Capri - Restoration (2) White 1972 1600 XL [19]

Today I made a lot of progress. With an early start, I first used some Permatex Ultra Black sealer to try and stop the speedo cable entry to the transmission from leaking. Only time will tell if that is successful.  Then everything was readied to lift the engine back in. I raised the car slightly so that the crane legs would fit underneath. My good neighbour, KH, was on hand to advise & supervise. We just lifted the engine up & moved it in slowly & were just about to give it the last push in when we discovered the crane boom was not extended enough. A quick rest of the engine & then we were able to push it in all the way. We had aligned the sprocket on the torque converter with that in the transmission so we must have been pretty close. This enabled us to lightly tighten the bolts from the engine to the transmission housing. On trying to turn the engine it wouldn’t budge, so we slackened off the bolts, gave it a bit of a wiggle & it really clicked into place. Then the six top bolts were able to be tightened. We then fitted the engine mounts and finally let the crane down & it was back in place. I spent the rest of the day fitting the bottom protection plate, inlet manifold, extractors, alternator & fan. Then all the bolts were re-tightened. That was enough for today & few more hours should see it back running, hopefully. [Double click on pics to enlarge]

Capri - Restoration (2) White 1972 1600 XL [18]

A bit more sorting out of things was necessary before I think we are finally ready to put the engine back in.  Some more items needed painting so that was one thing to complete. I also sorted out all the hoses to see which could be reused & what replacements were needed. The old heater hose was an interesting combination & I am trying to get that simplified with a single T joiner. Then I located all my old carbie kits & gave the Weber a good cleaning. I also took the top off (I had a spare new gasket) and blew all the jets clean. After a bit of internal cleaning, it was re- assembled and then sprayed with a coat of VHT sliver. A few other bits also had some re- coating completed. I think that is about it & now all is ready to put it all together.

Capri - Restoration (2) White 1972 1600 XL [17]

Back into it today. I gave parts of the engine bay another quick coat of paint just to add a bit more gloss to some sections. The main thing today was to remove the fluid & replace the filter & gasket for the transmission. I think that some water may have got into the filler pipe when I was pressure cleaning the surrounds. There was about 5 litres of fluid came out of it & it still looked pretty good. The pan came off pretty easily but I was continually cleaning fluid from the floor as it seemed to keep coming out from odd places. The filter seemed OK but I had a replacement so I put the new one on. I then had a bit of difficulty putting the pan back on with the new gasket as it kept on falling off. Finally, the bolts holding the exhaust system to the transmission were loosened & that provide a bit more room for the whole thing to slide in easily. All the bolts went in really easily with the socket attached to my power drill.  The other thing that always leaks is where the speedo cable goes into the casing & I need to get some special oil resistant sealer to place around this area. That is about it for all the dirty work & I just need to complete a few more little things (also the Weber) before the engine goes back in.
These pictures are taken under the car looking up at the Borg Warner 35 transmission with the pan removed. The first picture shows the filter that was replaced.
The second picture shows when the speedo cable attaches to the transmission & where I always have difficulty stopping it from leaking.

Capri - Restoration (2) White 1972 1600 XL [16]

Well the engine bay certainly looks a fair bit better after several cans of spray paint. The gloss enamel seems to have worked really well. I first did the bottom section & cross member with the black & then applied several coats of the white. Some of the fiddly bits on the bulkhead required several attempts with one colour covering the other at times. The bonnet also came up pretty well. After it had all dried I encased the electrical wiring in the black flexible conduit which has a split so that the wires can slip in & that cleans up all the odd bits of wiring. It all takes time but it is at the stage now where things can start going back together.

Today, I got side tracked again but managed to screw back on all the electrical bits (coil, fuse panel, regulator) & assembled the windscreen washer tubing. I soaked the water container overnight in bleach & most of the stains were on the inside. Much of these came off but it still looks a bit oldish. I didn't replace the old black voltage regulator as it was connected to nothing. The next thing I need to do is drain the transmission & replace the pan gasket & when that is done, it is about time for the engine to go back in. (Double click on pics if you wish to enlarge)

Capri - Restoration (2) White 1972 1600 XL [15]

Today, I really got into preparing the engine bay for painting. Firstly, I used the small hand sander with 180 wet/dry paper & went over as much as I could. Then I used 120 wet/dry paper & went over everything again. Then again with 240 paper. This took quite a while & I did the same with the underside of the bonnet. Then everything had to be cleaned with degreasing fluid. I had decided that the bottom section around the chassis rails would be black with the rest white. I then used some metal primer to spot paint a few areas & that’s when things went wrong! The primer caused the existing paint to blister. That caused a bit of a panic! I scraped off the blistered areas & then consulted Dr Google & realised my error. I had sprayed lacquer over some enamel that had been previously used. This required a bit of a change of plans. I had decided to paint the engine bay in Winter White which is the Ford colour that the car has been repainted in mid-2003. Rather than risk having to remove all the paint, I decided that I would use gloss white enamel, as in White Knight or Dulux fast drying enamel in spray cans.

Capri - Restoration (2) White 1972 1600 XL [14]

Due to other household tasks, there was not a lot of time spent on the car today. One of the things to do on my list was to have the instrument pod recovered as the vinyl has been badly cracked for a few years. It was one section that I did not get done originally. It didn’t take too long once you lower the steering column & remove the ignition cover on top of the steering column. There are three other screws & one nut to undo & then you can slide out the instrument panel.  The speedo cable came out with a bit of fiddling & then the whole lot comes out. I undid the four screws holding the instruments to the pod & then after holding up the heater controls, the pod comes away.



I then needed to take this to the upholsterer (Jobsons at Dutton Park) who has done work for me previously. I also need to have the starter motor engagement cog replaced & a new sign made for the engine. Both of the companies that I had used before were no longer at the address I previously went to, so that was a bit of a bummer! I will have to try & find them. I also tried Repco & Bursons for a water temperature sensor & the water fitting from the manifold but no success at either place. Not a very successful shopping trip!

Capri - Restoration (2) White 1972 1600 XL [13]

Due to other events, today was the first day this week that I have been able to work on the car. A few engine components including the hoses, alternator, starter motor & brackets needed to be cleaned & painted. I also fitted the new PCV valve (Dufor S502) that I found on EBay.
Then it was time to start on the engine bay. I undid all the electrical fittings (coil, fuses, regulator) and covered them in plastic bags. All the windscreen washers came off but the washer bottle was rather difficult but after numerous squirts of RP7, the clips came loose. (see the plastic bags in the pictures below).



I really wanted to move the car out from under the house but the transmission was supported on a trolley. Using some chains, hooks & bolts, I attached the top of the housing to the bonnet supports & that allowed me to remove the supports under the transmission (see the chain in the picture). The car was then moved a few metres outside so that the cleaning of the engine bay could commence. At first I tried a little steam cleaner we had & while it did get some rubbish off, it was not really powerful enough. So out came the Karcher (see picture). It gets stuff off but things get messy. After a fair bit of degreaser & a few minutes of blasting, quite a lot of rubbish came off. I then spent as much time cleaning the floor of all the mess, especially all the transmission fluid that was under the car. The leaf blower then came out to dry off any excess water.


I also removed the front parcel tray as there are a few things to be done under the dash & I thought the washer bottle was screwed through from the inside. That was incorrect & the clips came off from the outside.   Next step is preparing to paint the engine bay & that may take a bit of time.

Capri - Restoration (2) White 1972 1600 XL [12]

Yesterday, the new beaut AccuSpark electronic distributor ($144 including post) that I had ordered from England arrived. I hope it works as well as it looks. It comes with a detailed instruction leaflet so I need to read everything before I put it on.

Today I got quite a few things completed. The remaining two welch plugs on the side of the block were fitted. The cylinder head then went on & it takes a while to tension all the bolts in order to the 70 lbs required. The valve clearances took a while to get correct & the thermostat went on. I cleaned the torque converter & then bolted it to the flex/drive plate. This, again, takes time to tension the four bolts to the correct tension & I used thread locker on these as well. The manual comes in really handy by specifying all the tensioning torques. The new fuel pump was next to go on & some other pieces so that now the engine is ready to lift in.



I now need to concentrate on cleaning & painting the engine bay with that on my agenda for next week.

 

Capri - Restoration (2) White 1972 1600 XL [11]

Next to go together was the sump & the gaskets can be a bit fiddly to hold in place. I then started on the cylinder head & continued cleaning with a smaller wire brush which got lots of stuff out of the chambers. The valves were then re-seated and I started to put the springs back on. I always find this difficult as I don’t seem to have the strength to hold the valve clamp down & put in the collets. Eventually after a lot of huffing & puffing, they were all back together, so now the head is ready to bolt on. It is all coming together but tomorrow I need a rest day.

Capri - Restoration (2) White 1972 1600 XL [10]

First thing today was painting the extractors & inlet manifold with silver (VHT) & they look pretty good. I had to visit my neighbour to use his large vice to press in the rear engine oil seal as my vice wasn’t quite wide enough to centre the seal. With that in, I then fitted it and then tapped in the rear engine welch plug. I then fitted the pistons back in the block & these went in fairly easily using the ring compression tool & a gently tapping. I tightened the conrod bolts to the crankshaft using some thread locker & this is where the manual comes in handy with all the correct torque specifications. The engine turns over OK with a spanner on the pulley wheel without making any unusual noises.
Then I was able to fit the flex plate using a block of wood against the crankshaft so as I could get the correct torque on the six bolts & also on the front pulley wheel. Things are starting to come together pretty well.

Capri - Restoration (2) White 1972 1600 XL [9]

Just a little more cleaning & then it will start going back together. I spent some more time cleaning the pistons especially the ring grooves.

This is a new high tech piece of equipment my wife purchased for me. It actually is a plastic kitchen strainer & it was extremely useful for cleaning all the nuts & bolts. I simply tipped the plastic bags containing the bolts from various areas into a tin of cleaning fluid, gave them a good rinsing & then tipped them into the strainer, which was above another container, enabling me to recycle the cleaning fluid until it was too filthy. So that took a while cleaning all of those bits & pieces.
That was about it so the re-building started or was about to start. I undid the welch plugs that I had bought last week & the pack was for a Cortina & none fitted. They were all too small! I then pressed the front oil seal into place & that went in fairly easily. The rear one is a different story & whilst it is in a fair way, it needs to go in a bit further & I will need some assistance.  I then fitted the front seal housing & the new water pump that I found in my spare parts bin.
This afternoon, I put the new rings onto the pistons & fitted the new bearings. I also had to visit Autobarn & sort out the welch plugs. I need to fit a new PCV valve which was not available so that will need a bit of a search. The T plug on the side of the Weber which attaches the water hoses is very corroded so I will try to find another one of these. Tomorrow, I hope to fit the pistons back into the block & re-seat the valves.

Capri - Restoration (2) White 1972 1600 XL [8]

Over the last few days I have had numerous interruptions to my engine building activities and today I have finally finished cleaning everything. I failed to mention in my last report how my neighbour, KH, brought up his ridge remover (pictured below) which we used to remove the carbon ridge at the top of the cylinder bores. Yesterday, I removed the valves and after a fair bit of cleaning with the wire brush on the drill, they have come up pretty well. My old drill with the wire brush has had a really good work out over the last few days. The stud on the inlet manifold came out without too much drama with a bit of heat & a liberal dose of RP7. The water heater inlet T junction on the side of the inlet manifold was very corroded so I also removed that, using the same technique. I also punched out the oil seals and gave the covers a good cleaning. The sump, even after a good blasting with the Karcher, had a great deal of gunk in the bottom & that took quite a while to remove. I then was able to give all the main engine parts an initial cover of black engine paint (I use VHT – gloss black). Next week, I should be able to start putting everything back together again.