RE: SOTW: Ford Capri Mk3
Discussion
A good Capri is a rare thing these days.
I enjoyed having my 2.8i it was one of the later cars an 87-D special with recaro's, LSD, about 150 bhp, low mileage with fsh. That was in 1995 & I wouldnt be surprised if its still going now.
It was a lovely old car to drive with a great driviing position, lovely engine note and nice snickety gearbox, plus it had an lsd so it was lots of fun to slide around at low speeds, plus it would happily cruise along at 3 figures. Would be worth quite a bit if I'd kept hold of it.
I also had a 2.0S before that or it might have been a 2.0 laser cant remember but it looked like an S that was a B reg and low mileage, rust free, but was no where near as fun to drive as the 2.8i.
And long before that I remember learning to drive in a 1.6L, and then driving (briefly) a mk3 1.3 capri, 4 speed, 1300cc from the escort, in a nice shade of battle ship grey! Capri's dont come any slower or more basic than that thing which was quickly sold and replaced with a Fiesta 1300 sport which made much better use of Fords old 1300 ohv engine.
I enjoyed having my 2.8i it was one of the later cars an 87-D special with recaro's, LSD, about 150 bhp, low mileage with fsh. That was in 1995 & I wouldnt be surprised if its still going now.
It was a lovely old car to drive with a great driviing position, lovely engine note and nice snickety gearbox, plus it had an lsd so it was lots of fun to slide around at low speeds, plus it would happily cruise along at 3 figures. Would be worth quite a bit if I'd kept hold of it.
I also had a 2.0S before that or it might have been a 2.0 laser cant remember but it looked like an S that was a B reg and low mileage, rust free, but was no where near as fun to drive as the 2.8i.
And long before that I remember learning to drive in a 1.6L, and then driving (briefly) a mk3 1.3 capri, 4 speed, 1300cc from the escort, in a nice shade of battle ship grey! Capri's dont come any slower or more basic than that thing which was quickly sold and replaced with a Fiesta 1300 sport which made much better use of Fords old 1300 ohv engine.
My first car in 88, A Black 1.6. White wheels, White wiper arms, Halfords White surround for the last few inches of the exhaust pipe, you get the picture 
Not so much of A "fanny"...sorry... magnet, but in my somewhat incapable hands, it was more of A lamppost magnet.
My everlasting memory of it, was when the heater matrix leaked. This was located somewhere in the lower deck behind the dash. The resultant steam that billowed out of that small hole, meant driving the car, was akin to driving the inside of A kettle. I can tell you, that it used to get hot & steamy in there, but alas, not in A good way.
I was skint at the time, so getting A matrix & the required skilled labour, was A non starter. The logistics of fitting a set of windscreen wipers to the inside of the car, was similarly ruled out.
So after A bit of investigation, the hose that went in to the bulkhead to feed the matrix & subsequently left the bulkhead, was coupled together with god knows what, in A bid to prevent any more hot water entering the car.
All was well in the summer, but on rainy wintry days, trying to drive the car in near Moscow conditions, ultimately led to my version of 'A lamppost too far'...And the car was subsequently dragged off to 'Tarronis' in Birmingham.
Aahh, happy days.
Not so much of A "fanny"...sorry... magnet, but in my somewhat incapable hands, it was more of A lamppost magnet.
My everlasting memory of it, was when the heater matrix leaked. This was located somewhere in the lower deck behind the dash. The resultant steam that billowed out of that small hole, meant driving the car, was akin to driving the inside of A kettle. I can tell you, that it used to get hot & steamy in there, but alas, not in A good way.
I was skint at the time, so getting A matrix & the required skilled labour, was A non starter. The logistics of fitting a set of windscreen wipers to the inside of the car, was similarly ruled out.
So after A bit of investigation, the hose that went in to the bulkhead to feed the matrix & subsequently left the bulkhead, was coupled together with god knows what, in A bid to prevent any more hot water entering the car.
All was well in the summer, but on rainy wintry days, trying to drive the car in near Moscow conditions, ultimately led to my version of 'A lamppost too far'...And the car was subsequently dragged off to 'Tarronis' in Birmingham.
Aahh, happy days.
My Grandpa had an X-reg 1.6 Calypso version, back when I was a nipper. It was two-tone grey. And it smelt of his pipe tobacco.
I loved that car. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was the combo of Grandpa's Capri and my Dad's Mk2 RS2000 that planted the seed of petrol-headedness...
Great sheds!
I loved that car. In fact, I'm pretty sure it was the combo of Grandpa's Capri and my Dad's Mk2 RS2000 that planted the seed of petrol-headedness...
Great sheds!
I remember my old man always hankered after a 3 litre 'S'. He eventually picked up a 3 litre auto Ghia, S reg (rectangular headlights)in gold for £300, complete with sill and arch repair panel. Sounded lovely, and remeber been amazed at hitting 115 mph on the motorway on the way back from the NEC bike show. I must only have been 8.
We went up Walsall one day for some christmas shopping, and my old man forgot to lock it. He went back, locked it up and said 'I bet that won't be there when we get back'. Walsall is dodgy, but it was in a paticualrly dodgy part of Walsall. Anyway, as you do when you are 8, I was running ahead back to the car park, and the car wasn't there. There had been a Scalextric, an airfix B17 and some shoes for my xmas presents in the boot.
It was found 6 weeks later. One of the exhausts hanging off, a hotdog squashed under the mats, and a huge 'V' dent in the front, like it had been wrapped into a lampost. It lived for a further 8 months in my dads garage before he scrapped it, as it was beyond economical repair. :-( He's always promised himself a 2.8 or a 280 Brooklands, but prices of the car and fuel prices have scuppered that.
We went up Walsall one day for some christmas shopping, and my old man forgot to lock it. He went back, locked it up and said 'I bet that won't be there when we get back'. Walsall is dodgy, but it was in a paticualrly dodgy part of Walsall. Anyway, as you do when you are 8, I was running ahead back to the car park, and the car wasn't there. There had been a Scalextric, an airfix B17 and some shoes for my xmas presents in the boot.
It was found 6 weeks later. One of the exhausts hanging off, a hotdog squashed under the mats, and a huge 'V' dent in the front, like it had been wrapped into a lampost. It lived for a further 8 months in my dads garage before he scrapped it, as it was beyond economical repair. :-( He's always promised himself a 2.8 or a 280 Brooklands, but prices of the car and fuel prices have scuppered that.
150bhp said:
"Shed promised itself that this week it would escape from the 'me' decade"....Since when has Shed been a person, thought SOTW was the car? 
Shed could be the Pistonhead's Stig... maybe he could do car reviews too and moan about the cost of new cars compared to older ones. He could have written that BMW M6 vs Nissan GTR article for example. How easy is it to drop a 2 litre Zetec into one of these?
A 2 litre Zetec can be had for practically nowt (My mate bought a 2 litre Mondeo donor car for his Westfield for about £150 with a cracking engine).
I've seen companies that do conversion kits for Escorts/cortinas etc, does such a thing exist for the capri?
I presume they use one of the normal ford family of gearboxes that all mate up to the Zetec Ok?
Surely its pretty easy to do? I know its not the most charismatic of engine, but it would give you an easy 130ish bhp, reliabiltiy, decent economy, and stick a cherry bomb and a k&N on it and it should be suitably sporty?
A 2 litre Zetec can be had for practically nowt (My mate bought a 2 litre Mondeo donor car for his Westfield for about £150 with a cracking engine).
I've seen companies that do conversion kits for Escorts/cortinas etc, does such a thing exist for the capri?
I presume they use one of the normal ford family of gearboxes that all mate up to the Zetec Ok?
Surely its pretty easy to do? I know its not the most charismatic of engine, but it would give you an easy 130ish bhp, reliabiltiy, decent economy, and stick a cherry bomb and a k&N on it and it should be suitably sporty?
rallycross said:
I enjoyed having my 2.8i ...It was a lovely old car to drive with a great driviing position, lovely engine note and nice snickety gearbox, plus it had an lsd so it was lots of fun to slide around at low speeds, plus it would happily cruise along at 3 figures. Would be worth quite a bit if I'd kept hold of it.
I'll second that!A lad who worked for us had a 2.8i and - in exchange for a spin in the Griff - let me drive his Capri.
This was a car I idolised in my childhood - the Ford model range brochures dad brought home, once the next Granada was chosen, always found their way into my posession and it was the Capri 2.8 that I really loved.
I was ready for one of those "you should never meet your heroes" let-downs, but the car was a joy to drive. Reminiscent of the Jag XJS driving position. Handled well too.
with mechanical fuel injection and rock hard suspension...snotrag said:
How easy is it to drop a 2 litre Zetec into one of these?
Given the only tools you need to work on an old Ford are a spanner and a hammer I'd have thought very easy! 
There used to be a Capri Brooklands 280 in British Racing Green on my paper round that I used to lust over. I always promised myself I'd get a Brooklands when I could drive
Well I never did but had a MK1 Escort 1300E as first car, then MK5 Cortina 2.0 Ghia (beautiful car for an 18 year old!)
Strangely I've never even driven a Capri but love the MK1 and MK3. Bodie and Doyle might have had something to do with that.
My second car was a 1.6LS and my 3rd was a 2.8i Special in white. This was adorned with a Cosworth whale tail spoiler and the Ford RS body-kit, all colour coded. It was lowered 2" and had the essential Janspeed exhaust and K&N filter. The previous owner had installed 'Knight Rider' lights into the front grill, which were operated at will via a switch under the steering wheel. I absolutely loved that car (C400FVX) and often wonder whether it is still with us.
Oh and yes - I lived in Essex at the time
Oh and yes - I lived in Essex at the time
My brother had a 1.6 MkIII and it really is the worst car I have ever driven, but the amount of positive comments it got from people was unbelievable. I borrowed it to get to work one day and got handed a free crate of beer when I got there just because I had a "cool car"! This was despite one wing being a different shade of red and largely held together with tape!
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