Cologne track widths
- Embo
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Cologne track widths
Hi everyone, first ever post on this forum (thank you for letting me in!!). I'm at the very beginning of a 50th anniversary Capri build, my parents bought the Capri in which they brought me home from the hospital in 1973. Hoping to put in a Tesla Model 3 performance rear end and do a full electric build. The tesla rear track width is pretty wide, 63-64 inches. I searched the web and this forum in hope of finding specs on the rear widths/clearance for the Cologne kits gen 1-3 and have not been able to find any information. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, also if anyone has or is doing an electric mod on a MK1 Capri. Cheers!
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Re: Cologne track widths
Get him Jason
Farrrrr out embo , maybe just buy a whole Tesla and leave the Capri alone .
Sometimes I talk to myself ... and we both have a good laugh
- Andrew 2.8i
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Re: Cologne track widths
Hi and welcome to the forum
What a first post!
This sounds like an exciting project, although it's definitely going to take a lot of time and money! I hope you'll keep us up to date with progress.
The standard mark 1 has a track of 51", according to the data in Jeremy Walton's book, so the Cologne arch would have to give an additional clearance of 13", or 6.5" each side over the standard body. Looking at photos of mark 1 Capris with Cologne kits, gaining the additional width required sounds possible.
Capri Club international sell a fibreglass Cologne arch kit, you could ask them how wide each side is, that would tell you whether they would give the required additional width.
https://www.capriclub.co.uk/Cologne_Kit ... --375.html
If you haven't spoken the them before, you'll find them very accommodating to answer queries of this nature.
I'm guessing you're in the US, so their number is 44 1386 860860.
Andrew.

What a first post!
This sounds like an exciting project, although it's definitely going to take a lot of time and money! I hope you'll keep us up to date with progress.
The standard mark 1 has a track of 51", according to the data in Jeremy Walton's book, so the Cologne arch would have to give an additional clearance of 13", or 6.5" each side over the standard body. Looking at photos of mark 1 Capris with Cologne kits, gaining the additional width required sounds possible.
Capri Club international sell a fibreglass Cologne arch kit, you could ask them how wide each side is, that would tell you whether they would give the required additional width.
https://www.capriclub.co.uk/Cologne_Kit ... --375.html
If you haven't spoken the them before, you'll find them very accommodating to answer queries of this nature.
I'm guessing you're in the US, so their number is 44 1386 860860.

Andrew.
- Jasonmarie
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Re: Cologne track widths
Electric
No donβt do it β¦β¦β¦β¦β¦β¦β¦β¦β¦β¦β¦..

No donβt do it β¦β¦β¦β¦β¦β¦β¦β¦β¦β¦β¦..
Ford Capri 2.0 Laser 1987 Mercury Grey .......

- Embo
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Re: Cologne track widths
Thank you all. Is the majority (or all?) of this audience based in the UK?
I will make the call and also contact Team Blitz in the US for more info. My buddy is finishing a Tesla Model 3 motor build and his wealth of knowledge and recent experience will be heavily leveraged if I take this project on. I saw a Capri today I'm thinking of picking up, a stripped down prior track car with minimal rust but in serious need for smaller parts: headlight bezels and door panels and window glass etc. Here is one more question: How available are these smaller parts? Finding a Capri in the US is not that easy, and parts are similarly difficult to spot. I suppose US perspective would be greatly valued even more. The car I'm looking at was a track car so it had gone through major weight saving measures and the interior is completely bare.
Yet another question: where can I look for front suspension upgrades especially for a wider track? The suspension geometry is very simple, I'm hoping I can reinforce, or even change the system if there is an established upgrade plan already available. Thank you!
I will make the call and also contact Team Blitz in the US for more info. My buddy is finishing a Tesla Model 3 motor build and his wealth of knowledge and recent experience will be heavily leveraged if I take this project on. I saw a Capri today I'm thinking of picking up, a stripped down prior track car with minimal rust but in serious need for smaller parts: headlight bezels and door panels and window glass etc. Here is one more question: How available are these smaller parts? Finding a Capri in the US is not that easy, and parts are similarly difficult to spot. I suppose US perspective would be greatly valued even more. The car I'm looking at was a track car so it had gone through major weight saving measures and the interior is completely bare.
Yet another question: where can I look for front suspension upgrades especially for a wider track? The suspension geometry is very simple, I'm hoping I can reinforce, or even change the system if there is an established upgrade plan already available. Thank you!
- Andrew 2.8i
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Re: Cologne track widths
Mostly, yes.
- D366Y
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Re: Cologne track widths
A lot of the smaller parts you mentioned are still pretty readily available over here, I'd be surprised if you couldn't find most of what you are looking for on eBay though it will obviously cost a fair sum to ship to the US
A wise man once said... "you can never have too many capris - buy another"
It's me, I'm the wise man.

It's me, I'm the wise man.
Re: Cologne track widths
I'm not saying don't do it, and I know technology moves on, but you might want to read this first good sir:Embo wrote: βFri Feb 03, 2023 10:03 pm Hi everyone, first ever post on this forum (thank you for letting me in!!). I'm at the very beginning of a 50th anniversary Capri build, my parents bought the Capri in which they brought me home from the hospital in 1973. Hoping to put in a Tesla Model 3 performance rear end and do a full electric build. The tesla rear track width is pretty wide, 63-64 inches. I searched the web and this forum in hope of finding specs on the rear widths/clearance for the Cologne kits gen 1-3 and have not been able to find any information. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated, also if anyone has or is doing an electric mod on a MK1 Capri. Cheers!
viewtopic.php?t=54600
I'm the one that leaves all those shoes in the carriageway.
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Re: Cologne track widths
Meh , it was funnier the 1st time 


Sometimes I talk to myself ... and we both have a good laugh
Re: Cologne track widths

I'm the one that leaves all those shoes in the carriageway.
Re: Cologne track widths
I've also just learned that a new Tesla Model S battery is 20,000 euros 

I'm the one that leaves all those shoes in the carriageway.
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Re: Cologne track widths
That would buy me enough petrol to drive about 175,000kms.......and my car eats petrol, some cars would damn near double that. Mmmmm
Sometimes I talk to myself ... and we both have a good laugh
Re: Cologne track widths
Just hearsay too this one, but apparently you also have to drive them regularly otherwise the batteries become depolarised or some such

They replaced the vehicle in short order. It happened a lot over that time so old matey said - and it was kept quiet as obviously this is not information conducive to good sales.
I'm the one that leaves all those shoes in the carriageway.
Re: Cologne track widths
I tend to think this may be a one-off as I think we`d have heard more such tales? (it was `kept quiet` - yet this guy knows all about it???) I know lead acid batteries cannot be recovered if left discharged for significant periods, but Lithium systems are usually much more sophisticated and incorporate management circuitry (over, under, thermal)specifically to prevent such damage? Plus, the self discharge rate for lithium is really quite low, only 0.5 - 2.5% per month so in 2 months it should only have lost a couple of per cent, nowhere near enough to affect it`s performance: more likely there was some kind of manufacturing / installation / charging defect which would also explain the replacement without quibble? Unless of course the cars IT consumes significant quiescent current? I`m not pro- battery by the way, far from it, the whole thing to me is utterly, utterly shambolic and has logistical problems which I can see no answer to, specifically the infrastructure required is just, I think, impossible in many areas of this country due to the housing stock/population density. But then, nobody knows that better than you Tom;)
Re: Cologne track widths
Once it happened to him, he got talking about it and found it wasn't an isolated incident. You may be right though, its just anecdotal!nemo wrote: βFri Feb 24, 2023 10:53 am I tend to think this may be a one-off as I think we`d have heard more such tales? (it was `kept quiet` - yet this guy knows all about it???) I know lead acid batteries cannot be recovered if left discharged for significant periods, but Lithium systems are usually much more sophisticated and incorporate management circuitry (over, under, thermal)specifically to prevent such damage? Plus, the self discharge rate for lithium is really quite low, only 0.5 - 2.5% per month so in 2 months it should only have lost a couple of per cent, nowhere near enough to affect it`s performance: more likely there was some kind of manufacturing / installation / charging defect which would also explain the replacement without quibble? Unless of course the cars IT consumes significant quiescent current? I`m not pro- battery by the way, far from it, the whole thing to me is utterly, utterly shambolic and has logistical problems which I can see no answer to, specifically the infrastructure required is just, I think, impossible in many areas of this country due to the housing stock/population density. But then, nobody knows that better than you Tom;)
I'm the one that leaves all those shoes in the carriageway.
Re: Cologne track widths
Just had a little lunchtime read and it does seem to have been a thing over lockdown. You're recommended to keep the battery between 50 and 80 percent if it's not being driven for more than a week, too high or low can result in two different kinds of damage.
High temperatures like the last summer can drain them quicker too. So if you have a dark car on a hot driveway in full sun... that's bad.
They apparently have a 12V battery as well, which can suck power from the traction battery if left for 'long' periods.
I also came across a hilarious article where somebody thought you could remove the main battery and take it with them into a motor factors to swap it with a fully charged one... the reply very kindly explained that they weigh a bit too much for that
High temperatures like the last summer can drain them quicker too. So if you have a dark car on a hot driveway in full sun... that's bad.
They apparently have a 12V battery as well, which can suck power from the traction battery if left for 'long' periods.
I also came across a hilarious article where somebody thought you could remove the main battery and take it with them into a motor factors to swap it with a fully charged one... the reply very kindly explained that they weigh a bit too much for that

I'm the one that leaves all those shoes in the carriageway.
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Re: Cologne track widths
I would not buy an electric car in as long as my bum hole points downwards. Fuck them. I will be 68 in 2030 when these hateful glorified milk floats become compulsory so I plan that in around 2028 I will buy a brand new petrol car and hopefully that will see my driving days out. Or I might not bother and just keep using one of my Capris as a daily.
Re: Cologne track widths
That's a brilliant saying


I'm the one that leaves all those shoes in the carriageway.
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Re: Cologne track widths
Totally agree Paul G . They do Nothing to help mother earth and as you say the infrastructure to support EVs . #uck me ! all that extra copper comes out of a mine site bollocks deep in internal combustion engines 

Im in danger of "goin off on one " so I'll stop before I get barred


Argh ......and aren't some of them so pious (ev owners ) ......gullible as christians
Argh ......and aren't some of them so pious (ev owners ) ......gullible as christians
Sometimes I talk to myself ... and we both have a good laugh
- Embo
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Re: Cologne track widths
Hi everyone again, no, I didn't run away:) I appreciate all the negative feelings toward EV cars and EV regulations. Don't get me wrong, I love the ICE cars (and trucks and motorcycles) and especially the sound is not something you can replicate in an EV in a true sense. Trying something new, if it's designed correctly, can also open up some possibilities. What if the EV you're designing doesn't weigh 5000 lb? And can spin tires as much as you want? You can have (theoretically) a perfect weight distribution in a RWD package with a ton of instantaneous torque and power, that weighs ~2600 lb, in a unibody/monocoque set up with IRS and modern brakes and suspension components. For the record, I do not own an electric car and never have. There can be something pure and achievable in terms of vehicle dynamics that is very exciting to me in this project.