Capris for Sale

Which one would you buy?
These Capris have been advertised on EBay over recent weeks & represent a variety of models in various conditions. The comments are mine & I appreciate that others may have a different opinion.

 

This 72 V6 is said to be in very original condition & even comes with a sun roof. The body looks good but the engine bay suggests that the car has not been running for some time. I would think it would still need a bit of time & cash to get it into top condition. It has been advertised for several weeks with a starting bid of $25,000 & has attracted no bids.

This 71 V8 (4.9litre) looks to be really nicely finished but is one for the rev heads & drag racers. Not really for me! $39,990.

This 73 V6 (2.6 litre) US model looks very original & tidy & has been advertised at a Buy Now price of $14,000 for some time. Maybe not a bad buy if you want a LH drive classic.

A Capri with a difference! This ute conversion would be a real head turner. It appears to be running a V8 but there are no photos of the engine or interior. It is registered in Tasmania with an asking price of $39,000.

From the photos this looked a really nice car. A 69 1600 Deluxe manual with white interior. Everything was original & it really looked well cared for. It attracted a lot of bids, was turned in twice with the second auction reaching $12,101. It was again relisted but disappeared after a couple of days. Perhaps the seller realised he should accept the money which seemed a fair price for this car.

This barn find 70 V6 was first listed at $9000, then re-listed & attracted 5 bids being passed in at $8,300. It was relisted again but disappeared off EBay after a day. It was finished in primer, with sun roof, and all parts included. The LH side engine bay had some strange sections & the compliance plate date was stamped 1207. Its location on the coast north of Perth may have restricted the number of bidders.

This 1970 XL was listed at $6,000 & received no bids & has not re-appeared on EBay. It was located in Bundaberg, looked OK, in going order with all parts. It has had various mods including Celica seats. The body looked OK but it did need some work. I was surprised it did not attract some bids.

This V6 manual in Melbourne was listed for $9000 but disappeared after a few days. It had been stored for 12 years in going order with spare parts. There were only 3 photos so it was hard to really see what had to be done. Also the year model was not shown. Maybe snapped up by a Capri fan.

This 1970 XL manual with light saddle interior sold reasonably quickly for $8,500. It had no rust, recently been repainted and had all the parts including some new bits. Some interior finishing needed to be done. It looked like it could make a really nice car & maybe the price was as expected.

This 71 Deluxe 5 speed manual was fitted with a Weber carbie & extractors. It is fully registered but the brakes need some work. The black interior was all there but the bucket seats were not original. The paint is in OK condition but there are some rust bubbles on the front RH quarter panel. It is located in Clontarf & the owner was asking $8000 via a private sale.

Capri - Jacaranda Festival Car Show 2015

This event has been staged for several years and I have attended for the last three years. However, this year’s event was different & much has changed. In previous years the event was widely promoted by the Goodna RSL Club and there was substantial cash prize money on offer. This year the event seems to have come under the control of the Jacaranda Festival & there was little promotion. In fact, I received no emails, no brochures and only realised the event was on last week by doing a web search.  Another big difference was that it was held in a car park whereas in previous years it was on the large oval. The number of cars was really down on previous years and the lack of promotion & prize money were obvious reasons.

There were about 7 Capris lined up. Two white ones from the Club, Ray’s white V6 & my white XL. 5 convertible SA models from a group of enthusiasts (with their own Facebook page) were also displayed. The car park was full with the usual variety of classic, weird & wonderful.  A few highly modified darg cars also turned out. A collection of VW rat rods were way out there. The attached photos show just a few of the cars.

(click on photos to enlarge)

Capri - Toe In Adjustment

Next on my list was to attempt to adjust the toe-in.
Just Google the topic & you get endless articles & advice about it, including some good YouTube videos.
I decided to have a go with the string method & also measuring the track on the front & back of the front tyres. It takes a while to get the string in the correct place using buckets(with bricks inside) & axle stands.

Using a tape measure on the front & back of the front wheels seem to indicate  that both sides were toeing out. I then confirmed this with tape measures on the front & back of both front tyres. It would be useful to have an assistant for this step but I taped the end using some masking tape & that did the trick. This measure also confirmed that the wheels were toeing out rather than in, especially the RH side. I had loosened the steering rod locking bolts before I started so it was just a matter of pulling both tyres in, measuring several times, until the front tape was about 1-2 mm less than the back. It may not be as accurate as the professionals but I am confident that the toe is either neutral or just toeing in.

 

 



I just ran out of time today to take it for a test run as I needed to bleed the brakes & adjust the handbrake so it will be interesting to see how it drives.

Post Script.
I was really pleased with how the car drove on the motorway. In fact, I was cruising along at 100kph & missed the turnoff. So, maybe my cheap & rough alignment did the trick!

Capri - Camber Adjustment

Not much has been happening with my Capris over the last few weeks & no shows or outings. After taking the big splurge & buying the new set of tyres for my XL, I decided that the front alignment needed a check. However, before doing that, I have been aware ever since I have owned this car that the front LH wheel has a couple of degrees of negative camber making the wheel splay out a little. The left front side has had some reasonable damage at some stage in its life & this was confirmed by the spray painter & a wheel alignment specialist. Others have suggested that the front strut has been bent & that is why it is slightly out.



As I have repeatedly said in my blog, I am not a mechanic so some of you will have had much more experience in these matters than I have had. Anyway, all the good books say the camber in set at the factory & is not able to be adjusted in the Capri. So, the question is, without major modifications is there a way to reduce the negative camber? I understand there are camber adjustment plates that can be inserted on the top of the struts & there are adjustable track rods but I wanted to test the theory that the strut might be bent.

Some months ago I borrowed a strut from a club member so as I could compare the two. This week I finally got motivated to remove mine from the car. It came out without too much trouble as I had them out last year.



When I placed the two struts side by side, I then noticed a major difference. The steering arm on my XL & my green Deluxe is bolted to the strut with two bolts. The strut I had borrowed, supposedly a Capri 4 cylinder one, had the steering arm as an integral part of the strut (see the photo below). I then started searching through all my manuals & parts books to find out if such a difference existed. One manual had a strut with the steering arm as part of the strut while all the others had the detached steering arm. Again, another example of the many differences in the way Capris were built.



After looking very carefully at my strut there appears no evidence that it has been damaged or bent & so the puzzle continues. What does appear to be different is the plate attached to the body of the car where the strut is held by the three bolts.
I am off to consult with my resident panel beater to see if this is the cause of my slightly negative camber. More to follow in the next few days.

POSTSCRIPT
Firstly, the spare strut was not from a Capri & advice suggests it was from a Mk 2 Escort. I then thought about placing a spacer washer under the outermost bolt on the strut cap with a theory it just might provide a few degrees to straighten the strut. This proved useless as there is some movement in the top of the strut. So, in brief, I just re-assembled the car as it was. I am fairly certain that the problem arises from past accidents to the front of the car. The only way to completely fix it is to use a pair of adjustable strut caps or set of adjustable track rods. Maybe another time!!