The Saga Continues

"TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts" (the-vancen) 07/03/2016 at 16:44 • Filed to: Crapri

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I had a conversation with a fellow who asked me why I’m bothering working on the Crapri. And it got me thinking. There is a good reason. Bear with me a moment.

This is really my first long term project. As such everything I work on will be compared to this car and all the challenges I’ve faced and will face working on the Capri. Since this car needs absolutely everything, it’ll be a great learning experience, it’ll teach me most, if not all the skills I’ll need in the future for any other project.

Metalwork, engine building, electrical, plumbing, upholstery excetera. Every project from here will seem easy.

And if I mess it up, what’s too lose? I started with a car that absolutely everyone else had left for dead.

And when, WHEN, this car is done, I’ll be able to show them this picture and tell them, I brought this car back from that.

And that’ll be a pretty special feeling.

lone_liberal > TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts 07/03/2016 at 17:17

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That feeling when you are finally actually driving the project that everybody thought would never be done is totally worth all of the blood, sweat and tears. Even if you aren't really done yet. When it goes down the road like an actual car the crap you used to get suddenly stops.

TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts > lone_liberal 07/03/2016 at 17:48

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It’ll be a good day when I start slamming gears and listening to that supercharger.

My bird IS the word > TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts 07/03/2016 at 18:08

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Saving a car from the scrapper is pretty awesome in itself. As long as you know what you are getting into.

Amoore100 > TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts 07/03/2016 at 19:16

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Wow, that’s awesome! Kudos to you for bringing back this ‘better Mustang’ (/flamesuit on). Will be watching eagerly!

TheD0k_2many toys 2little time > TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts 07/03/2016 at 23:41

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lol your rebuilding it and making it nice im taking a nice RX7 that had no engine and completely stripping it because racecar

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts 07/04/2016 at 04:52

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This. This is why I’m doing the Spitfire :) it’s a ‘cutting my teeth’ project, and after this anything else I do I should already have done before!

TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts > TheD0k_2many toys 2little time 07/04/2016 at 10:59

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Nice? No my friend. This will be my Rotsun. Thats why it’s the Crapri.

TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 07/04/2016 at 10:59

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How far along are you with that?

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts 07/04/2016 at 11:07

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It’s had to take a back seat recently as my daily drivers have been acting up and we’ve been doing a lot of building work on new garages and storage sheds (I’ll post something up about them when there’s more to show than concrete slabs).

The last thing I'd done was make a little rollover jig to spin the body upside-down so I can strip the underside ready for welding the chassis in place. I've got one last bit on the chassis that needs stripping and some weld-through primer then it's good to test-fit and gap the doors :) then I'll tack it in place and it'll finally be a unibody!

TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 07/04/2016 at 11:14

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Cool! I’d considered putting the Capri on my rotisserie, but I’m afraid the thing would fold in half if I did.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts 07/04/2016 at 11:22

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Yeah I was certain to fix the sills on anything that I put up there. Spitfire bodies are renowned for folding with even the slightest bit of rot in the sills as that’s really the only structural piece of the bodyshell :S

I was a little nervous when I first put it up there :S

BayAreaMiataBoi > TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts 07/04/2016 at 14:13

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I drove an early Euro Capri back when, and it was essentially a Mustang II with added lightness (a little over 2000 pounds). Pre-Obama California roads were smoother back then, so it didn’t need an independent rear suspension. If you did not need a fire-breathing hot rod, and if you wanted a momentum car with slightly upscale interior appointments, the Capri might have worked for you as a daily driver.
I would compare it with the Merkur XR4Ti, which I lusted for. . .

TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 07/04/2016 at 14:51

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It shouldn’t be a problem with the Capri now, I’ve added a pair of subframe connectors in the form of two 2 1/2" steel square tubing.

TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts > BayAreaMiataBoi 07/04/2016 at 14:53

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MK 1 or 2? It’s both odd and sensible that you compare it to a Mustang II, they shared almost no components other than an engine I believe, but theY were aimed at a similar market.

BayAreaMiataBoi > TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts 07/04/2016 at 15:23

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Using the mechanical components from the Ford Cortina and intended as the European equivalent of the Ford Mustang, the Capri went on to be a highly successful car for Ford, and sold nearly 1.9 million units in its lifetime.

BayAreaMiataBoi > BayAreaMiataBoi 07/04/2016 at 15:29

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I drove a Mark I. While you are correct about the lack of common components between the Capri and the Mustang II, I offer the previous quote from Wikipedia.
My memory from that time was that the Mustang II was (1) not a real Mustang, (2) that it was massively underpowered, and (3) that there were no commonly-available go-fast parts for the 2.3 liter motor to speed up the 2600+ pound car. . .
The Capri, on the other hand, cornered like it was on rails, had the aforementioned interesting upgraded internal appointments, and would run circles around the equivalent Mustang II.

BayAreaMiataBoi > TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts 07/04/2016 at 16:05

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BTW, thank you for alerting me to my lack of precision in my Mustang II/Euro Capri comparison.
(I notice that you seem to have the original wheels on the car, and that’s a nice touch.)
And best of luck on your build!!! 8^)

TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts > BayAreaMiataBoi 07/04/2016 at 18:41

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No worries man. And I do still have all 4 original alloys. One of them is a little beat up, and they probably won’t stay on the car, I’ll want something a little wider later on.

I do believe you could get the Mustang II at some point with a 302 so it wasn’t always a complete dog. Just most of the time.

BayAreaMiataBoi > TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts 07/04/2016 at 18:51

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Yeah, the 302 Mustang II was the first M2 that I would have considered. Either that or a 302 Maverick. If I wanted to do a restomod and had a spare Ford smallblock crate motor laying about, either of those would be good choices.
However, for daily driving duties, a lightly-breathed-on Euro Capri like yours would be just the ticket.
And you’re correct: when you get done with this upgrade, you will know more about cars than 99.9 percent of car users out there! 8^)

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts 07/05/2016 at 04:11

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Nice :) should be stiff enough for that then. It's not too difficult to make tbh. If you do decide to make one let me know and I'll draw up some plans for mine :)

TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts > BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires 07/05/2016 at 14:14

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I would think have to build one. My father and I went halves on a rotisserie. He got it to do the floors in his Torino.

BiTurbo228 - Dr Frankenstein of Spitfires > TheVancen- In Pursuit of a Greater Payday and Car Parts 07/05/2016 at 14:20

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Very nice :) tbh the main reason I didn’t buy one, other than cost, was that they’re very bulky even when collapsed for storage. As I’ve only really got a 13x21 garage space is at a premium!