Ford Capri 4.0i

[Twentyover]

Bit of a back story-
First, the name is derived from the highest performance model of the German Ford Capri, the 2.8i, built between 1983 and 1987. The car used a development of the 2.8l V6 used in Mustang II, Ranger, and the variant of the Capri sold by Mercury in the US in the mid-70’s. The reason I’m calling it a 4.0i is I plan on using a 4.0 OHV used in the 90’s explorer. The 4.0 V6 is a development of the same ‘Cologne’ V6 as the 2.8i, and the carbed 2.8, and 2.9, sold in the listed Ranger. Collaterally, the same block architecture was used on the 4.0 OHC used on Rangers, Explorers, and SN197 Mustangs. I understand all variants of the engine were manufactured at Ford’s Cologne, Germany plant.

The car in question is a 1976 Capri. A lot of guys pine for their first car- me, not so much. First couple cars were an unimpressive array of mid 60’s Impala’s (although I wouldn’t mind if the blue 65 was still in the fleet) and a 70 Maverick that I ended up scrapping. The first relatively new, reliable car I owned was the Capri. Out of college for 8 months in February 1979, I bought the Capri. Over the course of the next couple years, I installed a couple big sway bars, lowering springs, and Bilstein shocks, and ran it that way for the next 4-5 years.

In 1983, returning from a college buddies wedding in Oregon, the car stranded me at the Santa Nella exit of I-5 300 miles north of Orange County where I worked. After a comedy of errors getting the car back to my apartment, the next weekend I bought a new el Camino. Over the next 10 years got married, bought a house. Became a more or less responsible adult. I rebuilt the engine, added a big cam (making smog almost impossible to pass), and drove the car as a daily. On the way to Newport Beach on a Sunday Morning, lost a freeze plug on SR 55 in Costa Mesa. Spent the better part of the next 5 hours driving a mile and a half, pouring water on the engine to cool it, repeat. The next weekend I got AAA membership.

Pushed the car behind the house where it sat for the next 11 years. Had grand illusions, bought a bunch of parts, built an MGB vintage race car, and lost my job. When one of my work friends in Detroit said he had work, my wife and I decided I would go to Michigan and if it worked out, we would move. Wife, raised in SoCal, took one look at Detroit in January and it was No Thank You!. So she stayed in SoCal while I worked in Michigan. The Capri came with me, and it sat in the barn. Again, I bought some bits and pieces, managed to lose some and not assemble the others.

I retired last year- my employer said ‘We’ll give you a small pile of money if you DON’T come in to work anymore.’ Wife said take the retirement buyout and get your butt back to the west coast. Except we bought a house in Washington state, and that’s where I’m moving. Brothers have brought their enclosed car trailers moving rolling stock to Washington- a 1970 Camaro, the Capri, an MGC and a street and a race MGB. Older brother asked about the Capri, asked why I was bringing it if I wasn’t going to do anything with it. Wife, who really likes the car, asked about the Capri. So it’s time to get to work.

Car will be simple- Explorer 4.0 w/ some compression, cam, and ported heads w/ bigger intakes, T5Z, factory rear axle (English ‘Atlas’ truck axle), & limited slip. Looks like I’ll at least start with a McPhearson Strut front suspension and I’m looking at building a torque arm rear. Car will feature modern gauges, Vintage Air, nice seating. Absolutely nothing spectacular. But hopefully a couple hundred horsepower in a 2800 lb package will be fun, and I’ve always liked smaller cars more than than I should.

So if you’ve hung this long…





Pushed out of the barn, washed the bird poop off, and ready to load into brother's trailer.

Car was unloaded in WA, and pushed into the new barn. Hopefully, there will be some work on it this winter

[jaybee]

Nice! The car looks really solid, great base to start with, and obviously you know its history. I always loved the styling, and as little as they weigh you don't need monster horsepower to have a whole bunch of fun. Can't wait to see more!

[WILWAXU]

Cool car!

[capri v8 driver]

Bit of a back story-
Car will be simple- Explorer 4.0 w/ some compression, cam, and ported heads w/ bigger intakes, T5Z, factory rear axle (English ‘Atlas’ truck axle), & limited slip. Looks like I’ll at least start with a McPhearson Strut front suspension and I’m looking at building a torque arm rear. Car will feature modern gauges, Vintage Air, nice seating. Absolutely nothing spectacular. But hopefully a couple hundred horsepower in a 2800 lb package will be fun, and I’ve always liked smaller cars more than than I should.

So if you’ve hung this long…



Pushed out of the barn, washed the bird poop off, and ready to load into brother's trailer.

Car was unloaded in WA, and pushed into the new barn. Hopefully, there will be some work on it this winter

I'm glad to see a other Capri project. These cars are getting rare in Europe so i can imagen that it will turn some heads in the states.

[Twentyover]

Ford Europe saw the success of the Mustang in the US, and had an equally emergent youth market there. They wanted a piece of this kind of sales action. The popular history is that Phil Clark, a designer on the Mustang, was tapped for the job. He tragically passed in his early 30's.

The car was released in 1969, with more stylized flanks, the redesign for 1974 (MY76 in the US) simplified the sides and added a hatch. A further redesign in 1978 (Europe only- the appreciation of the Deutschmark priced it out of the US economy car market) modified bumpers, lights, and hood.

The car was a couple inches smaller in each dimension than the Mustang. In the US, the car came with a 1600 originally then later a 2.0 I4 or 2.6 V6, later a 2.3 or 2.8. Car is a unibody, frame stub are fairly wide for a car this size, and parallel to each other from firewall forward. Car is Mac Strut front parallel leaf rear suspension, derived from Cortina sedan. 5.0 engine swaps into this platform are not uncommon.

My car was purchased in 1979 in Oregon, moved to SoCal in April 1982, then to barn storage in Michigan in October 2004. Back to Washington last month. Have some known rust issues around the rear glass (replaced hatch circa 1991), and currently shows a dent on the drivers front fender and some repaired damage to the driver's rear quarter near the bumper. Floors and trunk are solid. I think minimal bodywork will be required, although I will look for rust. Some areas appear to have been injected with foam- I fear these may have retained water and generated rust.

Anyway, more later

[68Formula]

Very cool you're keeping the Cologne-engine theme. Nice thing about those 4.0Ls, since they came in Mustangs, that's actually a selection of performance parts available). Vortech and Prochargers still even sell superchargers! But thanks to the Carpri's lightweight, even an NA 4.0 should move pretty good with mild upgrades.