Restoration and Rebuild Project
Restoration
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Rebuild

Passed its MOT

Zippy successfully passed its MOT this week passing with flying colours.  And the first road test was pretty good.  Brakes were binding a bit so we’ve fitted some new discs at the front now, so the complete system is brand new.

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The stripe is fitted and the 1600 GT badges on the side too.  Replacement “FORD” letters on the bonnet look good, licensed remanufactured items from Australia.

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Final adajustments next week, and then a deep clean before Zippy will be delivered back home.

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Quarter Windows In

The new rear quarter windows have now been installed along with the modified latches.  These look brilliant, and there is no risk of the glass falling out now.

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Next week will be spent finishing off the underside, some of the floor plugs will be sealed and a couple of minor scuffs from the rebuild will be blown over.

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Side stripes along with badges on the bonnet, sills and the wings will also be added.  At which point, probably on Friday, it will be driven to West Lodge for an MOT

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All the electrics have now been completed and the dashboard is back fully in place.  Here you can see the small repair to the silver finish around the dials.  The central ‘bullet’ clock is also working.

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Rear Window Latches

After one of the rear quarter windows dropped out last week I’ve been looking for replacement glass.  I ended up purchasing two NOS glass units from New Jersey, USA.  These are actually for the US version of the Capri known as the Mercury Capri.These are different because, instead of glueing the opening latch to the glass, these have a hole in the glass allowing the latch to securely fixed.  That meant we had to modify the original glue on design latch.

With the help of Malcolm at M.K. Engineering in Colchester, we came up with these.  A new aluminium mushroom head has been created that screws into the original stub, and the stub has been drilled and threaded.  And add to this a new black plastic liner to ensure that the bolt is not tightened against the glass.

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Quarter Window Glass

Last week one of the rear quarter window glasses became unstuck, slipped out and smashed on the floor.  It was the nearside glass, the side which I had not re stuck because it seemed well stuck.

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But fortunately we managed to locate a NOS pair from New Jersey.  These are Mercury Capri windows which actually have a hole in the glass, thus are bolted rather than just glued like the UK built car.  A good little enhancement really.  Now need to get suitable bolts, and adjustments to the existing latches to complete the fitting of these rear quarter windows.

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Still waiting for the electrician to finish work on the dashboard.  That should happen this evening.

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Zippy was up on the ramp today so a good opportunity for some underside shots.  Here we can see the completed (wider) steel wheels, the new suspension, brakes, exhaust and so on.

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Seats are in

Whilst waiting for the electrics to complete, the front seats have now been installed and number plates attached.

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The drivers seat was largely re-made using matching vinyl leather cloth and new piping but keeping the original cloth inserts.  The passenger seat had lesser repairs, largely remaining original, and so is about 43 years old.

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Still waiting for the arrival of stripes for the side. These should arrive soon from the Mk1 Capri Register.

The Engine is Running

Well, we’re almost finished now.  After 2 years 2 months, this huge project is almost over and Zippy will be driving back home pretty soon.

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Most of the trim has been put back onto the car.  The rear quarter dummy vents, the wipers, new door mirrors, bumper brackets and headlights.

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The wiring loom, repaired and retaped is now back in the engine bay and all peripheral components have been attached, apart from the rear bumper light.

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The engine has been started and run up to normal temperature.  It even starts first time.

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The refurbished 5.5J wheels have been shod and fitted with new wheel nuts too.

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The front seats have been delivered today so, next time these will be in the car

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The dashboard has not been completed yet.  This is waiting on the return of the electrician next week.

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The Dashboard is Back

We’re still waiting on the return of the engine bay wiring loom.  However, we’ve started to put the interior back together including the dashboard.

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The 5.5J wheels have now been painted aswell so they’ll be fitted next week.

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The rear seats will probably get installed next week too

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The Loom is ready

Apparently the loom is now ready and will be delivered in the next couple of days.  At which point post of the engine compartment will be able to be completed

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Whilst we await the loom, the slam panel is being resprayed as there was a little dust and other marks in the finish

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Awaiting the Loom

The engine bay wiring loom has now gone off to the electrician to be tested and repaired.  Once this comes back, then there will be another push to complete Zippy.  As a result the Capri has been sat on top of a hydraulic ramp for the last couple of weeks.  That means it’s a good opportunity to get some shots of the underside, to include the gearbox abd bell housing, prop, axle and of course the exhaust.  This is the original Ford item but treated in a high temperature back paint.

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Next week the 5.5J steel wheels will go off to be repaired and painted.

New Headlining

The headlining was fitted into the car this week by Andy Watts, the same chap that repaired the seats.  This is using some old stock Ford lining material

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New front calipers have also been fitted as one of the original ones was rather badly damaged.  The rear brake pipes have been fitted and a new petrol tank feed as well

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With the drivers door open you can now see how we’ve managed to pain the sill and door bottoms black, as per the Ford Facelift design, but also keep the inner sill in Sebring Red.  This is consistent with the sale brochure material

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Also notice a familiar looking MGB GT in the same garage, now sporting some new boots and rubber

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Courtesy Switches

Some success this week.  Managed to source two courtesy light switches for the door jams which avoids the need to re-use the incorrect mark 2 versions.

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The repaired cardboard parcel shelf is back in now so work is now waiting on completion of the head lining before the glass is re-fitted

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That means that Zippy is up on a ramp out of the way.  Time to grab some pictures of the underside

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Here are a selection of underside views.  Note the wheels will be changing to the 5.5J steel wheels that would be fitted to a GXL

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The Engine is in

Lots of progress now.  Suspension has been build and it is sitting (albeit a little high) on it’s original wheels.  We will be changing these to 5.5Js at some point. A lot of the bright work is on now and the engine and gearbox is in place.

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Front and rear suspension, brakes and the rear axle are in place now

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The engine is in place, but with no carburettor etc.  But the starter motor and solenoid are in place along with a lot of the brake pipes and the new master cylinder sitting on the refurbished servo unit.

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The engine mounts, these are the original ones, distributor can be seen here.  Work on the dashboard and internal electrics will probably start next week.

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And inside the boot we can see the rear light backing plates and the painted fuel tank.  Now shopping for various items for the ignition along with hoses for the cooling.

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Cleaning the Loom

Over Christmas I’ve been pottering a bit with the wiring loom and the carpets.  The wiring loom, although complete, was covered with insulating tape, underseal and an awful lot of overspray from previous restorations or resprays.  Although the tape and underseal have come off reasonably well, the overspray is proving rather problematic.

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The internal carpet and the boot mat have cleaned up very well though, especially considering they are 43 years old now.

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Rebuild Started

So the process of rebuilding this capri has really got underway.  The black panels have been painted including the ready panel and the sills.  The door glass is now back in too and we’re preparing to re fit bumpers and some of the other bright work

 

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The brake server is in place (we have a NOS master cylinder to use too) and the suspection legs fitted with new inserts

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The cross member has been prepared and painted and is ready to receive the repaired steering rack

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The rear axle has also been prepaired and is waiting for repairs to the rear leafs springs.  The gearbox and bell housing will be readied next week, once a new clutch has been sourced.

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The pedal box is now in place , the pedals were sand blasted and repainted to clean them up a bit too.   Not seen in these pictures but the fuel tank has been painted silver again and has been mounted back in the boot

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Very Shiny Paintwork

Most of the bodywork has now been sprayed and, apart from the slam panel, it is waiting to harden off a bit before the black sections on the sills, the rear panel and a few internal areas will be completed.  The re-build should happen very early in the New Year.

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And the paintwork really looks brilliant. An excellent job.  Even the lower sections of the rear quarters and the wings are reflective.

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The sills are far too good to cover up in the usual black paint so, we’re going to paint these black as per the original Ford sales literature, even if that’s not actually how this cars left the factory.

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Obviously the doors, boot and bonnet have been sprayed now as well, on all sides.  These are also waiting and drying on one side.

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Engine Bay Painted

The engine bay has now been painted in Sebring red

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And the boot was prepared and painted too.  The inside paintwork will never have looked this good ever before.

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Next thing will be to put the doors back on and confirm alignment of the door top trims and the rear quarter D trims.  Especially where the rear quarter does not quite line up with the door.  And also to prepare the holes for the lower door and wing trims.

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Back in the Paint Booth

Zippy has now been rubbed down, prepared for painting and most of it has seen one or two coats of final primer

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The front-end has just received it’s second primer coat and the engine bay will be next to be primed.  The doors, bonnet and boot have also been prepared and are waiting to be re-fitted

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Next thing will be to put the doors back on again and then drill the holes for the lower trims, so they all line up.  Also to get the (currently chrome) lower side trims re-coated in the correct black finish, as per a Facelift GT.  The Sebring Red paint has also been ordered for the final colour coats too.  Then it’ll be up to ‘Jim the Trim’ to re-fit the roof lining and re-fix the vinyl roof

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The Wings are On

This week we’ve painted the inner wings and welded the outer wings in place and mounted the wing brackets too.

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The next step will be to do a final paint in the inner wing again, to cover where the final welds are located and then begin the ‘big rub down’, ready for the final pain of the body.

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The rear quarter alignments looks very much like it was poor build tolerance when the car was manufactured 43 years ago.