Conor

If it's a proper rally cam, it'll idle really lumpy and have next to sod all power under 3000 RPM. Also, you HAVE to go take it to a proper rolling road to get everything set up properly. You can't just whack in a camshaft, lob on a set of carbs and away you go.

Ah...I think I see where your problem lies. A completed project is one where the car is MOT'd and on the road finished, not just one with all the bits there still needing to be put back together.

Poor brakes, rock hard steering. Lots of knocks, rattles and squeaks. Sat there turning it over wondering whether it'll start before the battery conks out when its not been run in a week. Electrics that'll work one day then not the next. A rattle that'll appear, shut up when you open the window and re-appear when you close it but the next day will just have magically disappeared. The ability to rust quicker than you can put paint on. Most of all...... The magical ability to completely empty your wallet whilst making you extremely excited about it. There will always be something on Ebay for it you can justify.

Engine bay is next on mine and seeing yours gave me inspiration to get on with it. Who did the rocker cover?

I doubt you would - that barely covers costs. I used to do GRP manufacture and trimming back in the late 80's and £120 would be far too cheap back then. A decent mould takes at least a week to make, polish up and wax if you want to be able to make more than a couple of plugs from it without it falling to bits or bending out of shape. If you're going to do it, please make decent moulds and take decent plugs out of them trimmed up properly and without a ton of air voids or crack marks in the gel coat due to a poor mould. There's already plenty of companies turning out some real cack already and what we need is a decent one.

Err, that's not really a good idea and usually its the other way round - the supercharger being there to cover the period before the turbocharger kicks in. A turbocharger only blows once the engine has reached a certain speed. A supercharger blows from the start.

The MK3 Escorts I've seen have all used a 5 link kit with coilover shocks. Yes you do need to weld in a transmission tunnel including the bulge where the bellhousing is. Fueltank has been a fuel cell type in the boot. Then again, they've all been competition cars rather than road ones.

Oi vandal! Waved at you as you went blasting past me on the A1 south. For a 1.3, it doesn't hang about, does it? Was nice to see it in the flesh, even if I didn't get to meet you.

What about meeting up and going to the Goathland thing if there's little interest? Mind you, not keen on going down the chuffing hill to Goathland on boggo standard Capper brakes. Tax on Capper runs out the end of April and the way things are going job wise, it'll be getting SORN'd so might as well have a run out.

Mate of mine in Bridlington had one in the late 80's when they were in the "scrapyard shed" phase. Went up a roundabout on the way to Scarborough, knackered the sump and crossmember. Just scrapped it. Yet another in a long line of "If I'd known then what I know now..." cars.

Throw em in the bin and fit an Aldon Ignitor electronic ignition replacement. Fits in place of the original points. Job done with no hole drilling and you can always take it out and put the points back in if it packs up.

What about getting Sellafield in the background? Workington is a bit of s'hole. I'm sure there must be something derelict in there.

As I type this, the current highest bid for two small 6mm square pieces of plastic is £21. The bits of plastic in question are the two bits that fit into the front bumper of a MK3 Capri so you can screw your numberplate in. They're not even genuine parts. Absolute utter madness. http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/NEW-FORD-CAPRI-FR ... 240%3A1318

Yes they come with the type 9 5 speed box. 2L ratio is 3.44:1, 1.6L ratio is 3.77:1. With a 1.6L diff, you'll be doing around 3300RPM @ true 70MPH. It does improve acceleration and if the 36MPG I got out of mine is anything to go by, it doesn't harm fuel economy at all.

My red 2L Laser was called Christine. Not named the current one but I don't seem to be that enthusiastic about them anymore at the moment. Hoping Scotch Corner meet changes that.

I did that with a 307E Anglia Van in 1991. Two years later at the age of 22, I was laid on an operating table with my spine opened up having two discs in my lower back operated on. I've had nothing but trouble since then. It ended my career in the Army, ended my career as a mechanic and 16 years to the week from the operation, I'm unable to work fulltime and even doing something like changing a thermostat on a Pinto can leave me hardly able to walk for the rest of the day. To cap that, the disc above the two operated on let go in 2001. In short, I'm screwed for the rest of my life. All because I lifted an engine out of a car.

It's not bowing at all. The bottom line of the doors create an optical illusion as they're not parallel to the bottom of the sill. As it's rated for 3.5t, it'll carry that VW Transporter no problem.

Get some vaseline and cover the terminals in it to stop it coming back.

Never a truer word spoken. Saying that though, I reckon most of us have done the whole heart over head thing with an OSF before.

I think that's the deciding factor. If you've a garage, a roll over jig and are happy to just do a bit now and again over a couple of years, then it's maybe worth a punt at doing it for the "I've done that" factor. It'll still cost you an arm and a leg but over a longer period so a bit easier to bear. I think if it was something special like a Brookie or a limited number of them were made then it's worth considering but for a normal run of the mill V6, it's cheaper and easier to do a reshell.

If there's no spark, get a bit of wire and run it from the positive terminal on the battery to the positive terminal on the ignition coil and see if it goes then. If it does, then either the starter motor relay or the ballast resistor is FUBAR.

Find a cheap 1.6 Laser, do the strengthening and swap the mechanicals over. Once the A post and rear chassis legs go, unless you want to sink a shedload of time and money into it, it's not worth it. By the sounds of it, basically every structural panel has holes in. There's some solid Laser shells out there with just the usual rear arches and front wings but with everything else intact. You'd be better off doing that I think.

Not necessarily. Most of those faults you can get with it being stood. I've certainly found that out. On the white 2.8 I had, and indicator stopped because of corrosion in the connector behind the bumper, high beam stopped working on one side because of corrosion in the fuse holder on the dip relay and washer jets because of corrosion on the spade terminal at the fusebox which would invariably decide to pack up the following week. Every Capri I've had has needed a new instrument cluster and indicator stalk so nothing out of place there either. Difference is that I'd do that list myself and it'd cost about £15, not £165. Must be one hell of a labour rate as you can have an instrument cluster out of a Capri in 10 minutes.

Another for Performance Direct here: Capri 2.8i V6 Stage 3, Janspeed fannymolds and system, K&N, leda front struts, 4 pot AP brakes, dropped 2in all round, strut brace, £3k guaranteed value.... £150 Fully Comp - £30 more than it cost for a virtually standard 2L Laser.

Quite like the side striping - breaks up the car nicely. Not quite sure about the rest of it and the stickers on the front lip are a no-no.