My wide arch Mk3 Capri st170

[domcapri]

Hi there
I have been meaning to post a thread about my car for a while now but have never had the time, so while im waiting for some filler to dry il start it now
Baught the car off here from a guy in camelford called john cost me £400 as it was a category C right off, which personally is ridiculous as all it was, was a dent on the front valance that had been left to rust out, obviously some suit on the insurance company saw 1984 capri and struck it off....luckily for me! it had 60k miles on the clock interior was mint apart from a small rip in the drivers side mechanically sound! This was the first car i have baught that i decided to tackle all the work myself (well mostly all) rather than my xr2's before hand. My dad is an engineering genious so hes been overseeing all my work me being only 18 at the time of buying the car.



So i got her on the road, new steering rack, new bushes everywhere so replaced with poly new wing, needed loads of small things as it had been sat around for 6 months, £1000 later 12 months MOT






the blue/silver spray job was awful and rusted and flaking so i got out my mouse sander ( tell me about it ) and after 3 days of sanding and the worst white finger i have ever had, i managed to sand the whole car and spray it matte black with some cans...



^ my dad (simon cowell look alike )

Then i decided the kind of direction i wanted the project to go, it was never going to be a low milage minter with all the bodywork issues and the insurance write off on the history, so i decided i should have some fun with it. the modifications started I purchased a bargain set of chrome 13" minilites and put them on they transformed the car compeltely



and added a deceptacon badge

[domcapri]

Then regretfully i took it to a local boxing day free party just gone, loads of wasted twats driving around my car took a beating, someone driving square into the back of it pushing the exhaust forwards and shearing off exhaust bolts, again to the rear arch almost destroying nearly all the panel. a few things were starting to go wrong anyway, the 2.0 standard pinto wasnt nearly quick enough it was a complete wolf in sheeps clothing. the shocks were pretty much all gone on all sides, the poor girl was in a bad state, it was either scrap or restore....... Obviously i chose restore

Heres some before photos, caked in mud and starting to rust....







Not looking very nice atall, so i set about the tidying up.....



Hours of wire brushing and totally alot of $$$ of stonechip


Then i stumbled accross a forum with a chap called "daveyboy" on it, he had a matte black capri with chrome wheels and huge arches, if anyone knows the guys say thanks from me because his car has pretty much been my inspiration since i saw the pictures of his! then i saw his car in PPC with a 200sx engine in or something crazy! so good on you mate and thankyou

So ahead with the mk2 escort forest arches.......


Added Single leafs and brand new KYB shocks on the back along with poly bushes where possible!

-2" lowering blocks to try and fill these HUUUGE arches!

BLING

-2" on the front again



rather than just bolt on the arches bodge style i decided to do the job properly as one of my arches was wrecked aniway, i am so glad i have done this now as i have about 3" of clearance from the top of the wheel to the car body, maybe more! so my bumpy lane wont be destroying my tyres or my hard work


again with the front, chopping into the wing so the arches are flush
Then purchased this off a guy on here also so i can achieve my muscle car smoothed over look im going for for the front.

Then unfortunatly dad needed the garage for a while so his mk1 mini and woolsey hornet had prioraty (only because he built the garage haha ) so she sat outside looking pretty sad...but pretty awsome under a tarp until it was free again!!!




Managed to find an all right condition mk2 chrome bumper for the back..


Managed to perswade dad to let me have the garage space again
so before she went back in old engine out......


Tatty old engine bay!
Hello new etch primer engine bay


Then came the decision of engines, I wanted nice power 150Bhp Plus but i had seen too many 2.8I conversions and too many 24v cossie conversions with too much weight in the front and wayy to much wiring for my liking, and i am a big lover of carbs and had already baught some bike carbs for the pinto which were sat in my garage.

managed to find an st170 engine in cardiff going for not a bad price 43k on the clock so i went ahead an baught it
Took it apart and replaced anything that needed it....so far so good fingers crossed

Now im coming to and end with my pet hate BODYWORK!!!




Managed to source a CVH sump and onbviously a new clutch along with a retro ford RWD zetec flywheel



Just thaught id say thanks for reading! id love your opinions so far! i know my work may not be the most professional but im doing this because im happy learning ( the hard way ) and now im about to hit 21 this is the first ford iv actually done proper work on and it wont be my last ford.
any tips or anything would be greatly appreciated! and i do apologise about the spelling haha! i know im terrible. il be updating this reguarly and almost every day im working on it, my deadline is 2012 Run To The Sun in newquay go and show up some of those shitty VW's! Retro ford style
cheers for all the advice and question answering so far
Dom

[Ghia15]

Looking Good.

Glad to see you putting the work in to save the car.

Are you going to wire up all the VVT-i stuff for the engine?

[domcapri]

No il be ditching the vvt for the moment but setting the cam at its highest point so it will be fully open all the time, until i can afford managment that uses it! unless i win the lottery

[domcapri]

For the first time got the engine in the engine bay, time to start making some mounts.....this could take a while!
Any tips people! IV got a DIY kit from retro ford

[Major_Tom]

Looks good.. Capris and Escort arches go really well with each other.

Did you find that the Escort arches fitted better than the Capri pattern wings?? I did.. haha.. all the arches took was a gentle tap with a hammer to achieve a good fit.. the wings had to come off and on several times and have bits ground off before they even looked remotely right.

[domcapri]

Yeah the arches were a mock up adjust and rivet on then smooth over job, dont get me wrong it was easily a days work per arch! but the wing........ We measured and it was actually the wrong size by up to 1cm in places..doesnt sound much but when your wings nearly a meter in length. never again for pattern parts! unless i have to

[Craigorypeck]

Nice one! that will be bad ass when finished, your gonna need wider wheels!
what power levels will that lump kick out?
Is that a conversion bellhousing for the t9?
is the vvt triggered by engine revs or TPS?? would a budget management system like megasquirt handle all the engine parameters? wwould be well worth getting it functioning to unlock the true potential.

[domcapri]

Hi there! Thanks. Yeah i want to swap the axle really but its having 1" spacers for now got about 3" gap between the arch and wheels above and to the side. Thinkin maybe a non- baby atlas? Not sure what axle il go for? Any suggestions? Its engine revs, il be able to use the shift light for the vvt on megajolt or i might just adjust the cam to open it right up so its like its been cammed? as for power im on a tigh budget so getting it running is the main target for now. Anywhere between 150 and 170 id say not too sure and the engine being lighter than the pinto should be a nice little upgrade! Nope bolts straight up to the t9 crazy! An engine from 20 years later bolts straight to the gearbox. Just needed a retro ford dust plate to fill the gaps from the fancy ally sump on the 170
Cheers

[Craigorypeck]

cool!! the shift light out idea will work well! if you have it so the cam is maxxed all the time will it be driveable down low?? I not well up on vvt tbh..
what fuelling will you be using??
the t9, what a whore it is.. will mount the rear of anything.
keep the atlas and go 10" on the back.

[domcapri]

Iv never tackled megajolt or VVT before so il take it as it comes haha!! chester sports cars do a bike carb kit that uses the vvt and they say about a 205bhp return on nearly £1000 for the kit so at somepoint i think il go that way, but as i said getting this project on the road is my main target for now, yeah i was worried about it around town but, to be honest i live in the midddle of knowhere nearest city is hours drive so around the town should be fine what do you mean by what fuelling? iv got an ally race tank for the boot then facet pump with regulator also on its way if thats what you mean, the tank is foam filled so i shouldnt be worrying about swirl pots or anything like that. yeah i know im very temtped! 13x10 chrome minilights would be supa hot but i want something with an LSD first, i noticed your also on the hunt for one? how do you find your car without one? CHEEERS

[domcapri]

Heres a little update for the moment aswell......
STILL putting off the engine mounts, probably make a start today...i know there going to be a pain hence the putting off! but im running out of other jobs to do and i need to spray the engine bay soon ( when i can find the spray gun )

So iv been doing bodywork, noticed i hadnt put many actual bodywork pictures up so here she is so far id say about 85% prepped just finishing off a couple of the arches and a few little things..




Then a little engine painting



Hopefully mounts will be up soon then engine in!!
thanks again guys

[domcapri]

Right one full day of work mounts made and engine in for the first time by itself...... its a big moment




Then got the engine bay sprayed today looks awsome well happy with my first attempt at spraying!




Looks quite orange'y in the pictures it is actually a ford red colour
put the engine in tomorow for the last time (wahoooooo!)
Il keep the updates coming!
cheeers

[domcapri]

Engine in loooks awsome!! now the fiddly bits start......il crack on for a few days then put some pics up! let me know what you think
thanks!

[BMWcapri]

Love the budget approach and the quality of your work is excellent.
Who has a big £££ budget at 21 anyway?!

Should be quite a few forum members who can advise you with installing megajolt if you need it (not me though i'm microsquirt).

Throttle bodies and a standalone ECU does make things damn pricy so i can see the point of using bike carbs if you can make the same bhp.

I see you've got the cams out - r u thinking of slipping in a pair of 270-280 sprint cams? junk the vvt, solid lifters, vernier pulleys, 7500rpm...

[domcapri]

Hey thanks! Yeah i mean iv had the car for about a year now i think itl be about 4-5000 when done! But from write off to rebuild that's not bad! Yeah throttle bodies would be the best choice but yeah thousands extra. Which i dont have... Yeah i have found some managements that use the vvt i would like to try and keep it so the mpg isnt too bad but if it doesn't work out.... Thats the plan! Stuff mpg haha. As i said before getting it running is main priority for the moment

[domcapri]

Just purchased the chester sports car kit that aclaims 205BHP so we shall see! so i wont be ditchin the VVT system so hopefully will be seeing some average MPG....FINGERS CROSSED! haha

heres some recent pictures, booked in for a respray monday in satin black! purchased some tastey bits like chrome wing mirrors and bmw E30 angel eye headlights (not everyones taste i know but i think they will suit the car, and actually be able too see in the dark!!! )

Actually looks like an engine bay now...

rusty old servo...this is the problem, now everything in the bay looks clean it makes everything else look shite!

cleaned up


Kit and other parts to come soon! watch this space :)on track for my deadline of 1st of june

[domcapri]

so work has been slow recently, mostly waiting for parts! made the mistake of trying to do it budget style...ended up buying the proper parts and spending more than i should! lesson lernt.... heres a few pics, decided to spray the car myself so i started with the bonnet, it will probably be another semi-permanent paint job, but its either have the car running with an alright paint job or not running with a mint one! and its going to be used for fun aniway

heres the bonnet sprayed with the scoop fitted




Then i started on some boot fabrication work
needed a space for the fuel tank and battery to be located, so i have ditched the wooden flap for the boot welded in some plates some spraying and fettling, left enough space for a space saver spare tyre just incase




making up the straps and battery bit toook ages but looks the bizz so im happy with that!

more to come soon.... exhuast and inlet manifold due in the post tomorow
cheers for looking

[MrCox]

Brilliant work, can't wait to see it complete!

[domcapri]

Thanks mate shouldnt be too long now! Heres some pictures of my attempted spraying, first time came out absolutely terrible, runs everywhere so started again adjusted the gun and it came out fine next time! heres some pics....