The nutty Ford Capri Mk3 78' 2.3S project, soon to be 2.9 12v EFI

[caprinut]

Finally I got a Capri again


This was the picture from the selling ad:



And a few from when I arrived at the yard where the Capri was parked











The full low down on the car comes later when I.m back home later this evening, or tomorrow if the customs are not co working...

[Tomsloat]

It looks solid and tidy,The steering wheel is on the wrong side but apart from that it looks good.

[caprinut]

It's on the right side for me, non pund intended


Have a little time..

Here are the to do list..

#Cange the steering coupling, a lot of slope at the steering wheel
#Cange the gearbox from 4 to 5 speed
#Fit new clutch since it just works on the last inch of the pedal, and slips under heavy load.
#Adjust the valve clarance as a few is out.
#Change the horrible steering wheel.
#Make the brakes to actually work.
#Change the front grill.
#Fit clear indicators.
#Fit a 2.8I center consol instead of the homemade one.
#Change heater motor as it's make some rattles.
#Adjust or lubricate the heater valves, as it's stuck.


That's the priortery list before the summer season begins..

[FunkyHunk]

Congrats Richard, I really like your new ride
Do you wanna trade those slotmags for Capri 3.0s wheels?
I've got a set lying around here not being used and those slotmags would look great on my Taunus

Oh, and on the heater fan, try to lube it up before exchanging it, I just did on my taunus and it worked great afterwards.

[WildTrial]

Looking forward see it Rich.

[caprinut]

Originally Posted by FunkyHunk

Congrats Richard, I really like your new ride
Do you wanna trade those slotmags for Capri 3.0s wheels?
I've got a set lying around here not being used and those slotmags would look great on my Taunus

Oh, and on the heater fan, try to lube it up before exchanging it, I just did on my taunus and it worked great afterwards.

Thanx very much mate
Sorry Ståle, those has allready been spoken for by another FMCN member, he is, as you a Taunus owner, and according to him he has been looking after slotmags for ages....

Will try to lubricate the fan motor first
Any tips how to?

Originally Posted by WildTrial

Looking forward see it Rich.

[FunkyHunk]

Originally Posted by caprinut

Thanx very much mate
Sorry Ståle, those has allready been spoken for by another FMCN member, he is, as you a Taunus owner, and according to him he has been looking after slotmags for ages....

Will try to lubricate the fan motor first
Any tips how to?

Dang darn it, I'd really like those wheels
I've got a set of 13" wolfrace slotmags but they are et45 and only 5" wide :/
They don't fill the arches as much as I'd like them too.

I used only wd40 on both bearings on the fan motor since there was little play in them, but If you have some play in the bearings you could try with grease if you can access them easily.

If you can find some spray-grease like the spraycan labelled "ett fett" you should be golden.
Electricians use that for something since I've always gotten "ett fett" from a friend of mine who works as one.

[caprinut]

Thanx for the tip mister

Think mine are 7" wide, fills the arches ok I'll guess
I have a set of 17" on my MkI Mondeo, I think I will use these, just powder coat them first.
17" is little too big in my poinion, but I can't afford good looking wheels and tires right now..


My first wash today at my mates yard...

















The interior growns on me, just have to change the center consol as it's not my taste and I want to use a 2.8I item...

[FunkyHunk]

Feckin' awesome mate The interior suits the car I think.
I've always liked the 2+2 arrangement on the Capri.
I'm happy for you, also a little jealous

[highlift23]

Great looking Car!

[caprinut]

Thanx guys


Changed the sparkplugs yesterday, they all looked very good so it seems this engine is really good.
I allways use Champion plugs, NGK has never really worked for me.
And the previous owner was maybe in the same option as me as the allready had Champion plugs fitted

The right hand bank on the engine ran little rough, so Ichecked the valve clearance, the rearmost valve, one of the inlets, had zero clearance, so I adjusted it according to the manual, and it now runns much smoother

Today I gonna change the termostat, as I suspect the old one is rusted stuck and there is allmost no heat from the heater.
Will flush the system until it's all clean and then fill water and some anti freeze.

Have to adjust to toe in as well as it's of the scale, the inner half of the front tires are allmost bald after 1000km run from Lithuania..


And btw, I visited a friend of me last night, and he found out this is a very early Mk3, infact from the first month of production of the Mk3, Marc 78'
Further investigation revailed this is orginal a 2.0S, and at one point they have changed the engine for a 2.3.
They pink slip says 2.3 so they have correctly reg it as a 2.3 at their local trafic station.

And has also has genuine Mk3 front wings (fenders), these are worth their weight in gold these days..
And there is no structual rust, just a few blemish in the paint here and there..

I guess it was done 10-15 years ago regarding the interior and styling.


I also bought something cool a few days ago at the bay..

A Hot Rod Magazine from July 76'
Feature a Capri project car and tuning tips

For me this was a must have item, I really like the old custom look of that black Capri

[caprinut]

I managed to change the distributor cap, rotor and fan belt yesterday, starting up much easyer now and runs much smoother

I took of the radiator and flushed it, was a bit rust water in it, and from the heater matrix there was thick brown slush coming of after the first few seconds, cleared right up.
Did came out a good amount of rust water from the engine block wia the now binned old thermostat, but after a min or so it cleared up that too, so think I have got rid of all that rust water and gunk.

But the reassembly diden't go as smooth as the removal, the thermostat house cracked, so either a new one is needed or I can try to glue it with metal glue and gasket sealent afterwards..


The horrible steering wheel needs to go


I was thinking either this one


Or this Momo wheel...



What do you guys think??


The steering rack mount bush is completly shot, so I should have a pair of poly ones in a few days...

Ordred a set of red 8mm sparkplug wires from the evilbay as well last night.


When I get the cooling system complete again, I will turn my attension to the brakes, or the lack of it..
They slows down the Capri, they just don't bite at all.

After the brakes the instrument cluster will need to come out, a few bulbs are blown, hardly seeing anyting during the late hours...
I have an idea involving some type of LED I don't have seen done yet

[caprinut]

Some new pics of the progress...

New steering wheel


New gear knob


And new valve cover gaskets and HT leads


HT leads fitted


Want new wheels, first choice is these


Second


First being Lenso BSX and the second Rota RB....

Have spoken to a chap who does wheels and stuff, he might get hold of the white ones for me as nobody else can..

Hope for more progress this week as my mate is taking a short vacation from mid week to Sunday, so I have his lift for myself, should be able to work a little then

[caprinut]

Some update...

First a little how-to


Want safe/more bright rear lights and for little money?
Then read on

First open your tailgate and take of your rear light lenses.
Store them in the booth or another safe place.
Take out the bulbs and store them also in a safe place, I used the lenses up side down, I like some order in the mess

You should now have something like this...


Undo the screws for the light cluster inside the booth..


Now mask up the rear clusters, because you are going to spray paint them in a bit...


Now buy some sort of chrome spray, are many good ones out there...
My first coat of chrom


Second


Third coat and my last...


And before fitting all together again, clean the bodywork around the bodywork for the lights, and also clean the lenses and bulbs, renew the bulbs if nessasary


Close up of the painted unit



Refit, and you should have brighter and safer rear lights





Next for today was to get it up on my mates lift as he has a short vacation...


Not too bad underside, have seen far worse, just need a bit welding and clean up here and there...

















And as I had my suspection, the gearbox is of the external gear linkage type..




And there is too damn much color on this car!!!!!
Red, yellow, white, black and blue... There are a bit of white too somewhere, grrrrr



The steering rack bushings was completly shot, was very gelo






Fitted new red poly ones (race).
Now there are steering with just a hint of movment on the steering wheel
Resized to 82% (was 800 x 600) - Click image to enlarge








Just needs to clamp those security tabs, I ran out of steam today, my legs was shacking crazy and my eyes was allmost crosseyed, so I had to call it a day

Brakes are next on my list....


But a big BUMMER was the fact my clutch went ghost when I was to drive the cappa out of the garage...
It has een bad all the time I've had this one, but I hoped it should hold a bit longer...

Good thing with a new clutch and a 5 speed box is that I don't need to take it down for a long time

[Hummer]

du har plass nok i motorrommet iallefall :P