1978 MKIII Capri 2,3 V6 - final update 03.10

[Oldbus]

As my van still isn´t back from the UK after the engine exploded on the M25 on the way to RR08 I thought we´d get stuck into the Capri this afternoon as the weather was so good.

It was first registered in June 1978 and was taken off the road in 1986



I got it off a mate of mine this time last year, he´s a Ford dealer near Heilbronn and he´d sold it to some young lads who´d obviously bitten off more than they could chew, so it landed back in his yard.

So after a couple of beers we both decided it´d be a good idea if it moved from Heilbronn to Osnabrück.

Well after dragging it back home it´s been parked up behind the carport waiting for me to finish the trailer, get Rians van sorted and finish mine too.

To cut a long story short, it hasn´t moved for over a year and was getting to be part of the garden.... ;D






The plan for this afternoon was just to see if we could get it running so Christian and I dragged it out of the weeds and got it parked up in front of the garage....a bit of air in the tyres works wonders...



Checked oil and water, dropped in a spare battery and connected the fuel pipe to a jerry can and after priming the oil pump I reconnected the coil and...........




...it started first time, not bad eh after being 22 years off the road! ;D (sounds a bit rough as half the exhaust is missing but who cares!)

Well there was no stopping us now so out cam ethe tool box and we started stripping it.....

Here´s a few "before" pics from this afternoon......







not pretty but saveable...



Also got the original, yes original wheels..... ;D


I´ve got quite a few plans for it but before we get carried away it´ll have to pass a german MOT and classic car engineers report and to do this it has to be in original condition.

Don´t know what you lot are like but when i´m asked how much did it cost to restore or how much time did it take? I normally avoid giving a decent answer as I don´t want to know...

...well I want to try and do this one a little bit different.

This is going to be done on a very tight budget and I ´d like to do a running total of how much and how many hours I spent doing it...

I´ll weld it all up, buy some new parts where necessary, give it a quick garage respray and try and get it through the TÜV by next summer, sounds easy but i´ve got the van to do as well.

Once it´s up and running i´ll decide then what we´ll the be doing with it! ;D

More tomorrow ... ;D

[Siert]

Good luck with the tight budget and the time spend record... I have faith in your construction skills but I'm not sure if you'll really end up sticking to both of those

Taken of the road in 1986... Damn, my last old car was from 1986 and my current car is 4 years newer and completely worn...

[grizz]

Dave , Dave, Dave..... you do make me smile.

Looks like Christian is enjoying this one as much as his dad.
Well done, amazing that it is a year since you pulled it in behind the garage.

[Oldbus]

Aug 30, 2008 20:21:42 GMT Siert said:

Good luck with the tight budget and the time spend record... I have faith in your construction skills but I'm not sure if you'll really end up sticking to both of those

Taken of the road in 1986... Damn, my last old car was from 1986 and my current car is 4 years newer and completely worn...

We´ll see how it goes. It´ll definately be a cheap one up until i´ve got it registered, will be intersting to see how much time it takes though...! ;D

Aug 30, 2008 20:21:52 GMT grizz said:

Dave , Dave, Dave..... you do make me smile.

Looks like Christian is enjoying this one as much as his dad.
Well done, amazing that it is a year since you pulled it in behind the garage.

Time flys when you´re having fun...or as my kids put it..."you´re getting old dad!" ;D

[disasterbus]

Fantastic, I sense another epic thread starting.

Just one question Dave, don't you ever sleep? The pace your projects get done at you must work 24/7

Cheers, Kerry.

[Oldbus]

Aug 30, 2008 21:38:50 GMT disasterbus said:

Fantastic, I sense another epic thread starting.

Just one question Dave, don't you ever sleep? The pace your projects get done at you must work 24/7

Cheers, Kerry.

Hi Kerry,

not as much as i should do sometimes!

Right, i´m off out into the garage while the family are still asleep! ;D

[Deleted]

that don't look to bad mate . looking forward to reading about this one another cool project in the making

[Oldbus]

Aug 31, 2008 6:38:13 GMT nightmaresracing said:

that don't look to bad mate . looking forward to reading about this one another cool project in the making

Actually Mark, it´s not as bad as it looks - i know they all say that but for a couple of hundred quid you can´t complain! ;D

As i had whole day in the garage today i wanted to make the most of it and finish stripping the Capri.

Some electrical genius had fitted an alarm and a stereo and had buried enough cable in the car to sink the Titanic...(this is the rest after i´d filled the bin!)


So ripped all that out and stripped the boot out..




Not sure if you spotted it but there´s some foam lurking in the corners that wasn´t put in there by Ford!!!

With the tank out i could see what state it´s in, and to be honest it´s not that bad...


I scraped all the insulation off the floor and good job i did as one or two holes came out of the woodwork...


.... but nothing too serious.

Whipped the screen out and this little lot is going to be a little more complicated to repair...



Hopefully my donor car will come up trumps and not be too rotten around the screen.

Not quite before and after but it thought it was worth a pic... ;D


Next up was the engine and gearbox...


and last job of the day was to whip one of the wings off to see how bad it was underneath...



not quite as bad as i´d expected so all in all i´m quite pleased that the bodywork is not as bad as i´d expected.

Right, i´m not sure if i can keep this going but i´d like to try.

Hours today = 10
Total hours invested =16

Money spent today = 0
Total money spent = 350 Euros (Car & donor shell)

I´ve bought some bits and bobs for it but i´ll add them when i start to fit them, and i´ll try to include all the disposables (grinding discs, sand paper etc) if i buy them specifically for the Capri.

My cunning plan is to have it up and running and passing it´s TÜV summer next year, normally not a problem but i´m going to have to invest a few hours in the van too, we´ll see how i get on! ;D

[claymore]

looks like I'm going to watch this thread from the start, I didn't realise they made a mk3 JPS capri.

[Oldbus]

Aug 31, 2008 18:57:14 GMT claymore said:

looks like I'm going to watch this thread from the start, I didn't realise they made a mk3 JPS capri.

They didn´t mate, it´s just black and gold! ;D

[Deleted]

You're very brave matey, hope it's not too grotty underneath

[mustang427]

You're very very brave Oldbus, you will be spending a lot of time with the plasma cutter over the coming months.And I like the black and gold paint scheme.

[blackpopracing]

Should be an interesting thread to follow, especially the budget part. You must have a very understanding Mrs Oldbus!

[Davenger]

Looks cool.
What engine has it got?

[Oldbus]

Sept 1, 2008 10:02:25 GMT Jonny69 said:

You're very brave matey, hope it's not too grotty underneath

Well it is John, but where´s the fun in buying a car that´s already finished!

Sept 1, 2008 10:17:51 GMT mustang427 said:

You're very very brave Oldbus, you will be spending a lot of time with the plasma cutter over the coming months.And I like the black and gold paint scheme.

Not too sure about the "brave" bit Mr. Mustang i´d say more like "can´t afford a better one" is bit nearer the truth!

Sept 1, 2008 17:14:44 GMT blackpopracing said:

Should be an interesting thread to follow, especially the budget part. You must have a very understanding Mrs Oldbus!

I do Mark, know you know why I live over here..i even get a brew brought out know and again! ;D

Sept 1, 2008 17:21:42 GMT Davenger said:

Looks cool.
What engine has it got?

It´s a 2,3 Dave, well until i get it through it´s MOT and then we´ll see!

[Oldbus]

After a couple of hours tidying up the garage i made enough room to get the Capri in and thrown on its side so that i can get stuck into the floor.


Used the big trolley jack and an old matress so it wasn´t too much hassle and as i´ve got to do both the rear arches anyway it doesn´t matter at this stage whether it gets a few more dents in the side or not... ;D


Then started the job i´ve really been looking forward to ....cleaning up the underside in preparation for the welding...can´t believe this little bit took me 3 hours....



Hours today = 4
Total hours invested =20

Money spent today = 13 Euros (a decent knotted wheel for the grinder)
Total money spent = 363 Euros

[matt.z51]

I love how yours is so much more solid than the one I'm doing after all that time off the road and mine was only 'supposedly' restored a few years ago.
Looks like a really good project, cant be many left in that trim.
Thanks for the help the other day with the screen.
To get it on its side is that just a case of lacking it up a bit, brute force to get it onto its side and then a decent prop to hold it up?
Looks much easier than the rotisserie i was planning to build

Looking foward to the progress on this one!

[Oldbus]

Sept 2, 2008 21:46:55 GMT matt.z51 said:

I love how yours is so much more solid than the one I'm doing after all that time off the road and mine was only 'supposedly' restored a few years ago.
Looks like a really good project, cant be many left in that trim.
Thanks for the help the other day with the screen.
To get it on its side is that just a case of lacking it up a bit, brute force to get it onto its side and then a decent prop to hold it up?
Looks much easier than the rotisserie I was planning to build

Looking foward to the progress on this one!

Just jacked it up and threw it on it´s side.

With the engine out and and a decent jack it´s not too difficult. If you leave the engine in you´ll need a couple of mates and you´ll have more chance of damaging the sides when it´s heavier.

[Oldbus]

Got a couple of hours in with the angle grinder this evening.

Cut out some more grott and got the bottom half cleaned up.

I wanted to remove the rear axle so that i can get to the back end but the Capri thinks differently...the 2 front bolts that hold the springs to the bodywork have been doused in oil for a week and are not budging at all and as i started to dismantle the springs the u bolts snapped too.....



With a bit of luck my spare ones off the van will fit...now where did i hide them last winter?

Hours today = 3
Total hours invested =23

Money spent today = 0
Total money spent = 363 Euros

[v8chevette]

This should be an interesting thread

I've not kept a tab on how much i've spent on my Chevette i just guesstimate when people ask ;D

Am i right in thinking that once you have passed the German MOT and had the engineers report you can modify it to your hearts content?