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  1. #1

    Default New user; weird project

    Greetings from Detroit! New to the site, not new to playing with cars. I have an '81 Capri that was found as a basket case a couple of years ago, and I'm in the process of turning it into a post-apocalyptic, Mad Max-style pursuit vehicle. There are quite a few post-apoc vehicles running around these days, but very few Fox bodies so once finished it should be pretty unique.

    Preservationists, put down the torches! This car really was a Midwestern basket case; it was a 4cyl automatic with a seized transmission, a rusted-out floor and animals had been living in it (as near as I can tell, it started out with chickens, and then an opossum moved in, killed the chickens and stayed on. The rear bumper was missing and replaced by a 2x4.

    And the heater core was home to an epic mouse nest). No one was going to restore this thing, and everything I didn't need I sold to collectors (the hatch went to another Capri, and the engine is now in a Pinto I think. I even sold the factory front license plate bracket when I took it off!)

    Since then it's been modified in proper scavenger style, with found and junkyard parts. I removed the hatch, gutted the interior, mounted a cut-down Jeep roll bar in the cargo area and high-mounted spares on either C-pillar. I did a 5-lug conversion, then raised the suspension about an inch with spring spacers to fit Explorer wheels and tires. Another Explorer donated its rear bumper, and a third gave me a brush bar for the front. Right now the car is in the midst of a V8/MT swap (engine from yet another Explorer, it turns out) and I hope to have it out prowling the wastelands this summer. I will probably be asking lots of questions that are the opposite of the usual lowering/performance enhancing ones; hopefully y'all will be patient with me!

  2. #2
    FEP Super Member mustangxtreme's Avatar
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    Welcome to FEP. Post pics when you get a chance.
    Dave

    If common sense was common wouldn't it just be sense?

    1983 Capri L T top 5.0 efi aod
    1983 Capri RS Turbo
    1981 Black Magic 400 c6
    93 F-250 351 5sp 4x4

  3. #3

  4. #4
    FEP Member brianj's Avatar
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    Loose the shiny black, need some flat black paint or bed liner type paint. I think side pipes would look perfect after the V8 swap, too. There is actually a similar build done by the guys at mighty car mods out of a 240SX, called Modmax. Fun build.
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    Last edited by brianj; 04-06-2017 at 09:21 AM.
    1983 Mustang G.T. No-option stripper- I like strippers.
    5.0, GT40P heads, Comp Cams XE270HR-12 on 1.6 rockers, TFI spring kit, Weiand 174 blower, Holley 750 mechanical secondarys, Mishimoto radiator, Edelbrock street performer mechanical pump, BBK shortys, T-5 conversion, 8.8 rear, 3.73 gears, carbon fiber clutches, SS Machine lowers, Maximum Motorsport XL subframes, "B" springs.

  5. #5

    Default

    I remember seeing in-progress shots of Modmax, but never the finished product. Looks angry!

    Considered going flat black, but decided to leave the original paint and let it get scuffed and weathered and faded naturally instead. Black catches dust really well; it'll look dingy enough in short order. Side pipes are a thought, but as a 100% scavenge-build, I'd have to find something that had them already. Running big-truck vertical stacks down the sides might work, but then there's a heat issue. (Also I need mufflers so it's streetable!) Was thinking I'd go with duals exiting at the rear, with a cutout so it can run unmuffled when I want to show off.

  6. #6
    FEP Member brianj's Avatar
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    You're assuming side pipes have to be made from side pipes. Fence posts, drain pipe, flex pipe from chimney liner--- embrace your inner scavenger.
    1983 Mustang G.T. No-option stripper- I like strippers.
    5.0, GT40P heads, Comp Cams XE270HR-12 on 1.6 rockers, TFI spring kit, Weiand 174 blower, Holley 750 mechanical secondarys, Mishimoto radiator, Edelbrock street performer mechanical pump, BBK shortys, T-5 conversion, 8.8 rear, 3.73 gears, carbon fiber clutches, SS Machine lowers, Maximum Motorsport XL subframes, "B" springs.

  7. #7
    FEP Senior Member cb650's Avatar
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    I know of a good home to the grill. headlite bezels and side marker lites.

  8. #8

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    Quote Originally Posted by brianj View Post
    You're assuming side pipes have to be made from side pipes. Fence posts, drain pipe, flex pipe from chimney liner--- embrace your inner scavenger.
    LOL! True story. The car's already using a number of things in ways that they weren't originally intended.

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