I've been reasonably quiet recently and you'll have noticed no updates on my Capri.
Last summer, I decided that as autumn approached, it was time for her to come off the road and receive attention to a number of areas bodywork-wise.
The only thing to do was to bite the bullet and get everything done properly.
Although the car still looked good, there were a number of areas which really did need addressing. This section had been shovelled with filler in the past.
The local garage had a welder who was going to do the work, so I started the slow process of stripping everything off the car.
The interior was quickly out and stored in my flat for safekeeping.
The dash came out, bit by bit, part of me thinks this will be a right pain to put back together although I have tried to take lots of notes and pictures. By the time it goes back in it'll be pushing on a year so hopefully I don't lose anything!
With the carpet and underlay up, it was time to do some 'corrosion assessment' with the aid of a screwdriver...
Hrmmm! As I suspected, the more that I dug, the more work became apparent.
Off with everything that'd come off the front....
Everything that came off, I packed into boxes with protection, labelled them all. I hope this is going to make my life easier when it all goes back together, since things should be in a logical order (in saying that, I know of several things which really aren't).
The doors came off to see what it was like behind. Here's a tip. If taking them off or putting them back on, don't be a stubborn prat and try to do it yourself, my back didn't forgive me for a long time!
Also out was the heater matrix / blower box. I ended up giving this a flush through in the bathroom at home, it's clean and clear which is good.
The car was ready for a professional to start work on it. There had been a delay as the original bodyworker had moved on, but the day came and she was out in the sunlight...
On to the transporter it went....
Whilst the car was away, it was time for me to do a few little bits and pieces - brackets and so on which had come off the car were cleaned up, de-rusted and painted.
in the background you can see the little rotary tool. This was about £15 off Amazon and has been an absolute dream, USB rechargable, and gets into all sorts of small places. a cheap version of a dremel and no, for the price it isn't going to last forever, but it's coped happily with all sorts!
I got regular updates from the welder and popped to see the car mid-way.
Here's just a few photos of what was found and sorted out. Both wings came off and had work underneath, scuttle and A posts, fronts of the sills, headlamp bucket, valance, rear quarter, and probably more that I've forgotten off the top of my head. There was more work than anticipated and it cost more than planned but as the work was underway better to get it all done and dusted now (and get the overtime forms out).
8 weeks later and the car was back, now solid.
I'd not intended on getting a respray done either, but came around to the fact that it was necessary.
While waiting for the painter to have a free slot, I decided to check and clean the rear washer jet which hadn't been working in all the time I'd had the car. Time to get some of that famous de-clogging solution of, err, cola!
(it worked to some extent but pressure still very poor, although absolutely fine when the jet itself is disconnected. Hrum. Replacement jets in the region of £60 on ebay which is a bit much on a whim. I'll see if Martin or anyone has them).
Another job is replacing the fuel lines, including the rubber bit at the back off the sender, and the nylon that runs all the way down. Now the nylon shouldn't degrade at all, in fact when I took the old stuff off I sliced through some of it and it looked in perfect nick, just covered on the outside with crap and underseal.
While the car was being worked on, one of the rear shackles had sheared off. Little did I know what a pig of a job this was going to be!!! First battle was to actually get the old ones out!
A replacement set procured...
In the photo above you can see that the metal sleeve has become seized to the old shackle, so I needed to get replacement sleeves.
These are a very tight fit and very difficult to get in, especially on your back, underneath the car, in the end I assembled a long bolt, nut, and a couple of washers to 'wind' them in slowly, once this was started it was slow but smooth progress, see next pictures...
And with that the shackle was back on and secured. Phew! Although you're not supposed to tighten them too much I do always get a bit paranoid with these. The nylocks went flying across the garage at some point so I've a normal nut on them but will replace before it goes on the road.
And that's the car as it currently stands, waiting to be repainted...
Once the paint is done it's just(!) then a matter of refitting everything (including glass), reinstating the dash, interior, all the bits under the bonnet I took off for better access - we have approx 107 steps on my reassembly to-do list!!
