WILL IT EVER END???

It's been almost a year to the date since I was confined to my bed with a herniated disk. Guess what? Its happening again and its really making me mad. It has been acting up and its actually causing pain in my right leg this time, along with the lower back. When will it end? I'm just posting to keep everyone informed and included a picture of the Capri to tide you over. Who knows when I will get back to work on the car. I might just give up and forget the car stuff all together. I'M FRUSTRATED!!! I HATE PAIN!!!
LATER...

WARMING THINGS UP

Old man winter has arrived and I am behind the 8-ball, but I was able to get the shop a little warmer yesterday. I managed to put insulation in the pockets of the garage door. Its amazing the difference that made. You can put your hand on the doors and not feel the outside weather. My little propane heater raised the temp in the garage by 12 degrees on the low setting. When I get done doing some additional weatherproofing, I'm going to put that thing on high and see what it will do. It cranks out 80,000 BTU on the high setting. I won't get the ceiling complete, so I know lots of that heat is setting up in the rafters, but it stayed a comfortable 55 degrees. I'm thinking if I can keep a nice 50-60 degrees in the shop, I'll be getting several things done this winter.
LATER...

WORK SPACE ADDITION

What garage is complete without the "fridge?" Well, I have got mine now. It will continue to get decorated and more nostalgic as the years pass. Feel free to donate some beverages for the fridge. It could use some :)
I have been working on the Capri's brakes over the last several weeks. I'm converting over to manual brakes. I'm not sure if this is going to fix my braking issues, but its worth a try and it also helps lose 6 pounds with the removal of the power booster. I'll post more about that later.
LATER...

RIGHT TOOLS FOR THE JOB

It's amazing what you can accomplish with the right tools. I managed to get the drivers side spring and shock done in a few hours vs. the 3 days spent on the passenger side. A BIG thanks to Wes from work who let me borrow his spring compressor. Mine sucked. Its now in the trash!!! The engineers at Ford still suck, but thanks to having a better spring compressor life was easier and my hands don't look like ground meat. I will now get the brakes converted to a manual set-up and see if anything falls off :)

LATER...

ANOTHER CLUE..CAN YOU SEE IT???

Just a quick post to keep the clues coming. You can enlarge the photo to get a better look. Have you put it all together yet?

LATER...

GEAR HEAD

Another clue before I take a break for several days. I am heading to Nashville for some training. So this is the last hint you'll get for about a week. LATER

A BIG HINT

Oh yeah! Are you starting to figure it out yet? I still have a ways to go and a few more hints to drop you, but I think these photos will give you a big hint. I remember when I was a young man and would attempt to "clean" things up. I basically would grab spray paint and start shooting. How wrong was I? It definitely pays to prep your stuff before painting. Clean it, scuff it, clean it again, prime it, tack it, and then shoot your color. It really doesn't take that much more time and you really get a better look.

SNEEK PEEK

Two posts in a row. I must be going crazy. I've got the bug again and I've been working late into the night working on the Capri. I figured over the next several weeks, I'll tease everyone with small photos of what will help launch the Capri down the track next season. The "M" in the center of the photo is a hint, as well as the extra long wheel studs. Those folks that know drag racing parts have already figured it out I'm sure. LATER...

ENGINEERS ARE DUMB

Yeah, I said it. The designers at Ford/Mercury are a bunch of retards. It takes a spring compressor, cutting wheel, breaker bar, pry bar, and a human body who's hands resemble ground chuck. Are you serious? I never ever want to change the front springs in a fox-body ever again and I'm not done. That was just one side. I will tackle the other side soon. I need to recover first. Well, I better get the performance that is claimed or I am going to be pissed!!! I installed drag springs, drag shocks (90/10) and new brake lines. The purpose of the springs and shocks are to transfer the weight to the rear of the car at "take-off" and the settle the front end back down quickly, so that you can boogie your way down the track more efficiently. Claims are .2 to .4. we shall see. LATER...

GOT THE BUG AGAIN

Its been a crazy time at work and I have had little or no time for myself. With that being said, I took the entire day off and went to the races. Just being there and watching the burn outs and smelling the race gas got me fired up to make sure I am getting this Capri back on schedule. LATER...

JUST A LITTLE MORE!!!

I've been working hard at work and not spending much time working on the car, but I've had time to sneak in the garage here and there. I have managed to remove another 6 pounds off the car. That's 721 pounds off the car now!!! I did this by taking off the wiper motor and the assembly. In doing this I noticed a crack in the windshield. HMMMM? I guess a lexan windshield replacement is coming, now that will be some weight savings. It looks like the Capri is getting closer and closer to becoming a full out drag car. LATER...

SOMEBODY STOP ME...PLEASE

Just a quick post. I have been busy at work with the new position and have not had much time to even relax. Anyway, here is a new hauler for the Capri. Its a 1996 Chevy Silverado C3500. It has the 454 BIG BLOCK and 4L80E transmission. Its has a lowered suspension with Air Ride "air bags". I spent about 8 hours scrubbing the trucks interior. I have changed the tranny fluid,oil and spark plugs. It runs great now, but there is a small "tick" in the motor and its driving me crazy trying to figure out what it is. My wife is going to shoot me soon if I don't empty out the driveway. It was cheap I couldn't pass it up. The only thing it needs is some good LOUD exhaust. Hey, that could drowned out the "tick" I have? LATER...

HAULER GETS OLD/NEW SHOES

In case you don't know your urban slang. "Shoes" means rims/tires. There are only several people than can appreciate this photo. I spent today polishing the old rims I had bought for the truck about 3 years ago. Where? On Ebay. Cheap!! Cheap!! I went and got new center caps and lug nuts to finish them off. Not bad looking I must say. I am going to stick with 275/60 15 for the tire size. The old 454ss trucks had those for tires and since I am doing a 350ss look, its only natural that I use some of the same parts the 454ss used. Just a quick update on things. LATER...
P.S. If you super size the photo, you can see me in the center cap. I love this new camera!!!

HAULER UPDATE

Now that I have the Capri mostly together. I figured of would give some time to the old pick-up that hauls it to the track. I have had the truck for about a year now and I have done nothing other than some bodywork. Well, this evening I received boxes of parts from Jegs and Summit Racing. The parts included a set of Rapid Fire AC Delco spark plugs, Hypertech distributor cap & rotor, Hypertech performance coil, Hypertech power charger, intake tube, and a K&N filter. Wow!!! What a difference. The truck starts immediately and the throttle really snaps on the old truck. The single 3" exhaust I did sounds much better now. The old rotor cap looked like a coral reef inside(very crusty). The truck will probably get much better gas mileage too. I also added a MONSTER TACH to the truck, so I can watch the RPM's when towing. It looks cool. It was dark, so I'll take a picture at a later date. Oh, I also added some tunes to the truck, so that I can have something to listen to on the way to the track. The pictures give you an idea. LATER...

CUTTING THE WEIGHT

Ok, I almost lost track of the weight loss so far with the Capri. Believe it or not the "bubble" hatch weighed less than the Mustang hatch. I have not updated the weight loss since I switched out to an electric fan. Based on my calculations, I have lost about 715 pounds off the Capri. Most Capri's and Mustangs weighed about 3500 pounds from the factory. That should put the Capri at about 2785. I think KCIR might have a scale. I need to check that out. LATER...

STOP CALLING IT A MUSTANG!!!

I had some help today and man I wish I had help like this all of the time. Thanks to Mitch (nephew in-law) and his brother Joey, we managed to get the "bubble" on. I included some pictures. Oh, and for you out there in weight savings land. The bubble hatch is lighter!!! I'll post a weight loss total soon.

WHAT A PAIN! I KNEW SANDING SUCKED!!!

I think I have found the reason for my back beginning to hurt again. I just realized that when you sand a car you have the tendency to bend to one side or twist. This is not good for my herniated disk. I need to come up with a way I can sand and still keep a straight back. I have been sanding over the last several weeks, and now, the back pain has returned. The car is coming along and it's looking pretty good. I'm going to take a break for a while, but next week I'm going to get some help to get the "bubble" hatch on. I need to give the back a break. LATER...

1500 VISITORS

We hit a milestone today. I have had 1500 unique visitors to the blog since I started it just slightly over 2 years ago. I don't think that's a bad number? I hope to have many more as I get out and about with the Capri and get to racing more consistently. I thought I would share an old photo of the Capri when I first brought it home in celebrating this event. LATER...

DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF

Just a quick post to let everyone know I am still around and working on the Capri. I have been working on the Capri badge that goes on the rear deck lid. Anyone that knows the Capri badge, it should have some chrome on it. I figured that since the car will be such a bright red, it needs some good black accents. I also want a badge that says, Capri. I am getting sick of the people calling it a Mustang. There is also a mercury badge that goes on the back, but I'll leave that off for now. LATER...

I HAVE FOUND THE HOLY GRAIL

My travels throughout the world has led me to the elusive "bubble hatch" 1983 introduced the Capri to the "bubble hatch" which really set it apart from the mustang. It also provided better aerodynamics, which made the Capri the choice vehicle back in 1983 for Trans Am racing. Also, several mustang owners look for this to put on their car to help in the 1/4 mile times. Some say a .2 tenth time in the 1/4 mile. I can be a good student for this experiment when I get to the track again.
Anyway, the Internet is a great place. Over at the carbdford.com message board I posted a "wanted" message for a "bubble hatch." I got a response within several hours. A gentleman locally here in Kansas City said he had a RUST FREE one. RUST FREE is the big word here. These hatches for some reason loved to hold water and rust like crazy. That is what happened to the one that was originally on the Capri. Well, through some sanding I did find a pinhole of rust and I mean a pinhole. It is so small, I almost missed it. I treated it with some rust bullet paint and sprayed some primer on today. Oh, so I haven't finished my story. So, I get to the guys house and I noticed a familiar car in his driveway. It was a convertible mustang I had sold on Ebay. It so happened that this was the same guy I sold the car to him and his daughter about 2 years prior. Small world isn't it? For $75 we loaded it and off I went. By the way...Thanks Gene for the hatch!!! I have seen one in these good conditions go for $500-$1000, if you can find one. LATER...

DETAILS...DETAILS

If you look real close you can see some circles
and marks on the body panels. This is where I have located some
imperfections, etc. My brother-in-law gave me the idea of taking a
Sharpie and marking all of the areas that needed some additional work.
Turns out that this is a great idea, though it causes more work for me.
Well, just thought I'd share another photo. LATER...

A SANDING WE WILL GO...A SANDING WE WILL GO...

I AM SICK OF SANDING!!! You know what will suck about it? It still won't be perfect, but it will look better and I have to keep that in mind. I am not a professional! That's what I keep telling myself. Based on some stuff I see leave some paint shops, it will look pretty good. Today, I spent block sanding some panels with 320 and getting the panels primed with the same color and primer. I have been using different primer over the last 2 years and I want to make sure when its time to shoot the color ion the car it will help with getting the color uniform. LATER...

ALL PINNED DOWN

I've been setting around the house with CONJUNCTIVITIS(pink-eye) in simple terms. My wife has been gone since Thursday and I thought I could get lots of work completed at night when I came home from work. It was not to be. My eyes have been swollen and stuck together. That's a great feeling by the way. So, today I was feeling much better, though my eyes where stuck together after a long nights sleep. I decided to get the hood pins on today, as well as get the hood where it can be opened and closed with the factory hinges. Success!!! I also worked on getting more vacuum to the brake booster, so that I could have some better brakes. I went for a drive around the block and I was able to stop. I don't know if it will stop after hitting about 108mph, but will see. Hopefully sooner than later. LATER...

TIME TO REFUEL

Just a snapshot of the new fuel tank that will find its way strapped to the back of the Capri. Several folks have asked, "Why not put a fuel cell in?" It saves weight and you know how I am on a quest to save weight. Putting a fuel cell in would require me to cut some of the trunk pan out, which is something I want to avoid. One day someone might want to return this Capri back to its original glory and with only 200 of the Crimson Cat(s) being made in 1983, its possible that this will become a desired car in the future. My plan is to drop the old tank out tonight when I get off work and hopefully by Sunday I'll have the car up and running again. LATER...

FLASHBACK OF A LEAKY SITUATION

You'll have to go way back in my posts to see this picture, but I thought I would bring it out for a quick look. Why? I went out to the garage today and had a mess on my garage floor. My gas tank repair finally gave out. It lasted 2 years...not bad. I will give it another repair before trying to replace the tank. A new tank it $125 and its not going to come out of my pocket yet. I'll repair it tomorrow....I hope.

IT REALLY IS A CAR

I spent tonight trying to put the Capri back together. It only took five hours, but I think it was worth it. I also included a picture of the drivers door, as well as the inner fender. I think its looking pretty good. I need to do some panel adjustment, but I'll worry about that at a much later date. LATER...

MORE PREP...MORE SANDING...MORE PREP

The warm nights are upon us and the midnight oil is burning. I find that with my back injury I move much slower and can only do about a third of what I used to get done in the same amount of time. I have to take breaks (drink more beverages) to rest, so that I do not overdo it. As you can see by the pics, I have been working on the driver's door so I can get it back on the car. It would be nice to be able to take it out for a run or two, but I'm afraid they would frown upon a car without a door running at the track. LATER...

CRANKED UP

Another part to add to the collection. What we have here is 2M casting crankshaft to hold the bottom end of the motor together. It has been radiused, chamfered, indexed, and shot peened. It even came with the bearings. You have to love the small mom & pop machine shops that are out there. Guess what else? NO CORE CHARGE. It seems that your "big" parts stores want anywhere from $25-$95 for your old crank. This place didn't. It was also super cheap. LATER...

JUST A BIG AIR PUMP

That's all an engine is. It's one big air pump. How efficient it is will dictate how much power you can produce. Can I produce this power that I am seeking? I have no clue, but I am giving it a try. The picture shows my latest score on Ebay. $22.00 for the pistons and rods. The connecting rods are some Ford pieces, but look at Carroll Shelby and his ability to wind-up those small blocks of old. He did it with stock rods. The pistons are almost new. The guy I bought them from went with a forged bottom end because he was going to use nitrous..a lot of it. They are 9 to 1 compression and with the heads that I have they should yield about 9.8 to 1 or maybe 10 to 1. I have about 8.4 to 1 right now stock. Right there I should pick-up about a 5% increase in horsepower if nothing else changes. That is a compression only figure. That does not include the fact that I'll pick-up about 50HP from the heads alone. The rods and pistons weighed in at 2.85. One rod and piston was 2.90, but I shaved some of the rod to get it to the 2.85 of the others. Yes, I am going to do my best to balance the motor. I don't have all the fancy equipment, but I can get real close.

I BE JAMIN'

Had some time to do a little painting today. I finally got the drivers side jam done along with the inner fender area. The paint went on smooth with no issues. I am going to stay focused on getting the car put back together, so that I can take it to the track again. Can't really go to the track with half the car missing? Or can you?
Work has been hectic and it looks like the weekend coming up will be spent at the store and not working at home. We are close to hitting a milestone, so the extra work is worth the time. With the days being longer and the night being warmer, I can work on the Capri late into the nights. Hey, don't forget that you can click on the photo(s) for a super sized view. LATER...

ANOTHER POST

Ebay is a intresting adventure, you actually never know what you will find. Here is a photo of another banner to add to the collection. The garage is slowly feeling like a "man cave" MMMMMMMMMM......

HAS IT BEEN 2 YEARS???

Wow, I just realized it has been two years since
I trailered the Capri home and started my quest to make it a race car
or something that looks like one. Over the past two years the Capri has
had some dramatic changes in both its appearance and performance. It
even made it to the track a time or two. I guarantee the progress will
be quick this year, as the addition of the garage is making a big
difference. As you can see, I was working on the other fender today. I managed to get it in primer before I was rudely interrupted by my wife to go help her with some garden work. I thought I had a back injury? I can't do garden work!!! Oh well...Later...

COMING TOGETHER

Hey!
Just a quick post to let you all know that things are coming together.
Things will be much slower this year, but I am determined to get things
done. As you can see I got the passenger side fender in primer and shot
the performance red on the inner fender. It starting to look like a car
again. My back obviously is slowing me down, but it will slowly come
together. That's it for now, but keep watching...its getting much
warmer and I have power in the garage. You know what that means....
Late nights!!! LATER...

BACK BOO BOO

Let me explain what has been going on lately. I guess years of wear and tear is taking its toll on me, especially my back. Why are you posting this on your car blog, some might ask? Well, if I'm broke, I can't do @#$%. I can't begin to tell you about the pain. The issue is I have spinal stenosis, herniated disk, and a cyst on my kidney. This all sounds great, doesn't it? The issue is coming from the L4 and L5 disks, which are causing the S1 nerve to be pinched. OH WHAT A FEELING. They are talking surgery, but I am looking at more therapeutic options. I have been out of work now for a week and the doctor won't let me go back until the 27th of this month. I am bored off my mind!!! Trust me I would love to be working on the Capri, but my back tells my otherwise. LATER...MAYBE???