Project Capri

[Hoonigan]

Hi all,

So I've been trying to find a Capri for some time now but haven't really been very successful.

I'm trying to do a resto-mod and I have a few very specific things I want to do to it. So an abandoned car that needs body work, paint, interior work etc fits the bill perfectly. I don't really care if it's running or not either.

The few I found were recently restored or 'modified' and asking prices were a bit on the high side and I would anyway have to roll back some of the work already done on them and this would make me overshoot my budget by a mile.

Basically, I'm looking for a Ford Capri (preferably MK1) in shabby condition for around 3-500K (not set in stone,maybe a bit more depending on the condition) If any of you gents know about one close to what I've mentioned above, please be kind enough to drop me a PM. Any help is much appreciated.

Thanks for reading.

[Komisiripala]

you had a rendering or an example of a gray number. can you post that up here?

[Hoonigan]

you had a rendering or an example of a gray number. can you post that up here?

Not sure which one you're referring to bro

Google gives me this

The colour scheme I had in mind is more closely represented here.

[MasterDon]

@MD, what are your thoughts on the dark grey I'm talking about?

I checked out a few grey Capri pics on the net just now and the Camaro you posted...looks good!And grey is one of those quintessential 70s colours like copper brown...

But add a twist to it,something unexpected.You know like an artist hides easter eggs on his paintings...For example my TR is primarily white but after awhile a slight green and gold tinge rises out of it.The black MG also has green undertones paying homage to British racing green..And on Shane's Escort the GM grey gives way to blue after awhile.

[Hoonigan]

I checked out a few grey Capri pics on the net just now and the Camaro you posted...looks good!And grey is one of those quintessential 70s colours like copper brown...hat does

But add a twist to it,something unexpected.You know like an artist hides easter eggs on his paintings...For example my TR is primarily white but after awhile a slight green and gold tinge rises out of it.The black MG also has green undertones paying homage to British racing green..And on Shane's Escort the GM grey gives way to blue after awhile.

I learn something new here every day. I will definitely look into that. That camaro actually is the exact shade I had in mind. Just dark enough to set the stripes out.

I haven't looked at specifics on this yet so there is wiggle room left until the rest of the car is put together.

Update - The car has been stripped out today. They have also begun to dismantle the parts that arrived recently. I just need to keep the tid bits flowing to facilitate their speed.

[Jaliya48]

Wow, impressive ideas on the colour scheme! Bear with me if you already mentioned this, but is your Capri going to have quad lamps?

[Sampath Gunasekera]

In case if you are going for original yellow, how about this?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Ford_Capri_XL.JPG

[Hoonigan]

Wow, impressive ideas on the colour scheme! Bear with me if you already mentioned this, but is your Capri going to have quad lamps?

Yes Jaliya, I already bought a set of BMW ellipsoid projectors or smiley headlamps. Rear will have the larger RS3100 units which will replace the Escort tail lights.

In case if you are going for original yellow, how about this?

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/54/Ford_Capri_XL.JPG

The original yellow is slightly pastel for my liking. The one I posted is from Aussie which has a brighter shade. And I'm not a fan of the vinyl top.

[Jaliya48]

Lovely, quad lamps (and twin circular lamps) look very aggressive!

[GTAm]

While I do agree with GTAm's philosophy, I think it would depend on the type of project. If it was a spec to spec restoration, I would try to stick to one of the original colours. But I have taken some 'liberties' with this one and has an engine which only appeared two generations later.

I never really liked any of the colours the Capri was offered in, except white. Which was my first choice, but had to call it off. I settled on a dark grey/black scheme to go for a little bit of an aggressive look (I imagined it with a little bit of a rake)

My father suggested the yellow it currently has, which was it's original colour. Though I dismissed the idea almost immediately, however.....

as always, I am open to ideas and have enough time to ponder the choices. I will revisit the original Ford colour cards as well.

@MD, what are your thoughts on the dark grey I'm talking about?

I'm with your dad on this one

That car would stand out among the crowd in Yellow. Love the black rear panel and stripe too. Very 70's. The 70's was not a subtle era. However in the end you must choose a colour that you like and could live with.

I distinctly recall two Mk 1s that were in our neighborhood when I was a wee kid in the 80s. They were both daily drivers. One was a brown and the other was a dark green (not sure if it was BRG, I think it was a bit lighter) with a vinyl top. Some Sundays they would both be at church and I would get excited to scoot outside to look at them.

[Hoonigan]

I'm with your dad on this one

That car would stand out among the crowd in Yellow. Love the black rear panel and stripe too. Very 70's. The 70's was not a subtle era. However in the end you must choose a colour that you like and could live with.

I distinctly recall two Mk 1s that were in our neighborhood when I was a wee kid in the 80s. They were both daily drivers. One was a brown and the other was a dark green (not sure if it was BRG, I think it was a bit lighter) with a vinyl top. Some Sundays they would both be at church and I would get excited to scoot outside to look at them.

That yellow will glow at night Absolutely nothing subtle about it. I will have a word with the committee at home on this.

Meanwhile, it was discovered that the dash fascia has rotted away and the genius before used resin to fill in the gaps and plastered a rexin over it. It had to be broken out. The dash fascia the importer picked up will have some use after all.

The blank door card I had in mind will have to be altrered a bit to accomodate the power shutter switches and central lock buttons (picked up from a Hiace) I am yet to see these to figure out how to stick it in as discreetly as possible.

[Komisiripala]

Funny we never spoke about that before. There's a certain charm in leaving the winder there you know. Central locking is no biggie. It's around 500/- per motor and the unit is 4000

Edited February 18, 2014 by Komisiripala

[Jaliya48]

I agree, I'm partial to winders myself! Also, they'll never malfunction and leave you trapped inside like the electric shutters, you know....

[Hoonigan]

But I'm not too hyped about the winders Jaliya. I don't think adding power shutters will take anything away from the car and it's nice thing to have. And I think I want to keep the door cards as simple and blank as possible.

To that end, the good doctor came up with a nice idea to mount just one set of controls in the center console. I think the button panel can be pried out and slotted in the center console and can be wrappedi in CF to blend with it.

[Hoonigan]

Looks like things will slow down a fair bit.

[Watchman]

Dude those are your good new rims being used to keep the car jacked up... Ouch!!!!

[Komisiripala]

Looks like someone's been busy..

[Hoonigan]

@watchman there's just the one wheel in the garage machan. And that one doesn't have any weight on it. It's just between some other wheel and that log to balance the car on the actual stands the car sits on

@komi this was pretty much it machan. There's not much to look at right now. There's a whole lot more corrosion than I thought initially. Previous job has been a patch up job letting more serious corrosion out of sight. Taking care of it more comprehensively this time and I'm expecting it will take some time. Slow and steady.

[Supra_Natural]

@watchman there's just the one wheel in the garage machan. And that one doesn't have any weight on it. It's just between some other wheel and that log to balance the car on the actual stands the car sits on @komi this was pretty much it machan. There's not much to look at right now. There's a whole lot more corrosion than I thought initially. Previous job has been a patch up job letting more serious corrosion out of sight. Taking care of it more comprehensively this time and I'm expecting it will take some time. Slow and steady.

Slow and steady will be watchwords to live by for this bit machan, I hope you've drilled them into your baases as well. That is some scary looking corrosion there but it should be relatively straightforward to sort (but obviously time consuming).

[Hoonigan]

Yes supra, the guy seems quite detailed. And the garage owner is keeping an eye so that he doesn't rush anything. And yes the corrosion is pretty nasty. There are braces welded to hold things together while tge rust is taken care of.

[Davy]

Woah, that's quite a bit of rust. sure like to see how your tinker tackles this one.

[GTAm]

There's a whole lot more corrosion than I thought initially. Previous job has been a patch up job letting more serious corrosion out of sight.

That's almost always the case. Very very normal. Don't let it bother you too much. The important thing is it's getting done correctly now.

[Hoonigan]

That's almost always the case. Very very normal. Don't let it bother you too much. The important thing is it's getting done correctly now.

Yes that's the plan! I made it very very clear that this car is not being done up to be sold and will be kept and used. Therefore not to take any short cuts and do it properly. Everything else would be useless if this stage is not properly done.

[similarnames]

Man, good that you ve stripped her to the bare metal. btw, you are going to put BMW smiley headlamps right ? Does it need any mods to Capri's hood ?

[Hoonigan]

Woah, that's quite a bit of rust. sure like to see how your tinker tackles this one.

The guy had fabricated a piece that covers the door hinge by the time I got there. It was very good and looked identical to the same piece on the other side. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of it. Will have to give it time and see what he actually is capable of.

Man, good that you ve stripped her to the bare metal. btw, you are going to put BMW smiley headlamps right ? Does it need any mods to Capri's hood ?

Yeah dude, the car didn't look this bad from the outside. But I'm glad the issue was discovered so that it can be addressed now.

I'm not entirely sure about the space in the hood for the headlamps machan. It is more than likely that it's the same hood as in the original 4 light models, in which case the lights should sit in there nicely. If not, the inner lights might look a bit 'off'. I will have to see if it something that would bother me enough to modify the hood or not.

The hood however, does have some other issues.

1. Not having the power bulge might get in the way of the engine

2. It's so effin heavy!!!

I have had a suggestion to use the existing hood and 'sculpt' a stock looking power bulge on it using foam, use that as a plug to make a mold to fabricate the hood out of fiber glass. That way I will have the original hood as a safety, lose a lot of weight and solve my clearance isses. The headlight problem could be solved at this stage if required as well.

[Komisiripala]

The guy had fabricated a piece that covers the door hinge by the time I got there. It was very good and looked identical to the same piece on the other side. Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of it. Will have to give it time and see what he actually is capable of.

Yeah dude, the car didn't look this bad from the outside. But I'm glad the issue was discovered so that it can be addressed now.

I'm not entirely sure about the space in the hood for the headlamps machan. It is more than likely that it's the same hood as in the original 4 light models, in which case the lights should sit in there nicely. If not, the inner lights might look a bit 'off'. I will have to see if it something that would bother me enough to modify the hood or not.

The hood however, does have some other issues.

1. Not having the power bulge might get in the way of the engine

2. It's so effin heavy!!!

I have had a suggestion to use the existing hood and 'sculpt' a stock looking power bulge on it using foam, use that as a plug to make a mold to fabricate the hood out of fiber glass. That way I will have the original hood as a safety, lose a lot of weight and solve my clearance isses. The headlight problem could be solved at this stage if required as well.

yeah fibre hood. that'll sort a lot of things out methinks...