capri 1.6GL bareshell rebuild

[ian_s]

ok so here we go I bought a ford capri 1.6gl it had been off the road for four years and was looking a little sorry for itself but she looked like she had been loved at some stage so I took it for an mot to get a good look at her. well I came away with a list of problems as long as the bonnet and set to work sorting them out. eventually she passed and i drove her for the summer of last year. There were still obvious problems like paintwork was shot and the brakes were warped. I moved house and over the winter the clutch had siezed so that was the gentle prod I needed to start a complete strip down and rebuild. I do intend to get pictures on here the minute I know how (if anyone can tell me I would appreciate that) I also intend to keep on top of the updates because I hate it when these things just stop and you dont find out what happens. Wish me luck!

[Peter-S]

Welcome to the forum mate, look forward to seeing the old girl come back to life.

If you want to put pictures up then photobucket is probably as easy as anything. There's a guide here:
viewtopic.php?f=10&t=33174

[dan the capri fan]

hello and to the forum. you dont see meny L and GL capris anymore what years your one and it would be great to see some pics of her i love looking at capris each one is different in style and looks. welcome aboard mate

[ian_s]

well thanks for the warm welcome. Thanks peter for the advice plaese let me know if this works

Hope it does.
She is a 1981 'x' reg

and just because I loved it here is (a bad) picture of my first capri that i bought when I was 16 for my dad to drive me to work in. (things you do when your young)

Once my dad stopped driving it I rented a garage to store it in and my girlfriend at the time convinced me i couldn't afford to keep it so she was sold (the car not the girlfriend) and I regreted it ever since. still married her though. I only bought that car for £200 as well if only I knew then what i know now!

[ian_s]

ok so since its working here are a few more. I also havent seen many in the graphite grey with the blue interior

[ian_s]

started stripping an most looks solid just a few areas so far which need much attention

mostly surface rust

This is looking down the drivers side rear wing. I think a poor repair on the sill is the culprit



I just found this interesting it seems to be a check list in german from when the car was built. it was attached to the inside of the rear trim

[dan the capri fan]

thats a nice looking gl you,ve got there looks pritty straight. im loveing your old laser it looked mint. the piece of paper you,ve found is what the workers putting the cars together would have read when they were bolting things into the car after the paint job it tells them everything that was going to be bolted into the car things like the engine what trim it would have etc. it was put on the rear seat because thats the first thing to be bolted into the car after its paint job

[blitzy]

Nice example and the best of luck getting it done.

Some advice.

the time you plan to do it in double it
same with any budget

Oh BTW what is it with people having girlfriends who say you have to sell or cannot afford to keep etc or is this a bad excuse?

[ian_s]

Ha thanks for the advice. Thing was at the time I still didn't have a licence and was trying to buy a house. The garage was costing me in rent. Listen to me I'm making excuses it was a bad choice and she regretted it ever since. I made sure of that

[ian_s]

The laser was pretty tidy dan but had hidden problems. I was told by the previous owner that it was written off at two years old and ford rebuilt it but the front tyres would wear really quick and they couldn't sort it by tracking. Seemed to me she was still slightly crooked. Never stopped me polishing and admiring it though. It was an '87 d reg. Last time I saw it was a few years ago it had a black bonnet and looked like it had been dragged down a skip!

[ian_s]

Brilliant first repair done. After a day of taking things apart I finally repaired something. The stereo tape player didn't work and thanks to adlen85 I took it apart and found the belt had just slipped off. Wish everything was that simple

[Peter-S]

Brilliant first repair done. After a day of taking things apart I finally repaired something. The stereo tape player didn't work and thanks to adlen85 I took it apart and found the belt had just slipped off. Wish everything was that simple

You gotta start somewhere

[Ghia15]

Glad to see another graphite one.

Been a few years since I have seen another.

Keep up the good work with her

[ian_s]

couple of pics from the weekend. managed to get a lot of the interior on saturday and can not belive how clean it is (the shell I mean) I expected worse much worse (not counting my chickens yet though)


A long way to go yet but pleased with what im finding so far!

[ian_s]

ghia15 yeah I haven't seen another in these colours but fully intend keeping them I think they have really grown on me. The idea will be to keep the car as original as possible.

[ian_s]

quick update this project has just suffered quite a large blow. I currently work at Rolls Royce Ansty Defence aerospace and since the government has decided it no longer wants to be able to protect itself Rolls no longer needs to employ us so they are closing ansty and I have somewhere between 6 months and 2 years left (just wait for the tap on the shoulder) so they have stopped overtime and spare cash is going to dry up quite quick so this is going to have a knock on effect. oh well I still have my health and my capri and I will complete this project even if I need to sell the minute its finished at least another will have been saved.

[blitzy]

Bad luck on the work front
However there is work out there (somewhere)

Back to the Capri The blue interior has caught my eye
the last time I saw one was in a scrap yard
the yard owner gave me a shout to say it was in but interior is sold
Found out the bloke got a lot for it but he would never say how much.

[ian_s]

I have heard elsewhere it was quite rare but I saw one on ebay a couple of months ago and the bidding was at 200 and it looked in a worse condition than mine. My next trouble will be restoring it as i want to keep it but there is fading to the seats and fag holes in the drivers seat. They arent in terrible condition by any means but not sure what I can do with them yet. It does back up my theory of keeping this car as original as possible is the best way to go with it.

[ian_s]

Ok Good news although not much has changed with the car yet that is about to change. As my job was going i was really concerned about the project as money was a real issue. However i have managed to get a full Rolls-Royce engineering apprenticeship! With a guaranteed job at the end of it. And believe it or not it is partly down to my capri. As part of my application I had to give an example of my mechanical skills so I did a half hour presentation on my capri and what I had done and what I was doing. They loved it and said it was great to see what I was doing! Well as a reward I have started once again. Now I don't have much spare time as I'm now full time at college but I think it is the least i could do so in the coming weeks I'm aiming to remove the engine and gearbox and the remainder of the bumpers and hangers. Sorry for the big gap but we are back on course!!! ps photos to follow shortly

[Ghia15]

That's great news about the new chapter of your life.

Glad the capri that helped you get it can now become an active project again.

Good luck with both mate