Bubbleback Black Magic RS 5.0 4-Speed

[bluechief]

I just posted a bunch of pictures to my FEP album. Please see what you think. I know the doors have been replaced, has the steering wheel too?

I'm still trying to decide which way to go with this car so I appreciate input.

[downtime!]

I've always liked the '79 door panels, and since that's a later model steering wheel, I'm guessing the column has been replaced too (can't remember when they made the switch from splined wheel mount to the "D" shaped mount), but if that was my car, I would do whatever I could to restore it back to completely original. Capri's don't much more rare than this one.

[bluechief]

Well, I've had a couple people contact me privately about buying or trading for this car. First, I want to be clear that this car IS getting restored if I can help it. If I felt reasonably sure I could get the car into hands that aim to restore it, and I could get a fair trade for what I was looking for I would do it.

So, for now I am driving it and looking for the right opportunity to get into something more suitable for modification. If the opportunity doesn't come soon enough, I'll probably start restoring things myself until it does.

[RichV]

I'd definitely do a mix of resto/modding. Keep the exterior/interior relatively factory and do what you want with the drivetrain/suspension/brakes. That's the beauty of a Fox, limitless possibility.

I allways felt like the bubble needs a front spoiler to complement. You should build the 1st Capri Saleen 4 eye!

[bluechief]

I have 1 month left on my temp tag. The first project I need to take on, is passing emissions. The car passes the visual inspection. Air pump and cats are there. The air pump tube goes behind the bellhousing and lays there connected to nothing, but it still passed the visual inspection twice when the previous owner had it tested.

Dennis (previous owner) had it tested in December and it failed because high HC & CO. The readings were 5.0398 HC GPM & 92.8375 CO GPM. Dennis then had the timing set to 1983 specs according to him and went back for a retest. This time in january the readings were 5.8880 & 87.6419 respectivly. Not an improvement.

This leads me to guess that the carb is running too rich. The car runs awesome though. I have no idea how to lean out the stock Holly carb. Any ideas what I need to adjust to get whithin spec? I need to get down to 3.5000 HC GPM & 30.0000 CO GPM so, it's a ways off. Also is the disconnected air pump tube affecting my results, and where should it go anyway? Thanks.

[RichV]

I had a simil;ar problem with my carbed 79. My problem ended up being incorrect plug gaps, so check that. IIRC my gaps were too small creating unburnt fuel. Check the hood sticker to make sure you are in spec.

[bluechief]

Ok. What is IIRC?

[FoxChassis]

IIRC = if I remember correctly

I would be hooking the air pump tube back. Air injection into the cat converter helps convert or reduce (I forget which it does, technically) HC and CO to H20 and CO2.

[craigerSS]

i see your tach is different than mine and mine is factory

[bluechief]

i see your tach is different than mine and mine is factory

OK. What is different? I can't tell in your album pictures.

I was looking at the carb today it has: E5HE-9510-DD on it. I did some internet searching and it appears to be off of 85-87 F-350 with the 460 motor. I think this is where my emissions problem is. I wonder what I would need to change to get it tuned. Maybe I need a whole different carb now.

I put on my Carter AFB but, it wouldn't atomize the fuel right at idle and it kept dying. I will tear down the Carter to see if I can find the problem but, I wish I had the right Holley.

[bigjason_5]

There were two '83 tachs. Your's is correct as one of the options. The other looked like the later amber illumination tachs, but lit up blue/green still. I've also heard of some late '83s that were amber illumination. But anyway, you have a correct '83 tach, so it is probably original. I think the build date may have had something to do with which ones the cars got, but that isn't necessarily concrete. It's tough to figure out what Ford did on some of these cars.

Your steering wheel is definitely not original, and yes, like you said, the doors are not factory. Your Black Magic was actually made after my Crimson Cat. I think Foxchassis found a few of them that way so far. Either way, they are about 400 cars off and I have the same tach as you. Your dual-snorkel air cleaner lid has the wrong decal. Other than that, you don't seem to need a whole lot to get it back to original. Those seat repairs may be the toughest part.

[MHISSTC]

I almost bought that car! I tortured the seller with a crap-load of questions and requests for pictures to verify it was a BM before I eventually passed on the car.

If I remember correctly, the interior door panels in the pictures he sent me were white. It looks like you got them painted to match the rest of the black interior. It's too bad the whole doors on both sides were replaced by '79 units and you lost the door tag info.

I'm glad a fellow enthusiast bought it and is doing something with it.

[elderstang]

There were two '83 tachs. Your's is correct as one of the options. The other looked like the later amber illumination tachs, but lit up blue/green still. I've also heard of some late '83s that were amber illumination. But anyway, you have a correct '83 tach, so it is probably original. I think the build date may have had something to do with which ones the cars got, but that isn't necessarily concrete. It's tough to figure out what Ford did on some of these cars.

Your steering wheel is definitely not original, and yes, like you said, the doors are not factory. Your Black Magic was actually made after my Crimson Cat. I think Foxchassis found a few of them that way so far. Either way, they are about 400 cars off and I have the same tach as you. Your dual-snorkel air cleaner lid has the wrong decal. Other than that, you don't seem to need a whole lot to get it back to original. Those seat repairs may be the toughest part.

What's wrong with the decal on the snorkel? I had an 83 Capri rs with the exact snorkel. I was the second owner. In fact I still have the snorkel in my garage.

[James Jenkins]

TO blue chief:
The right carb #for a 83 Black Magic should be EZ3E-9510-AUA, I hope this helps.