The Ford Capri Laser Page

That looks good.

A quick tip somebody showed me when making a strengthening bead by hand like you have is to grind away part of the end of a hollow punch so it’s half round and use that to finish the ends of the bead. It works quite well!

mjcapri wrote: ↑Sun Jun 21, 2020 5:37 am That looks good.

A quick tip somebody showed me when making a strengthening bead by hand like you have is to grind away part of the end of a hollow punch so it’s half round and use that to finish the ends of the bead. It works quite well!

Yes that's a good call. I must admit after I looked at the photo I had to ho back to the panel and take another look because the forming looked quite messy and irregular but I think it was emphasized by the flash. I do use shaped bars for forming but this was a learning curve having so many different shapes in one piece and forming on two different levels. I will look into that though as I'm sure this wont be the last piece I have to do.

quick image uploader

Not perfect but given I didnt have the original to work from for size I am relatively happy with how it's looking I just need to complete the folds for the head lamp bowl. I will probably revisit it but for now I'm happy to walk away and finish the rest of the wing.

Back in the game doing the headlamp units. They dont look too bad but the lamps themselves are pretty poor now with some corrosion damage inside and damage to the glass so they are on the purchase list. The galvanised plate is reasonably well maintained but I'm in two minds whether to paint it or not? It has some corrosion so it would help protect it but it wasnt originally painted so leaves me undecided.

These are the images of the headlamp unit. A little crusty but not bad overall.

On the headlight backing plate make sure that the adjusters are free and mooving before doing too much restoration to the panel. Mine were seized solid and took a lot of twisting and turning before they freed off.

As Paul suggests - check they move freely first, I painted mine black to stop them rusting and no-one is going to see it anyway

free pic host







Thanks for the advice. Yes I had full movement on the adjusters. I did concede though that on this occasion it made sense to paint them as cant hot dip galvanise them. To be honest after a fair amount of playing they came out quite nice. (Possibly in my opinion better than the bare look)

That does look great!
When I sprayed mine I left all the adjusters in place so I knew that the lights were pointing the right way and wouldn't need adjusting again, but does mean that all my plastic bits are caked in paint - yours looks much nicer with the clean plastic

D366Y wrote: ↑Fri Mar 12, 2021 9:31 am That does look great!
When I sprayed mine I left all the adjusters in place so I knew that the lights were pointing the right way and wouldn't need adjusting again, but does mean that all my plastic bits are caked in paint - yours looks much nicer with the clean plastic

Thanks yeah I decided that everything needed stripping off so I could sandblast it. The only thing I'm not sure about is the rivet which originally was a brass hollow rivet so I may turn some to replace it with but they do look good. I'm looking forward to getting some new lamps to fit in.

I finally got round to making the brass rivets




I think it was the right decision to make some and they pop against the black.

Very impressive, looks great!

Well this is it. I have come to the very sad decision to sell. I have enjoyed my time but I don't have enough of it to dedicate to this project. I am busier than ever and can no longer justify keeping it. Any enquiry welcome and I will be advertising it as soon as I possibly can. Thanks all for your help along the way. Ian

ian_s wrote: ↑Wed Jan 31, 2024 10:38 am Well this is it. I have come to the very sad decision to sell. I have enjoyed my time but I don't have enough of it to dedicate to this project. I am busier than ever and can no longer justify keeping it. Any enquiry welcome and I will be advertising it as soon as I possibly can. Thanks all for your help along the way. Ian

Have you lost enthusiasm for it?

It's not enthusiasm I have lost as much as time. I have so little now with my job being so busy. I am not getting the time to commit to it that it needs. One day maybe but it's just not the right season. I have tried but it is time to move on.

This has now sold