Ford Capri 3.0 S: £15K competition update
A summer of fun for Matt Purdon and his PH-sourced Capri
John Crook now has the Integrale of his dreams after winning our £10,000 first prize back in April. Runner-up Matt Purdon managed to source a Capri fairly soon after winning, and has been busy creating his perfect car. He’s been to Sunday Services, local Ford meets and all over Britain picking up parts. Here’s the place to catch up.
We'll hear from John soon also, providing he has stopped driving his Delta long enough to actually write something!
Thanks again to Adrian Flux for sponsoring the competition.
Matt writes: When Garlick dropped me a message this week to see how I was getting on, it came as quite a surprise to see that the last update I’d written was four months ago. Four months! With my dear friend Bernard the Land Rover off the road since August, the Capri’s been seeing near-daily use, racking up almost 3,000 miles since purchase and swallowing an awful lot of cash through the carburettor.
More local meets followed a Sunday Service
The rest of the day was spent on motorways, going to Northampton to collect a Ford 'turbo tail' spoiler, then back down the long way around the M25 for Tony try some new boots. Seeds of an alternate path for the Capri’s future had been planted in Luton, but fitting the 9x15 Compomotive split rims definitely sealed it.
I had planned to fit one of the period Ford X-Pack body kits, but for what is already quite a wide car, I couldn’t believe how much extra width the kit would give. In the real world, in my world, the reality of the conversion would completely ruin the car.
A girlfriend that cleans the car? She's a keeper
Sunday Service also sparked some kind of inner need to get out to as many local meets as possible. A good friend of mine is quite involved in the local scene so served as an easy introduction to a lot of new people. Surprisingly, it really isn’t all bad body kits and baseball caps here in Essex. The monthly meet in Rayleigh brings out a very eclectic mix ranging from an Audi A4 on airbags and Bentley wheels to Cosworth Sierras, wide-body V12 Jaguars, Mk1 Escorts and a mad home-brew P100 pick up with a twin-turbo 24v under its lime-green bonnet.
Nice Granada 2.8, apparently
Tony was also introduced to a significant amount of water last month. My town has three routes out, two of which dip under railway bridges and one is at a very low point next to a reservoir. According to the weather, we had six months' rainfall in three hours – both under-the-bridge escape routes had cars in up to their roofs, and I had my surrogate parents’ anniversary/ birthday shindig to get to. Not to worry, it’s just like driving a little Land Rover thought I, chug through a shallow bit and it’ll be fine. Oh how wrong I was.
We're not entirely sure what's going on here!
Away from the polish and the drama, I’ve been continually wielding spanners and fresh oil, giving the Capri a full service, tightening up wheel bearings, adjusting brakes and fixing the blow in the exhaust. The engine has unfortunately started to show its age and is using a fair bit of oil. Not ideal, but with my 21st just around the corner I can start hunting for that 2.9 Scorpio to serve as an engine donor.
X-Pack cash now invested elsewhere
This subtle little modification serves as a precursor to what now lies in store for the car. As I touched on earlier, the X-Pack really isn’t for me at this moment in time, however an “OEM+” future is definitely on the cards. Money earmarked for the bodywork has instead been put into coilovers and -2in Leda de-cambered springs, big brakes and 15x8 Revolutions as preparation for his new heart, but you’ll have to wait ‘til the next update to hear about those.
like you i have also decided to keep the x-pack thing away from my Mk3 Capri, although my 15" Compomotive FH(Porsche alloys)8 & 9 inch front and rear wheels are going to be a nightmare to fit in the standard arches with big brake install
the front splitter is definitely worth doing as it hugely improves the appearance(nice bit of ingenuity) and the turbo tail spoilers look very well suited on a Mk3
keep up the good old Capper work
I was caught out a little bit by the biblical rain in south Essex that weekend discussed, but sounds like it was much more an adventure for yourself. Very happy to hear the car survived intact, some didn't.
like you i have also decided to keep the x-pack thing away from my Mk3 Capri, although my 15" Compomotive FH(Porsche alloys)8 & 9 inch front and rear wheels are going to be a nightmare to fit in the standard arches with big brake install
I've seen a 2.8 with 9" rims under rolled arches, it'll be tight but you should be able to make something fit.
As for the width, i'm well aware there are a lot of significantly wider cars on the road, however when you're sat on the tarmac it feels plenty big enough as it is. Adding 4" either side could make the whole experience somewhat less enjoyable. Some day he might be upgraded to Fat Tony, but not for a while. Maybe by then though, my old man's will be on my drive. Who knows!
Black with polished lips will be a feature to stay with the car throughout, even if they are getting swapped for bigger and wider - it just looks so right.
Currently on the hunt for anyone who's dropped a Rover V8 into a Capri with no/minimal shell mods for advice. If that's you (or you know someone useful) and you fancy putting me in touch, let me know. Cheers!
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