Capri - V6 Engine Rebuilding

Last Saturday, the Capri Club members were very fortunate to be able to visit the shed of our Vice- President, John.  John would have to be one of the most knowledgeable people in Australia on Capris and his experience with rebuilding Capri V6 engines is legendary.
The term, his shed, is a bit misleading as John’s shed consists of a complex of many sheds. He resides on the outskirts of Brisbane on acreage so has plenty of room to house his cars & machinery. Every part of the complex is filled with engineering equipment & tools, plus the odd very valuable Capri.
For our visit he asked us, in advance, what we would like to see. So, three topics were settled on.
Firstly, how the engine dynamometer works. John had spent hours setting up a V6 engine ready to show us but the night before a simple seal went and he was unable to do the demo. However, we were still able to see how everything was set up and what was recorded during the test.
Next we were shown how a crankshaft was balanced, as well as all the engine components i.e. pistons, conrods etc. His machine is able to indicate where weight should be added or removed. All very time consuming but essential in building high performance engines.
Finally, he gave a demo on measuring airflow. Various head were used to indicate the difference in how air circulates within the engine and what can be done to maximise this.
A very interesting afternoon and this is just John’s hobby not his real day job. He has a vast knowledge of Capris and is very willing to share this with other Capri enthusiasts. Thank you, John.

Here are some pictures from the day and from a car meet later on in the afternoon held at the Woolworth’s car park at Morayfield.