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

[TripleRich]

Looking more closely at the picture in your original post has me worried.  That rot by the scuttle and very front of the sill means the A post will need work.  Wouldn't be at all surprised if everything else is following close behind.  They hide the rot very well so have a good poke about.  However its got some good spares and would make for a viable project.  The undamaged dash is very rare and if the wings are genuine Ford they're worth silly money.  A good bonnet is also becoming very hard to find.

 

If you're up for a project and have plenty of free time go for it.  You'll need a welder, grinder, belt sander, spot weld drill bits and a fair bit of other stuff.  Panel availability is good but expressed steel ones take months to turn up and Magnum ones are very thin and usually don't fit.

 

Big commitment though. I haven't had a Saturday at home since I started on my Granada and that was two years ago.

[fordperv]

I must say I enjoy reading your posts TripleRich they are always helpful and informative for folks

[coalnotdole]

The deed is done.

 

I think I'll have a prod at it and put it in for a test to see where it fails. If welding some angle along the inner sill/floor joint on the passenger side will get it a ticket I'll do that.

Else I think it'll fit in a shipping container until I have the space, time, and inclination to get properly stuck into it - In all likelihood that will be next year.

[fordperv]

Good man

[Tamworthbay]

Great buy, you won’t regret it*

 

 

 

 

 

*probably

[coalnotdole]

Great buy, you won’t regret it*

 

 

*probably

I'm regretting it already and I haven't even collected it from across the road yet!

Feeling apprehensive about the whole thing really but knew if I didn't go for it then I'd regret it (at least for a week or two)

 

Heres the link to the original eBay add: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Capri-mk3-/273302171147?hash=item3fa2142e0b%3Ag%3As2gAAOSwVuNbJR5O&nma=true&si=SMzabf9%2BgyEug6kiwrmHgPbiam4%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557

First buyer turned up but kicked tyres and wanted to haggle, Relisted and second buyer never showed up which was when muggins here wandered along...

[Tamworthbay]

I'm regretting it already and I haven't even collected it from across the road yet!Feeling apprehensive about the whole thing really but knew if I didn't go for it then I'd regret it (at least for a week or two)Heres the link to the original eBay add: https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Capri-mk3-/273302171147?hash=item3fa2142e0b%3Ag%3As2gAAOSwVuNbJR5O&nma=true&si=SMzabf9%2BgyEug6kiwrmHgPbiam4%3D&orig_cvip=true&nordt=true&rt=nc&_trksid=p2047675.l2557First buyer turned up but kicked tyres and wanted to haggle, Relisted and second buyer never showed up which was when muggins here wandered along...

There is always that post purchase fear, it’s part of the fun. It will be worth the effort and with the way prices are going you won’t lose on it whatever.

[junkyarddog]

Excellent.

[danthecapriman]

Sweet!

I hadn’t realised your on the island! Your not far at all from me apart from the little issue of a ferry trip!

 

I think you’ve done right fwiw. I’d still say it might well be worth a go getting it a ticket even if it is only for a year just so you can have a drive of it for a bit and see how you get on with it. Provided it doesn’t cost a fortune to get it a ticket of course!

If you like it then make the time and cash investment doing it up. If you don’t like it then at least you tried and you can get your money back or maybe a bit of profit selling it on.

 

Get some more pics and info up when you get it too please!

[Mally]

Don't look too hard, just do what it needs for Mot.

Drive it 3 months then decide. It will always sell with an Mot.

Dan and Rich take things to the extreme.

Which is good, but expensive and time consuming. 

[danthecapriman]

Don't look too hard, just do what it needs for Mot.

Drive it 3 months then decide. It will always sell with an Mot.

Dan and Rich take things to the extreme.

Which is good, but expensive and time consuming.

 

Stupid. The word is stupid!

[Mally]

That's the one thing you both are not.

I have the greatest respect for your views.

But I tended to stick my Capri carpets down with underseal 

 

I seem to remember Dave RIP calling me stupid once.

He knew what he was talking about

[Guest Hooli]

(But a Manta is a much nicer car)

I had one, it was quite shit. I don't want another but I'd love a V6 capri if I had money to waste.

[Tamworthbay]

I would like a Manta as well as the Capri, they are fetching good money though.

[fordperv]

Here's one I saw for sale today, I thought the price was a little optimistic

 

[Tamworthbay]

Here's one I saw for sale today, I thought the price was a little optimistic

20180814_122940.jpg

Depends on condition, the S is sought after as I know you know and even projects seem to be creeping towards £3k ffs.

[coalnotdole]

Car collected.

Seems to drive ok but brakes are pretty poor. Have had a quick poke - inner sill probably not as bad as i thought, its been plated up between it and the floor on the underside so its just two 6" section where the part of the sill above the floor has parted company with the lower section and floor. Obviously wants to be totally replaced when the wings come off but might be patchable for the meanwhile.

MOT booked for next tuesday to get a list of fails and an opinion of which bits of the front valance and headlight bowl area are structural.

 

A posts look a bit worse on the leading edges than i had hoped and also a bit of rust at the tops above the hinges where it joins the scuttle area. doors hinges seem solid and don't droop - shut lines are good. bit of rust in the front of the door shells above the hinges too.

 

I'll sort some photos out later if i get a chance.

 

Dave

[sierraman]

Those front wings have seen some wob. Start poking at that and it will be like a sieve. I know it’s costly but buying superficially good one at several grand could be a big mistake when you find once you dig that it’s no better than one that’s an honest restoration project.

[danthecapriman]

Brakes on Capri’s aren’t great tbh. 1.3,1.6,2.0 models have solid discs (unless it’s been modified). They do the job but are fairly typical old car brakes imho. The 2.8 had a vented larger disc set up which are better. Popular mod of the Capri era was fit 2.8 front strut units complete with the 2.8 brakes, improves the brakes and gives you better than stock struts too. I’ve left mine as Henry intended though!

 

You can see the bits of front valance that are structural by opening the bonnet, look straight down where the radiator sits and you can see and feel the brackets where the anti roll bar mounts. These are attached to the front valance area. Mine rusted here, and failed one of its last MOT’s on it as it was holed next to the bracket. To fix it meant stripping out the brackets, pushing the ARB out the way and finding a shit load more rust into the valance! Then cut it all out and weld in new metal. It took me about two days to do mine to a decent standard.

It’s since been redone again as I’ve now got a brand new genuine valance on mine now!

 

 

I would like a Manta as well as the Capri, they are fetching good money though.

Same here! A nice Manta A would do me very nicely, which could then sit between my mk2 and mk1 North America spec Capri’s in my dream garage!

 

Speaking of Manta’s, A or B I’ve not seen one in years. They seem to have completely vanished around here. There used to be a rotten black one in the area but that was the last one I’ve seen in ages.

[fordperv]

Depends on condition, the S is sought after as I know you know and even projects seem to be creeping towards £3k ffs.

Condition wise the filler bubbling/swelling at the back and face of sills, sill lips delaminating especially at the rear in line with the spring mounting point at the floor the favourite rotting spot, tailgate bubbling/swelling under filler in the corner and on the face, the doors bubbling/swelling a few other bits too, it would make a good rolling resto for someone

 

Where as the mustang he was selling was delicious

[Tamworthbay]

Condition wise the filler bubbling/swelling at the back and face of sills, sill lips delaminating especially at the rear in line with the spring mounting point at the floor the favourite rotting spot, tailgate bubbling/swelling under filler in the corner and on the face, the doors bubbling/swelling a few other bits too, it would make a good rolling resto for someone

Where as the mustang he was selling was delicious

yeah that does seem a bit rich, shame as it looks ok in the pics.

[D Spares & Tyres]

Capris are great cars.

 

Good to drive. Anyone who just says they are Cortinas in drag is talking nonsense, they are more like a stretched mk2 Escort underneath. Handling is fine, no worse than other RWD cars.

 

Mk1 and 2s were bad rotters as were early mk3s but later Ge man built ones seemed to resist structural rot better than most cars of the era. A long time has passed since then though.

 

Simple mechanicals, nothing that can't be changed in a couple of hours.

 

I've had 5 Capris on the road and I can say little bad about them. I once did 2000 miles in one, in one week alone. (Midlands, up the East coast of Scotland, then around the northern coast then back down the West Coast and in and out of the Highlands)

 

The only thing that would worry me now is the theft aspect.

[sierraman]

I always wanted a Capri, in fact when they were still £500 cars I was going to buy one. My uncle told me they were absolute bags of shit and I was put off a bit and bought a Sierra instead. For once I wish I’d ignored him and bought one. Great cars, I always cheer up immensely when I see a decent one about. My grandparents neighbours had a really tidy mk3 1.6 Laser in red, even though it was probably painfully slow it looked the bomb and would still oblige to a bit of wet roundabout fun. You’ve done the right thing buying it instead of spending your money on something stupid like a kitchen. I think there’s a happy medium you could get to with the car, get the body solid enough and just use it and enjoy it, sometimes these proper ground up restos are just unusable. Then what’s the point in that.

[Amishtat]

Agreed. Get an mot on it and just enjoy it for a bit, I reckon you'll enjoy it. 2.0 or 1.6,it's enough to make it a fun steer. And in spite of my opinions on Mantas, I agree the Capri is the better looking car.

[Sir Snipes]

When I was in my Mantas people would always ask if it was a Capri. Never understood how people mixed them up.

 

This thread is making me miss my Mantas!

[sierraman]

You can’t beat a late 87/88 Manta GTE in white, I think toward the end they were all saloons. You forget how popular these were back in the day, can remember my mums hairdresser having a white Manta berlinetta.

[Amishtat]

Possibly speculation but most of the late (D/E reg) one's I remember were hatches. The Coupe looked much nicer to me but when I had mine all I could get was a gunmetal grey Berlinetta hatch,although Wonder & Davis Motors had evidently been responsible for fitting a 2.0 carburetted Cavalier or Charlton engine. I owe my life to its inherent unreliability. My housemate (who bears responsibility for this, having let me drive his black A-reg 1.8 GT) bought an F-reg Exclusiv hatch in white. With a stinking hangover. In the dark and rain. In Leicester. I rode my bike round to his the next morning to have a proper look and it looked unbelievably crusty from the far end of his road. Beer goggles have a lot to answer for. R.I.P. F65LBL and Ross, if you're not here you should be.

[Amishtat]

I did quite fancy a black 2.0 Laser off a workmate back in 2003 but it was disturbingly crusty even then and he wanted £400 which actually seemed pricy at the time, MOT not withstanding. D601CDU, from memory.

[adw1977]

I'll be interested to see how this purchase turns out.  Good luck!

 

On the subject of Mantas, I think both bodystyles stayed in production until the end.  This is from an October 1987 brochure:

[Sir Snipes]

Yes I don't think they dropped one shape before the other. That brochure car is what mine would have looked like when it was new. Bit different 20 years later when I had it lol.