RE: Ford Capri 3.0 S: £15K Competition Update

[mattpurdon]

Guvernator said:

Really didn't mean to rile anyone up but thought it had to be said. Yes life gets in the way far too often for us PH'ers and trust me I know first hand about things going wrong on cars but I think you'd have to agree that 15 months is quite a long time between updates and I think some others agree. Just thought that for such a visible and very PH worthy competition, there would be some sort of stipulation about more frequent updates.

PS still don't see the appeal of Capri's and if anything the articles have scared me off even more but good luck getting it back on the road.

That's fine by me, but obviously every action has an equal and opposite reaction... Oh, and it's 15 months since the engine blew up, not the last update, but again I can appreciate you've probably not read them. Before that, I was aiming for every 6 weeks or so, content dependent.

Just out of interest, what would you have spent 5 grand on? Again, apologies I didn't ship the thing off to an engine builder and spend the purchase price on a rebuild (cracking advice by the way Ian, a mantra I tend to try and abide by where possible!)

I have to say I'm quite enjoying the debate - cheers for the comments from both sides of the fence.

[jamieduff1981]

There' really not a lot of interesting car you can buy for £5k these days (sorry peasants, but remotely interesting £5k cars are rare) and the Capri is a cool car.

Is a car project during university the world's best idea? Possibly not, but does it really matter?

OP I have a decent education in engineering and worked in garages briefly as a student. I think of myself as fairly competent working on cars nowadays and I learned almost all of what I know about working on cars by always having cars I couldn't *quite* afford to run comfortably - ergo when I broke them I could barely afford the parts and the prospect of paying someone else to fix it was frankly unfeasible.

This is going slower than you'd like. So what? Finish your education and there's more time and money to sink in to old cars soon enough.

It's still a cool car you have

[Guvernator]

mattpurdon said:

That's fine by me, but obviously every action has an equal and opposite reaction... Oh, and it's 15 months since the engine blew up, not the last update, but again I can appreciate you've probably not read them. Before that, I was aiming for every 6 weeks or so, content dependent.

Just out of interest, what would you have spent 5 grand on? Again, apologies I didn't ship the thing off to an engine builder and spend the purchase price on a rebuild (cracking advice by the way Ian, a mantra I tend to try and abide by where possible!)

I have to say I'm quite enjoying the debate - cheers for the comments from both sides of the fence.

For £5k most interesting cars are going to be a bit of a gamble but I'd probably have gone for something Japanese, possibly an MX-5 track project (even though I'm not a huge fan) or any other Japanese performance coupe of that era, 200SX, MR2, Integra etc. Possibly not as iconic to many as a Capri but it would probably still be on the road and parts availability is a lot easier.

Other options might be a Mk1\2 Golf GTi or 205 GTi but that's just some examples of things I might consider off the top of my head. I get that for some people a Capri has much more appeal but just think with £5k and not a lot of time\budget it's a bit ambitious and going to be a bit of a struggle keeping it on the road. Again no disrespect for trying to do it yourself, it's something I also did when I was younger but just not very conducive to regular updates which was my main point.

As for the Integrale I also get that it's kept off road during bad weather, I'd probably try to keep it out of the wet too but I'd still be tinkering with it during winter and don't think I'd be able to resist taking it out for a cold winter morning blast either.

Again not having a pop per se, perhaps it's a perception thing but it just seems to be ages between updates.

[mattpurdon]

jamieduff1981 said:

There' really not a lot of interesting car you can buy for £5k these days (sorry peasants, but remotely interesting £5k cars are rare) and the Capri is a cool car.

Is a car project during university the world's best idea? Possibly not, but does it really matter?

OP I have a decent education in engineering and worked in garages briefly as a student. I think of myself as fairly competent working on cars nowadays and I learned almost all of what I know about working on cars by always having cars I couldn't *quite* afford to run comfortably - ergo when I broke them I could barely afford the parts and the prospect of paying someone else to fix it was frankly unfeasible.

This is going slower than you'd like. So what? Finish your education and there's more time and money to sink in to old cars soon enough.

It's still a cool car you have

Couldn't agree more! As said, it'd be pretty easy (if my pockets were deep enough to deserve the car, obviously) to give Burton, J.W. Developments etc £5000 quid and ask for an engine with the power I want, or I could build it myself and know it inside and out. For the mechanically minded it's a pretty clear choice. I'm not sure where I'd find the satisfaction in someone else's work, but then I guess that's just my own history with cars - I built that little Land Rover with my own hands and it's still my daily transport 4 years down the line.

Guv', 10 points for the contradictions - is an MX5 really more deserving of the 'dream car' tag?

You're right though - it is a matter of perception. With an engine in pieces there isn't much to write about; would people really want to know what was in my shopping bag every month? 'Some cam bearings, the end.' 'Recon distributor, the end.' 'A clutch! The end.' There's not much to work with for an 800-1000 word update, but as I've said, within a month I'll be back to using the thing daily and writing the once-a-month-or-two articles I used to.

[QuattroDave]

crookie said:

Here's the other winner (Integrale owner) taking the bite...

I enjoyed reading my fellow winner's update and seeing that the Capri project is still progressing.

I was surprised by same of the comments in the thread. The comment by Quattro Dave of 'I wish there had to be quarterly updates' particularly surprised me as it has been every quarter since purchasing the car that I have written a update on the Integrale! Perhaps he's missed a couple of them.
Ironically I sent my next update a few days ago which PH will be publishing very shortly, presumably spacing mine and Matt's updates apart.

My other surprise was that people seem puzzled as to why the car isn't used much. I thought it would be a given that an Integrale wouldn't be used as a daily driver. It was never my intention. To me a true dream car is one that goes hand in hand with being used on nice weathered weekend days and taking out for special occasions/events (e.g. Sunday services). I fully believe that I enjoy the car more by only using the car once every few weeks. It means I've had the excitement building up to seeing and driving the old girl again. I've often found that cars used daily can become boring the quicker you get used to them and subsequently overlook their brilliance. Absence makes the heart grow fonder and all that.

It's true I don't use the car over winter, but I use her whenever I can during the rest of the year. This competition was about getting the car of your dreams. The Integrale was exactly that, I don't think mileage should dictate whether we're worthy winners?! In terms of Integrales, mine is probably still one of the most used out there. As a specialist once told me, more and more are simply now being locked up in collections.

The other factor with not being able to use the car all the time is life. I've had to move to London for work and I don't want the car in central London (for obvious reasons) and secondly my insurance company won't let me! Unfortunately this means the car lives with my Dad 60 miles away so realistically I can only get back to it once every few weeks.

I really enjoy writing my updates, but want to make sure I have something to write about, hence doing them every quarter.
I've had a great response from the PH community and really enjoy reading the comments and sharing my experience with us other 'regular' readers and hope they carry on for as long as possible.

Edited by crookie on Wednesday 21st October 14:41

Edited by crookie on Wednesday 21st October 14:50

Apologies fella, I think I must have. Probably that bloody work thing interfering!

[crookie]

No worries mate, I know how that 'work' thing gets in the way

[jamieduff1981]

mattpurdon said:

jamieduff1981 said:

There' really not a lot of interesting car you can buy for £5k these days (sorry peasants, but remotely interesting £5k cars are rare) and the Capri is a cool car.

Is a car project during university the world's best idea? Possibly not, but does it really matter?

OP I have a decent education in engineering and worked in garages briefly as a student. I think of myself as fairly competent working on cars nowadays and I learned almost all of what I know about working on cars by always having cars I couldn't *quite* afford to run comfortably - ergo when I broke them I could barely afford the parts and the prospect of paying someone else to fix it was frankly unfeasible.

This is going slower than you'd like. So what? Finish your education and there's more time and money to sink in to old cars soon enough.

It's still a cool car you have

Couldn't agree more! As said, it'd be pretty easy (if my pockets were deep enough to deserve the car, obviously) to give Burton, J.W. Developments etc £5000 quid and ask for an engine with the power I want, or I could build it myself and know it inside and out. For the mechanically minded it's a pretty clear choice. I'm not sure where I'd find the satisfaction in someone else's work, but then I guess that's just my own history with cars - I built that little Land Rover with my own hands and it's still my daily transport 4 years down the line.

Guv', 10 points for the contradictions - is an MX5 really more deserving of the 'dream car' tag?

You're right though - it is a matter of perception. With an engine in pieces there isn't much to write about; would people really want to know what was in my shopping bag every month? 'Some cam bearings, the end.' 'Recon distributor, the end.' 'A clutch! The end.' There's not much to work with for an 800-1000 word update, but as I've said, within a month I'll be back to using the thing daily and writing the once-a-month-or-two articles I used to.

This is the reality of old Japanese cars.



You won't be doing many trackdays as a student and not many afterwards unless you like right next to one and don't have anything better to do at weekends. Even a trackday MX-5 can't have ventilated sills and to be frank, the vast majority of MX-5s (and all these other Japanese sports cars from the 1990s) suffer badly from rust. It will still be in need of a lot of TLC like your Capri - granted you could have more chance of using it between smaller repairs whereas an engine is pretty fundamental to have working, but anyone telling you an old MX-5 is a carefree experience just hasn't found their rust yet.

This is the 3rd one above in that photo. Owned a Mk2.5 1.8i Sport myself and my dad had a Mk1 1.8i previously and recently bought this one, which is sat in my shed having the sills replaced, the front springs replaced (some bell end has cut them), it needs the rear subframe and control arms removed, blasted, assessed to see what's left and hopefully recoated and refitted then it needs a respray. It's going to be taking up space in my shed for a while yet...

[VR6 Eug]

Good read about the capri, As for your fueling issues, I remember seeing a few 3.0 capri's years ago with modified inlet manifolds to accept 2 x 38 webbers but I'm not sure of the work involved or what performance upgrade and mpg you get with that modification but it did look cool at the time,
Other option is a single 40 or 45 webber.

[daytonagone]

That's a bit harsh, as a skint student I'd have entered. I just admire the guy for hanging in there and trying to 'keep the dream alive', many would have flogged the car and spent the funds down the union and a new i10.

[daytonagone]

That's a bit harsh, as a skint student I'd have entered. I just admire the guy for hanging in there and trying to 'keep the dream alive', many would have flogged the car and spent the funds down the union and a new i10.

[vpr]

Just rebuilding an Essex V6 myself.

Interested to know how you get on

[mattpurdon]

daytonagone said:

That's a bit harsh, as a skint student I'd have entered. I just admire the guy for hanging in there and trying to 'keep the dream alive', many would have flogged the car and spent the funds down the union and a new i10.

Haha, thanks! Have to say the thought had crossed my mind, there's a lot of pints in that motor...

Mr VR6 - the twin 38s do look great, but going through Car Clinic i'd not be too far off second hand triple Webers! Not a cheap kit unfortunately. A 40DFI would be good for getting the power out of it, but I fear it'll leave it with less than ideal road manners/ emissions and absolutely nuke the mpg. Trying to find the best compromise between power when I want it and scavenging a bit of economy as I do actually want to use it, so thinking I should stick to something twin choke - 40s are all or nothing, best explanation i've seen was 'you're either accelerating or you're not'.

Anyone got experience with modified 38DGA/MS carbs? John Wade reckons he's got a 3.3 running nearly 220bhp on one, so they can definitely flow enough for (relatively) big power. Not heard a lot about them though, unfortunately.

And VPR - prepare your wallet

[SlimJim16v]

The 40 DFI is great for what it is, a cheap easy way to more power. As it comes it's jetted for full throttle power, but it is still very driveable, it is after all on a big, torquey V6. I could poodle uphill at 30mph in 4th gear easily and it was around 200bhp and would do low 14sec 1/4 miles all day on road tyres.

It was very juicy though at about 14mpg around town. But rolling roads would only spend time jetting it for full throttle power, so didn't help. There are some useful tips on setting it up here - http://www.tubetvr.com/essex.html

As for emissions, they're checked at idle, which is quite easy to tune. The biggest problem though is the uneven fuel distribution, but porting the inlet manifold will help and a good electronic ignition is a must have also.

Oh, and if you get anything from Burton, check they've given you the right size and they never used to bother cleaning out oilways.

Edited by SlimJim16v on Sunday 25th October 21:26