Clone V6 Capri No. 1
Growing up in Australia, there wasn't the culture that exists around the Ford Capri that exists in the UK. To most Australians, mention Ford Capri and the automatically think of the Mazda based convertible the Ford Australia produced (and exported to the US) in the early 90's.
The European Capri was a blimp on the Australian motor industry map and is mostly unknown to most people down under. Most young drivers couldn't even identify it. Older drivers confuse it for an Escort or (worse still) a Torana which was the Holden rival at the time.
Those that did remember them, generally have some fond memories of either owning one, or knowing someone who did. Unfortunately, many of those people who ventured out and to sort one as a project were often bitterly disappointed when they realised firstly, how difficult they were to find, and secondly, how difficult they were to restore with limited supply of parts.
If I had known this when I bought my first Capri back in 1993, I probably wouldn't have bought it. However, I ventured down the Capri path and (despite all the frustration at times) I'm glad I did. I was given the advice by a fellow Capri Guru that buying a whole car was often the only way to get the parts you needed. Prior to the internet, this is what we did and how important it was to keep in close contact with fellow Capri owners and also to identify owners that weren't in contact with clubs and the like.
One such occasion was when I purchased an unfinished project from a gentleman who had fond memories of a V6 Capri from his youth. His pride and joy had been sold on and after many years he had bought the said unfinished project to re-capture the spirit of the car he had sold years earlier.
Sadly the project was more a collection of parts, and the main part what was missing was an engine loom, so the car had not been started in the years he had owned it. The car was for sale in a local classified paper so I ventured out to view it in the hope of picking up a few spares for my current Capri at the time.
The car was under a tarp and looking quite sad for itself. Instantly the mass of dodgy wiring was ringing bells in my head. Most of the factory switches were missing and the interior was in a very poor state. That said, it had the complete V6 running gear in what seemed to be good condition, however not running due to the lack of an engine loom. The remains of a 4 cylinder loom had been draped in the engine bay in an attempt to get the engine running but it was in such a poor state it was never going to work. The owner had given up and lost all interest when a local Capri club member had viewed the vehicle and confirmed his suspicions that it was a clone V6 (4 cylinder Capri with V6 running gear).
I negotiated a slightly better price to cover the cost of transport and had the car delivered the next week. I was mainly interested in the engine for my Mk 3 Capri, not being a matching number vehicle, the guilt trip often applied to robbing a Capri of its running gear was no longer an issue.
When the car was delivered, my first job was to get out my test loom that I had salvaged from "Golden Brown" to test whether the V6 was a runner. Thankfully it was and I was able to recover the money I had spent on the car by removing the engine and selling on the shell to a punter in Queensland.
It wasn't until I studied the photos I had taken afterward that I realised the car had a facelift (RS3100) bonnet on it. An easy $1000 part in Australia as we only ever got a handful of RS3100s and no facelift Mk 1 Capris at all....Oh well.
The European Capri was a blimp on the Australian motor industry map and is mostly unknown to most people down under. Most young drivers couldn't even identify it. Older drivers confuse it for an Escort or (worse still) a Torana which was the Holden rival at the time.
Those that did remember them, generally have some fond memories of either owning one, or knowing someone who did. Unfortunately, many of those people who ventured out and to sort one as a project were often bitterly disappointed when they realised firstly, how difficult they were to find, and secondly, how difficult they were to restore with limited supply of parts.
If I had known this when I bought my first Capri back in 1993, I probably wouldn't have bought it. However, I ventured down the Capri path and (despite all the frustration at times) I'm glad I did. I was given the advice by a fellow Capri Guru that buying a whole car was often the only way to get the parts you needed. Prior to the internet, this is what we did and how important it was to keep in close contact with fellow Capri owners and also to identify owners that weren't in contact with clubs and the like.
One such occasion was when I purchased an unfinished project from a gentleman who had fond memories of a V6 Capri from his youth. His pride and joy had been sold on and after many years he had bought the said unfinished project to re-capture the spirit of the car he had sold years earlier.
Sadly the project was more a collection of parts, and the main part what was missing was an engine loom, so the car had not been started in the years he had owned it. The car was for sale in a local classified paper so I ventured out to view it in the hope of picking up a few spares for my current Capri at the time.
The car was under a tarp and looking quite sad for itself. Instantly the mass of dodgy wiring was ringing bells in my head. Most of the factory switches were missing and the interior was in a very poor state. That said, it had the complete V6 running gear in what seemed to be good condition, however not running due to the lack of an engine loom. The remains of a 4 cylinder loom had been draped in the engine bay in an attempt to get the engine running but it was in such a poor state it was never going to work. The owner had given up and lost all interest when a local Capri club member had viewed the vehicle and confirmed his suspicions that it was a clone V6 (4 cylinder Capri with V6 running gear).
I negotiated a slightly better price to cover the cost of transport and had the car delivered the next week. I was mainly interested in the engine for my Mk 3 Capri, not being a matching number vehicle, the guilt trip often applied to robbing a Capri of its running gear was no longer an issue.
When the car was delivered, my first job was to get out my test loom that I had salvaged from "Golden Brown" to test whether the V6 was a runner. Thankfully it was and I was able to recover the money I had spent on the car by removing the engine and selling on the shell to a punter in Queensland.
It wasn't until I studied the photos I had taken afterward that I realised the car had a facelift (RS3100) bonnet on it. An easy $1000 part in Australia as we only ever got a handful of RS3100s and no facelift Mk 1 Capris at all....Oh well.
That's what you call, cutting it fine with changing your brake disks.
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