1977 Ford Capri

looks like a good place to start, keep us post'ed

Nice find!

My father had a hard on for those cars back in the 80's. You could still get parts for them at the stealership, the local parts store, even JC Whitney. All the interior parts, seals, mechanical bits and pieces. The junkyards were still full of them. But that doesnt help you does it? The car is dead nuts simple, most of the ones we played with had the 2.0 engine. I just gleaned all the car stuff from his shop to put in mine and will go thru it and see if I have anything interior wise. If the rear fender wells are rust free you have a real gem there. I would like to have another someday.

There is only a couple rust spots and most of them are low on the rear fender. The under side is pretty clean along with the shock towers and leaf spring mounts. We found a LA Times newspaper in the trunk dated 1994. I bought it in Green Bay.

On my '73 Capri I ended up with mid-80's Mustang wheels from the 4 cylinder model, there's about 8 spokes on the face, and if you actually push on them you'll discover they're made of some sort of rubber. In any case, they were a good swap, getting me a 14" wheel. From there I ran Bridgestone Potenza RE910's, 195/60/14's which just fit the front and gave plenty of room out back. I would imagine you could do the same sort of sizing and get into some decent tires. If you want to stick with a 13" wheel, Sumitomo HTR's are probably a good way to go, but I have no experience with them myself. For street use I think I'd go to a 14" because of what's available. If you're taking it to the track you may want to look into something else.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/31936748@N00/sets/72157616443389346/

I just had a look at your pictures. From what I can see your Capri is black and looks like gold colored trim. Could possibly be a JPS- JohnPlayerSpecial , which had the same color scheme as the JPS F-1 team back in the 70's. I have been worikng on British Fords for over 40 years- you can see my Cortina GT on this site.

Unfortunately, its a flat black paint/primer on top of a sweet 70s orange. If you take a peek at the photos again you'll see the original color under the hood. It looks like the rims were painted by someone with that gold color.

The 2.3 Turbo is a great idea here. There are several completed examples in the US. I put a 5.0 in my Mk1 Capri, but you already have the engine mounts ready to go for the 2.3 T.

My current time wasting activity is looking at Zetec DOHC 4 cylinders to slap in there. Should bolt right up... "should" being the key word.

Thanks for keeping us up on your project. This would be a nice reference for someone else (me). Stan

Nice ride. Can't loose with either the Ztec or the 2.3 turbo. Lots of ceiling with the turbo... Maybe a wrecked turbo coupe parts car? Merkur? SVO may even be doable.

I saw this car's twin at a dealer lot recently. Despite the shabby interior and savage rust, it was still awesome. Good luck with yours!

I have a 2.3 in a 96 Ranger that runs like a raped ape. I would love to have another Capri to put the engine in. I dont know if the 5 speed would fit in it though. A turbo T-Bird engine would be great also. Look forward to updates.

I've been a little short on money lately and havent done much on the car. I'm pretty confident that the zetec will bolt right up to the trans now. I just dont want to pull the engine out without having a megasquirt to run the zetec. I still need to get a title. :( I might also try to get two new bellhousing bolt holes drilled into the block to use a SR4 trans from the mustang II I tore apart (just to prove it can be done).

Nice car! Parts can be tricky to find. I know some folks - let me know if you need help sourcing things. I'm restoring a '72 Capri right now. Good to see another one!

I have owned 5 different Capris and I even did a Turbo 2.3L T5 that I didn't finish and sold. IF I was going to do another one I would go with a 5.0L Ford V8. Yes you can do a one of the Chevy LS engines but a good old fuel injected 302 V8 just fits the car. Going with Alum. heads and you end up no heavier then a 2.8L V6. Instant go and still good MPG and simple and cheap.