Capri - 2017 RACQ Motorfest

The Motorfest, held in July each year, is one event I always try to attend & have attended most since 2003. It usually has a large number of classic cars in attendance representing a wide range of makes & eras. This year was no exception with everything from vintage Indian motorcycles to an ex-Army Ferret Scout car. Numbers seem to be down this year but there were still over 400 entries. Some of the big car clubs were absent, as were the All British Ford Club which usually has a good number of Escorts & Cortinas. Maybe the renovations to Eagle Farm Racecourse are a factor but that did not stop a healthy number of spectators looking at the many beautiful cars on display.
I had a steady stream of people wanting to talk about the Capri – I had my white XL there this year. Several people were interested in joining the club as they had recently acquired Capris or were in the process of restoring one. There are always surprises that come up on the day & I experienced several. One was meeting the father of the young man who sold me the car in 2000. I had met him previously but had not had the car with me, so he took a number of photos to show his son what the car looked like 17 years later. Another man wanted to take a number of photos as his father owned the Ford dealership in Maryborough & he remembered a white Capri very similar to mine that they had sold to the wife of local businessman.
Always a good day, even if a bit long, & the weather this year was perfect. Again, a bit of a pity that there was only one Capri. Here are some photos (double click to enlarge).

Capri - Ignition Timing 1600 Engine

  I recently shouted myself  a new timing light as my 30 year old veteran finally would not produce any light! It has been some time since I checked the timing on my cars & because of some adjustments to the points as well as difficult starting of my green Deluxe, the new light was necessary. Autobarn was having a sale so I saved myself $20 on this model & it was about $45.



It is very easy to set up especially with the inductive clamp that goes onto the No 1 lead. I had put a few drops of white paint on the appropriate markers & that made it very easy to see what was going on.
With my green car (1970), it is very easy to loosen the distributor as there is plenty of room on that side of the engine. I found that the timing was far too advanced so I brought it back closer to the recommended setting of 10 degrees BTDC. I also used a vacuum gauge at the same tine to get a consistent reading of about 17 on the gauge. I also had to adjust the idle speed a fraction & it seemed all good in the garage. After several runs, it is pulling well with no misfires & is starting first up which is big improvement so I have left the setting as is.

The white XL (1972) is a different story. Firstly, the adjustment screw on the distributor is extremely difficult to get to. It is an electronic Accuspark model but the maze of water hoses connected to the automatic water choke on the Weber & the heater make things difficult. Also, the battery is on that side of the engine bay, being an automatic, as opposed to the other side for the manual. When I finally loosened the dizzy enough to move it, I found that the timing was set at about 20-25 degrees BTDC. This is far in excess of the 12 degrees stated for the GT motor so I brought it back to that. It seemed to run OK in the garage but on the road, it was hopeless. I barely made it around the block. Back to the all the manuals & Dr Google. Various reports suggested that running the 32/36 Weber & the electronic dizzy required more advance than usual.  So, using the timing light & the vacuum gauge, I gradually put the timing back to nearly where it was previously & it ended running well at about 18-20 degrees BTDC. One fairly long run seemed to confirm this setting is pretty correct but after another few runs, I will be confident of this.

So, the new timing light was very useful.

Postscript:
I have since had to reset the timing again as after driving the car, although it went quite well, it was very cammy on deceleration. I retarded the timing a fraction, so it is closer to the 15 degrees but not as far advanced as previously. After driving it around for quite a while, I think this is better & I will keep it at this setting for the time being. The vacuum gauge is still steady on 17 when idling so it is not vastly different.

Capris - For Sale

Several nice Capris for sale at the moment on EBay. It will be interesting to see what they sell for as the prices are quite strong.

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1969-FORD-CAPRI-GT3000-MK1-V6-AUTO-GOOD-CONDITION-/192209859269?hash=item2cc099b2c5:g:kNgAAOSwEHpZNxM6

 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/1969-GT-FORD-CAPRI-/282526936492?hash=item41c7eaedac:g:ebkAAOSwHLNZQm15

 



 

http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Capri-ford-1970-V6-GT-manual-no-escort-cortina-Torana-falcon-/152585179237?hash=item2386c91065:g:nlYAAOSw8d5ZQN1Y

 



Capri - Centre Console

Finally, after completing some household maintenance, I am now back fiddling with the Capris.
Neither of my Capris have a centre console & for many years I have been looking for a decent one at an affordable price. Anyway, after a casual conversation with one of our very good Capri club members, I now have two. They have been stored for a number of years & needed cleaning & refurbishment but were intact with no major flaws.



The first stage of their restoration was a good clean with water, soap & scrubbing brush. They also had remnants of glue & carpet on the underside so all of this was scarped off & removed. After drying, they started to look good but a few scratches & blemishes were noted, as well as a few extra holes on one but no real problems.
I then used some grease & stain remover to get to some of the harder marks & the dirt in some of the grooves around the top. They are starting to look much better but some slight scratches & marks are obvious.
Next, I tried some Armorall on a small section & it came up well but it didn't really cover the marks satisfactorily.
Next idea was to try some vinyl paint however my can was very empty, so off to Supercheap & I bought a can of Dupli-Color Fabric & Vinyl Coating. I took some time deciding whether to buy the black full gloss or the matt satin. In the end, I decided on the matt & I am glad that I did.
Back home & another good wipe down with the grease remover & then several coats of the paint. They seem to have come up really well with the paint covering all the scuff marks.



Next thing is to get hold of some of the wood grain panels & I think they will look really good. Not sure what to do with the clock space though. I don't think I can afford the $675 clock on EBay at the moment!
This how they turned out. I bought one set of the laminated plastic inserts & used them on the white XL. I used them as templates to cut out another set of thick but flexible cardboard. I sprayed them with several coats of the matt vinyl paint & fitted them to the Deluxe which has a black interior.
I have not located a suitable clock as yet, so in the white car I have added a spare amp gauge (not wired) to fill in the hole. In the other car, I have relocated my tacho & with some Velcro tape have managed to place it in the vacant space.
They both have tuned out fairly well but I have not screwed them down but rather I have used two side Velcro tape to fix them into position.

Capri - Air Filter Foam

When I was dismantling the carbie on my white XL as described in the previous post, I noted that the foam in the sports air filter was starting to disintegrate. Maybe this didn't help the carbie much! So, the foam was to be replaced. I searched all my usual auto parts suppliers but no one had a suitable foam sheet that I could use to cut out the oval shape required for the Ram Sports Filter.
A lot more internet searching didn't reveal anything really suitable. Foam used in swimming pool filters was the closest available but I was concerned about buying this as I thought it might also break down.
Finally, I located what I was after & it was from RamAir, the English manufacturer of the filter. They sell a 300 x 200 mm (with steel cage mesh) piece of 2 stage foam. I believe it is used on some motor cycles & scooters. They posted it from the UK for 14 Pounds ($A23). That was slow postal rates & it took about 10 days but was exactly what I wanted. As the photos show, it has two layers, one finer that the other. It was easy to cut & fits the Ram Air Filter well.



(click on photos to enlarge)

Capri - Carbie Cleanout

After quite a few months of erratic running, I decided to pull the Weber off & give it a proper clean up. The first thing I noticed in dismantling bits was how dirty the fuel filter was. This would not have been helping things. It was really discoloured after comparing it to the new one.
As always when dismantling older engines, despite how careful you are something usually breaks. On this occasion, it was one of the small water pipes attached to the water inlet for the automatic choke on the Weber. It was badly corroded on the inside, so it was not surprising but not what I really wanted as replacing it was not going to be easy.
It just so happened that in my spare parts bin, I had a Weber which had an automatic choke but the water inlet pipes were of a larger diameter, more commonly seen in all the parts manuals. So, I proceeded to dismantle the carbie & give it a thorough cleaning.



After much air blasting & cleaning, the carbie all when back together again but I realised before bolting it back on the manifold that my previous set of complicated hoses was not going to fit as now one of the water inlet/outlet hoses faced the opposite direction. It took me some time to realise there was a simple solution involving a right angle brass fitting which screwed into the manifold & making a different T piece in one of the heater hoses. When all connected, it should be much neater than the previous arrangement which had hose running everywhere. This is how it looked.



After affair bit of fiddling with the mixture screw & the idle screw plus using my ear plus my old vacuum gauge, it seems to be running quite well. The fast idle screw is another matter but I think that is sorted also. After a good clean of the plugs, some new 98 octane Shell V-Power, the car drove well for about 20 minutes with no misses & also idling well about 800 rpm.
Next run will really tell if it is all sorted.
(click on the photos to enlarge)