Laser 1600

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Cosmicbike
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Cosmicbike »

Decision time is coming. The head will be coming off in the next week or 2 so I can replace the stem seals and lap the valves while it's out. I'll oil fill test the bores at the same time as final confirmation that I believe the rings are OK.
But... The camshaft is an unknown, and I don't like unknowns. I'm veering towards buying a 2ltr camshaft and replacing whilst the head is off, at least that way I know what I've got, and the 2ltr cam is apparently a good way to get a bit more from the 1600 lump (it already has 32/36 Weber, need to confirm the inlet manifold is a 2ltr too).
What do we reckon?
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Peter-S »

Cosmicbike wrote:need to confirm the inlet manifold is a 2ltr too
I did drive a 1600 with a 2.0 cam once, it certainly had a bit more go than a standard 1600.

I could be wrong but I don't think the inlet manifolds differ between 1600 and 2000
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Mc Tool »

I have (had) a stock 2l and when doing the motor up I fitted a stock ford cam (got it cheap ) and I set the timing so the intake lobe center angle was 108 Deg atdc. Real good low mid range power , tows a trailer easily ,gets 40mpg,still does the ton ,only downside is that if runs out of puff at about 5 grand. While you have the valves out it is of great benefit to smoothen out the area directly above and below the valve seat. I used a 1/2 worn flapwheel to do the port side of the seat, just smoothen the transition from port to seat. On tother side of seat (in the chamber) I used Emery tape and index finger to smoothen the transition . You don't need to remove much metal and this will improve low valve lift air flow ( valves spend way more time at low lift than they do full open ). If your fitting hardened seats just get the seats fitted ,then do the mod and then go back to machine shop and get the seats finish cut. :burnout:
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by D366Y »

a 2L cam will definitely liven up the engine a bit, I noticed a difference for sure when I changed up from a standard 1600 cam - depends how much you want to improve it by? Could always go one step further and get a Kent FR32 cam?
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Cosmicbike
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Cosmicbike »

D366Y wrote:a 2L cam will definitely liven up the engine a bit, I noticed a difference for sure when I changed up from a standard 1600 cam - depends how much you want to improve it by? Could always go one step further and get a Kent FR32 cam?
It's more about knowing what's in it, though a little upgrade is nice which the 2ltr cam should provide. Not looking for all out performance, it is only a 1600 at the end of the day.
Gasket set and bolts etc arrived today, along with a set of CVH stem seals. Hope to get some time in next week to start pulling it apart, if I can get the engine running nicely then the brakes will get a check over and it's likely to be taxed for the Summer. The welding will have to wait!
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Fordoholic Nick »

Cosmicbike wrote:Hopefully this works..

Image
A belated :welcome: to the forum fella. :)

Lovely looking Capri mate and always great to see another Pinto here. Sounds like its deffo in safe hands with you and will be back on the road in all its glory....after you finish the house jobs of course :lol:

Living near Brooklands you should pop along to the 50th in Sept to say hi to us as we will have a good number of forum members there.

All the best and good luck with your Laser 1600. It is a late one isn't it. Very cool. :cool:
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Cosmicbike
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Cosmicbike »

Fordoholic Nick wrote:
Cosmicbike wrote:Hopefully this works..

Image
A belated :welcome: to the forum fella. :)

Lovely looking Capri mate and always great to see another Pinto here. Sounds like its deffo in safe hands with you and will be back on the road in all its glory....after you finish the house jobs of course :lol:

Living near Brooklands you should pop along to the 50th in Sept to say hi to us as we will have a good number of forum members there.

All the best and good luck with your Laser 1600. It is a late one isn't it. Very cool. :cool:
Thanks. Getting more and more boxes of bits arriving almost daily :lol: I'm off work for the Brooklands do so will be along, whether the car is on the road or not is a different matter....
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Cosmicbike »

Little bit of time between paint coats and the F1 highlights today, so out with 'no name yet' and I figured I'd whip the wheels off and see what the underside of the wings etc looked like.
Image

Receipts suggested new calipers in 2017 along with pads which seems to be the case. The discs are OK but have a hefty ridge, so on the cards for a change in the future.

Once I'd cleared half of the English countryside worth of mud from under the arch, the bottom of the A post doesn't look too bad, certainly in the realms of a repair panel
Image


Looking forwards towards the front valance, and it looks like I'll only need to remove 1 bolt to get the wing off as it's held together with a mixture of fibreglass matting and old shopping bags!!
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Both nearside and offside are very much the same, though the strap joining the inner and outer wings (as per 2nd pic above) is broken on the NS, any idea's where I can get one?

Moving to the rear, not all bad, the arches seem OK, will need lower rear repair panels I think
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And finally, looking forward. The last 150mm or so of the sills looks to have been replaced, and there is evidence of a small repair
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A couple more things on the to do list. The rear springs look OK, the car seems to sit OK but they need a good brush down. N/S/F shock is leaking oil.

Head off next time I get to play. Discovered the current bolts are splined which means I should be able to re-used (though have new torx ones anyway). Anybody know what size splined bit I need for the head bolts?

Oh, the OSR wheel has been painted. Badly. Grey. And green in a previous life based on the inside of it :lol:
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Andrew 2.8i »

Hi,
Great work going on there. Nice one!
Cosmicbike wrote: the strap joining the inner and outer wings (as per 2nd pic above) is broken on the NS, any idea's where I can get one?
I'm sure that I've seen those on the CCI website, although I can't check as the site appears to be down.
I also found some more on Ebay:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Capri-M ... XQueRRYv7B

Andrew.

Edit: Thinking about it, it might be a better idea to ditch those brackets and fit the mudshields from the 2.8 instead. That will help keep the mud thrown up by the front wheels collecting inside the wing.
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Jasonmarie »

Funny how things were fixed many moons ago just to get threw the MOT , best of luck with the work and thanks for sharing :beer:
Ford Capri 2.0 Laser 1987 Mercury Grey ....... :beer:
Cosmicbike
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Cosmicbike »

Andrew 2.8i wrote:Hi,
Great work going on there. Nice one!
Cosmicbike wrote: the strap joining the inner and outer wings (as per 2nd pic above) is broken on the NS, any idea's where I can get one?
I'm sure that I've seen those on the CCI website, although I can't check as the site appears to be down.
I also found some more on Ebay:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Capri-M ... XQueRRYv7B

Andrew.

Edit: Thinking about it, it might be a better idea to ditch those brackets and fit the mudshields from the 2.8 instead. That will help keep the mud thrown up by the front wheels collecting inside the wing.
Thanks for the link, couldn't find them for looking! Mud sheilds are on the list, so if they replace the other bit then that saves me a few pennies.
Cosmicbike
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Cosmicbike »

Jasonmarie wrote:Funny how things were fixed many moons ago just to get threw the MOT , best of luck with the work and thanks for sharing :beer:
Takes me back to my Mk1 Fiesta and Sierra days :) This does have an MOT, with an advisory for 'minor body corrosion' :D
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Cosmicbike »

Small steps and all that...
Waiting for paint to dry, so decided to remove the front indicators from the bumper. 4 cut cable ties later and they were off! Same can't be said for the bumper itself, all the securing bolts are a tad rusty so have been duly soaked in WD40 and will wait for another time.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the mounting tabs for both indicator units are missing, so I'm going to have to lean of 25 years of aeromodelling skills to repair those. Current thinking is a combination/sandwich of brass strip-styrene-brass strip, with rivnuts at the fixing points. The bolts are still in the bumper and just spinning, so they will have to come out and rivnuts fitted. No point in replacing the units as nowt wrong with them otherwise.
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Paul G »

I used Araldite to make up a new surround for the rivenuts. I drilled a couple of 2mm holes in what was left of the surrounding plastic so the araldite would creep in and get a good purchase on the indicator unit. Will submit a picture later.
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Jasonmarie »

I had some trouble getting mine out when I swap for white lens and found this

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Cosmicbike
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Cosmicbike »

I think it's going to be more of the bits of brass approach, there is nothing left of the mounting tabs, they are long gone!

Apparently I'm plumbing for a few days, so indicators will ahve to wait. I look forward to the Summer evenings when I can play cars whilst Eastenders is on....
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Mc Tool »

I have found that araldite ,being epoxy is sometimes a bit reluctant to stick to some plastics and a polyester glue (fibreglass resin ) often works better. I just make little dams our of plaster scene or bluetac and pour it in and pack in a bit of the glass strands from the bottom of the bag .....waste not ;) . What also is a good general adhesive is that no more nails stuff builders use.....not so good for drilling and tapping tho
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by pbar »

Cosmicbike wrote:
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the mounting tabs for both indicator units are missing, so I'm going to have to lean of 25 years of aeromodelling skills to repair those.
Standard Gorilla Glue is worth thinking about for things like this. It expands a lot as it dries (and I mean a lot!), so 'fills in' anything which has broken off, it can then be re-shaped, drilled, whatever, as you are left with a hard dried re-built area. A bit like expanding foam but more accurate and dries harder.

It's more of a filler than a glue really.
Cosmicbike
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Cosmicbike »

Well what a smokey afternoon its been :lol:
Picked up a timing light from a workmate as I wanted to see where it's at before I pull the head off. Once warmed up and at about 900rpm the timing was checked and found hugely advanced, I'll see it the phone pic came out bit it was miles off. Any attempt to get it back to 6-8 degrees BTDC lead to the engine stalling, even with the idle speed brought up.
Typing as I wait for the motor to cool now so I can drop the oil ready for the head to come off later next week/month who knows.
Oh, I took the battery out just so I don't try and start it, and perhaps unsuprisingly the battery tray is rotted through on the front. Gota love these old cars...
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Re: Laser 1600

Post by Cosmicbike »

[YouTube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AHczqxZyOR4[/YouTube]

Sorry for the terrible quality, get a decent shot of the timing marks around 12 seconds.
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