Another derelict rescue - Mk1 Capri 2800 V6

Engine tuning and refresh is mostly done. Much cleaning of oily gunk, valve adjustment, rebuilt carb. Lots of oily gunk. Someone's idea of dealing with leaky cork valve cover gaskets was to just keep tightening them down until they were paper thin. I decided not to mess with the ignition yet, as I knew it worked as is, and why introduce an additional change when messing with a fresh carb.

Runs much better, idles smoothly at around 800 rpm, revs cleanly. So I'll probably pull the distributor for cleaning, service and normal tune-up stuff soon.

This means I should be able to drive it to DMV for VIN check and papers soon.

Two pics to show the difference. A couple weeks ago first, compared with this afternoon.

Well, DMV trip still on hold. The car runs well with new carb and ignition tune up, until you work it hard. Under load (like steep uphill pulls in my neighborhood), it quickly stalls out. It felt to me like the float bowl ran dry. The car was equipped with a small electric fuel pump shortly before it was parked back in 2008 or so. Running that pump with the hose from the carb inlet pointing into a beaker delivered a sad trickle of fuel. I'm not sure if the pump is bad, or just not big enough—it claims to output at 2.0-3.5 psi and 28 gph. Specs I've found for V6 pumps seem to vary from 3.75 to 7.0 psi.

The original engine-driven pump was still mounted on the block. I think I'm going to revert to that style rather than another electric. So still not drivable yet. I'll spend some of the time waiting for a new pump refinishing the air cleaner.

Still waiting on the new fuel pump to arrive, and hoping that its arrival will get it sorta road-worthy. Picking away at stuff in the mean while.

Finally! A successful short test drive, after the installation of the new engine-driven fuel pump! Pretty stoked right now. It runs pretty well, just a few pops when accelerating when a little cold. So maybe a little fine tuning on the timing and such, but that's about it for the engine. (Other than addressing more oil leaks, of course.)

The exhaust will need some work—the cheap generic stuff on it now sounds like E36 M3. There don't appear to be any pre-fab systems available for these cars anymore, so I'll need to roll my own.

While I was waiting for the pump to arrive I cleaned and refreshed the front lights, grill and headlight bezels. A small improvement...

Final prep for a trip to DMV for papers is in progress. On the test drive yesterday I noticed that the brake pedal wouldn't return all the way if the clutch pedal was depressed. While replacing and lubing the clutch pedal bushings a few weeks ago made it better, it still wasn't right. So I spent the better part of 2 hours freeing up the brake pedal on the pedal pivot shaft. The pedals now work independently.

I also reinstalled the driver's seatbelt. At some point (probably while the car is in for paint), I will send both front belts off to have the webbing replaced. But for the upcoming drive they will be fine.

Also, since rain is predicted for most of next week, I started to refurbish and refit the wipers. I really dislike black wiper blades on classic cars like this, so I was happy to find a pair of period-correct silver Anco Aero wiper blades in the car when I bought it. I refinished the arms and blades in matte silver today. The proper vintage-style refills won't be here for a bit yet, but if they don't arrive before I need to drive to DMV I found I can rob the blades from my '96 Tacoma—they fit just fine.

Another milestone - the Capri is now registered and road legal. First time in almost 15 years.

The drive across town went well, up until it didn't. The engine, transmission and brakes all work well. Suspension is very soft up front, really need to get some new struts soon.

Got the paperwork completed, and went to start it for the drive home, and the only ignition key broke off in the ignition. Since none of the lower dash parts are in place yet, I was able to remove the steering lock from the column and quickly hot wire it to get home. Annoying, but not horrible. I've got the broken key extracted now, and I'm working to get the key code to have a couple new keys cut.

Still pretty good feeling to have it registered...

Much of the time since my last post has been spent waiting for various deliveries, some here now and some still to come. Nothing really picture-worthy yet.

Local locksmiths only have the ugliest generic key blanks for the ignition, so I ordered a nicer key code-cut from a Capri specialist. That should arrive later this week. I'll then have a spare of each key cut on generic blanks locally.

I've spent more time than I care to admit re-working the existing turn signal switch and cancelling cam to make it work. So I don't need a new turn signal switch, at least for now.

I fitted the new wiper refills, and then installed some of the new weatherseals I have had here for a while. Yes, those will have to come back out at painting time, but the originals aren't doing much and I was curious to check the fit. (Really good.)

I'm still picking away at refinishing some odds and ends, while stalling on the semi-ugly cleanup needed under the car. Years of oil leaks leave their remnants, and I'm going to have to start by scraping the thick deposits off prior to normal cleaning. I'm stalling because I'm waiting for the arrival of a set of QuickJacks, something I should have broke down and bought years ago.

Not sure how I've missed this thread until now.  Cool project.  Would really like to find a mk1 Capri of my own but they're pretty thin on the ground.

Yeah, even here on the west coast where rust is not the problem it is in much of the country, they are all gone. I can't remember when I last saw a Capri on the road. Twenty, thirty years or more?

What an amazing thread! Thank you! Look forward to your continued success. 

The 2 1/2" of ice from last week is pretty much gone now, and the package delivery backlog is clearing as well. In my case that means I now have an ignition key again, and working under the car has gotten a lot easier.

Work continues. I receive parts, then I either install them, or save them for later. I'm working on the front suspension now. New OE-type non-gas strut inserts, and some new bushings for the steering rack, both internal and external.

Drove the car to a paint shop this week, and while they haven't emailed me a final esimate yet, it looks like I can keep it at or under my estimated budget.

This past week has seen some fresh parts, more work and more planning on the Capri.

The new OE-type strut inserts are installed, and have restored the ride and handling to a nice, original feel. I did find that the steering rack internal bushing is bad, and will replace that as soon as the part arrives. Otherwise the suspension is pretty well under control.

A small shipment from Denmark brought a left quarter window trim and a used turn signal switch. Both parts are extremely nice, and the turn signal finally cancels reliably, every time, either direction.

Still waiting for a final quote on the paint, the shop had some computer issues last week that have set him behind.

But in preparation for that, I've re-worked my schedule and plans. I was planning to drop the oil pan for new gaskets and clean the engine from years of oil leaks, but it sounds like the paint shop may want the car within a couple of weeks. So I don't think I want to pull the engine apart just yet.

Related to that, I think the engine cleaning and resealing is going to go a bit farther than I had originally planned. The farther I dig into this car, the more it looks like (with no way to confirm) that the 76k on the odometer might be original and correct. I'm reasonably comfortable that it hasn't rolled over yet. Which means that I'm fairly sure the original fiber timing gear has probably not been replaced. So the oil pan drop will be expanded to include pulling the timing cover, and most likely the replacement of the gears. Will probably replace the water pump as well, as long as I have it off anyway.

So today, in preparation for the upcoming repaint, I removed the entire heater-A/C box from the car. This is a rather major project on the '74 factory A/C cars. But it had to be done as the entire system (including the cowl plenum) is stuffed full of leaves, pine needles and other related junk that must be cleaned from the cowl before it can be painted. Will begin cleaning out all the crud tomorrow.

If you ever want to sell, PM me. My father is looking

In reply to hybridmomentspass :

It will be for sale once it's finished, probably later this summer.

I spent the better part of 2 hours today clearing the fresh air plenum under the cowl vents of pine needles and assorted foliage. There are many adjectives that apply to this job—dirty, messy, knuckle-scraping, awkward and uncomfortable come immediately to mind. I removed about a gallon and a half in volume, by a combination of scooping, vacuuming and blowing. It's clean in there now, and I'm really glad I did it.

Part 2 of the job is to open up the combined heater/evaporator box to clean the related junk from the A/C evaporator and the heater core, then flush and pressure test the core and evap. It should work well when it's all back together.

I did a similar job with my Miata a few months ago. Thankfully Mazda's system is a lot less complicated than the contraption you are dealing with :)

The car goes in for paint a week from Monday. Disassembly is underway.

Disassembly is complete. No nasty surprises found. Both front and rear windshield channels are solid, only surface rust. On track for delivery to the paint shop next week.

HVAC refurb is complete. Going back in the car over the next couple of days. All cleaned out, both heat exchangers flushed and pressure tested, all blend doors, vacuum pots and linkages freed and working. Still on schedule to take to the painter next week.

Are you painting it the original color ? You're doing too nice of a job to repaint it urban camo silver.

Yes, paint code '3J' - Stardust Silver-Blue with Black GT trim.

HVAC is back in the car, but not tested as the vacuum selector switch is bad. NOS switch is on the way, but won't be here before the car goes to the painter. Because that is tomorrow!

Coming along nicely. It is actually a very straight example. Can't wait to see the finished product. 

Thanks for the pictures of the factory AC - it´s interesting to see how it is completely different from the standard HVAC we got in Europe (and in non AC cars for you of course).

Out of interst; how does the glove box look on AC cars? Is there any storage space left?

As I may have said, I have plans for AC in my next Capri build. But it will probably use aftermarket parts...

Gustaf