Capri GTT... V10, 550bhp

[andygtt]

chuntington101 said:

If you are doing the bonnet in carbon why not just incorporate a cowl?

Retaining the 'shape' of the car is one of the biggest design criteria of the project, a cowl would ruin the look of the car in my eyes... I almost certainly will play with the strengthening ribs under the bonnet to gain a little clearance, but externally it will look identical to a stock capri.

[andygtt]

Trouble is the clearance issue is around 2-300mm in front of the stock Capri bonnet bulge so it would need to be a significant adjustment to the bonnet.

[andygtt]

Sorry but there is no chance of a bonnet bulge.... I have played with the stance a little, front and rear are same height and bonnet is closed with adequate clearance.

My wife and friends who have seen it think it's spot on and I don't need to try to lowered it at all.

Edited by andygtt on Tuesday 27th March 12:42

[andygtt]

ManFromDelmonte said:

Has everyone missed the point where the OP says he definitely won't do a bonnet bulge?

Anyway, OP, have you considered a bonnet bulge?

fantastic idea... you thinking something like this?

[andygtt]

I think Im settling on this stance... Ive had a number of people see it in the flesh and all have said it looks great as is and doesn't need lowering... also I will have more room for the fuel tank etc as the under car aero package that I plan is going to eat into the rear boot area of the car.
Center of gravity won't change much as the entire drivetrain will remain at the same height.

If I was too lower it, dry sump would be the option I would have gone for as ground clearance and existing bonnet are fixed design criteria on the car

Id like to retain the stock sump as its so effective... the engine runs and oil pump like other engines, but it also has 2 additional electric pumps that monitor a G sensor and over a certain G they turn on and scavenge oil from each head.... additionally the sump as a 2nd portion that is an accusump and when the car is switched on another electric pump pushes oil into the vanos system to pre lubricate it.... all in all its a sump system worth having.

[andygtt]

chuntington101 said:

So it has three (3) additional electric pumps? 2 for scavenging from the heads (one each side) and one for pressurising the Vanos system on start up?

Great if its all working I guess.

Yep, arguably I could be stepping down going to a dry sump as Im not going to out corner the existing sump system.

[andygtt]

TroubledSoul said:

I need to build a V8 Capri at some point else my life will never be complete.

I'd do it soon as capri prices seem to be going up fast for some reason.

[andygtt]

True, but then the other 'issue' is that I need a steering rack which will have to go under the engine as I don't think i could move the engine back far enough to go in front of it.
I would then need to look at the box to see if thats a deciding factor in the height of the engine as thats pretty low slung as well as BMW kept the weight as low as possible.

I think I have made a design decision that the current stance is as it will be.

[andygtt]

TroubledSoul said:

andygtt said:

I'd do it soon as capri prices seem to be going up fast for some reason.

We currently have 4 cars and one of those is an M3 project so no chance anytime soon!

Prices are going up because it's an old Ford with a bit of a following. Same as the other buggers. It's funny because people have slagged Fords off since time began, yet have then fallen over themselves for them once they've become classics.

Sold my M3 Evo a couple of years ago... it had been off the road for a few years and just been used for track days with 170k it was tired lol...

I have been forced to reduce my fleet by my now wife... so Im down to 7 including my wives car lol
Of cause one of them is the M5 I'm breaking and also the GTT which is now in storage.

It is amazing the way old fords are being appreciated more in their old age... but even back in the day I always loved the shape of the capri

[andygtt]

not a huge amount of progress, been doing some boring stuff like welding up the rear wheel archers ready for me to bond the rear arches on.

I did spend a little time on the roof as I welded up the sunroof... Im not that experienced at bodywork so I primed it and then painted it glodd black so I could see the inperfectations better and establish how close I was.





its not 100% perfect, but its not going to need much to finish so Im pretty pleased.... not long till I can start making moulds

Edited by andygtt on Tuesday 27th March 12:47

[andygtt]

Polarbert said:

This looks absolutely fantastic.

Did you buy the M5 flood damaged or did it happen during your ownership? Do you have any more pics of that?

Happened during my ownership... went to a specialist with an SMG issue, was diagnosed as a fortune to fix and I couldn't justify it at the time so I paid the £400ish bill and they delivered it back. Sat untouched on my drive for 3mths and when I eventually looked at it I found they had left the fuse box cover off under the bonnet (a 30 second fit max) and rain had flowed off the screen under the bonnet straight into the fuse box were the engine and gearbox ecu was and had filled the car 6 inches with water on the passenger side.
They told me to F off and I didn't pursue it... I spent 2k trying to fix the flood damage, second hand ecu's, new engine wiring loom etc and fixed the issue they diagnosed... only to find that they were wrong and it was a different issues so just as well I didn't pay them to fix it originally.
Im was a little bitter about it lol

It was a few years back now and fortunately I have a use for the M5 even in death

[andygtt]

warsteiner///M3 said:

what model is your 'm3 project' andy ?

I don't have an M3 project.... I used to have an E36 M3 evo which I ran into the ground and sold a few years back but never really played with it

[andygtt]

ya_bks said:

pity about the clearance issues but I can see why you want it to work with this engine, shall be pretty epic,

think I remember this in the mag, looks clean for a Capri, that focus windbreaker was horrendous

I wonder would you be wanting to put the v6 reinforcements in if your not changing the front legs much.. double-skin turret tops, turret triangulation on inner-wing, double-skin + stiffener on chassis legs + struts and rear corners of engine-bay,

the Essex is about 180kg's your BM brute is 240kg's (google said so)

I can usually spot re-shelled/converted 4cyl-v6 capris by cracks on inner wings and lack of above

I love capris but they aren't the stiffest of shells so might be worth it

I bought the strengthening panels you refer to along with a full weld in cage so I could do exactly as you suggest... However I have decided not to use the Capri shell at all and make my own entire chassis and suspension from scratch and cloth it carbon fibre panels made from this donor Capri.
It's a very very solid car so I am loath to cut it to pieces to donate to my project so I'm using it as mock up and to take moulds and dimensions from.... Still going to prep this car properly and get rid of the rust I have found (due to dogged prior repairs it seems).

[andygtt]

Polarbert said:

What ever happened to your mid-engined project? Used to love reading about that.

I built a giant crate in the garden and have put it away for a while

[andygtt]

Baron Greenback said:

andygtt said:

I bought the strengthening panels you refer to along with a full weld in cage so I could do exactly as you suggest... However I have decided not to use the Capri shell at all and make my own entire chassis and suspension from scratch and cloth it carbon fibre panels made from this donor Capri.
It's a very very solid car so I am loath to cut it to pieces to donate to my project so I'm using it as mock up and to take moulds and dimensions from.... Still going to prep this car properly and get rid of the rust I have found (due to dogged prior repairs it seems).

Awesome but how are you not ending up with a Q plate as I thought you want orig number plate with this beast?

I will register it as either a brand new car as it will be all new components except the engine OR I will use the M5 which I am breaking to build this car and get an age related plate based on the M5.

[andygtt]

Not done huge progress as I did my back in tiling the utility room and have been struggling to actually stand up let alone do anything meaningful.

I have been trying to nail down the colour the car will be... My Wife always wanted a yellow capri, so I really want a pearl to make it 'pop' against the exposed carbon.
I managed to get hold of a lambo yellow that a liked (but it wasn't a pearl) and also a 3 stage TVR pearl yellow and I did a test spray out of each along with a pearl orange that I already had... the Lambo yellow was stunning an exactly what I wanted but it didn't have the pearl 'pop' i wanted.... the TVR 'poped' fanatically, but it was too tangerine in some directions/light.... I tried the pearl over the Lambo yellow which made it 'pop' but turned it to a mustard colour which we did not like.
So I was back on the search and I managed to find another colour which was similar yellow to the lambo but was a 3 stage pearl.... sprayed this out and it was absolutely perfect.

I have also spent some time reshaping the window returns, I didn't like the metal moulds around the glass of the side windows, so I have temporary filled them with filler and shaped them. I put masking tape down so that the filler will remove easily what I have taken moulds. I will then have the option to have these returns painted or lacquered raw carbon.

I also started filling the holes in the drivers door and rectifying the odd small dent ready for me to take moulds... not 100% sure what design of door handle I am going to have, however it is going to be flush and 'hidden'.

Anyhow over to the pics.... car is starting to look very multi coloured due to all the quick test sprays lol

Edited by andygtt on Tuesday 27th March 12:53

[andygtt]

ajprice said:

Renault Liquid Yellow?

Its a relatively new ferrari colour that I have gone for... Ive seen the Renault colour and its not that dissimilar

[andygtt]

Max_Torque said:

Are you keeping the std EMS / SMG trans? or converting to manual and an aftermarket ecu etc?

Well that is a very good question.

I have been planning to have a go at getting the SMG 7 speed running on a all new module... I am going to use a manual clutch so it will 'just' be the change thats needed and I would have incorporated it into an H pattern switch module.... the box have 6 solenoids and its now hydraulic system so is pretty self contained.
Fall back position is to buy a box from the V8 M3 which bolts straight on and was actually used in the M5 as a manual in the states.
All the 'experts' are saying that the 7 speed smg isn't possible to get working stand alone with stupid spend.... but I have heard that before quite a few times... I'm not going to spend and significant money trying to get it working as the M3 boxes are quite cheap.

Engine wise I am going a tried and test route of using a cheap tornado... it comes complete with map and modify my loom and runs everything I need in a self contained package... its far from a perfect package for the engine, but its £2k all in including map loom and is plug and play and they have sold around 40 units for this engine so its as well proven as anything.

I would have preferred to have worked with the original engine and gearbox ecus etc... but i got quotes from companies that have done it and they want £6.5k upwards not including providing any hardware at all.... as I have the entire M5 at my disposal this was the way I thought I was going to go originally... plus I wanted to use the clocks from the M5 as they are very nice.... but Im not spending that kind of money on it.

[andygtt]

Max_Torque said:

The 7 speed SMG3 box in the M5 uses a "drop on" mechatronics unit that operates the 4 shift rods directly. I think, but i haven't confirmed it, that the (CNC'd from billet rather than cast ally) mechatronics part used for the SMG is a direct replacement for a manual shift unit/top cover, that bolts on in the same way and actuates the shifter rods when you move the lever. In effect, the manual box is the same box?


If you were going to swap to a manually operated clutch, then just switching the control solenoids to pop the appropriate selector rail back n' forth isn't difficult at all. I was looking at using an SMG3 mechatronics unit (or rather the pressure control solenoids and pistons/ position sensor) for another application a while back......

Very interesting what you say about the shift unit, i have not stripped mine but I was told the box was built to be sequential and thus the positions of the gears do not translate to an H pattern and you would be shifting all over the box. be great if i could simply bolt the gearshift on lol.

Do you have any advice were to look of who to speak to for getting a module to move the solenoids, I'm a bit of an electrical novice who just thinks it must be easy for someone who knows what they are doing lol.

[andygtt]

I have the gearbox ecu and everything for it, not sure its easily or cheaply usable.

I have not stripped the controller off yet to have a look... I have read from the online 'experts' that this is neither a sequential or a conventional H pattern box and thus you can't just slap a shifter on it.
Saying that people have found ways to convert mechanically an H pattern to sequential so it can't be 'that' hard. Just depends how much force it actually takes to change the gear or hold them in gear.
What makes me think that this is the case is that BMW didn't this box as a manual in any car or iteration... instead they fitted the 6 speed from the V8 M3.