In reply to Tora :
Haven't worked out the attachment on the hood side yet. May do something with a bolt through the hole that's already there for the hood pins...?
In reply to Tora :
Haven't worked out the attachment on the hood side yet. May do something with a bolt through the hole that's already there for the hood pins...?
In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :
Previous owner did the 8" swap, and probably many years ago.
These days, I would think seriously about an 8.8, for better parts availability/ brake choices, etc. IMHO a 9" is probably overkill, and on the heavy side. When I was shopping for the 8" third member, I only found two vendors in the US selling complete center sections.
In reply to Rodan :
8.8" makes a lot of sense but would need to be custom narrowed to fit a vehicle where the Atlas is a good fit. They're so narrow... I wonder what the weight of each, the Altas vs 8" vs 8.8" is if similar brake hardware is considered. 8.8" definately has the upper hand on costs besides needing to be narrowed which I think is a big issue; it's new axle shafts and having someone do it properly etc.
In reply to pres589 (djronnebaum) :
I guess it all depends on your goals for the car... There's still stuff available for the Atlas, but if you want a wider choice in brake/diff/gear options, shortening an 8.8 might make for easier solutions and may be less expensive in the long run. For a street car the Atlas is probably fine.
The rear suspension on mine was also heavily modified so changing to an axle with more options probably made a lot of sense to the builder.
I have for a long time said, that I would like to swap out the Capri hinges for a Volvo 740/940 style (or Mercedes I think), where you can flip a stop and put the bonnet (hood?) 90 degrees straight up. That is my dream.
My MkII/III Capri glassfibre bonnet was made with all original attachment points, that is so nice. The 4 pin method gets old very quickly...
Took the Capri to a car show today... first time I've entered a show in probably 30 years. Got to park next to a 2nd cousin...
In reply to therealpinto :
I recall watching an old video about stage rallying Renault 5s, and they modified the hood side of the hinge to be slotted.
Open the hood then just pull it off.
Not sure I'd want to do that for a REAR hinged hood, though.
I saw this a couple weeks ago at a cars n coffee in Burtonsville MD
In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :
Nice. I'm guessing V8 swap from the badging (looks like Cobras on the fenders)?
I have seen that black Capri in Ocean City! It has the original V6 that is heavily modified. The owner is a nice guy .... I headed straight for it when I saw it pulling in!
Side view ...
In reply to TurboFource :
Ooh! 2600 or 2800? The 2600 is supposed to be a real screamer.
I think 2600 because 2800 started in 1974 and I think he told me it's a '73 thus the chrome bumpers (last year).
It's a 2800, I talked to the guy, also the flares are 100% steel not FG
The Capri has been sitting for quite a while, but today I took it to our local AutoX.
While there is still quite a lot of work to do on it, I decided I needed to get the car out and do something with it to tweak my motivation. I've never even really driven the car hard, so this would be a good shakedown to see where attention was most needed.
On grid...
Unfortunately, I only got one run... When I changed one of the dry sump braided lines, I had changed the oil, and refilled it to approximately the level it was at when I bought it. Earlier this week, before I started the car in prep for the AutoX as it had been sitting for a while, and there was very little oil in the dry sump tank. I added more oil, to bring it to the level I had previously noted, checking it with the engine running at 3k rpm. Apparently I overfilled it... On my AutoX run, enough oil went out the tank vent to overflow the catch can and it was dripping on the ground. Since spilled fluids are a no-no on our city owned pad, I pulled out onto the street, and having no way at the event to remove more oil, that was it for the Capri. I ended up co-driving our NC Miata with my wife for the remainder of the day.
Follow up thoughts on the Capri at AutoX...
Great grip from the AR1 Nankangs.... wish I'd had the chance to push them a little harder. The steering rack in the Capri is very slow for AutoX. Even with a relatively open course, I had to switch to shuffle steering to get around. Much more steering lock is required than in our Miatas. I really need to get busy and swap out the seats , fix the pedal and steering column height, and add a dead pedal. That will greatly improve the driving ergonomics.
I also need to add a heater to the dry sump tank. It took the entire 12 mile drive from home to the AutoX pad to get the oil temp up to ~150*F. If I'd trailered the car, I'd have never got the oil up to temp. Not as big an issue for track days, where you can spend a few laps warming up, but if I ever want to AutoX it again, it would be nice to pre-heat the oil.
Slow steering is known issue. Sadly Ford Econobox steering parts won't fit.
Feel free to tell if you come up with solution.
In reply to Tora :
They don't?
I dimly recall that the chassis were a bit weird in that models made in England had standard pitch everything and one steering shaft spline and models made in Germany had metric everything and a different shaft spline. All US market Capris were made in Germany to the best of my knowledge.
The Es-cort steering rack is quite a bit more narrow than the Capri rack.
I have a quickrack in my Capri and it transformed the car, especially in autoX. It's such a nice feeling but I am not sure they are made any more.
The BMW e36 and e46 racks are really quite close in being the right width (may need some spacers to negate bump steer) and I have photos of such a rack being fitted to a Capri cross member. Certainly not a bolt-on but a nice solution that also yields power steering. My next Capri will probably have that, if I ever get around to working on that car. The EPAS I have now is not bad but since it's really hard to find a Capri quickrack the BMW solution kills two birds with just one really big job :-)
The crossmember is already significantly modified, so changing for another rack wouldn't be an enormous job. Not high on the priority list at the moment.
These are the images I found somewhere. Might be good for reference some day :-)
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