Another derelict rescue - Mk1 Capri 2800 V6

In reply to Serial_car_restorer :

I had a 1974 Mercury Capri back in the late 1970s.

Mine was orange with a black interior, it had the 2800 V6, power breaks, C4 automatic and A/C.

It had Ford A/C that was not installed at the factory. It was installed when the Capri arrived at Baltimore dock. From what I could tell the alternator wasn’t as powerful as they wanted for this setup, so they installed a huge battery compared to the non-A/C Capri. That original battery lasted me over 7 years.

I rebuilt the engine, put in a mild performance cam and a shift kit in the transmission. I had a lot fun with that car.

In reply to Zoomie61 :

Yeah, the port and dealer installed A/C systems were not all that great. The factory installed like mine (first offered in late '74 cars) was a better package, different in many ways. Integrated heat and A/C control panel, heater core relocated inside the same plenum as the evaporator, relocated high output alternator, different dash layout with additional vents in the upper dash. It shared many parts with other American Fords of the early '70s.

It's been a little slow lately, but today things started to break loose. I finished the headliner last week, and so today I picked the Capri up from the glass shop with both front and rear glass back in place with new rubber and chrome lock strips. The car is finally weather tight for the first time in many years. In honor of the new all-weather capability, I quickly installed the new/restored period-correct wipers. I'm also working now on final gauge testing before reinstalling the dash pad.

And more good news! The new seat covers arrived from France this afternoon. Will share more on these later, but initial impression is they are really nice.

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More fun with electrics. While working to refit the dash today, I installed the gauge cluster for testing. And everything worked... at first.

While testing all the warning lights, suddenly I caught a whiff of magic smoke escaping, and the dash illumination lights all came on by themselves, and would not go out. After pulling the cluster back out I found that there were some rather crude repairs to the printed circuit at some of the bulb "sockets", and one of them shorted and burned a section of the circuit. [Big sigh!]

So add another foreign country to the parts sources list. So far I've bought parts from Germany, England, Denmark and France. Now I found that there is a shop in Australia that has reproduced the printed circuit sheet for these cars. I've started the order process now.

While I wait, I removed the damaged traces so that I could install the gauges and drive the car while I wait. Apparently the only damage was to the dash illumination. I don't plan to drive at night, so I can get by until the new part arrives.

Will you be looking to sell this car when you are done? If so, please keep me in mind! Looks like you are doing a great job!

In reply to carcrazed :

Yes, it will be sold when it is done, probably later this summer. Watch this space...

In reply to Serial_car_restorer :

Those printed dash things were always a pain, the little screw in lights were sudden death on the tracks not helped by the awkward access up from the carpet. Pleased you found a really good solution, Austruckingfalians are good for something 

Your Capri is looking betterer and betterer in every post.

R

Note to self - I like having A/C in a street car so that I can drive through the summer months, but the factory A/C in a Capri really complicates the dash and underdash plumbing. It's worse since I wasn't the one who took it apart, and I've never seen it assembled. So it seems like everything I do has to be done two or three times, as I find some new bits to do the more I put together. I'm getting close now, pretty much all that's left is the glovebox. I'll be glad when this part of the project is behind me.

Side notes - The new circuit sheet for the gauge cluster is still in Queensland, but is "booked for flight".

The new seat covers from France seem to be quite nice, but I found that no headrest covers were shipped despite the website indicating that they would be included. Turns out that in Europe and the UK Capris did not come with headrests, and the supplier told me that the item description was in error and they do not have a pattern for Capri headrests. So I'll be sending one of my headrest covers to France to use as a pattern as soon as I can get one removed from the foam and reinforcing plate.

My clock was working fine a few months ago when I hooked it up for testing, but only works in spurts now. Dang!

First public outing... in the rain! Took it to a PCA monthly coffee gathering. Because of the rain, there was less time for people to gather 'round, but the Capri was a big hit anyway.

Drive across town was uneventful. Pretty much everything worked as expected. The car is solid, water-tight, and rattle-free.

Looks fantastic! 

In reply to Rodan :

Thanks. Still a ways to go. Upholstery, gauge repair and debug, oil leaks (with new water pump and cam gear WIIT), and A/C refurb. Probably a couple months to go.

Quick update - Replaced the transmission output shaft seal. No drama.

I've also been troubleshooting speedometer failure, and after disassembling the dash (yet again) found the inner cable was bad. Getting the correct replacement cable has proven to be a bit harder than expected. The latest attempt should be here sometime tomorrow. So the dash has not been put back together yet.

While I wait, I've started working on the seats. The seat covers from France are looking like really nice stuff at this point.

Stretching the thick vinyl into place is more work than I remembered, but seems to be going well so far. Just starting with the passenger seat back.

First seat completed.

Looks great!

That  looks really nice. Nice to see that you are restoring to original condition too.  Did you ever replace the fiber cam gear ? Rock Auto may still have those. IIRC there might have been a 3 spoke steering wheel optiontoo 

I had a 1974 v6 manual 4 spd in orange / black.  And it had the factory a/c. Really loved that car, Fiber cam gear let go one day and had to pull everything to get it replaced.  

IIRC  the water pump on that had two small sleeves that inserted into the block, Careful as those rusted out quickly , if you go in, be sure to have new ones on hand

I woild be interested in your car once you get ready to sell.  Im in Atlanta. 

In reply to Milburn Emery :

 I don't think the 3-spoke wheel was available in '73+, just the 2-spoke. Could be wrong though, I'm still learning...

As soon as I finish the upholstery (working on the driver's seat now, last one), I'm planning to drop the pan for new gaskets, and strip the front of the engine for timing gear inspection, new seals and gaskets, and a new water pump. (Yes, I already have the two sleeves and their o-rings on hand.)

Then the last task will be to upgrade and refurbish the A/C — new Sanden compressor, receiver-dryer, expansion valve and barrier hoses.

I'll be happy to put you on the contact list for when it is done, if you like.

The nefarious Fibre timing gear- I remember those! I have a 76 Capri, owned since 1979, and yes, I encountered the typical 60K mile timing gear failure. On Christmas Eve 1980. In a part of town I shouldn't have been in. Doing something I should n0t have been doing.

Still have the car, waiting patiently down in the barn, for a modern V6 swap w/ Mo' Powa.

twentyover said:

Still have the car, waiting patiently down in the barn, for a modern V6 swap w/ Mo' Powa.

There's a guy in the FB North American Capri group who is just about finished with a 3.5 twin turbo EcoBoost swap...

How you did the 5-lug conversion to the front hubs?

Tora said:

How you did the 5-lug conversion to the front hubs?

If that question was directed to me, I had a plug machined and welded into one of the existing lug holes, than had the hub redrilled to 5 x 4.5. The remaining 3 studholes were left open.

One may question if this will cause a balance problem. The iron for a single stud hole is about 1/3 oz. @  2 1/8" radius. Should be equivalent to about 1/10 oz at a 13" rim. Is it a problem? I don't know yet.

Serial_car_restorer said:

twentyover said:

Still have the car, waiting patiently down in the barn, for a modern V6 swap w/ Mo' Powa.

There's a guy in the FB North American Capri group who is just about finished with a 3.5 twin turbo EcoBoost swap...

I think you're referring to Joe Bernardo's conversion. I've watched it some, but I think that's more engine than I want. And as stupid as it sounds, not a fan of turbos. I'm considering the 3.7 variant of the Cyclone engine.

I had almost finished building a hot rod 4.0 OHV Cologne engine, but got to thinking why run a hot rod motor when a stock motor can deliver more power,

But no more distraction Cereal Car Restorer

Yes, I was asking about the lug conversion. How about brakes? Standard Capri brakes not going to fit? - they are crap anyway.

In reply to Tora :

Entire front suspension is in review right now. Mac Strut requires too much static negative camber w/ criminally short track arms, or the suspension needs to be snubbed down so it's too harsh for street use.

If I keep the factory struts, I plan on bigger brakes, but this project is currently back burnered. If I do keep the deal, I'll probably use a slide on rotor and an aluminum caliper

Thanks for the reply. Here in Europe you can get adjustable TCAs (same as MK I/II Ford Econobox).

I have Ford's parts catalog for MK II if you need reference or part number / picture. I also have MK I workshop manual.

And today I have mostly finished the interior. The new covers for the headrests are not here yet, and I'll need to find a knob of some sort for the gauge dimmer, but that's about it.

Next up will be timing gears, water pump and general engine reseal.

...and back to the topic. That looks really, really nice, inside and out!