The Red Capri - Introduction

This is the story behind my latest Capri restoration project.
I was asked at one of our club meetings if I was interested in assisting a person restore his Capri that had been sitting under his house for some 18 years. I had previously completed two Capri restorations on my own cars & the story of one can be seen at
http://my70fordcapri.blogspot.com/ 
Initially I was not interested & after several weeks I decided that I had time for a new project & decided to have a look. By the way, I am retired and relatively free of the normal comitments that many restorers have. 
The initial inspection did not help very much as the car was parked in a fairly dark garage and there were many parts spread over several areas. The car was the result of parts from a previously damaged Capri being transplanted onto a newly painted (many years ago) Monza Red Capri shell. The major mechanical work had been done eg. 1600 engine, gearbox & drivetrain, front & rear suspension, most exterior body trim including bumpers & side windows. 
Another person had almost completely rewired the car but had unfortunately not completed the task & had not left any instructions. The interior of the car was completely stripped apart from the GT dashboard which had been installed.
I was not really enthused and I could not really see if there was any rust in the body. There were a few minor spots on some body panels. I indicated to the owner that I would think about it for a few days.
After several days & a few discussions with my more sensible partner, I phoned the owner & indicated that I would need to see the car in better light before I could really make a decision. He agreed to moving the car out of his garage, enabling me to get a good look at it. Unfortunately in pulling the car out, the rear bumper was pulled off damaging the bumper & some rear panel work. The car had also been hosed down which made it look a little better. Surprisingly, the door pillars seemed rust free & I did not notice any major rust areas.
I then decided I would go ahead with the job provided we could agree on some conditions. I put together a simple written agreement indicating that the work would be done at my house with parts paid for by the owner & a small hourly rate be charged. Work & hours would be documented & invoiced each fortnight. Either party could terminate the agreement at any time. I also advised the owner that such projects always took longer & cost a lot more than one orginally estimated. Famous last words! He agreed & that is how it all began.

Part 1 - How it looked!

 

The car arrived by tilt tray on 28 September 2010.
These pictures were taken soon after its arrival.
Firstly, the exterior-

Now, the inside

 

 There were no interior fittings apart from the instrument panel. The roof lining was also missing. The pictures also show the mass of wires under the dash. Also note the separate ignition switch.

Part 1a How it looked!

Now for the engine bay- most of it seemed complete apart from the air cleaner.

Due to my agreement with the owner, I kept a diary of my work on the car as well as the time taken to do the tasks. This blog is a summary of what happened over the next 6 months.

Part 2 The Work Begins

As I had no real undercover space to work on the car, I needed to try & get the car mobile so that I could shift it around my yard or under cover.

29/9/10     I started on the engine, degreased & cleaned the engine bay, removed radiator hoses & flushed radiator & engine, removed & attempted to charge battery, drained oil, removed oil filter (which had the date 7/86 written on it), removed spark plugs & ignition leads, removed fuel pump. The fuel pump was one of the original glass bowl types & was just full of a white powder. I attempted to turn the motor by hand & it only revolves about half a turn.Removed starter motor, & tappet cover. Still no difference. Checked & tightened front suspension bolts. 

30/9/10     I tried again to free the engine – no result. Inspected both front wheels & brakes – sprayed RP7 everywhere. RH wheel seems very tight, LHF brake hose is not connected & corroded & will possibly need replacement. Lowered dashboard to allow access to wiring & removed crash pad. Also unscrewed ash tray & heater controls to allow access to heater/fan area. Sprayed RP7 around dash area.

1/10/10     Again I tried to free the engine & after releasing fan belt & trying a few other things, there was no difference. Next the rocker cover was removed & I noticed that 2 valve springs were compressed permanently so maybe several valves are stuck. Nothing to do but remove the cylinder head! Removed the carbie & intake manifold & in the process the centre bolt snapped. (The one under the water intake hole). Great!! It always happens even when you take it carefully. Hopefully, I can get the remainder out OK & no other bolts snap, which is a thing I dread when dismantling these old engines. Thankfully the exhaust manifold came off pretty easily so then it was time for the cylinder head. That also came off without any dramas & it is obvious that it has not been removed for a very long time judging by the gasket & associated corrosion & gunk. I tried to turn over the engine & guess what? It turned over a complete cycle really easily so the valves must have been hitting the top of the pistons. That was a major relief as I was not looking forward to a total engine rebuild. I spent the rest of the morning cleaning & scraping the old gasket material off the face of the block. AY(the owner) came over this afternoon to see what progress had eventuated.