Sorry for the long intro, but need to document the 20 years that got me to today..........
So, I purchased my 1985 Capri 5.0/5 spd back in February 1996. From all the records that came with the car, it was originally purchased and lived around the Austin Texas area. It was sold to the individual I bought it from around mid-June 1989 with approximately 68,000 miles on it.
Pre-purchase summary:
Around September 1994, the 2nd owner had it sent down to "Project Industries", 286 Gasoline Alley, Indiapolis, IN for modifications. It appears that "Project Industries" was Kenny Brown's shop. At this point he had the "AGS System 3.1" installed. This consisted of the "TracKit Plus II" (panhard bar), Chassis Stiffening Kit (sub-frame connectors, strut tower brace, lower chassis brace), Koni shocks & struts, front specific rate springs and low deflecting urethane bushings.
Purchase and Phase 1
When I purchased the in February 1996 in Kalamazoo, MI with approximately 85,000 miles on it. I drove it another 10,000 miles and did minor/required maintenance on it until the winter of 1999 when I started continuing modifications. At that point I did a true dual exhaust conversion, installed full length Hooker Super Comp headers, 8.8 rear with 3.73 gears. Rebuilt and upgraded the transmission to WC standards with the 2.95 (?) 1st gear. Installed MSD ingnition system..... I drove the car for a few more summers and then "life" kicked in. Got married and had kids..... bought a house.... and began plans for building my "garage-mahal" to have a great place to work on the cars. The rear main was leaking and other "stuff" got me and a few friends (and great neighbor that let me use his shop/garage) so we pulled the motor with intention of fixing a few things. That was back in 2001 and now we are at the end of 2014.
Phase 2 plans
I loved the way that the car handled with all the KB modifications. The engine was a bit soft with the miles it had (and may have been a but hurt from looking through all the repair receipts that came with the car). Back in 2000, SBF stroker motor parts were becoming more affordable. I started the plan to build an aluminum headed 347 stroker. I got a deal on some GT40X heads, FMS 1.7 rockers. Picked up a copy of "Desktop Dyno" and started to dream and collect more parts. I also started to see the advancements in Fox chassis suspension becoming more accessible. I focused in on Maximum Motorsports stuff and set my goals of a front suspension upgrade as well as rear modifications. Again, started to collect parts.
Jump forward to fall/winter 2013. Got the "garage-mahal" built but inside not completely finished (40x60 split into 2 sections, 14' ceilings, radiant heat, bathroom w/shower....). Hooked up with a great friend that is crazy about drag racing his Mustang (current NMRA/NMCA True Street record holder.....). He needed to set up a shop for doing some fabrication and felt my building would be great (power, heat, bathroom, beer fridge...). We took a weekend and had a "Hoarders-Barn Intervention" and cleared out the 10 years of collecting "stuff", dry-walled the front work-shop (back already done....) and pulled the Capri out to start on.
I gathered all the parts I had for the engine and sent them off to Baker Engineering (west of Grand Rapids MI) for an engine build (Dec '13 - Feb '14). VERY happy with results: 415 hp @ 5900 rpm, 408 lb ft torque @ 4800 rpm (360 @ 2600 - 370 @ 5900)
Engine Specs:
- Dart 4 bolt main block
- FMS upgrade roller lifters
- Cast steel crank (347)
- H beam rods
- Mahle forged pistons
- Romac balancer
- FMS GT40X heads
- Custom cam
- Edelbrock Air Gap manifold
- Barry Grant Demon carb
- Fidanza aluminum flywheel
- Moroso high capacity/baffled oil pan
- March under drive pulleys
I am now in the process of dis-assembling the car to install:
- Max Motorsports front suspension (K-Member, offset control arms)
- new Koni SA sport struts w/Max Motorsports coil-over kit
- new Koni SA sport shocks w/Max Motorsports coil-over kit
- Max Motorsports manual brake conversion
- Flaming River manual steering rack
- Roush/Alcon 14" front disc brakes
- Wilwood 12" rear disc brakes
I am hoping to document this process and will start posting pictures soon.
Appreciate any comments/feedback
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