Capri - All Ford Day, Brisbane 2015

Ford fans celebrated in huge numbers at the 2015 All Ford Day held yesterday at the Willowbank Raceway, west of Brisbane.
It was a really big day for the Capri Club of Qld that was celebrating its 20th Anniversary. The club displayed 19 cars in total, the largest number seen together for many years. There were 14 V6s, 2 RS3100s, 2 Pinto 2 litre, and one 1600 represented. As the pictures show, many of the great colours were shining in the sun. The beautiful, recently restored Blaze Blue claimed the top trophy, the Red Pepper with the vinyl roof took second prize and the Yellow Blaze took third prize. Here are photos of the club cars:







These Capris were also spotted around the display areas.



Plenty to choose from!
Click on the photo to enlarge.

Capri - RACQ Motorfest 2015

As I prepared my car for this year's event, I calculated that I had attended 11 Motorfests dating back to 2004. It is one event each year that always has a vast array of different vehicles and this year was no different. 2015's event commemorated the Returned Soldiers Transport Corp (RSTC), instead of the anniversary of any particular car maker. Also this year there was a special category for military vehicles. A very interesting historical display outlining the activities of the RSTC was part of the day. Some of the original vehicles used to transport the soldiers during WW1 from the wharves to the Military Hospital under the Story Bridge were on display.

Again there was a huge variety of vehicles representing all eras, makers and countries, however numbers were definitely down on last year with some of the larger clubs, particularly the Falcon/Holden groups missing. Maybe it was due to the cold windy weather that was forecasted. This was in contrast to past years when it has been wet. The day turned out to be very clear and not quite as cold or windy as I had expected.

I entered my white XL and it was the lone Capri. There are still a number of people who have memories of their Capri & want to have a chat. One guy was very keen to show his son what the back seat of a Capri was like as he had spent many hours as a child enduring the limited room.

The interesting things for me were; the historical display, the motor cycles including an immaculate 1912 inline four cylinder Indian, an early Pontiac with the interior upholstered in lavish curtain material, a group of 3 highly modified rally replica Ford Escorts, beside them was a beautifully modified Ford Anglia which took out  a trophy, a beautiful XK150 Jag convertible, a Singer tourer, a Toyoglide 700 with 2 cylinders horizontally opposed, several battery powered cars and a fleet of 5 huge Hummer limos (how do they ever do a U turn in these?

 Always a worthwhile event & I will most likely turn up again next year. Here are some pics that really show what the event is about.

 

Clockwise from top left: RACQ Escort, original RSTC vehicles, WW2 Harley,1912 Indian, Dodge van, my XL Capri.



Some Loti, the replica rally Escorts, the prize winning Anglia



The green Singer won a trophy for the restoration job & the red car is a Zimmer.



The 2 cylinder Toyoglide 700, a big Hummer (1 of 5 present), a Commodore powered Prefect, want a battery?, the latest Aston Martin engine bay, a Jag V12 engine bay - what a nightmare?



The business end of the escorts, a Missy electric car, a big turboed ute, how do you service this Lotus, the Anglia.

Double click on the photos to enlarge.

Capri - Ring Gear Replacement 3

Following on from my last post, I very promptly received the correct ring gear from Yesterford & I returned the oversize one. I then had to decide how to fit the new part. I don't have any serious heating equipment but after reading many articles on Dr Google, I decided to attempt to do it myself at home. After freezing the flywheel in the freezer for several hours & then putting the ring gear in a very hot kitchen oven for 30 mins, I tried to fit them together. Unfortunately, no go! Some more heating with my small propane blow torch  & still no go! After several attempts, I realised that I could not do this so it was time to get some professional help.
One of the neighbours in our street has a workshop & had an oxy torch. After taking it the first day, he returned confused about which way the ring gear should fit the flywheel. He was sure it should slide on the opposite way to which I had told him. After a bit of discussion and looking at the photos, he was correct. The side of the ring gear that engages the starter motor should be facing the transmission. Thank goodness I had not put in on the incorrect way!
Here are some pics of the flywheel & clutch back together.



Then comes the interesting part of putting the engine back in. The lifting it in is easily but aligning it to the gearbox is another story. Here are the photos of the engine going back in.



This time I used an engine levelling bar that I had bought some time ago as I thought it might assist in getting the angle of the engine just right for it to slide into the gearbox. I am not sure it helped very much as the winding mechanism broke & didn't allow much movement. After a fair bit of stuffing around & a bit of a push, it all went together. I quickly bolted the gearbox onto the bell housing. Then the next bit caused me a bit of grief. I couldn't align both of the engine mounts to fit. The left side went on OK but it took ages to get the RH side to fit. In the end, I undid the metal bracket bolted to the engine block, fitted it to the engine mount & then with some very careful lifting with the crane, managed to align the 4 bolts on the bracket back to the engine block. At last, all back together and all done by myself. I thought that was a bit of an achievement!
That was enough for day 1 so next day, I reconnected all the hoses, wires, exhaust manifold & radiator. That didn't take too long. I also added another earthing wire from the back of the engine to the firewall. Also, I fitted the reconditioned starter motor that I bought as mentioned in the previous post.
Now for the moment of truth! Will it start? After 3 goes, the engine fired and ran like a Swiss watch! That made me very happy, especially the fact that the starter motor engaged several times with no dramas. I just have to get some assistance to replace the bonnet & then we will be back on the road. I am happy it is all done but I don't want to have to do that too frequently. Here is a pic of it all back together.