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)

Capri - Big Brake Job 2

I asked other Capri Club members about the best place to have the front callipers reconditioned as the company that I used for many years seemed to be not as good as it once was. Several suggested Slacks Creek Brake & Clutch Service. A quick call indicated that the job could be done with prices quoted.  I took my shoe box, complete with front callipers & rear cylinders, down to them on Friday morning & they were ready Monday morning - very prompt service. Total cost was $398.20 (Recondition callipers-$120 each + pistons if required & these were needed so extra $36 each side; rear wheel cylinders 2@ $25 - cheaper that fixing the old ones). The new rear cylinders (IRS Part No P6984) were an exact replacement & fitted without difficulty.



Next bit was putting everything back together again. The front callipers went on easily complete with looking tabs. The rotors looked pretty good so they were left as is. When I went to replace the pads, I realised that there were no backing plates. I just happened to have an old spare calliper with a set so I cleaned these up & slid them on as well as connecting the brake hoses.
Then to the back which was a lot more difficult. After one incorrect attempt, I realised that the hand brake adjustment lever needs to go on first, together with the rubber boot (I wish I could have located some new ones but I have no idea where to source them). The lever needs to be held in place while the cylinder is fitted with the spring metal clips. After failing a few times, I used a thick rubber band to hold the lever in place as it fits into the top of the cylinder. The clips are not easy to slide in as the top one fouls the adjustment lever. Again, with a few sprays of WD40 & several attempts the clips mesh together.
Next the brake lines needed to be attached. I was concerned that the old line connecting bolts would not fit but after meshing the threads in carefully & tightening as much by hand they went right into the cylinder without any dramas. Then the hand brake adjustment screws needed to inserted into the bottom of the cylinders. The old ones took a considerable amount of cleaning & fitted in perfectly. As mentioned earlier, make sure the correct screw goes in the correct side. Then the brake shoes went on together with the spring clips that hold them in place. Before I adjusted the hand brake, I tried the hub to make sure everything was fitting correctly.



Next was to refill the master cylinder to check for leaks but before that could be done, there was some dirty looking residue in the master that I wanted to remove. Nothing I had was suitable or clean enough so a trip to Supercheap was in order. There I found an evil looking syringe & with that I was able to suck out all the unwanted fluid.

 

 

I filled both chambers of the master with new Dot 4 brake fluid, as recommended. As I waited for this to flow through the system, I removed the rear hubs again & adjusted the hand brake screws. I wound both out about 10 mm, tried the hand brake & it seemed good.

Next big task was to bleed the system. The first is the front RH & no fluid seemed to be coming down the pipe. I kept on pumping the brake pedal slowing & still nothing. OK, I thought I will then do the front LH side. Immediately, I noticed fluid all over the floor & fluid dripping down the calliper. A few words were said & then the connecting line was tightened properly & all was well.

Two goes at bleeding the three wheels & I was happy with the firm brake pedal. Next, all the wheels went on & the first test drive went well. Good even brakes, good pedal but the handbrake is not quite there & I will need to adjust the screws a little more.

For me, I was pleased with the result but there were a few hours that went into the job so it pays not to be in too much of a hurry for a task like this.





Capri - Big Brake Job 1

When driving to the Australia Day rally, my green Capri started doing some strange things. When pulling up at the traffic lights, I thought there were times when the brakes were grabbing but I wasn't sure. Then further down the road, the car drove as if the road was quite bumpy & then it went back to normal. As I was arriving at the rally, the smell of burning brakes started so I drove carefully & parked on the oval. A quick walk around the car revealed that the front LH wheel was extremely hot so the calliper on that wheel was the culprit.
Talking to one of our club members attending that day confirmed my diagnosis as he had exactly the same symptoms on his car. The drive home was cautious with as little brake usage as possible & a lot of down shifting. Thankfully, problems just started to occur at the last set of traffic lights before my home. So, it seemed I had a major brake job to complete.
I couldn't remember if the front callipers on this car had been previously reconditioned but checking through my records indicated that I had fitted new disc pads & rear brakes shoes. In fact, I had not done anything major to the brakes since I have had the car. The plan was to have the front callipers reconditioned & the rear cylinders if they needed it.
First job was to position the car safely on blocks & wheel stands so all the wheels could come off.
Next was to bleed the fluid from the front lines & then remove the callipers. No great dramas with this. The bleeder screws undid as usual & because there were no locking caps, the two bolts attaching the calliper were undone easily & the calliper along with the disc pads were removed. A visual inspection of the callipers indicated nothing unusual, so I presumed the internals had problems.



Then to the rear brakes. Again, I bleed the system completely before removing the rear shoes. Then the fun began! Externally, the rear cylinders looked in good nick with no leaks but a closer look behind the rubber boots indicated the brakes lines had not been touched for many years. Undoing the brake lines became a major issue. I am very conscious of breaking these bolts or stripping the bolt head to the extent that a spanner won't fit. The first attempt at undoing the three lines, 2 on the RH & one on the LH, resulted in failure & frustration. The 7/16 spanners I had were not very long so I couldn't get much leverage on these very tight nuts. Frequent squirts of WD40 didn't give immediate assistance.
I even bought a new 7/16 spanner with a long handle but again, no success. In fact the lower nut on the RH side was starting to suffer. After several further attempts on each side, no success. This in a way made me more determined to remove the cylinders as it was obvious they had not had any attention in a very long time.
Enough for the day & time to consult my resident retired mechanic, Kev. Two suggestions - trying tapping around the cylinder with a punch & hammer & secondly, try with a big shifter.
Next day, tap, tap, tap, & squirt, squirt, squirt! I did think very briefly about heating but as the fuel tank was just above the rear brake, I wasn't really wanting an explosion under my house! It was very difficult to land a good hit but I did give some firm taps around the base of the nut. At last, I had some success with the top nut on the RH but the lower nut was proving a problem because the nut was becoming damaged. Then we tried a medium wrench & at last success.
The same technique was used on the LH side & it also became loose.
Next came off the rear brake shoes but the rear cylinders were a bit difficult because of the two steel spring clips holding them in place. The top one gets so far & then is caught on the hand brake mechanism. Again, some squirts of WD40 helped in finally getting them off.



It is really important to label these as the adjusters for the hand brake have different threads - RH thread for R side; LH thread for L side.
I kept all the bits that relate to each side together which makes re-assembly easier.
Next thing at this stage was to give everything (not the callipers) a good clean, using degreaser, scrapers, wire brushes & compressed air. I also gave them a quick coat of black engine enamel to compete the process. It also gave me a chance to spray some fish oil around all the crevices & holes under the car.
Next instalment is about the new parts & assembly.
(Click on the photos to enlarge)

Australia Day 2017

It is about time I published something on this blog & so my first post for the New Year of 2017 is on Australia Day.
For the last few years I have attended the Australia Day rally held at Ormiston. one of the bayside suburbs to the east of Brisbane. It is always a well organised event with a free BBQ breakfast, raffles & 4 rally runs that conclude at the same venue for lunch.
There are always a huge variety of vehicles in attendance including commercial vehicles & this year the count was over 500. The cars come in all shapes & sizes from all the countries of the world & from very new to very old. The photos are just a random selection of all the different makes.
My Capri was the only one this year & I nearly didn't get there due to some brake issues that occurred just close to the venue. My trip home was carefully planned so as to use the brakes as little as possible (the left front disc was binding up) & I arrived home without any dramas. I always find driving the car at this time of the year results in one arriving sweating profusely even though the day was not exceptionally hot. Maybe I just really miss my air-conditioned comfort.
Here are some photos (Click to enlarge):