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.