Hello everyone,
I have been quietly viewing this forum since I bought my 82 Capri in May of this past year. She's rough but I have nothing but time and needed a project so as to stop daydreaming of ways to spend money on my daily (92 Chevy 2500). The previous owners attempted to do much of the work themselves, but failed to pay attention to details and poorly executed their work.
Some background on myself. I am a lifelong Alaskan, born and raised here in Anchorage. I am a former collegiate athlete, playing soccer for two years at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Prescott, Arizona. I eventually decided to pursue a professional career instead of trying to make it as a professional athlete, and came home. I currently work full time and am pursuing my MBA, with an anticipated graduation date of December 2018.
Here is a little background on the car. Its a 1982 mercury Capri. I believe that it originally has a 2.3 turbo, judging by the hole in the hood, but the previous owner swapped in a 302 from supposedly a 69' Ranchero. The car is rough as previously stated. When I bought it had a two-barrel, leaky rack and pinion, a poor attempt to paint the interior black, a god awful paint job (I think they sprayed over the car in sealer, and there are runs all over), some holes in the floor in the typical spots near the firewall, many gauges that do not work, and a terrible blown glasspack in a 2-to-1 exhuast that appears to be 2.25" pipe.
I have replaced the rack and pinion and had to buy some cheap rubber for the front, when I bought the car the studs were still on it. I also put on an old carter I got from a buddy. The car has sat most of the summer, as some other plans popped up and funds are limited (yay for grad school!!), and is currently parked and covered for the winter until April or May when the snow starts to leave.
The immediate goal for next summer is to get a full exhaust system, as the factory manifolds leak. I plan on going with BBK shorties and H-pipe without cats, no emissions up here, and Dynomax Cat back system. I also intend to get new tires, I am leaning towards Cooper Cobra 235/60/15 all around. I am unsure about how those will fit in the front, and may put a 215/65/15 up front. Any input from more experienced users is greatly appreciated.
The ultimate goal for the car is make a wheel to wheel car to race at a twice-a-summer venue up here in Alaska called Tanacross. This is an event where one of the local car clubs rents an old WWII airport for a weekend (Labor and Memorial day) and has a weekend full of racing and fun! A link is provided below. But that goal for the car is still a long ways off...
https://www.aksportscarclub.org/tanacross
Anyway, I look forward to being able to learn from the wealth of knowledge here and potentially meet some members from Alaska (I know there are one or two on here).
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