N19's fleet - Capri brakes, Mondeo fuses, and other fun stories.

[N19]

Just now, robt100 said:

So ford never updated this idea, had the same thing happen to sunroof-specced Capris. Anyone with a later car or laser usually ended up with identical rear sills due to these pipes. General 'approved' repair is to extend the pipe and pop it out the bottom of the sill with a grommit to stop the mud getting in around it on the sill.

Aye, it's a flippin' stupid thing to do and I don't understand why on earth they thought it'd be a good idea... and then continued to do it for years later on cars like these! A little extra pipe or a diversion to that pipe would have just let it drain onto the ground. I remember reading something where someone had drilled a hole in their sill and a quantity of water drained out...

[EyesWeldedShut]

6 minutes ago, N19 said:

I remember reading something where someone had drilled a hole in their sill and a quantity of water drained out...

I had a Mondeo on an 'M' plate that was about 3 years old - my wife would occasionally complain about a 'sloshing' sound on her side of the car. You can guess what we found once we had a poke around?  Drilled a 10mm hole, drained the a couple of pints of rusty moisture out. Popped a grommet on it then traded it in against an older Range Rover (in hindsight I should have kept the Mondeo)

[Andrew353w]

I well remember having a Saab 900 up on the ramps a few years ago. These DID have a grommet one could remove to drain the sill, but no-one ever did! I removed the plug and the water POURED out! As it was a cabriolet I think the water had somehow entered the sill from the hood's resting place. 

Oh, and I had to mop up the mess! "Happy days"....... 

[stuboy]

1 hour ago, N19 said:

I took the Capri out for a run this lunchtime, as the weather was damp but not abysmal. Did about 25 miles, nice to keep it ticking over over winter. Jetwashed the underside and arches on return to hopefully avoid any salt build up and corrosion.

There seems to be an issue with the earthing for the numberplate lamps, cleaned up the terminals but may need further attention - think this was a leftover from the respray.

There's also the wiring to the heated rear window which I haven't sorted yet. I seem to remember leaving the connector behind the headlining in which case it should be a reasonably* simple* task of reconnecting although I vaguely remember that something somewhere didn't make sense at the time.

And one headlight is damp inside.

All fixable with a bit of time and thought.

What was I saying about corrosion? Not to be outdone, the Mondeo was looking a bit crusty and....

oh would that be a corroded sill because

... we have a drainage hose from the roof gutters (I assume) ending up inside the sill. It looks like it'll be a pig to go and that's before I've attacked it with an angle grinder. 

Oh well, a picture of a cosy Capri for cheering-up.

that sill was same as my old mk2 , couple years patching up, and in the end it needed it inner and outer sills, plus many other things i scrapped it

[mk2_craig]

 

1 hour ago, Andrew353w said:

I well remember having a Saab 900 up on the ramps a few years ago. These DID have a grommet one could remove to drain the sill, but no-one ever did! I removed the plug and the water POURED out! As it was a cabriolet I think the water had somehow entered the sill from the hood's resting place. 

Oh, and I had to mop up the mess! "Happy days"....... 

 
Same with the Astra H that I had. Except it wasn’t a convertible and didn’t have a sunroof. Fuck knows how the sill came to be full of water (it did sound quite comical when braking/accelerating enthusiastically)

[stuboy]

1 minute ago, mk2_craig said:

 

 
Same with the Astra H that I had. Except it wasn’t a convertible and didn’t have a sunroof. Fuck knows how the sill came to be full of water (it did sound quite comical when braking/accelerating enthusiastically)

sloshing is quite common in bmws,,

[Bmwdumptruck]

28 minutes ago, mk2_craig said:

 

 
Same with the Astra H that I had. Except it wasn’t a convertible and didn’t have a sunroof. Fuck knows how the sill came to be full of water (it did sound quite comical when braking/accelerating enthusiastically)

My white H estate did this too, turned it round on the drive one day and the cill drain hole dribbled for best part of an hour.  

[danthecapriman]

Loads of cars with sunroof’s had those stupid drain tubes inside the sills. In theory it should drain straight out the drain holes in the bottom of the sills but they get blocked, also the rust proofing inside the sills is rarely much more than primer on the metal.

Volvo’s did it but tended to resist the rust pretty well. Eventually you only found out there was a problem when the sills filled with water which then overflowed through the bungs in the inner sill and made the carpets wet!

Ive said it millions of times before, but sunroof’s are the work of the devil. Whoever invented them should have been drowned at birth!😆

You can usually extend the tubes out through new holes so they drain out directly under the car instead in the sill though. Definitely worth doing on your Mondy since you now have access.

[N19]

I just don't see how omitting two inches of pipe would have actually saved anything other than about 4p!

Frustrating. But I suppose the world of old (or even middle-aged) fords...

[vtec-e]

Same here with my Alfasuds back in the day. There was no sunroof, but water still found a way down to the bottom of the A pillar. At least there was a bolt at the bottom to undo and let the water out 😄

[JeeExEll]

Bit of rot around the sunroof on this Mk2 Ghia.

Would probably have looked half ok if they hadn't removed the vinyl roof.

I'd get 2 new windscreen wipers, - missing both wipers is just an excuse for the rozzers to pull it over. Then gawd knows what they might find if they start poking around.

[sierraman]

On 23/11/2025 at 22:59, N19 said:

I just don't see how omitting two inches of pipe would have actually saved anything other than about 4p!

Frustrating. But I suppose the world of old (or even middle-aged) fords...

Looks pretty extensive that rot, might be worth checking if it extends round the the suspension mounts and what the boot floor to rear arch tubs are like. If that’s gone then forget it, move it on. 

[danthecapriman]

1 hour ago, JeeExEll said:

Bit of rot around the sunroof on this Mk2 Ghia.

Would probably have looked half ok if they hadn't removed the vinyl roof.

I'd get 2 new windscreen wipers, - missing both wipers is just an excuse for the rozzers to pull it over. Then gawd knows what they might find if they start poking around.

Jesus!! That is absolutely bollocked! Not even a great deal left that could be had for spares, maybe some of the glass and bright trim but the rest looks like it’s just been dredged out of the North Sea!

Credit where it’s due though for that absolutely seamless repair job on the tailgate bottom edge. Might have been the tip of the iceberg though. Maybe😆

R reg isn’t even an old mk2. A late one, which looks like a German built car to me.

[mk2_craig]

34 minutes ago, danthecapriman said:

R reg isn’t even an old mk2. A late one, which looks like a German built car to me.

So it’s 48 years old instead of 51 - god knows how much worse it will be in three years time

And the Scottish reg has surely accelerated the rust, it always does 

[sierraman]

Think the drivers side wing mirror would be saveable. 😂

[danthecapriman]

I guess that went straight into the shredder??

[danthecapriman]

1997 it came off the road, so it’s been sat a very long time! 
Oh, and it’s cream not beige😄

[Talbot]

"£12,500, no offers, I know what I have".

Someone had to say it.

 

Also, a 1977 ford that came off the road in 1997 is quite impressive really, as it's a '70s ford that was on the road for two decades.  Which is about 12 years more than it's design life.

[danthecapriman]

It’s really not a great advert for Ziebart is it!?

[adw1977]

2 hours ago, danthecapriman said:

It’s really not a great advert for Ziebart is it!?

Well arguably it is...

3 hours ago, Talbot said:

Also, a 1977 ford that came off the road in 1997 is quite impressive really, as it's a '70s ford that was on the road for two decades.  Which is about 12 years more than it's design life.

I don't think Ziebart ever made claims to keep a car rust free for 40+ years!

[N19]

6 hours ago, sierraman said:

Looks pretty extensive that rot, might be worth checking if it extends round the the suspension mounts and what the boot floor to rear arch tubs are like. If that’s gone then forget it, move it on. 

I'll have another look at the weekend. I think the rest of it is ok - I usually poke around underneath it once a year or so and have a look and prod at various bits. But I know it's usually more than what you see to start.

As it is, that's had a bit of 'exploration' behind it. I'll see what the likely repair cost/time is...

[N19]

I picked up the keys for a second lockup this afternoon. I suppose you should never feed a hoarder with more space, but there's a few bits in the coming months/year which make a second lockup useful, and the price is reasonable, and it's just behind my house. 

The rough plan is that I can keep some basic bits here - car washing stuff, maybe some simple tools etc. I'll keep most things at my existing garage (workbench, storage of parts etc) but I'll then have the flexibility to get a second car under cover and do work with space around it (bringing just what's needed for a particular job) - whilst keeping the Capri undercover.

Watch me now fill it with assorted shit!

The Focus fits well, 

[JeeExEll]

Always great to see your Capri still around and to see interest on here. (CapriDan how's it going with the Mk2?).

I've not had a Capri since the 1990s but still think they are fab. Late 1980s you could buy them for peanuts, had my share of 3-litres and one early 2.8i. Something like 12 3-litre Capris but never had a Mk1. Was offered a sebring RS3100 locally in 1986 for £2200, which I could afford. But insurance said no as I was 18. It's the STW ...M one which is still around. 

My mum had a 1970 H-reg 1600GT for 18 years until around 1990. Replaced by a Cortina Mk5 2.3 GL auto estate which was 'too big'.

Could write a book on Capris but will stop now.

Keep on keeping on.

[JeeExEll]

Check this out.

[JeeExEll]

Nice colour. 

[danthecapriman]

1 minute ago, JeeExEll said:

Check this out.

That must’ve been sat somewhere very very damp for a long time. It’s a shame. Pity it’s been vandalised too.

Those bright side trims were always a rust trap though at that time. There was a white mk2 with them and the vinyl roof parked near my uncle and aunt’s house in Doncaster for years which was suffering similarly but not on that scale! Rust bubbling up from under the trims and the white paint had loads of rusty stains running out from under them. 
Last time I saw it was the late 90’s so it’d done well.

[JeeExEll]

Cortina GXLs lasted probably less than 10 years. My family had Cortinas and Capris non-stop in the 70s and 80s but fwd just did not do it for me.

[danthecapriman]

11 minutes ago, JeeExEll said:

Cortina GXLs lasted probably less than 10 years. My family had Cortinas and Capris non-stop in the 70s and 80s but fwd just did not do it for me.

Did the lower spec cars without all the side trims etc etc last noticeably any better? 
I don’t think they used any rust proofing on them whatsoever so it’s no surprise really the rot started around the trim rivet holes etc. plus you get all the dirt, grime, moss etc building up under them which doesn’t help.

All they had to do really was give the insides of the panels a spray with some wax and dip the trim rivets etc in some wax etc before fitting. It all adds to manufacturing and labour costs though. 
Thats what I did when rebuilding mine. Everything got absolutely soaked in runny wax, all the holes for bolts, rivets etc got Waxoyl or thick wax around the opening before the fittings went back in. Floors and external surfaces underneath got thicker underbody wax. It’s quite labour intensive to do that to one car though let alone thousands!

An awful lot though comes down to looking after the car. Just washing them thoroughly regularly helps enormously. Not just the paint, but washing out all the side trims, wheel arches, floors etc etc but nobody really bothers unless you can see it.

This was how I remember 70’s Fords in the 90’s.

Still good numbers around but most looked absolutely terrible. 
One of the locals had a mk3 similar to that one and used to go to the local working men’s club car park when it was closed and do doughnuts and burnouts! Me and my friend would go round and watch😆

[sierraman]

I can only imagine it’d get bought to use the engine and bits?

[N19]

I can't see anything of real use coming off that! Maybe the rear quarterlights...