1979 Capri 2.0 "Ghia " - Spraying Bumpers / New TCAs

[cjhillman]

Still not done a lot with the Capri except for enjoy it a bit. I've been using it for a few Coffee meets with mate, Dog walks and even took my misses out in it and she liked it!

It did stink of Petrol when we went out in it which was slightly worrying but turned out it was the choke slightly stuck closed (i'd been messing the day before). I'm thinking of buying a piano wire choke cable as the choke cable that came with the conversion kit doesnt do anything. 










I know the choke cable is in the wrong place here but this is what I'm thinking of replacing with a stiff piano wire cable.



The only thing concerning me at the moment is the odd squealing noise which also seems to be followed with another kind of noise now if you floor it and let off the gas. A bit like those wind up kids cars. Again it doesnt do it if you just reving the car. I thought the new clutch might sort this but apparently not.

Oh and the only other thing is I wanted get the Exhaust properly checked out as its quite loud and I feel like the car should have a bit more poke!! 



future modifications probably will be....

-Fitting new U bolts for the axle for safety.
-Sort the rust on the passenger side
-Thinking I might put the Ford Capri Ghia 2.0 decal on the boot (plus blue ford badges) 
-CB Radio???

[Darkspeed]

Is the second choke opening fully when you push the accelerator into the shag pile? - As you have a pancake filter there should be a definite change in engine tone when the second choke opens on the progressive. The DGAV - BWORRRR. DCD's sound slightly better, but nothing beats 40's - I digress.

I am asking as I can see a bush missing in the throttle linkage that will reduce the amount of throttle actuation and probably lead to a poor pedal feel.



Running about on only the first choke may be good for economy but not much else.


Maladjusted throttles not giving full throttle is common but it makes a bigger difference to a progressive carb with the major change in throttle opening happening right at the end of the pedal stroke.

[cjhillman]

That’s interesting! It does feel like you have to really get that pedal down before it does anything!
I have put that plastic bush in before but can’t get the car to stop revving at about 2000 rpm from memory . I took the linkage off a couple of times and tried to bend it so it would work with the bush but no joy. I’ll look at this again though. I’m not sure if I’ve noticed a difference in sound. I’ll report back later when I go into town in it.

I’m starting to wonder if i need to revisit the distributor timing too. I think I set it to -6 or - 8 degrees . I remember a garage set it to -10 but when it didn’t have a working accelerator pump!

[Darkspeed]

I am sure you realise it, but removing a key part for linkage alignment is not the way to adjust the idle speed. That's for idle screws and throttle cable length adjustment.

The lack lustre performance of the car sounds like a culmination of many separate issues and you will not see any particularly huge benefit from each individually, but only see the benefit when all are addressed. However, full throttle opening is a major one.

Ignition off - remove air filter top, stick a brick on the accel' pedal ( or get an assistant) so its fully depressed, make sure both the choke flaps are fully open.

If they are, then press that hard to go forward. If they are not, then do not expect all 70BHP! to be unleashed.

Same with the bush issue - you do not adjust timing to compensate for an accelerator pump malfunction! - You fix the problem not create another another one in the hope that it makes things better!!

[cjhillman]

Mar 16, 2022 10:09:44 GMT Darkspeed said:

I am sure you realise it, but removing a key part for linkage alignment is not the way to adjust the idle speed. That's for idle screws and throttle cable length adjustment.

The lack lustre performance of the car sounds like a culmination of many separate issues and you will not see any particularly huge benefit from each individually, but only see the benefit when all are addressed. However, full throttle opening is a major one.

Ignition off - remove air filter top, stick a brick on the accel' pedal ( or get an assistant) so its fully depressed, make sure both the choke flaps are fully open.

If they are, then press that hard to go forward. If they are not, then do not expect all 70BHP! to be unleashed.

Same with the bush issue - you do not adjust timing to compensate for an accelerator pump malfunction! - You fix the problem not create another another one in the hope that it makes things better!!

both choke flaps are fully open at all times at the moment due to this curse word choke cable. Had it up to about 70mph (I say about as it doesnt read true) today and its ok but I just expected a bit more from a 2.0... maybe I'm expecting too much though.

Like you say you don't change the timing for an accelerator pump... I wish the garage I took it too knew that.

The accelerator Pedal/bush is probably the problem here. I floored it today and it does stop a little way from the floor unlike my Escort. Maybe thats where all the extra pep is ha! I just need to figure out why when I put the bush in the revs go through the roof. The accelerator cable is at its longest setting, might have mentioned before but I tried to mess with the linkage a bit in case someone had bent it before but no luck. I know tickover do a better adjustable cable so maybe I should order one and try that out.





In other news I went into manchester with it yesterday and had to sit in 40 mins of traffic with it in the eve. Performed well! Today I ragged it around the M60 up to Rochdale and again worked just fine. Still had those odd noises though. I noticed if I dipp the clutch it goes away but if I gas it (say at 60 mph clutch down) you can hear on of the noises ... maybe its jsut a rattle. Hoping i can track it down soon as I'm loving driving this thing and want to get some good miles under my belt!

[Darkspeed]

Should have taken more time to write and not make assumption that you would know what I was referring to in the post preceding the one you have quoted and the parts I am suggesting that you check.

So to be 100% clear - Check you are getting full opening of the throttle butterfly's

You need to look past the cold start "choke" butterflies and check that the throttle butterfly's are fully opening - the ones connected to the throttle pedal - these are the only ones that would be moving if you stuck a brick on the pedal.

If they are both fully opening with a foot on the floor and no difference in the induction note - hmmm.

Just because a garage can convince you that they know more than you do does not make them any sort of experts in anything.

[cjhillman]

Cool will check this tomorrow if I get time. I know with the carb off in hand they open fully so like you say if they don't with the Pedal down thats the problem possibly.

[cjhillman]

Made a little video with my phone resting on top of the carb. I checked primary and secondary with the accelerator pedal and by just moving the carb mechanism to fully open. There is a little difference especially on secondary but not sure if its enough to notice is? I've been driving it pretty gently and the pedal feels ok but when you put it fully down its a bit crunchy . definitely next on the list.


Also thought i'd check a couple of plugs seen as it had a good run down the motorway for about 30 mins the other day and I hadnt started it since. Looks a nice colour to me? got that biscuit look. Only checked 1 & 3 as 2 was tough to shift and I couldnt be bothered to get 4th out.







Lastly I managed to get this filler neck seal in there. Had to shave the rubber down a bit and unfortunately its split slightly from trying a few times. either way, I'm happy with it.

[Darkspeed]

As I kind of expected that secondary is not opening fully - by a long way - and yes you really would notice the difference if you had full actuation.

The throttle action needs to be smooth - progressive - and above all achieve full opening.

[cjhillman]

Still not sorted the throttle out but I have been using it as is. Since moving i've done about 180 miles in which i'm pretty happy with. I havent figured out whats going on with the fuel gauge but as I wanted to do a trip to my parents about 40 miles away I decided to put £30 in which didnt get me a lot using V power. Someone on the capri facebook said if you look at the empty marker there are actually 2 little dots bellow it which show you true near empty and actually empty... I think i've just never put enough it in being a tight

V power sale


From empty to about 3/4 (£30) I need to figure out how many miles I get for this. so far Its on 79132 .



Anyway today I got up, checked it all over, got the dog and my favorite Tom Petty CD and hit the road. No great pics yet but it finally made it to my folks house to help my Dad with his Spitfire 1500. It did really well and once I can track down that annoying noise it will be pretty ace I think. I just screwed down the K&N filter properly so hopefully that is something.

I asked my mum what she thought of it. She said she liked the dash, interior and side i'd sprayed but thought it was a bit rough compared to my Escort haha. This isnt the best angle for it but its getting there.


One of the next mods will be to stick this on the boot and a Ford badge once I find the right mesurments. 

[cjhillman]

Spoke to soon! got it on my Dads ramps to have a look for rattles and tighten up the exhaust bracket. Noticed the back wheel looked wet...

Thought it was brake fluid at the time.


But it was actually axle oil. I cleaned it up with brake cleaner and rags, topped off the diff (seem to be ok) and put it back together... hopefully it makes the 40 miles home ok. 







70s driveway. Only a few months between both Car, Spitfire on T plate Capri on V. 

[cjhillman]

Well I made it back just fine. Wouldn’t even know there was a problem driving it. Had a quick look underneath when I got back and there’s a bit of oil on the wheel but i'll still probably limp to tomorrows local Capri club event.

really nice drive back, mainly because I finally fixed possibly 3 of the irritating noises this car makes if you’ve seen my videos or posts on the Capri Facebook page you’ll know it had these weird noises I though was the gearbox, thrust bearing or maybe PCV valve ! Well… with car on ramps I got a 13mm spanner on all the exhaust clamps , another nut on the K&N and something that really wouldn’t have helped … tightened down all 4 nuts on the Carb as you could nearly wobble it about they’re all gone! love a cheap fix!!! Must get some thread lock on the carb nuts!

I did notice a nice little oil leak from the gearbox when it was on the ramps. Think it’s coming from the speedometer cable. I’ve replaced the rear main seal before so hope it’s not that.
Also this car doesn’t read the correct speak 23mph seems to be about 30mph. Is this easy to do if I’m tackling this oil leak down the line?

[westycapri]

Hey mate,

Good news on the rattles and making it with the rear axle seal

I've never got round to fixing the speedo drive leak, mines pretty much always done it. Id clean it then have a look again after a drive to see how much is there collected theres. Mine was so little I just have never bothered.

Its looking good!

Cheers

Josh

[Darkspeed]

One thing with the rear axle leak - make sure that the axle breather is clear - as you have recently done some longer motorway driving the axle will have got up to temperature and you would have had some heat and expansion of the oil and the air in the axle. If the breather is blocked with dirt and crud it will force oil out of the weakest seal. It is worth a check before taking the axle apart.

Same with gearbox leaks - there is a little breather hole on top of the gearbox case to keep the box from pressurising - these often get painted over or rusted shut over time. Gearbox gets warm and forces oil past the weakest seal.

[kevins]

It's probably got the wrong gear for the axle in the gearbox, you will need to find what combination is correct for the axle you have (there will be a number of teeth and colour listed for the speedo gear), you pull out the speedo drive housing and the gear (and all the oil) comes with it. I seem to remember most of them used the same driving gear on the output shaft so that should not need changing.

[rodharris83]

This may be of use:

link

Tap gently on the end of the speedo gear shaft with a nylon hammer or something soft, and that metal cup will pop out without damaging anything. If you've damaged it, Burtons in the UK sell new ones as well as the speedo pinion gears.

Next, use a screwdriver to push the speedo pinion gear right out.The next step is to check the number of teeth on the worm gear that is pressed onto the output shaft - you can see it down inside the hole where the speedo pinion was - using a rag, wipe the oil off the start of one of the teeth and mark it with a texta or paint marker pen. Rotate the output shaft by hand with the gearlever in neutral, and count the teeth on the worm - yes, you can see down the hole but it is much easier with the box out of the car. You should have either a 6 tooth or 7 tooth worm gear - 7 is the most common by far, although I've recently heard of 8T but never seen one. If it's 7T chances are that you won't have to change it.

Wipe the end of the plastic speedo pinion gear that you pulled out earlier, the end opposite the cable, down inside the groove and you should see some Part Numbers and the number of teeth - ie 24T

The combinations are as follows from the factory:

3.54 Diff - 7T Worm - 23T Pinion
3.77 Diff - 7T Worm - 24T Pinion
3.77 Diff - 7T Worm - 25T Pinion (different tyre size - parts book not clear)
3.89 Diff - 7T Worm - 25T Pinion
4.125 Diff - 6T Worm - 23T Pinion

The most abundant seem to be the 7T - 24T combos as used in 3.77 Diff 1600 Sedans, so the odds are stacked in your favor that you likely won't have to pull the whole box apart to change that worm gear.

If your diff is original it should be 3.54 for a 2.0 Litre according to the Factory workshop manual.

[cjhillman]

Apr 4, 2022 9:12:55 GMT Darkspeed said:

One thing with the rear axle leak - make sure that the axle breather is clear - as you have recently done some longer motorway driving the axle will have got up to temperature and you would have had some heat and expansion of the oil and the air in the axle. If the breather is blocked with dirt and crud it will force oil out of the weakest seal. It is worth a check before taking the axle apart.

Same with gearbox leaks - there is a little breather hole on top of the gearbox case to keep the box from pressurising - these often get painted over or rusted shut over time. Gearbox gets warm and forces oil past the weakest seal.

I forgot to add I did check the breather although I'm not sure if it can get blocked bellow the breather pipe? I pulled that out and it was clear as.




Some people have mentioned taking a half shaft out and re sealing it with a sealer? I havent got a slide hammer (or big lump hammer) at the moment. Might be another trip back to my folks as I think his mate has one.


Gear box wise I'll try and get to the breather somehow. I did wipe it off so I'll see how bad it is when I get five.

[kevins]

I think the oil seal on the rear wheel bearing is part of the bearing, you need a press to fit a new one and it's retaining collar, with the right tools it's a fairly quick job so it might be worth paying somebody to do it.

[jpsmit]

Not sure if it is relevant to the Capri, but the rear axle leaking through the hubs is a common MG Midget malady. In almost all cases it comes from overfilling the diff. In our case you should only be able to touch the oil with your pinkie finger through the fill hole.

[cjhillman]

No progress so far with the half shaft bearing. I'm going to have to wait for a better pay day I think. I've asked a couple of garages but its either quite expensive or "all the bearings out there are sh*T mate so you'll be in the same place once its done" etc... seen as i've got my Escort back Ive just been using that until last Sunday. I decided to take it to a fairly local Car meet and then use it to play a gig about 10 miles away. It was good fun and apart from all of a sudden having no fuel after half a tank two weeks ago everyone loved it.







The other oil leak(s) are either the speedo drive or the rear main seal. I have done the main seal before as I had the same problem. Only noticed it when I got it on the ramps at my folks house. It ends up on the exhaust and stinks! I've heard this could be the breather blocked on the top of the box but also wondering if the garage over filled it when it had the new clutch... not really sure what to do here.






The other thing I did recently was fit a Capri 2.0 Ghia badge but i didnt get it quite right haha. I pealed it off yesterday but left the end of the logo which I got straight. I thought I might have better luck doing only half of it next time.







I'm going to try and restore this with a bit of model paint... tell me know if thats a terrible idea lol. I just need one more light blue one haha.



Lastly I took the drivers door card off yesterday as I'm having problems with the drivers side speaker but more importantly the window wont go all the way up. I tried to adjust it and got the window to fully close but one the window is wound down and back up again it drops about 10mm. I found that a few teeth are missing on the regulator .






Hoping I can get these oil leaks sorted soon. I havent really got the money at the moment after sorting the Escort out so its probably going to be next month. 

Also I made a little video of the Capri/ my Dads Triumph Spitfire fuel tank where you can see these oil leaks. Hope you enjoy.