Mk2 Atlas Diff into a Mk1 Capri

[GaryandChris]

Hi Guys, I am new to the forum and I have a question for you.

My Son has a 1969 Capri 1600 under restoration that we want to upgrade to a V6 Motor and gearbox. During the
course of hunting down parts for the conversion he bought what he thought was a Mk1 Capri Atlas rear axle assembly
that was partially disassembled.

I have been working on it lately and I believe that it is a Mk2 diff and axle. the reason I say that is that it measures 52"
across and I believe the Mk1's had a narrower rear axle at 50". Also the mounts on top of the axle housings are the saddle
type for a rear sway bar. not the type that accepts top mounted radius rods as fitted to the Mk1's. I think it has 9" brake
drums too with the better brake cylinders.

My question is, Can this type of diff be fitted to the Mk1 as an upgrade ? It is in good nick and I would like to use it.

- Although it would be wider by and inch on both sides I am sure the standard Rostyle wheels he has would still clear the
rear quarter panels ok. Your thoughts.

- But what about the Radius Rods vs Sway Bar. what is the best way to go here use a rear sway bar from a Mk2 and
try and mount it, or change the brackets on the diff housing axle tubes to radius rod type brackets and use the existing
radius rods from the 1600 diff ?

Many Thanks
Gary

[STEVEW]

Hello Gary and Chris,

It’s nice to hear from another “Lad & Dad” team.
It sounds like an interesting project you have.

Atlas axles came in three widths:
• Baby Atlas – 48.5"
• Narrow Atlas – 50"
• Full width – 52"

The narrow 50" axle was only fitted into the Mk1 3-litre Capris and are rare. (They usually come with the car attached!)
The 52" axles were fitted into Mk2/3 Capris with Pinto and V6 engines so it sounds like you are correct about where your axle came from. The drum brakes on such axles are 9 inches and if working correctly are more than adequate.
As for the width the only way to be absolutely sure is to do a dummy fit with springs, wheels and tyres attached and check the arch clearance.

My choice would be to go for a radius arm set-up.
Should you decide to do a dummy fit you can attach the original radius arms to the car and decide then if it’s doable to weld suitable lugs on to the axle tubes.
I think this would be better than modifying the car body itself - to accept the sway bar - for two reasons:
1. It is probably easier to do the welding on the axle tubes.
2. If you decide to bin the idea you’ve changed nothing on the car body and you can still install the original axle.

Another reason for using the radial arms is that competition Mk 1/2Escorts usually had/have Atlas axles with radial arms, so if the Ford competition department used this set-up it can’t be bad, can it? Plus the Atlas axle is stronger than the Banjo one.

Of course a Capri and an Escort behave differently on the road so it’s a case of, suck it and see.
I hope this helps.

All the best,
Steve & David.

PS. What V6 are you going to fit – Essex or Cologne?

[GaryandChris]

Thanks for the feedback Steve you make some good points, I had a look at the existing diff under the car last night - it definitely has the front loading Banjo Type Diff currently and i could just use the radius rods that are on it at the moment. If i just made some cardboard templates from the existing axle tube brackets and fabricate them they could be welded onto the axle tubes of the Mk2 diff after a test fit.

The other thing I need to compare is the distance between the axle mounts for the leaf springs, they could be different too and i may have to move those brackets. I don't know but will check it out.

The engine Chris has is a 3.0 Essex and 4 speed out of an Aussie built Capri GT. As far as the car goes if you are familiar with the Australian colours it is Vermillion Fire (a Red/Orange Colour also used on the Falcon GT's) with Black Interior that was a ladies car for many years. It has very little rust a bit in the passengers floor pan and passengers A pillar from a leaking windscreen over the years, and the spare wheel well but we have the panels to replace them, not bad for a car this old.

I had a 1970 3000V6 GT back in the day myself, I Bought it in 1977 as a one owner with 62,000 miles on it, the Colour was True Blue (a Sky Blue Colour) with Black Paint Outs, it had a white interior which was quite rare and was a lot of fun. Come to think of it even then there were not many Capri's around, mostly 1600's or 1600 GT's with a scattering of V6 GT's.

Cheers Gary

[STEVEW]

It sounds good Gary.

I think I know what Vermillion Fire looks like because I believe that the Ford Cortina Bakkies from the 80s were offered in that colour. (They probably also had Atlas axles.).

We have a Mk III with a 2.3 Cologne V6, which came with a 4-speed box and an Atlas axle as standard.
My son was very sceptical when I told him it was a good one. This may have had something to do with the fact that the brakes were partially binding, curtailing a “farm road test” because the radiator overflow bottle had Vesuvius-like erupted: spewing rusty water over everything.
It had stood for four years.

However, like your car it had no major corrosion. It had corroded in the corners of both footwells plus three of the four seat rail attachment bosses were cracked. It’s solid in an original Ford red but which one I’m not sure.

You may be interested to know that we’ve just finished replacing the 4-speed gearbox with a 5-speed T9 one. I mention this because an unexpected problem occurred.
Theoretically, so I thought, it should be quite straightforward. After all, Mk2/3 Capris came with 5-speed boxes and we’d actually seen an immaculate one, owned by a Ford dealer about eight weeks ago.
Unfortunately, we needed a different gearbox crossmember. (One that apparently doesn’t exist!).
We had a problem similar to the axle replacement one you have: either, modify the body or fabricate a part. Fortunately, we had two crossmembers so we chose the latter.
Although I don’t know if you would have this problem with a Mk1 shell, it’s something to be aware of should you consider a T9 gearbox.


Steve