bort and stop messing abart

[Bren]

I guarantee it will have more rot than you think.

Are you up for that amount of work? Will you be painting it?

You need to consider this - paintwork is horrifically expensive to have done professionally.

[richardthestag]

I know I havent seen it and all that but get bonnet painted and enjoy. fix it when MOT calls

[Tamworthbay]

Bren is completely right, but a rattle can paintjob doesn’t make it any less fun! (That’s my theory at least)

[Tamworthbay]

We just need a pic of Dan’s beauty and it will be as good as sold.

[coalnotdole]

I know I havent seen it and all that but get bonnet painted and enjoy. fix it when MOT calls

I think it might require a small* amount of welding in order to be allowed over the threshold of my local mot station. Getting it road legal would be quite high on the list of priorities but i don't believe on having to redo stuff later so if the wings have to come off to sort the headlight bowls and valance then I think id have to do the sills at the same time.

 

Thanks everyone for the words of en/discouragement. Intention is to get it up on a lift and see what the front spring hangers are like before I hand the cash over. The drivers side sill has a bloody huge patch that looks like it lines right up with the hanger so I suspect that side at least has been cut open and plated up for the last mot then had the sill closed back off with a patch.

[coalnotdole]

MOT history mentions corrosion at most of the usual points and seems a fairly consistent repletion of fail followed by pass. There actually appears less welding has been done to the car than you'd expect from reading through these. Sounds like it got through tyres pretty regularly too!

 

Date tested

20 March 2017

 

PASS

 

Mileage

93,353 miles

Expiry date

19 March 2018

Advisory notice item(s)

Nearside Front Anti-roll bar linkage rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement (2.4.G.2)

Nearside Front Brake hose has slight corrosion to ferrules (3.6.B.4e)

Nearside Front tyre perishing

Offside Front tyre perishing

Nearside Rear tyre perishing

Offside Rear tyre perishing

Nearside Front inner wheel arch corroded

Offside Front inner wheel arch corroded

 

 

Date tested

3 January 2017

 

FAIL

 

Mileage

93,353 miles

Reason(s) for failure

Front Windscreen washer provides insufficient washer liquid (8.2.3)

Nearside Headlamp aim too high (1.8 )

Offside Headlamp aim too high (1.8 )

Offside Rear Mechanical brake component has restricted free movement (3.5.1k)

Exhaust emissions carbon monoxide content excessive (7.3.B.1a)

Offside Rear fog lamp not working (1.3.2b)

Nearside Front Vehicle structure has excessive corrosion which adversely affects braking or steering chassis rail (6.1.A.1)

Nearside Rear Suspension spring mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded (2.4.A.3)

Offside Rear Suspension spring mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded sill (2.4.A.3)

Nearside Front Seat belt anchorage prescribed area is excessively corroded sill (5.2.6)

Nearside Rear Seat belt anchorage prescribed area is excessively corroded inner wheel arch (5.2.6)

 

Advisory notice item(s)

Nearside Front Anti-roll bar linkage rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement (2.4.G.2)

Nearside Front tyre perishing

Offside Front tyre perishing

Nearside Rear tyre perishing

Offside Rear tyre perishing

Nearside Front Brake hose has slight corrosion to ferrules (3.6.B.4e)

Nearside Front inner wheel arch corroded

Offside Front inner wheel arch corroded

 

 

Date tested

9 April 2014

 

PASS

 

Mileage

91,648 miles

Expiry date

8 April 2015

Advisory notice item(s)

Offside Front Lower Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement (2.4.G.2)

Nearside Rear Leaf spring deteriorated but not seriously weakened (2.4.B.1a)

Offside Rear Leaf spring deteriorated but not seriously weakened (2.4.B.1a)

drivers seat showing signs of wear

both outer sill corroding

Oil leak

both inner sills corroding

n/s/r/ chassis corroding

weld repairs to front floor areas

under side of car heavly under sealed

 

 

 

Date tested

7 April 2014

 

FAIL

 

Mileage

91,643 miles

Reason(s) for failure

Drivers seat insecure (6.2.A.1)

Nearside Front Tyre has ply or cords exposed (4.1.D.1b)

Offside Front Tyre has ply or cords exposed (4.1.D.1b)

Nearside Rear Tyre has ply or cords exposed (4.1.D.1b)

Offside Rear Tyre has ply or cords exposed (4.1.D.1b)

Offside Front wheel bearing has excessive play (2.5.A.3c)

Nearside Windscreen wiper does not clear the windscreen effectively (8.2.2)

 

Advisory notice item(s)

Offside Front Lower Suspension arm rubber bush deteriorated but not resulting in excessive movement (2.4.G.2)

Nearside Rear Leaf spring deteriorated but not seriously weakened (2.4.B.1a)

Offside Rear Leaf spring deteriorated but not seriously weakened (2.4.B.1a)

drivers seat showing signs of wear

both outer sill corroding

Oil leak

both inner sills corroding

n/s/r/ chassis corroding

weld repairs to front floor areas

under side of car heavly under sealed

 

 

Date tested

31 October 2011

 

PASS

 

Mileage

90,593 miles

Expiry date

30 October 2012

 

 

 

Date tested

29 October 2011

 

FAIL

 

Mileage

90,571 miles

Reason(s) for failure

Exhaust system not adequately supported (7.1.1)

Offside Front Mechanical brake component has restricted free movement (3.5.1k)

 

Advisory notice item(s)

idle at upper limits

 

 

 

 

Date tested

6 February 2010

 

PASS

 

Mileage

88,835 miles

Expiry date

5 February 2011

Advisory notice item(s)

exhaust corroding/vehicle heavelly under sealed/both sides front tyres wearing low

 

 

 

Date tested

23 October 2009

 

FAIL

 

Mileage

88,427 miles

Reason(s) for failure

Nearside Rear Suspension component mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded (2.4.A.3)

Offside Rear Suspension component mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded (2.4.A.3)

Nearside Front Suspension component mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded (2.4.A.3)

Front Exhaust has a major leak of exhaust gases (7.1.2)

Rear Exhaust system not adequately supported (7.1.1)

 

Advisory notice item(s)

Nearside Front wheel bearing has slight play (2.5.A.3c)

Offside Front wheel bearing has slight play (2.5.A.3c)

slight play in offside steering rack

Battery insecure

 

 

 

 

Date tested

22 October 2008

 

PASS

 

Mileage

85,577 miles

Expiry date

21 October 2009

 

 

 

 

Date tested

19 August 2008

 

FAIL

 

Mileage

85,530 miles

Reason(s) for failure

Nearside Rear Tyre tread depth below requirements of 1.6mm (4.1.E.1)

Nearside Rear Suspension component mounting prescribed area is excessively corroded (2.4.A.3)

Offside Rear Mechanical brake component securing device missing (3.5.1i)

 

Advisory notice item(s)

offsiode front floor holed and corroded outside 30cm from any point

 

 

 

 

Date tested

2 August 2007

 

PASS

 

Mileage

79,083 miles

Expiry date

15 August 2008

Advisory notice item(s)

Nearside Front Front wheel bearing has slight play (2.5.A.3c)

Offside Front Front wheel bearing has slight play (2.5.A.3c)

Offside Front Steering rack gaiter deteriorated (2.2.D.2d)

 

 

 

 

Date tested

10 August 2006

 

PASS

 

Mileage

75,903 miles

Expiry date

15 August 2007

Advisory notice item(s)

Nearside Front front brake grabbing slightly (3.7.A.2b)

Offside Front front brake grabbing slightly (3.7.A.2b)

Nearside Front Vehicle structure has slight corrosion (6.1.B.2)

Offside Front Vehicle structure has slight corrosion (6.1.B.2)

 

 

 

 

Date tested

16 August 2005

 

PASS

 

Mileage

74,162 miles

Expiry date

15 August 2006

 

 

 

Date tested

16 August 2005

 

FAIL

 

Mileage

74,162 miles

Reason(s) for failure

Nearside Windscreen wiper blade deteriorated (8.2.2)

[danthecapriman]

If it’s a good price and you have the cash buy it. Even purely to get it at a good price, do a bit of tarting up and sell it on, assuming you don’t bond with it.

 

I’ve had mine since 2001 and I still love it as much now as I did then. These were my school boy hero car! Nothing else was good enough for me then!

Putting right other peoples shit work is a royal pain in the arse so check thoroughly for plates on top of plates.

If it’s more unmessed with than that then check front wings, they rot out at their front edges next to the indicators and the join to the front valance. And the rear edge where all the road muck gets flung up into them. This area has the inner sill ends and A post there too which are similarly affected by damp and wet mud etc being left up in there. You can see this area easy enough just looking into the front arch/wheel tub area. It might be worth putting your arm up there and giving it a good push and see if anything goes through or feels iffy.

Sills rot, as do the inners. Check for signs of filler and lift the carpets, front and back if you can to check them.

Rear arches also go, mine had been badly replaced at some stage and they just chopped off the originals and lap welded the new ones in place. They didn’t bother to reweld the inner arch bowl to them afterwards either so give them a good look over.

While your in the parish check the rear spring hangers as these can also rot and they need to be strong!

Front strut mounts are notorious rot spots on these. Original ones should have the VIN stamped into it on the drivers side. Many have been replaced already by now but if they have make sure it’s been done properly. I’ve seen these tacked on like cover panels before and it’s not good enough!

Door bottoms go too, easy to check for.

Give the front screen surround and scuttle panel outer corners a good check and be wary of filler, particularly in the corners near where the doors close. Sometimes you can end up with wet floors because of holes around here.

If the car needs metal work, I warn you it can get expensive. Mk3 wings are available as aftermarket panels which aren’t great and need adjustment. Sills and rear arches are also available aftermarket. If you go for higher end genuine panels are around still but are expensive! Mines cost me almost £10k in new panels/metalwork and even then some panels were not genuine!

If you start taking it to bits I’m positive you will find more rot that you couldn’t see initially. I got mine blasted and even after the length of time I’ve owned mine it still surprised me how much rot and damage was there that I didn’t know about.

 

Mechanically they’re bomb proof and easy to look after. Most stuff is available too. The Pinto is a pretty hard wearing lump though and even neglected ones will keep going. Pinto heads aren’t generally unleaded ready though so it’ll need converting with hardened inserts or use an additive.

Most other stuff is equally long lasting and doesn’t tend to cause trouble.

 

Interior, bits for this are often difficult to come by now. Little is available new anymore and it wasn’t exactly designed for a long life so get the best you can and make sure it’s complete too.

If not you might have to look for good used bits and that can be made harder as you’ll have to find the right colours and styles to match up. Mk3’s are a bit better in this respect than early cars though. I had to resort to (expensive) retrimming on mine.

 

 

To drive, they’re great! But it’s no sports car and they don’t handle all that well. Just treat it as it is, an old saloon car! They’re well laid out inside and the driving position I find superb. Everything is to hand where it should be.

I used to use mine as a daily driver all year round. They’re capable of it but I don’t think I could now! The heaters aren’t great and I just can’t be arsed fannying around in such basic cars as this in shit weather!

As a toy and fair weather classic they’re bloody good though.

 

 

If you need anything or want to know anything else feel free to give me a shout!

[Felly Magic]

The only thing with Capris that hinders any potential restoration, parts costs, a lot of parts are getting unobtanium, and repro parts can be surprisingly costly, and not fit that well either

[BorniteIdentity]

Thoughts?

 

If you don’t, I will.

[Tamworthbay]

The only thing with Capris that hinders any potential restoration, parts costs, a lot of parts are getting unobtanium, and repro parts can be surprisingly costly, and not fit that well either

Whilst true a couple of years ago the ridiculous rise in prices have largely removed the cost issue. Thy have finally caught on (sadly for those of use who have always loved them) and I see projects far worse than mine SELLING fro £2k, I paid £600 three years ago. Parts fit is variable like many aftermarket bits but most are ok with a bit of time, just don’t expect to drop them on in minutes. The front wings are BIG and take a bit of work to get right.

[danthecapriman]

Here’s a few pics of my mk2 just after blasting. Should give you a good idea what and where to look. Mine was very good in places but horrible in others!

 

A posts and screen surround/scuttle ends.

This shows how it rots! The outer panel being a mess means the inner one is almost certainly fucked. Mine leaked like a sieve!

 

 

 

Rear end showing piss poor arch work and rot under and around the rear sill area and chassis.

 

[Tamworthbay]

That rear arch repair is better than the one on mine! The morons put the whole repair panel on and cut to that!

[danthecapriman]

The only thing with Capris that hinders any potential restoration, parts costs, a lot of parts are getting unobtanium, and repro parts can be surprisingly costly, and not fit that well either

Have a look here for an idea on panel prices. They do stock some genuine panels still too... http://www.steelpanels.co.uk/category/ford/capri-mk-3/

 

A lot of my panels came from here. Including a pair of new rear quarter panels. Feel free to wince at the price of those!

 

I got very lucky with a pair of new unused genuine Ford mk2 wings off eBay. Bought before prices went mad luckily.

The difference between genuine and non genuine is pretty significant when you try fitting them. Non gen can require hours of fettling to get right which adds labour costs. They’re also often thinner gauge metal than original panels.

By comparison my genuine wings pretty much fell on and we’re very close to perfect straight away. It costs more to get them but you save on labour rates getting them fitting and looking right.

[danthecapriman]

That rear arch repair is better than the one on mine! The morons put the whole repair panel on and cut to that!

They were truly awful! Trust me!

 

They couldn’t even weld properly, whoever did it. The welds not continues and what is there is porus like they’d run out of gas! Behind the outer arch was nothing. There was a rough cut edge of the quarter panels where it’d been cut back and the arch panel welded on in a lap joint.

The inner arch bowl wasn’t attached to the outer arch either all the way round. They’d cut that back and just left it like that! You could put your hands up into the gap above the rear arch bowls from outside the car!

[castros_bro]

Buying a Crapi - talk me in/out of it!

 

not exactly the forum to get the "talk me out of it" vote. 

 

 

If you have not spent time with using a Capri then you probably won't understand why people fawn over them.  I can not afford one in money or time but have spent time previously autobahning a 1600 Laser, 1300 auto and almost new 2.8 injection. If you can keep the rust under control then the rest is a joy to drive.

 

 

 

[Tamworthbay]

They were truly awful! Trust me!

They couldn’t even weld properly, whoever did it. The welds not continues and what is there is porus like they’d run out of gas! Behind the outer arch was nothing. There was a rough cut edge of the quarter panels where it’d been cut back and the arch panel welded on in a lap joint.

The inner arch bowl wasn’t attached to the outer arch either all the way round. They’d cut that back and just left it like that! You could put your hands up into the gap above the rear arch bowls from outside the car!

It’s scary what you find, on mine the front end was all fibreglass but that was easier to deal with than the one they had tried to weld as once the fibreglass was ground away it was easy enough to sort.

[danthecapriman]

Buying a Crapi - talk me in/out of it!

 

not exactly the forum to get the "talk me out of it" vote. 

 

 

If you have not spent time with using a Capri then you probably won't understand why people fawn over them.  I can not afford one in money or time but have spent time previously autobahning a 1600 Laser, 1300 auto and almost new 2.8 injection. If you can keep the rust under control then the rest is a joy to drive.

Autobahning a 1300 auto!

 

Good god! What was that like!? I’ve driven a 1300 manual and that was rather slow.

[danthecapriman]

It’s scary what you find, on mine the front end was all fibreglass but that was easier to deal with than the one they had tried to weld as once the fibreglass was ground away it was easy enough to sort.

When I saw mine after blasting it was a real eye opener. I’d been driving around for years with it like that. I’m under no illusion at all now what would have happened if I’d hit something with all those holes, bodged up bits and piss poor/missing welds. The car would have just folded straight up. And much of that couldn’t be seen because it was under filler, paint and underseal.

[cort16]

You can still get some parts from the factors. The guy across from my lockup does bodywork stuff and got a pair of wheel arch repair panels for 20 quid each next day!

I think you can get patent wings cheap but they never fit.

 

I've seen what you can do with fibreglass I've no doubt you'd be as good with metal. Just buy a really good mig!

 

Also from what I saw of that 2.8 they don't have quite as many features that look like they're specifically designed to trap water and generate rust than the cortina.

[castros_bro]

Autobahning a 1300 auto!

 

Good god! What was that like!? I’ve driven a 1300 manual and that was rather slow.

 

Marginally better then autobahning my A35van, Bedford plaxton coach, Wolseley 4/44, Standard 8/10, EX WD BSA B40, from Darmstadt on the speed record section. OR the A35 van on

Hockenheimring.

 

 

Has it been bought yet???

[junkyarddog]

Bought this 10 years ago,while prices were reasonable.

 

2.0 Ghia auto.

 

Great cruiser more so than a sports car,

now sitting in the shed awaiting some TLC..

The rust was just getting beyond the point where I couldn't ignore it any longer.

 

In happier days.

 

 

Started to gather some parts for it,will tackle it some day.

[Felly Magic]

Have you seen the bulkhead on nutjop PeteC's Bramble?, the car is utterly hanging everywhere, but barring a couple of localised bits, the bulkhead is solid, Fords do rust in a bizarre way, bigger engined cars do need something to keep the wayward arse end in check in the wet, and quite a few BL Princesses have given up their 4 pot brake calipers to many a Capri, and towards the end, it was only daft buggers in Blighty buying the Dagenham, now Cologne pony car. 280s are now worth mega coin, daft really, as it isn't that quick by modern standards, if it isn't too rotten, get it bought

[danthecapriman]

Have you seen the bulkhead on nutjop PeteC's Bramble?, the car is utterly hanging everywhere, but barring a couple of localised bits, the bulkhead is solid, Fords do rust in a bizarre way, bigger engined cars do need something to keep the wayward arse end in check in the wet, and quite a few BL Princesses have given up their 4 pot brake calipers to many a Capri, and towards the end, it was only daft buggers in Blighty buying the Dagenham, now Cologne pony car. 280s are now worth mega coin, daft really, as it isn't that quick by modern standards, if it isn't too rotten, get it bought

I think it’s the steel that was used back in the day. German cars used better quality steel apparently, the U.K. built cars tended to rot quicker and worse.

Mines a Halewood U.K car! Though oddly the main chassis itself was almost completely untouched by rust, even the strut tops in mine are both original. Spring hangers both original, though one did need a small repair. It was almost everything else that was bollocksed!

All mk3’s (I think!) are German built as production shifted fully to Cologne when they were introduced. I think the last two or three years worth of Capri’s were only sold here, everyone else had seemingly moved on!

[fordperv]

Well if you want someone to talk you out of it im not your man either, they are great and only appreciating in value, if you can weld and don't mind the graft its perfect for you

[Dick Cheeseburger]

Buy a mk1 Cav coupe. Much better value, and not common as mook.