1981 Ford Capri 2.0S

[Foz]

Hello everybody, just wanted to introduce myself and my capri to the forum.

Its a 1981 2.0S mk3 that's been in the family since 1990 and has been passed down from my father to me some years ago.

The story is that my father bought the car inn 1990 as his escort xr3 was to expensive to insure and his first child was on its way, so the escort went and he bought this from a man in the Selby area. (my father being a ford trained mechanic, he did like his ford back then)

He drove the car for about 3 years and with a new house and me and my brother on our way he had to find a family car that was my economical and cheaper to use than this, and so for the next ten years it spent time in a relatives front garden, then made its way from one barn to another until 2003.  

This was when he decided to restore the car himself and so we dragged it back home and plonked it into his garage.  Sadly due to work he just couldn't find the time for her and so for another 10 years she sat unloved until 2013 when I was given her.

 

The picture above was taken on the day we dragged her out of the garage,  now I was still an apprentice living with mum and dad so all I could do at the time was put her in a council garage safely tucked away.

 

This picture was taken in June 2019 as she is now.

I have now purchased my own home and I'm currently working on modernising that, I also need to build a garage for the capri so that I'll have a dry place to work on her.

My plan is to restore the car so that I can enjoy using it on days out and even holidays to the south west.  I wont be doing a full body strip down resto but she does require some welding work on her back end.

 

As can be seen from the photo's the rear valance and rear corners have gone and there are some holes in the sills at the rear.  There's also a small hole in one of the rear chassis rails just around where the fuel tank is mounted to.

I have obtained a new pattern part rear valance and I can get pattern new rear corner out skins as well, I will also be removing the tow bar as this car will never tow a trailer or caravan again.  I will be needing new leaf springs as the ones on it are pretty well worn.

I may be needing a new fuel tank if the old one cannot be saved but I'll make that judgement when the time comes, but apart from the rear end the car is mostly rot free.  From the back of the doors forward everything is pretty much solid.  Floors are good and the doors are ok (I have a spare passenger door if I decided to replace it).    

The scuttle panel is solid with no bubbling any where on it and the dashboard is not cracked which for me is a bonus as I've seen lots of capris with cracked dashboards due to the sun.

 

I just hope my father can remember how this all goes back together.

I do still have the original steering wheel which is inn a poor state and requires  recovering, currently a mountney one is fitted which I actually prefer to the original one so I'll be keeping it on the car.

The engine is the original 2.0 pinto with the 205 block, this will be getting a full strip down and rebuild when I get to it.

Well that's all I can think of to say right now, hopefully within the next year and can get my garage built and start working on this car and maybe start to actually enjoy it.

?  

[danthecapriman]

Very nice! Great to see another Capri licker on here! I’ll be interested to see how you get on with this, looks a good car.

[Willy Warpit]

A black Capri S was a very smart car when new so well worth restoring given that it does not look too badly gone.

On an Essex plate as well so was probably originally registered by the factory. Good luck with the garage building!

 

 

[sierraman]

As Capris go that looks really solid actually. 

[Tamworthbay]

We need more capris on here so looking forward to seeing how it goes. I have a load of spares if you stuck for any bits.

 

[Skizzer]

Really looking forward to this.  As Willy W said above, a black Capri S (actually any colour Capri S) is a very handsome thing.

Welcome on board.

[stuboy]

good to see it being saved........

[spartacus]

I think you'll fit in well!

[Amishtat]

That's pretty solid really, and I do like to see an Essex reg. Black is the best colour for a Capri 

[Wack]

Nice, looking forward to reading about the restoration , if you've got the room build as big a garage as you can afford , when using it as a workshop bigger is better 

About 15 years ago before ford tax a guy at work had one , sold it to another guy at work for £250 

He'd had it for a month and one of the car reg transfer companies sent him a letter offering him £500 for the plate which was A11 then 3 letters 

1st guy was gutted , free car taxed for a year for nowt

 

[Sudsprint]

Great car - looking forward to following it's progress

[Cavcraft]

Absolutely love that, Capris are ace.

[bunglebus]

Very nice - check your A pillars and strut towers carefully!

[AnthonyG]

Lovely, look forward to seeing more of this.

As Willy/Skizzer said, any Capri S is a thing of beauty, black is a great colour for them though. 

Interior looks to be in excellent condition, another bonus as trim bits can be very pricy now! 

[Eyersey1234]

Nice car, I'm looking forward to updates. Good luck with the garage build and the restoration. There can't be many Capris that have been in the same family since 1990.

[AnthonyG]

Have a inspirational pic from a Ford brochure, 1982:

[Dannyk]

I used to (and still do) like capri's as much as lightbulbbus likes invacars. So another one defiantly watching how you get on with it.

A mk3 "S" with fishnets is about as good as it can get.

Was also going to post an inspirational picture but got beaten to it, but have it anyway

[RichL]

Welcome

Looks like a great project keep us updated! 

Just don't let the house renovations take over your life like I did... but definitely get that garage built! 

 

 

[Mrs6C]

The Mk3 Capri is a fantastic looking car IMHO, especially the 'S' without the side mouldings.

My favourite colour for them was Glacier Blue, but the plain black is lovely too. The grey 'Laser' trim (not to be confused with the trim of the 'Laser' edition!) on the later 'S' models looks good as well.