Capri - Restoration (2) White 1972 1600 XL [23]

The last few days have been a bit frustrating & that is when you need to hide the axe. I collected my 1600GT engine sign from Coloursplash & it looks really good. I then went and collected the instrument panel surround from the guy who has done quite a few jobs for me over the years & it looked OK under his house. When I got home & had a good look at it in day light, it was a pretty terrible job. He has just stuck a bit of vinyl over the top section & done that not very well. I could have cut it straighter! Very disappointing & I don’t know at this stage how I am going to retrieve the surround. Possibly, a visit to another trimmer would be the best bet. [The pic shows the part upside down & I have pulled the bottom edge up a little as it was so uneven - not real good!]

Today was the day to finish the engine & have it running. Unfortunately, it wasn’t to be. Again, disappointing! I finished putting all the clamps on the hoses & in all there are 14! So, plenty of possibilities for a leak! About 3 litres of transmission fluid (Type F) was poured in, 4 litres of oil & the radiator filled. The only leak was from the lower radiator hose which once tightened was fine. That was a good start. I put the battery in & without the spark plugs, turned over the motor several times. There were no strange noises so that also was promising.

After a fair bit of research I thought I knew where to connect the + wire for the new distributor. I originally had it in a spare slot next to the fuse box wire for the brake lights. After using the voltmeter, I discovered this was a stupid place & the current only flows here when the brakes are applied. After a lot of looking about, I found a spare accessories wire under the dash & this gave me current. After connecting up the distributor & turning the motor a few times there was no sign of life – not even a splutter. After a lot of stuffing around, I am convinced the dizzy is not providing any spark but I don’t really know why at this stage. After a lot of fiddling & redoing things, still not a cracker. Time to give it away & try again next week! I really need to find out more about these electronic distributors.