1985 Ford Capri X-Pack

[russ902]

You may remember me, I used to smoke about in this...



A Mk4 Astra SRI, two MX5's, an Astra Bertone and an Octavia VRS later I decided I wanted another car that didn't work and would use all my hard earned.

The Capri has been sat for at least 18 months. This very car was used to be on here around three years ago.

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After visiting USC this year and seeing all the old skool cool bombing down the strip i decided I'd stick a note through the door. A few texts and couple of visits later I was picking it up. The car has no interior, hadn't been started for at least a year and is generally falling apart.

After a quick jump on the battery the 2.0 pinto spluttered into life and drove straight onto the trailer, which was quite a performance on a narrow road and an exhaust that was hanging off in the center.

Here it is now....



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It's a sad sight indeed. In short, the body is a wreck but the engine seems good! All the electrics (that havent been stripped out) seem to be working.



The passenger foot well is knackered....



As are thee doors, front wings,spare wheel well and the rear wings, at least there isn't a fibreglass kit on top of it all :/ The strut tops also need repair panels!

however, this is a Capri. You don't give up too easily on a Capri. Especially when you grew up with parents that had a Mk2 JPS and a 1600E Cortina

The strip down begins......

[oztuning]

Looking forward to see this progress!

[jayvoa]

Not too long ago I stumbled on some pictures of this and wondered if it was still on the road somewhere. Although it needs a fair bit of elbow grease and TLC (what Capri doesn't these days?!) that's a bloody good save! Looking forward to seeing what you do with it. Bookmarked already!

[blower]

Good luck with it

What a shame it got to this state though

[breadvan]

good luck on the resto it would be nice to see another of fords greatest back on the road i love the wheels are they painted

[hessu75]

What a nice Capri there mate.

Love the wheels.

I hope you have the energy to get her back on the streets.

Will follow this for sure

Cheers from Finland

-Hessu-

[ToolsnTrack]

Woah! I like that! As mentioned, a shame it got so bad but then it is a Capri, not a granite building. They rarely weather well but hopefully some proper welding is forecast.

Big plans?

[russ902]

The plan is to get her stripped right down, new panels if funds allow if not, a lot mig time! Bplt the interior back in and get it tested. It needs new paint but i'm undecided as to wether the current look will be staying. Paint is the last thing on my mind though! Also undecided as to wether to put in a full interior or throw two recaros in the front and be done with it!

[hessu75]

Gonna use the four cylinder banger, or proper V6 for this beauty?

[generaldogsbody]

Nice save. Good luck with your new "toy"

[russ902]

I had an hour to poke around today. Almost wish I hadn't! Started the Pinto up again today but it doesn't seem to be revving as high as it should, could be down to a knackered accelerator cable. Anyway, here's today's damage!

























N/S Floorplan.







Gazebo was sacrificed to keep the approaching rain out of the many holes!



More digging to be done yet! :/

[bobman]

yikes! It looks to be a bit worse then the one I'm at in my thread, IMO the only way to tell if a shell is good is after its blasted in bare-metal with no fillers hiding bits, Check the rear seat base/floor in front of the wheel wells as that's the spring hangers/reinforcement, best of luck they can be a mighty pig at times! But if you do restore it it'll need a V8

Edit - Looking over them pics again there doesn't seem to be much Capri left , at least fiberglass don't rust

[skozra]

Best of luck with this, hopefully you can bring the car back to its former glory, would be nice to see another one saved.

[russ902]

Bit of grinder action today Mainly toward 'that' front wing, had some help today from my cousin who has welded many Ford's, i expected him to tell me to scrap it but he surprisingly reassured me that it "isn't that bad" and was well worth a go before breaking it.
The inner wing is rather solid. Just the sill, a bit of bulk head and the headlamp housing to fixed. We've also decided to try to fix the original wing as 1. "its not that bad" 2. X-pack kits are hard to find 3. X-pack kits are very expensive.
I wont be welding the wing back on, we plan to fashion new sills and bolt it to the car for ease of installation and maintenance! Here's some pictures of rusty metal.

Still cute doe








Headlight housing removed.



A manky but savable wing



Also car boot find fog lights. Because cheap.


Overall a good day, hope and optimism are at a high... now to learn to weld. (gulp)

[mongchop]

And suddenly my mk2 Granny doesn't seem so bad after all!

[rob86]

I nearly bought this car 2 and a bit years ago from a house over New Milton area!

Glad to see you're making progress with it already, I walked away at the time as it was showing signs of rot (and I don't have the mechanical skills you clearly do)!

Best of luck with her!

[hessu75]

Any updates?

Cheers

-Hessu-

[jeffeRS]

You can do it. You can do it. Well saved sir. Bookmarked.

[Copey]

Nice to see this back on the scene, hope you manage to save it!

[shakka]

Stumbled across this post Heartbreaking to see my old motor in this state. Built her round about 2009/2010 and sold her early 2011 Think the build and sale post might still be archived. Would be great to know if she was ever completed, but as theres not been an update since 2014 i fear the worst! Anyone got any info?
www.turbosport.co.uk/showthread.php?t=163155
R.I.P GTY!