ONE MORE PIECE

I just had to show the engine again. I might do it with every post from now on. It sure looks cool. Hey, so check out the fender. This would be the passenger side. This was another free score from my sister and her husband. I went and picked up a front clip for the Capri. The fenders are rust free and that is what counts. I began stripping and sanding this one. I want to get this one in primer before winter hits hard. I am not sure if I'll get the shop heated in time. LATER...

THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD...

Here we go. What we have here is my new little project. I have way too many. I found a .30 over 302 block that was casualty of someone elses project that never got finished. I have spent some time cleaning it and doing a little painting. I have installed the cam bearings and most of the "block plugs" I put my aluminum heads on just to see what it will look like. Its going to look mean, we will see if it will run when I'm done. This is only my 2nd engine I've done. But, I will reference an old post. There is something about doing things yourself, just like the old hot rod guys. I am now currently trying to scavanger some additional parts to finish the bottom end. Seeing those heads on the block really gets me motivated to keep working. Keep watching because I am on a roll.

LET THERE BE LIGHT

Watch out because here come some posts. That's right I officially have electricity in the garage and that is what makes that picture so great. What till you see some of the next posts. I am excited!!! I have no clue what the heck I am doing, but it sure is fun. I am working now on getting heat in the garage. If that happens, my wife may never see me again. LATER....

GETTING THE MAN CAVE READY FOR WINTER

Its been a long time since the last post. Vacation, work, life, etc. Just wanted to let everyone know I am alive and well. I started preparing the garage for winter. I am adding some R19 factor to the walls and even have some electricity in the shop. That's it for now. LATER...

HAULER UPDATE

Just a quick update on the truck that will get me to the track. The drivers side looks pretty good. Got it pretty straight and added about 3 coats of primer. Now its time to block sand and get some of those "BONDO" scratches out. PREP..PREP..PREP..I think its time to start buying stuff I don't have to work on. I'm getting tired of this stuff. LATER...

NEW HAULER

I know its not the Capri, but this truck has an impact on me getting to the track. My father has been "eyeballing" my 99' Silverado for a while now, so we did a swap. I got this 88' Silverado. The plans are simple. A nice solid silver color, tinted windows, sports mirrors, cowl hood, and lower the stance a little. It has a nice 350 motor and seems to run well. No rust on this side of the bed, but I ran into where there was some body damage. I'll make it look better, but I never seem to get it real straight. Oh well, there is some pleasure in doing it yourself. LATER...

EBAY SCORE...BETTER LOOKS...LESS WEIGHT

Just got back from a trip to Iowa with Dan from work. I thought it was going to be an all day affair, but 2 1/2 hours both ways was pretty good time. Having a buddy to talk to passes the time. As you can see I scored a 3" cowl hood for the Capri. These are pretty rare to find, as the hood is only piece from a Mustang that won't work on a Capri. Mustang cowl hoods are a dime a dozen, but this one for the Capri was a great find. It has been worked over pretty well with additional support and it is ready to paint. There is some weight savings that comes with it. I have not weighed the factory hood and this one yet, but even with the additional layers of fiberglass, there is some weight savings, though it is much heavier than the average fiberglass hood. By the way, the guy I got it from had one COOOOOOL Capri. Mine will never look like his, but with the budget that I am on, I think mine looks pretty good. I made the trip up to Iowa in the F150 HARLEY truck you see in the pictures. It's the company vehicle, not mine. $30,000 for a truck seems a bit much for me, but the cool thing is I can drive anything under $35,000, not bad for almost 5 years of service. I think the Capri is looking better all the time. I just hope my sister doesn't want it back!!! LATER...

ITS REALLY A ONE MAN JOB...NOT...

Just a quick post today. I got the door back on!!! It wasn't that bad to do it myself, I didn't even scratch the paint. Surprised? Me too. Now I just need to get it lined up. LATER...OFF TO WORK...THE PAYING KIND...

LOOK AT WHAT I CAN DO!!!

Have I said that having a garage is the coolest thing EVER!!! I can use all my tools. I can do things now that I would have never been able to do without the garage. Well, as you can see I have been doing some painting. I have went past the point of no return now. I think the color looks pretty good. I think I found the cheapest tire covers for painting. Just take a garbage bag and place them over the tires. Pretty ingenious I know. I bought a HVLP gun for painting. I have done little painting in the past, but I can say these things make the job easier and sprays paint pretty well. It also cuts down on the overspray and you use less material. I actually took the time to read the manual and it actually gave some great tips. It also helps that my brother-in-law has had his own shop forever and I always ask him LOTS of questions. Remember folks ALWAYS listen to people that have the knowledge, they can teach you everything you need to know. Then you need to just go do it. Well, that is about it for today. Don't forget you can click on the pictures and super size them to get a better look. LATER....

A NEW RED???

I have started to shoot the inner parts of the doors there new color!!! I have chose not to go with the original medium red that the Capri came with. I figured that all of the original "hot rod" guys painted there own stuff and so shall I. The red is a much brighter shade and goes on well. I have chose to also go with a single stage lacquer as they did back in the days. I chose the single stage because it is easier for a first timer to spray and if you spend the time prepping your area to paint it will turn out fine. I am really trying to do everything on the car myself. I see lots of these "garage builds" in the magazines. Are they really being built in the backyard garages of America? Or are they paying someone to do everything for them? Oh well, you can see I am doing this on a budget and doing it myself. It might not be the best, but it will continue to run faster and look better as I continue to complete this project. LATER...

BARE METAL

With the rain today in KC. I decided to utilize the garage. It is so nice to work on stuff when the weather sucks. Before, I would just lounge in the house all day and be lazy. You can see by the pics I have been working on the passenger door. Look at that bare metal..MMMM...Its rust free. I decided to use paint stripper instead of sanding. It was much quicker and I wanted to make sure those doors really where rust free. This one looks great. It has a few dings, but I can take care of those. I was able to get a coat of primer on today as well. Looks pretty good. LATER...

I'LL BLOW MY OWN DOORS OFF

Ok. I think I can start to work on the Capri. We are 99.9% moved into the new place and we will soon have our old place up for sale. The headaches will soon go away!!! As you can see I am working on getting the rust free door on and while I have all this stuff off I'll get the front suspension on, along with taking the time to address some more little rust issues and do some preventive rust work. Several folks have e-mailed me wanting to know what is going on. Well, here is your "fix" for now. LATER...

GETTING ORGANIZED

Just getting some organization. Hard to believe I had been working out of a small storage shed with all this stuff. The Capri looks like a MILION dollars under that car cover, but we all know what it really looks like. LATER....

NICE CLEAN WORK AREA

Just a quick post this morning. Here is my new work areaa for the garage. Sam's club had these benches and based on what I have been looking at this looked to be the best. It even comes with a worklight. This should make things easier to work on and man...I think I'll be able to find all of my tools. I'll actually be able to unpack them all. I'll post more as I continue to get organized at the new place. LATER>>>>>>

MMMMMM.....GARAGE

Oh yeah...I have a garage and I can't be happier. It is 25' deep by 32' wide on the inside. plenty of room for 3 cars, tools, benches, and the list goes on. I'll be posting work on the car and stuff I am going to do to the garage to help with the Capri build. Later....

GARAGE HERE I COME

It has been well over one month since my last post. I have been busy in all areas of my life. The biggest??? We are moving. Yes, after several years and lots of sweat we are moving out of our little house and into a larger place. THE BIGGEST NEWS...IT HAS A 2 CAR DETACHED WORKSHOP.!!!! Lot's of room to finally give the old Capri some room to be worked on. You should see some great upcoming posts in the future. Thanks for being patient. Several folks at work are wondering what the heck was going on. I assure you, I will get to work on it as soon as I can. LATER.......I HAVE A GARAGE!!!!

LOUDER IS BETTER ANYWAY

I have to take advantage of my time before work to get some work done on the Capri. I decided to remove the mufflers from the car. This saves 24.5 pounds. It also makes the car sound more like the racer it is supposed to be. I'm curious if it will yield any power gains? With that 24.5 pounds, I am up to a 639 weight loss on the Capri. If I was looking to save weight to get better gas mileage, I would be doing one heck of a job. I am running out of weight loss options. Later...

HOLY FANS BATMAN

I had some time to work on the Capri today, and look what I got done. I hooked up the electric fan, installed some of the guages, and even had time to get some switches installed to control everything. Just in the driveway, the fan seemed to keep the temperature at 190. I imagine with the car driving down the road it should function just as well. That's it for now, I want to enjoy this weather we are having. LATER....

WHAT THE HELL AM I LOOKING AT???

Just another photo from last year. I am trying to figure out what I was looking at. Well, at least I am not trying to do some stupid..cheesy pose or something. LATER....

IS IT TIME TO GO RACING YET?

It's cold, I'm bored, and I want to go racin'. I was going through some photos not yet posted and decided to do some posts showing them off. These photos where taken by my buddy Dan when we went to the track last summer. Hopefully, I can have many more of these days. I've got lots of parts to install and it's too damn cold to do anything. Well....later for now and I'll post some more stuff to entertain you all out there in the cyberspace.

MY FIRST TIME

Just a quick post. I am going to attempt to rebuild my first carb. My first victim will be this Holley 3310. It is a 750 cfm carb. The one on the Capri now is a 600 cfm. With a single plane intake and the new heads, this carb should do pretty well. I'll play with it and the old carb to see which one proves to be the best.
As a side note. I changed the water pump out a while back, but a see it is leaking again. It looks like the timing cover is leaking though. I might have to replace it. I really hate FORD(S) design of the water pump area. LATER.....

LOOK AT MY REAR

I know the picture isn't pretty, but that my friends in an 8.8 "traction-lok" differential out of a 1990 Mustang GT. The tag is on the rear, so I'll attempt to identify the gears that it has in it. I had to drive a total of 5 hours, but I didn't have to take out a single bolt or load it in the truck. The gentleman I bought it from had already taken it out of the car and loaded it in my truck with his forklift. This unit should help plant the power that my newly acquired aluminum heads will be throwing at it. Of coarse, I'll clean it up, put on a fresh coat of paint, new axles, gears, girdle, and whatever else I think I could use. Later.....

A LITTLE ELBOW GREASE

With some tips from the folks over at the carbdford.com message board I have successfully done a pretty good cleaning on the Edelbrock Performer RPM aluminum heads. Lots of WD40, brass brushes, rags, and the softest 3M pads you can find. I also found that my gun cleaning kit came in handy as well. All they need now is a good blast of compressed air to ensure all of the little stuff has been blown out. That's about it for now. I am traveling to Camdenton, Missouri to pick-up a 8.8 differential. I'll keep you all posted on that build-up. It seems that I am going a little crazy on the parts gathering these cold winter days. Later....

HEAD INFO

Ok here is one of the heads after a cleaning. I wanted to list some of the info on this head so you can get an idea of the difference between the aluminum head vs the stock ford head.
Edlebrock spec:
1.90 Intake
1.60 Exhaust
170 Intake Runners
60 Exhaust Runner
Factory 302 Head( Not perfect but close)
1.78 Intake
1.46 Exhaust
125 Intake Runner
40 Exhaust Runner
As you can see some big differences in the Edelbrock head vs the stock head. The edelrock heads should be able to help the airflow. Remember, an engine is just a big airpump. You want air in and air out and you want to do it as efficiently as possible. Hopefully these heads will help with that. Later.......

HORSEPOWER..I'M GOING TO BREAK SOMETHING NOW!

The pictures say it all. I have aquired a set of Edelbrock Performer RPM Aluminum Heads. Not only with this shave 50 pounds of the front of the car, if I match up the heads with a good intake and a quality carb, I could see a 80-100 horsepower gain...WOW....I am sure some carnage is coming this racing season. The only downfall of the heads are that one head needs one intake bolt hole fixed. I paid about a 1/3 of what the heads cost new. They even came with roller rockers, which I can sell and get some money back. Later.....

THE GREAT WEIGHT DEBATE

The weight update. I am now at 614.5 pounds off the Capri and still looking. I can't wait to hit the track again and see if the improvements and weight loss improve my 1/4 mile times. Also, you can click on most of the picture images and "super-size" the pictures. You can get more detailed images and see where I might have screwed something up.

I'M YOUR BIGGEST FAN...WAIT...WHAT FAN?

Well, the new year has brought some new projects. The biggest change that was made was the new water pump. The thing always had a small leak, so I went to the Summit catalog and went for a new pump....a QUALITY pump. This one is made by GMB and it has a little different design on the back of the pump, so it won't leak. Almost every older Ford I have had leaked on the bottom back of the pump. Hopefully, this one will do what it was designed to do. When I had everything off, I decided to eliminate the clutch fan and go with an electric fan. The clutch fan weighed 7 pounds. While I was at it I decided to also eliminate the belt tensioner. That thing weighed 4 pounds. I included a picture of it to show you how small it is, but it has some weight to it. That is 11 pounds that the engine doesn't have to drag around anymore. The electric fan I am looking at weighs 2 pounds, so I netted 9 pounds off this little project. Sorry for the dark photo and the shadows. I'm no professional, so get off my back.....LATER