The set of 5.5J Rostyle steel wheels have now been powder coated and I’ve got the job of hand painting the satin black sections.  One wheel done so far, three more to go.

We are hoping to get the inner wings painted next week and then weld the outer front wings (they have already been painted orange on the inside) on by the weekend.

Once these are on them attention will be on the offside rear quarter where the D profile around the rear window is slightly out to the top of the door.  The door fit is perfect so it appears that the quarter may have had a bit of a bash at some point

Work has continued tidying the front valence and the inner wings ready for the front to be completed.  Once this has finished the inner wings and the inside of the outer wings will be prepared and then welded together.  That will be a good step forward.

Good progress on the frontend over the last couple of weeks with effort concentrating on getting the panel joins correct, sorting out the tabs for the headlights, adjusting the from valence and making sure the grill fits straight.  It’s beginning to look like a Capri again.

The wings are loosely fitted at the moment to help confirm that the seems against the bonnet and doors are correct.  If anything, they are ‘too good’ as it wouldn’t have left he factory this good.

Unfortunately it appears that the offside rear quarter may not be quite true, as we have a small (couple of mm) mis-alignment with the door.  This will need a little adjustment but probably not a big deal.  Notice (below) the extra mastic around the quarter window (not normal) and the fact the shaped section of the door skin does not quite match the shape on the rear quarter

Progress has been a little slow due to the Summer months but work on Zippy will begin to pick up in the next few weeks.  A little bit of preparation on the replacement wings and the boot.

After a short lull for the summer, work on preparing the rear-end has progressed.  Rear arches and the backend have been prepared and given a light coating of epoxy primer.  These will be re-primed the same as the bonnet and door skins a little later.

The inner boot area still needs preparing and this will need to be done by hand, but this is in good original condition (original paint) so, should not take too much apparently.  In these pictures of the inside of the boot you can see the new rear lower quarter repairs and the new inner arch bins too.  These will be tidied

There was a brief intermission this week for a very important family wedding. Congratulations to Sam and Verity on the occasion of their wedding. Oh, and there were a few old vehicles there too

Work on both inner wing top rails has finished now and these are being prepared for painting of the inner wings

All we need to do next is fit the slam panel and fix the headlight bowls, then we should be able to start painting the inner wings and inside of the outer wings.  We’ll then be able to weld the wings on

The inner wing rails are almost complete now.  They still needed a little adjustment to get the profile spot on though.  This involved cutting some of the edge to it could be adjusted and then repairing with another weld.  But once grounds down and smoothed these look really good.

The nearside inner wing rail has now been fitted and the headlight bowls are being lined up ready too.

Once these are done, then it’ll be time to paint the inner wings and the inside of the outer wings too.  Once that’s done, then the outer wing will be fitted and painting will move to the engine bay

The first replacement inner wing rail has been made and partially fitted to the Capri.  The fit of the wings and bonnet have been checked and all of it lines up really well

The Capri is upside down at the moment so it’s a good chance to see the repairs and condition of the inner wings which, given they are 40 years old, are in pretty good condition

And parked outside is a nice looking Perana too

And the underside still looks pretty good too

Limited progress in the last couple of weeks while we wait for the inner wing top rails to be manufactured

Some plastic lead loaded in to repair the joins round the wheels arches

The back axle is being cleaned up at the moment.  All in pretty good condition sonsidering it’s forty years old.  And we also took delivery various parts from the Capri Club.  This included shock absorbers, wheel bearings, brake cylinders, cables and bushes

Still waiting on the inner wing rails to be produced so work has been concentrating on the front and rear axles.  The cross member is being blasted ready for preparation and painting.  Decided that we’ll strip down the MacPherson struts, blast, recondition and repaint. New shock absorber inserts will be used from the Capri Club.

Brake disks, back plates etc are all in good condition and will be re-used too.

The underneath of Zippy is looking very good

Some small dents on the bonnet have also been repaired

Limited progress in the last couple of weeks as we are waiting for someone to manufacture some inner wing rails.  The top edges to which the outer wings fix.  Easy it sounds, but the profile must be perfect to make sure the wings don’t buckle and the bonnet sits and aligns

Now have another shopping list for parts

• Front shocks and springs
• Rear springs and U bolts, eye bushes and shackle rubbers
• Rear shock absorbers
• Real wheel cylinders
• Handbrake cable
• Track control arm rubber seal
• Bushes for the rear springs

And here are the old discarded door skins and old slam panel

For the last two weeks, work has concentrated on the front end of the car, and a lot of progress has been made.  And all the panels are lining up pretty well too which is testament to the hard work at Titan Motors.  Next week will include fitting of the new headlamp bowls and then lining up the headlights and the front grill, making sure the brackets are in the right place.

The new slam panel, crossmember, radiator brackets, battery tray, and support and the inner wing repairs are all lined up and ready to be fitted properly.  And the new valance is in place too.

Wings and bonnet have been loosely fitted again to make sure all the panels line up

The inner wing brackets, to which the bumper brackets are attached are now in place. They were a good find on eBay really.

And the doors and their new door skins are in place too.

The underside has now been sprayed Sebring Red over two layers of stone chip

The inside has had a light washed out coat of Sebring Red.  Not too heavy so that it is similar to how it would have left the factory.

The front inner wings still have scar where chunks that been cut out.  But the metal work has been cut for these holes now and these’ll be welded in next week

We’re really beginning to make some progress now

And the doors are now in a primer, ready for Sebring Red and a initial trial fit