ChristophStone

Mk1 Capri Pre Facelift. Just before Xmas I went out to the car to find the o/s door open and the steering comuln trim smashed on the floor. Absolutely sucks. Luckily they got disturbed or something because the car was still there and there's not too much damage, although now when I turn the key it turns all the way without clicking and the car does not react. Be careful if you're in the south guys! This was in Bournemouth. I'm assuming that I will need a new ignition barrel and steering lock mechanism, can anyone comment? I know sod all about mechanical things! Chris

All sorted, cheers chaps

The problem seems to be that it's retracted really tight, not enough slack to get it off the latch. If it's just screwed into the chassis then presumable I can unscrew it to get enough slack and then screw it back on?

Not sure if the belts on my car are original, but the passenger one has retracted and now wont let the belt out again. Any idea how to fix? I've tried feeding it it to get it off whatever is latching it, and tried plain yanking it but no deal. I'm loathe to unbolt it from the body of the car because i'm not sure what it's bolted into on the other side (and where), or whether it is just screwed into the chassis. Cheers Chris

is that the BOA engine? That has crossed my mind too.

I've had a few nagging thoughts recently about swapping the standard 2.0 pinto in my mk1 capri for an essex, most probably also standard, as that's all I can afford. Will I see much difference in acceleration? I'm mainly wanting to do it for the torque but I'm assuming the big 3.0 will have more power as well. I know it might be more sensible to just put a new cam or up-rated head on the pinto, but the other reason for the swap would be the noise, which the pinto can't give. Any comments/opinions? Cheers Chris

Anyone have a catalogue of parts? I desperately need a pair of halfshafts for an English axle mk1 capri and have been told that they may have some. Do they only sell to members? Back story to this is that my car is at the garage and has been for a week while I try to get the halfshafts, so I need them there as soon as possible. Anyone have any they could sell me? Cheers Chris

I'm also looking to get a website built. What sort of rates is decent to get someone to do it for me? Something only very simple but with a customised layout and pictures etc, rather than a template from webs.com ?

Well after two and a half weeks and 1500 miles the Capri finally said enough was enough . Something has gone cruch in the rear axle, not sure if it's the diff or a halfshaft, and cut our trip short. It's probably because of running different size wheels on the back, but we were stuck between a rock and a hard place, as the taller, thinner spare wheel was the only one that we had that wouldn't rub on the n/s rear. If I hadn't put that wheel on, we'd have had to come home on day two. So although it was risky, it did allow us another fortnight of travelling. I had spoken to Sparky and a few people back home and been warned that the difference in diameter would put strain on things, but we just had to chance it to be able to carry on. On the upside, we had an amazing two weeks, got some amazing photos and got so, so much attention in the car it was unreal. Spent so much time chatting to people about it, and all along the motorways people would come past waving and beeping and with their thumbs up I wil get the photos up soon! As an aside, anyone who is with Graham Sykes insurance should be very very happy with their decision. I paid £80 for full European breakdown cover when I took out my policy, and they have been amazing. They got us off the roadside within an hour, got us and the car taken to a garage, where it was decided they could not fix the car and the decision was made to bring us home, and repatriate the car. They arranged and paid for a taxi to a beachfront hotel, paid for us to stay there two nights, paid for and arranged a taxi to Perpingan airport, arranged and paid for our flights home, and then arranged a transfer from Southampton Airport to my house. All with no trouble whatsoever and with the minimun of fuss. can't fault them one bit

Not really a visible difference, unless you look close and see the difference in width. Just looks like I´m running with the spare on. Not had any trouble so far

Just got to Barcelona in the Capri Will get some pictures up when I get back home A few problems so far have meant that I have had to swap all the wheels around - the two with bigger tyres that were on the back are now on the front, one of the smaller ones from the front is on the back, along with a skinny spare (165/80) - because we have so much weight in the car the wider big tyres on the rear was rubbing in the arch so needed to put the skinny spare on one side! The other side is ok though strangely. Also had a slight moment at Portsmouth Ferry Terminal when the rad decided to blow it´s top when I opened the bonnet to let it cool down. Hasn´t let out a drop of water since then though so I think it´s fine. There is lots of wheel wobble at about 60mph, which is annoying as I don´t want to go any faster that that whith the mismatched wheels on the rear axle, and knocking fron the front suspension when I drive slowly, almost a kick or vibration that somes through the floor or the accelerator peddle. I´m just ignoring that though. Will keeping the mismatched wheels/tyres on the rear axle cause a problem? I´m worried about strain on the diff with one 195/50/15 tyre and one 165/80/13. Cheers Chris PS. Just 2300 miles to go!

I went a got some spray grease from the motorshop, worked wonders! I'm no longer embarrased driving over speedbumps with everyone looking round to see what the noise is! Cheers Chris

Any particular grease to use? It's really fooking noisy so if it's a simple fix then result! edit: I've never even had the front wheels off of this car. Do i just grease the spring and then around the thread? Never done it before so I just want to check before I go out.

Hi all, the front suspension on my car is starting to worry me. It has bilstein legs with a two and a wuarter coilover conversion (Whatever that means) and roller top mounts (Aginat, no idea what these are). When I got it it used to creak occasionally when going over speed bumps or when putting on or taking off a heavy load on the suspension. I always thoguht this was just normal for heavily uprated suspension and it wasn't that bad. It's been gradualy geting worse though, to the point where now almost any load on the front makes a really loud (can hear it easily outside the car, I get some funny looks) creaking and grinding noise, on speedbumps, slight changes in the road surface, even when loading one front wheel up going round a corner. Do you think it just needs grease? I have no idea how or where to grease the front legs or anything. It also had an advisory on the last MOT for the n/s/f wheel bearing, but I don't think that has anything to do with it as it is very noisy even when it's parked, and I get out and push down on the front - and soemtimes it doesn't rise all the way back up again, it seems to stick and then i can grab the wheel arch and pull it up another half inch or so ( with more creaking/grinding). It still drives fine, corners the same, isn't afecting the handling of the car in normal day to day driving, but I don't want it to lead to a more serious problem. Any help welcome! I'm still a novice at all this! Cheers Chris

Hi All, I'm going to tour Spain, France and Italy for a month in my Pre-Facelift Capri, leaving in a few weeks and just wondering if anyone could point out general spares/parts it might be sensible to take? My mechanical knowlage is limited so I can't do anything complicated and am mainly just putting my faith in the car. But are there any items we really should take with us? Cheers Chris