Right, now I'm going to talk about suspension bits. As you have implied 2.8i Capri suspension is the 'best'. At the rear you had single leaf springs, Bilstein gas
dampers and a 14mm stabiliser bar on the axle, and at the front you had a thicker 24mm anti roll bar, higher rated springs and Bilstein gas cartidge inserts in the front
struts. As far as interchangeability goes, you have to watch out for 1) dimensions on bushes when fitting things like leaf springs and roll bars. 2) metric / imperial
problems with things like balljoints on the front. As far as I know, Escort Mk1/2 and Capri TCAs are interchangeable, which means you can use Escort rallying kit is
you really want! Capri 2.8i front struts (the Bilstein ones) and Escort Mk2 RS2000 struts are the same. NOTE This though: Don't bastardise your X-pack with some
shagged out bits from a scrapped 2.8!!!! Buy new springs rather than secondhand (front coils are currently about £11 each from Burton Power) and avoid
secondhand leaf springs unless you know their history - secondhand multileafs will be saggy and tired and single leafs may for all you know have cracks in and snap in
two - I know, it happened to me. With struts, consider new front struts from Spax (if you must) or also look at Leda suspension, who do completely reconditioned
Capri 2.8i Bilstein front struts (all nicely done and freshly powder coated) for £75 each - This might sound a bit steep, but is real value when you remember that a
pair of oily, rusty secondhand 2.8i struts will cost you about £80-90 from a breaker, and they might be completely knackered for all you know. If you are going to
spend time fitting new suspension bits, which are always time consuming and usually awkward to fit, it really isn't worth risking secondhand stuff. One final point - if
you spend some wedge on new springs / shocks and whatever, for goodness sake change the bushes as well, because the original rubber ones will be well past it by
now. Use polyeurathane ones. Definitely worth the money, even if you only do the 4 TCA bushes it will tighten things up nicely.Noel