Close



Results 1 to 8 of 8
  1. #1

    Default New Member - 1985 Mercury Capri 5.0L 5-Speed T-Roof

    Just saying hi from the "great" State of New Jersey

    Note: NJ = also famously known as the utopian capital of "Clown World"

    This is the most I'll post for a long time so bear with me. Yes I immediately confess I'm totally ga-ga about the Mercury Capri. And I love 1980's-1990's "Ford Motorsport" accessories (if/when I can afford them!). Ok I was a member here many years ago but had deleted my old email a long time ago and lost all my old FEP account info etc. I've taken a peek in on the forum from time-to-time but have been out of the car scene for quite some time now, and honestly over the last 10-years or so I've had many more serious things to deal with than luxury hobbies. Okay anyway . . .

    My first Mustang was a 1971 Ford Mustang Sportsroof 351C 4V.

    My next two Mustangs were both 1973 Ford Mustang Mach 1 cars - one a 302 4V and the other a 351C 4V

    Then - my first Fox - was a 1988 Ford Mustang 5.0 LX Hatchback Automatic AOD with A/C

    But I ALWAYS loved (and still do) the Fox Mercury Capri - particularly the 1983-1986 Aero "Bubble Back". The Capri is one of my favorite cars of all-time and I'm pretty adamant about it. What a FUN "1980's awesome" car!

    The first time I saw a "Mercury Capri" (it was a silver 1986 5.0L) I was driving my '73 Mach 1 home and stopped by a local junkyard for some parts I needed. Out front by the parking area (in the "recently arrived" car-accident section) was what I thought was a silver Mustang. It was hit in the front pretty good. But I took a good look at it and was like "wait a minute - that's not a Mustang!". What is that?? I'd never seen or heard of a Capri before but I really liked the looks of the car. Back then I wasn't "super-keen" on the Bubble-hatch until later when I bought my first '85 Capri. Then I grew to love the look of the whole car and never looked back. Funny about that Capri - my Uncle worked (as a 1st Class Bodyman) for a major Ford dealership and he actually bought that Capri and totally re-did the whole car with all-factory sheetmetal & other parts and it came out really nice (I wish I'd bought it back when he had it). I know he painted the car black, drove it for a few years then sold it.

    Ok - so I currently own 3x 1985 Mercury Capri 5.0L 4V 5-Speed T-Roof cars

    My first Capri is still in storage now (under an inch of dust), kind of a stalled project I put away almost 10-years ago or so. Was a factory A/C car but already had some performance parts installed. What I wasn't aware of (when I bought it) was the seller hid frame-rail rot under a metal plate and the rail cracked in-half one day. Well my Dad & I put countless hours of work & money into saving it (replaced one frame rail & apron & radiator support, put a lot of brand new speed parts on it + more) and I really have a small fortune tied up in this car. Hopefully I'll get back to it someday - hopefully sooner than later but right now it looks doubtful.

    My second Capri - is wrecked. I'd just bought maybe 4 years ago. I was trying to work on it (in hindsight it obviously had a major carb/fuel issue) and I totalled it the very first time I drove it. Was a completely stock A/C car too. The 4180C carb float stuck, it flooded, which floored the car out of control and head-on into a tree. A huge loss and all I can say is never EVER take carb flooding issues lightly. It's now a spare-parts car I guess.

    The third Capri I bought almost 2-years ago and haven't had the money to do much with it. 53K miles on the car, not perfect but decent. The first year I've had it I stored it indoors and the second year it's been outside under cover(s). I've faithfully started it up at least once a month & check it over. It's going to need some work as it has a noise which I'm pretty sure (I hope anyway) is the transmission input shaft bearing or possibly clutch springs. Plus the timing cover and rear main seals both are leaking and it needs a few other odds & ends so I'm trying to set aside some money to get the car repaired right. I haven't paid-off the car yet (just a couple more months!) so it's been hard to set aside any money. Bought it sight-unseen from out-of-state so it naturally came with a few surprises I wasn't aware of.


    Just wanted to give a little background and say hello. I don't "do Facebook" (though I read a couple of Capri pages now & then) so this forum is pretty much my only interest in the Fox Body online community. I commend the forum Foureyedpride staff with such a fine forum, I've liked it since I first discovered it (maybe 12-15 years ago?). I used to moderate a forum years ago so I know what it takes to keep one going and it's a lot of work - so hats-off to you all. I particularly like that the forum is especially dedicated to 1979-1986 Fox Capri and Mustang (lets not forget the Zephyr & Fairmont too!). Thanks for providing such a wonderful website and hope it continues to grow as these beautiful fun cars become ever-more desirable classics and more & more people discover the fun & pride that can come with owning these vehicles
    Last edited by MERCURY MOTORSPORT; 08-08-2019 at 09:28 PM. Reason: spelling error

  2. #2
    FEP Senior Member fascat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Greensburg, PA
    Posts
    908

    Default

    Welcome back to the site. Post up some pictures of your cars. I would like to see them.

  3. #3

    Default

    Thank you fascat. I'll have to get some (more recent) pics together. My original/first Capri is literally buried in the garage but I need to empty it all out by Autumn. I only have a couple of old photos of it from 2006 (?) or so. I need to get this car out & cleaned up & finished one day

    The second (crashed one) car is parked out there but is heavily covered/tarped/tied-down etc - but similarly I'll get that one aired-out and pics taken by Fall. I have a upcoming driveway resurfacing project that needs to be all-done before this Winter, so the cars all have to be moved.

    I'll be sure to take pics of the buck-tags & door decals documentation etc for FoxChassis too. I appreciate that he does that, I'm very big on history & information preservation

    Ok here's a couple photos of my original/first Capri before it was reconstructed (due to the frame rail & radiator support etc) - and the second set of photos are from the latest Capri (pics are about 18-months old and taken when I was getting some work done to it)


    Name:  417166_134101123376800_1233426077_n (2).jpg
Views: 117
Size:  203.2 KB

    Name:  417820_134107946709451_1640477999_n (2).jpg
Views: 115
Size:  184.7 KB

    Name:  418155_134110866709159_451810681_n (2).jpg
Views: 116
Size:  191.7 KB



    Name:  1985 Mercury Capri 5.0L 4V HO 5-Speed T-Roof  (2).jpg
Views: 115
Size:  93.4 KB

    Name:  1985 Mercury Capri 5.0L 4V HO 5-Speed T-Roof 3-Door.jpg
Views: 116
Size:  128.8 KB

  4. #4
    FEP Power Member Hemlock's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2007
    Location
    Quartz Hill, California
    Posts
    2,230

    Default

    Welcome to the site! I Like the Capri Pace Car!

    Robert
    1984 RS 347 Capri, To many car parts to list, check out my car build page here for the story on my car and a full parts list/setup!:

    My RS in Action

  5. #5
    FEP Senior Member fascat's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2012
    Location
    Greensburg, PA
    Posts
    908

    Default

    Great looking Carpis. I really like the T-Top cars. That Pace Car is awesome. Not many of those around. I'm sure you know about the Motorsport Capri website. FoxChassis does an excellent job with all the data collecting and decoding. I really appreciate that kind of stuff as well.

  6. #6
    FEP Senior Member Dave9052's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    Saint Clair MI 48079
    Posts
    641

    Default

    Welcome, very sharp cars.

  7. #7
    FEP Power Member mcb82gt's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2004
    Location
    Olathe, Kansas
    Posts
    2,108

    Default

    I just checked out the Motorsport capri site, very cool. I learned a lot.
    Mike

    Now stang-less.

    88 Cougar 5.0

  8. #8

    Default

    Thank you for the welcome and compliments they're greatly appreciated - TY!

    It's a 53k mile car and so far I got a full copy of the Experian AutoCheck Report (vehicle history report) for some additional records/documentation - no accidents, I'm now the 3rd owner, and the mileage is accurate. I really need to get the full Marti Report Deluxe for the car to further verify & document the car best I can.

    Currently my car is # 615274 on the Motorsport Capri Registry
    https://www.motorsportcapri.com/615274

    I did a bit (actually hours) of reading over (both my records of the car and info online) last night and it does look like FoxChassis already has some basic information (stored in his archive) on my car. In a few months I'll be sending him door decals and buck tags for his records. Yes he does a fine detailed job preserving the Fox Body data - which is really documenting an important part of Detroit Automaker history. I searched my VIN online last night and saw my GPIV did come up on his website database. It looks like he has the link(s) as a XLS document BUT I clicked on the Google "cached" version of the webpage and my car is # 191 on his list
    www.foxchassis.com/vcldata/C1985.xlsx

    I love the 1979-1986 Fox cars and I know I'll be needing some opionions & recommendations on what to do with the car and will be grateful for any constructive advice from FEP members. Many many thanks in advance!
    Last edited by MERCURY MOTORSPORT; 08-11-2019 at 04:09 PM.

Tags for this Thread

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •