Talk me down (Capri content)

Tell me what I need to know about THIS. And where can I go to learn more before I make my spouse very angry by bringing it home. I want it so badly, maybe a little more knowledge can dissuade me.

My mom had that exact car, in the lovely brown color, the year before I was born. I've seen pictures of it .

In the interest of science what could it flatskid?

that doesn't appear to be a 1973, more like a 1975... the year before the body change to the mark II Capri. V6 should be 2800 - 1973 would have been 2600.

biggest weird issue is front lower control arms and swaybars are poor design. Decent power Get Sven Pruett's book on building the Cologne

parts are available... just not always conveniently so.... A few suppliers here in the USA... a few more in the Uk.

biggest negatives... they can and do rust

Well, it's a '74, not a '73. Bigger (heavier) bumpers, 2.8 instead of 2.6 etc. But it's a Mk I Capri, and that's a good thing. It has the later interior which many prefer. 2.8 is way easier to get parts for and can really make good power with some work.

Suspension and brakes need attention on old Capris, but once put right, they handle well. Very simple cars. Parts are pretty much available, but some will have to be sourced from Team Blitz. Not a bad thing, just means you have to wait for them to ship. My friend Tom Johnston here in Denver has a pretty good stash of Capri parts for sale as well. http://www.rockymtnnos.com/ And Tom is just a great guy. He knows tons about these cars, as does Norm Murdock at Team Blitz.

They're flippin' awesome. Go get it. Make this.

Tons of info and smart people to help at the capri-list on yahoo groups, and http://www.capri-list.com/joomla/. The web site has some great stuff, but unfortunately, it's not real active. Most folks still use the yahoo group list.

In reply to oldeskewltoy:

Just because it's nice to actually know something about a topic on here, I'll point out that there was no '75 Capri in the US. Just left over '74s before the MkII came over. Sven's book is great (I have it. It's out of print and often sells for silly, silly money http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/0879389141/ref=dp_olp_used_mbc?ie=UTF8&storeAttribute=b&submit.see-all-buying-options=see-all-buying-options&condition=used) but a lot of the parts he talks about no longer exist. Still, a great reference for the Cologne V6s. The track control arms are a fine design and minimize suspension weight by cleverly using a minimum of parts. They just have to be replaced every 100,000 miles or so. Team Blitz has new, Ford units for a reasonable price. Upgrade the front sway bar while you're in there. There are a few tricks to getting a Capri front end together. If only someone would do a write up on that.

Ah!

http://www.capriclub.com/help_tca.htm

Wow, is that website out of date. But, yeah, that's me working on my Capri!

Oh boy. This is looking better...

How hard can it be???

fast_eddie_72 wrote: In reply to oldeskewltoy: The track control arms are a fine design and minimize suspension weight by cleverly using a minimum of parts.

Its been a few years... but from memory... the LCA are CAST berkelying IRON. Last I checked that doesn't minimize mass

Don't get me wrong.... I've always LOVED Mk I Capri's. In fact I built the 4AGE and AE71, right after I lost a California ITA Capri that had been a box flair car too. I was the next guy inline @ the time....

You should be able to swap in a 5 speed (Ford T-9) from a Xr4ti with a little effort. Nothing too major, IIRC.

Oh snap. Okay, the LCA's are cast iron and in general the front suspension is weird. The brakes on these things are dinky solid rotors on the front and dinky drums on the back and the rear axle, while strong, only has expensive LSD options.

None of this matters though because you need to fear rust here. These cars dissolve if you look at them wrong. Places to look for rust are every metal surface.

The car in the picture is a '74, which can be back dated with earlier bumpers and home made hardware pretty easily. The RS shown in Ed's picture, the green car, can be replicated by taking a factory '69 to '73 bumper and cutting it down then painting or having it rechromed, etc. The "car" 2.8 in that Capri is still decently supported by the aftermarket but there's not a lot of work that can be done there. The engine bay can take a 351W without moving any metal and 460's have been seen there with only some work on the firewall.

Check the thing seriously for rust and go from there, that's all you really need to fear.

The thing about rust is that the car is in Spokane. It may be in very good condition, all things considered.

Hope it's that nice, and you get it.

There's one that used to compete here in the Rally of the Tall Pines, one of my favourite little muscle cars:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattclare/67712182/

RossD wrote: You should be able to swap in a 5 speed (Ford T-9) from a Xr4ti with a little effort. Nothing too major, IIRC.

Indeed! A little modification to the Capri bell housing and a custom pilot bearing - the input shaft on the T9 from a Merkur is just a little short.

As for brakes, they may not be huge (they did come with 13" wheels) but they work great. I don't know how it would do on a track, but I never had any fade issues. For the era, Capris stop really well. Brembo factory replacement rotors are available and they're good parts. Just need to clean up the adjusters so the rears actually work and it does super. I never felt the need to upgrade the brakes. That '74 would weigh a little more, but my '72 is onlyl 2300 lbs. To me, monster brakes wouldn't justify the unsprung weight.

Man, I'm really sorry to be all know-it-all here. You know how many threads there are on here that I actually have something usefull to contriubte? I'm afraid I got a little excited. Forgive me if I'm yacking too much.

In reply to fast_eddie_72:

When I had my '77 with the 2.3 Lima, I wanted to swap in a Zetec and maybe a turbo... the T-9 would probably be along for the ride. I can't imagine a Ford 7.5" from a Pinto/Mustang II would be too difficult to fit under the thing.

Edit: The only reason I brought up swapping axles was because of the lack of parts available in the US for the Capri's axle and the junk yards being full of 7.5"s

I put Fox body Mustang rims on mine so you should be able to get cheap 14" wheels and tires for it. The 195 width tires were getting close to touching the struts, but you could get wider tires on the rear pretty easily.

I'll just leave this here: http://passionford.com/forum/restorations-rebuilds-and-projects/406288-ls1-powered-capri.html

I've thought about the Zetec or Duratec as well. Would be really nice. There are a fair few people running the stock Capri rear with 2.3 turbos or 200HP 2.8s. I think it should hold up fine unless you're getting really crazy power. I'd sure give it a shot, anyhow. For a SRA, it's pretty light weight. And the early cars with the radius amrs work pretty well. For a later car, probably want a panhard bar or something. I don't know, never really messed with the later ones. I had a MkII briefly. Really clean CA car that only needed everything. Some jack ass totaled the hell out of it parked on the street. Really sucks - it was a great car with factory AC and everything.

For what it's worth, I've always thought doing a fuel injected engine would be easier on a MkI like the '74 in the OP, just because the fuel tank is higher. Should be able to gravity feed a high pressure pump. No experience here, just my musings.

Honestly, if a repower was in the cards, a 2WD Ranger (or hell, any other mini-truck) drivetrain might be a nice way to go. The Capri / Pinto 2.0 isn't a bad engine, the 2.6 is interesting and mine returned good mileage, the 2.8 isn't shabby but if a DD is the aim, a 2000+ Ranger donor might be a great way to go about things with dizzy-less ignition and fuel injection etc etc already there from the factory.

I think the Group 5 Capri RS's ran a well prepared Atlas rear axle so unless the axle needs parts or an LSD is required (the only one I know of is from Quafe and runs at least about a grand or so USD) I wouldn't worry about the rear end.

If it isn't a rust bucket and I didn't already have too many projects I'd be interested in the car shown in the OP. They're cool cars and now that I'm better funded I could have a great time with fixing one of these up.

The only two older engine swaps I would consider are a 2.3L Turbo or a 5.0L v8 and both with a T5 trans. You could also swap in a 7.5 if you turbo it or the 8.8 if you really want to do drag race starts.

The LCAs are cast steel not cast iron, jezz don't get on this board and say crazy stuff. I don't of any compay that makes suspension parts with cast iron.

A newer swap with a Zetec would work nice again with a T5.

But the thing that was mentioned that is the most important is RUST! IS there rust and where is it and how much. The floors can be repaired, there are some body parts that can be purchased as patch panels but if you have frame rails, door pillars, or similar then the cost of repair will far excede the price paid for the car. When things are all said and done it would have been cheaper to find a rust free car.

OF course if the car is mostly rust free except for the surface rust I can see in the pictures then it could be a good deal.

Either way it's a project car, a restomod and not a candidate for an OEM restoration.

In reply to jimbbski:

It will be very hard to prove this either way but I don't think you can kill an Atlas rear axle out of an American Capri before you have already destroyed any of the normal T5 variants out there. A rear axle swap only makes sense if the original is trashed somehow or you really want a wide selection of cheap LSD's or if you want to build something up with rear disc brakes and don't mind narrowing an axle to get there.

I have a factory shop manual for the 1973 Capri that my parents owned. It was a great car. Both of my older brothers drove it throughout high school and it got hit twice. By the time I got my license, it was gone. If I could find a rust free '73, I'd probably buy it without hesitation. The odds aren't very good. As others have said, that looks like a '74.

fast_eddie_72 wrote: Man, I'm really sorry to be all know-it-all here. You know how many threads there are on here that I actually have something usefull to contriubte? I'm afraid I got a little excited. Forgive me if I'm yacking too much.

Keep posting. It's very interesting.

Guys like you are what makes this board.

Eric

Lesley wrote: There's one that used to compete here in the Rally of the Tall Pines, one of my favourite little muscle cars: http://www.flickr.com/photos/mattclare/67712182/

Larry Wells ran that car with... Norm Murdock maybe? From what I understand they did okay with it! Cool car.

Larry is an encyclopedia of Capri info. He and his brother are some of the biggest Capri nerds in the US. They own a real RS 2600. Very cool car. Larry has helped me immensely over the years, all via internet. Great guy. Hope to make it to the Capri Swarm one of these years to finally meet some of these folks in person.

http://myplace.frontier.com/~wellsbrothers/rs2600/rs2600.html

http://myplace.frontier.com/~wellsbrothers/WellsCapri.html

That'll keep you busy for a bit!

alfadriver wrote:

fast_eddie_72 wrote: Man, I'm really sorry to be all know-it-all here. You know how many threads there are on here that I actually have something usefull to contriubte? I'm afraid I got a little excited. Forgive me if I'm yacking too much.

Keep posting. It's very interesting. Guys like you are what makes this board. Eric

Thanks. These cars are very special to me. My dad had two when I was a kid, and his '74 became my first car. My first wrenching experiences came working with dad on that thing under a tree in our side yard. Those were awesome days. I'd hand him wrenches and he'd explain what he was doing. I looked forward to those jobs more than about anything.

Dad died young- 59. Sometimes I sit out in my Capri (in the garage, where it's been for almost two years 'cause I can't get it to run right) and tear up a little thinking about him. You'd never know it from talking to me, but my dad was a prince among men. Everyone, and I mean everyone loved him.

Wow! I step away for a few hours and you've blown this thread up! Thanks for the input. I called on it today, but no answer. I'll try again tomorrow. It's about 2 hours from the house, so I'll have to be pretty sure before heading out there.

if i was a scorpion i would rock that like a hurricane!

pres589 wrote: In reply to jimbbski: It will be very hard to prove this either way but I don't think you can kill an Atlas rear axle out of an American Capri before you have already destroyed any of the normal T5 variants out there. A rear axle swap only makes sense if the original is trashed somehow or you really want a wide selection of cheap LSD's or if you want to build something up with rear disc brakes and don't mind narrowing an axle to get there.

I've owned numerous Capris but only one with a LSD. The cost of getting one for the Atlas rear end far exceeds the cost of making a 7.5 or 8.8 fit. I agree the Atlas is strong enough. I have run a Capri with a 8 inch and that is the best option but the parts are more expensive then the other two options.