Capri - LUCH Quartz Car Dashboard Clock Round

Yes, the title says it all!
For quite some time I have been looking for a suitable classic looking clock to fill the hole in my centre console. Actually, a non functioning amp meter has been there for several years. Being a cheapskate, I refused to pay the amounts being asked for some brands but I kept seeing the LUCH clock on eBay for a very reasonable price. Apparently there is quite a story to the LUCH factory as it has along history in Soviet Russia but has modernised in Minsk, Belarus.
With a little concern I ordered the clock on eBay. It arrived all packaged in under 2 weeks for the pricely sum of $25.04 including postage & GST. Instructions were printed in English. Even a postcard of the River Minsk was included. Here are some pics.

 
So, I eventually got around to fitting it.
I took the easy way and used the connections I had removed from the cigarette lighter to power up the clock & the light for it. These are just to the LHS of the ashtray so all I had to do was remove the ash tray & the small cardboard panel to the RHS of the ash tray to give me enough access to wire it up in the central console. A dilemma I had was that I really didn't want to have the clock continuously live wired as the car is not driven very often. This may defeat the purpose of have a clock but it is my preference and will operate only when the ignition is turned on. This means a quick reset of the clock each time I drive the car but it is no big deal.
One of the wires powers the clock & the other powers the light. The earth wire I ran back to the nut that holds the ash tray in place. I also included a 10 amp fuse in power wire. Here are some pics.
 

As you can see the clock fits in really neatly with no alterations needed and is a firm fit. It is similar in colouring to the other Capri instruments. At the advice on club members, I have ensured the clock has no tracking devices that would benefit the KGB! It works well, with a very quiet movement and I think very good value.

Capri - Poor Idling

My white XL Capri has not been running very smoothly of late, especially idling roughly.
I did the usual things like checking all the leads and connections but no difference. With the engine running, I started pulling off the ignition leads & to my surprise when I removed the lead to No 1 cylinder, it made no difference. When the other cylinder leads were removed, you could really notice the difference. So, it was No 1 cylinder that was the problem.
First fix was to replace the ignition leads & the spark plugs. The leads had not been replaced in a long while so I thought replacing both of these items would fix the problem.



So with the new ones in place, I started the engine & no real difference. Pulling the lead from No 1 cylinder when idling & again it made no difference. So, what was the problem? I had read that air leaks around the inlet manifold may be an issue but after checking all the hoses & connections, again there was no difference.
Then looking around again with a torch, I noticed that the inlet manifold gasket was split right on the end near the No 1 cylinder inlet port. It was like a tear in the gasket. So was this the problem? The only way to find out was to replace the gasket. The photos show the damaged gasket as the split went right through the edge of the gasket. Look at the right hand lower section of the gasket. On removal of the manifold, it seem as if the gasket was also covering part of the inlet port.

 

Removing the inlet manifold is a real pain!!! The two bolts underneath require a narrow socket to remove them. What made mine really difficult was that last time I had the manifold off I had to replace the centre bottom bolt with a different size head (the other 4 are all 1/2 inch). After spending ages to work this out, it soon came out with the correct size socket.
Luckily I had a spare ACL gasket so on it went. Again, tightening the bolts underneath is not all that easy. So, after reconnecting everything, refilling the radiator as when the manifold came off, a bit of fluid was lost around the water jacket.
OK, now time to turn the key. Yes, much smoother & running really well and idling much better.I did not realise that such a split would allow so much air to enter the system and cause it to run roughly.
End of story so make sure you check for air leaks if your car is sounding a bit sick.
(Click on the photos to enlarge)

Capri - Missing engine number

On & off for weeks I have been trying to find the engine number on my white Capri XL which has the 1600 GT engine. So, just to be clear, the car is a 4 cylinder with a Ford Kent crossflow engine with the 711 block. I have owned the car for 20 years, have had the engine out several times and never really bothered about checking the engine number. I was always under the impression that it was the original engine but, unless I found the engine number, could not verify this.
I was convinced, after reading Dr Google, that the number was on a flat spot on top of the engine block between number 1 & 2 exhaust outlets. When I initially could not find it here, I removed the extractors & gasket so I could get a better look but still, no numbers. I even researched metal etching and made up a special mix that would reveal worn or ground away numbers. Again, no numbers. Here are some pics of where I originally looked.

 

The engine block has 2 or 3 other flat spots around it so I started cleaning them off with sand paper and one, right at the rear of the engine revealed the number 44. Some research stated that this was an engine code but not an engine number. Not what I was really after!

Some more looking on Dr Google said it was between the water pump & the thermostat but I still could not find it. It was getting to the stage that I was convinced the motor had been replaced at some stage in the 30 years prior to my ownership and I may have to do something that I didn't want to do and that was to stamp the numbers again.

At a recent car show I asked the owner of a Cortina GT with a similar engine where he thought the engine number was. He was quite experienced with these engines and showed me where his was, on the other side of the engine, just above the oil pump. I was a little confused as the numbers he showed me were cast into the block, as most engines have to distinguish the type of engine eg, 711M. Anyway, I had not looked very hard in that spot as my car has so many hoses, plus the distributor and wires, that it is a very difficult place to work in. So, on returning home, with my brightest torch, I started looking again. My engine had no such numbers as he had shown me on his Cortina! OK, foiled again!

So again I started looking very carefully around the back of the block & then around the front near the water pump and I thought I could see the letter A, which is the last letter of my number. It was at the front of the engine block, in a relatively difficult place to see, but a start. I then got a screw driver & started to scrape away the paint & guess what? Some numbers started to appear & they were checking out what I though they should be. After more cleaning with sand paper & a wire brush, all the letters & numbers started to be revealed, indicating what I had hoped for - that they matched the compliance plate. A smart phone camera is a great help in these tight spots as the flash can really highlight the small numbers that you are looking for.

Some of you who are experienced with this engine will have known this all along, but nowhere in my research did it say to look in this spot - centre front, top of engine block.
Finding this number confirmed my belief that I had an original car with matching numbers as you can see in the photos all the numbers are the same, including the body number found on the driver's side suspension turret.

Capri - Redlands Australia Day Rally 2020

Once again this year, the Bayside Vehicle Restorers Club staged an Australia Day Rally. This has become quite a popular way of celebrating this special day as 560+ vehicles turned up and were spread across the two ovals at Ormiston State School. I am sometimes reluctant to attend because of the heat but this year with some cloud cover and bayside breezes it was pretty comfortable, even with the Capri's air conditioning not fully functioning! It is always a well organised event and this year was no exception. Breakfast is free for a $5 raffle ticket (17 prizes) with proceeds going to Sailability, a local charity. If you are inclined, there are 4 mapped runs around the Bayside that you can join, all ending at the Redlands Sporting Club for lunch. A number of car clubs make this their first event for the year.
There are many & varied cars on display but a couple of Fords were interesting. Firstly, there was another Capri that I had not seen before parked with the All British Ford Club. It was a cream/beige colour with a black vinyl top (facelift model?). I was trying to find the owner as I think it may be the person who has recently joined our club. The other car was a Corsair sedan with a V4GT engine. Again, I wanted to have a good look but the owner was not about.



Here is a small selection of other vehicles on display.

 

Click on pics to enlarge.

Capri Club - Annual Christmas Party

There were some terrific Capris at this year's Capri Club's Christmas end of year event held at Harrigan's Calypso Bay Hotel at Jacob's Well in early December. A variety of different models were on display and all were of a very high standard. A great day was had by all. Here are some pics. Click on pics to enlarge.