woblzdesign

> Car Scene : Cars In the Park 2011 (part 5)

2011-06-14T19:07:00.002+02:00

> Car Scene : Cars In the Park 2011 (part 4)

2011-06-14T19:07:00.001+02:00

> Car Scene : Cars In the Park 2011 (part 3)

2011-06-14T19:05:00.000+02:00

> Car Scene : Cars In the Park 2011 (part 2)

2011-06-14T19:04:00.000+02:00

> Car Scene : Cars In the Park 2011 (part 1)

2011-06-14T19:03:00.001+02:00

> Car Scene : Annual Autostyle Show - 08 Aug 10

2011-06-14T16:17:00.001+02:00

the annual autostyle show is one of the biggest in durban, and the 2010 show was absolutely jam packed, the streets were full of cars and people. enjoy the pics...

> Car Scene : Shallcross Show - 06 Feb 11

2011-06-14T15:55:00.001+02:00

the second annual show in shallcross was held on the 6 Feb 2011, a good mix of interesting cars.

> Car Scene : Roy Hesketh trackday - 05 Feb 11

2011-06-14T15:52:00.001+02:00

bunker racing meet at Roy Hesketh track in PMB, very hot day, took a few pics some interesting cars attended.

> Car Scene : Phoenix Show - 19 Sept 10

2011-06-14T15:48:00.001+02:00

heres a show that took place in Rydalvale sports grounds in phoenix, wide range of cars and a mobile dyno as well as free entry drew the crowds....

> Car Scene : Scotsburgh Show 01/08/10

2011-06-14T15:44:00.001+02:00

so i finally got to the task of updated the car scene section, this show is from way back on 1 August 2010, mostly classic cars. got to the show late most of the cars had already left for durban....enjoy the few pics

> Project : engine

2011-06-03T21:24:00.004+02:00

picked up some engine spares that i could use on the car and future projects.
got some engine mounting cups, they stop the engine mounts from warping. the ones on my car where missing when i bought it.

some old AC pumps, used the parts to make one good one as my orignal was leaking from the base.

used air filter, will mod it and fit it.

air filter sprayed and fitted, and reconded petrol pump fitted.

also reconditioned the starter again found brushes were shot.

picked up 2 intakes, have already flowed one of them, it will go on when i put stage 2 heads.

more to follow...

> Project : Interior and seats

2011-06-02T20:35:00.002+02:00

after i made the lower dash panel everything went in

seats covered in oldskool brown, contrasts nicely with the black

2 tone doorpads, gives that retro look

dash complete

push button radio i acquired from my dads escort

the black and brown continues to the back panel

fold down armrest

more to follow...

> Project : engine

2011-06-02T20:03:00.002+02:00

seeing as how points are so troublesome and in-efficient i got a electronic distributor fitted.

i also hard to get a new carb as the current one was sucking air through the housing.

> Project : Some pics

2011-06-02T19:52:00.001+02:00

spoiler fitted

some nice pics outside

more to follow....

> Project : interior, details...

2011-06-02T19:01:00.003+02:00

along with my steering badge i ordered a few more badges to keep, just incase.

sill badge

experimented abit and made dice valve caps.

started making up the lower dash panel

more to follow....

> Project : steering

2011-06-02T17:34:00.001+02:00

got my hands on an oldskool steering wheel, ideal for the look i was going for

dont know what car it came off, so it had to be adapted to fit the capri spline

mk1 cortina steering wheel boss

pulled off the old wheel

drilled the studs off the wheel, and tapped new holes onto the boss, bolted everything together with allen key bolts.

wheel fitted, made a ford badge to fit in the hooter recess

more to follow....

> Project : exterior

2011-05-31T22:40:00.002+02:00

most of the trim was on the car, so on went the fender badges to finish off the standard trim

i was inspired by the chin spoilers from racing capris, so i decided to make my own.
made up a metal frame that will mount to the body

i bought a MK1 golf chin spoiler, this will be cut down and attached to the frame.

the ends had to be reshaped to match the capri panel

frame fiberglassed to spoiler, will now be sent for satin black paint.

more to follow...

> Project : kill switch

2011-05-31T22:35:00.002+02:00

as a safety measure i decided to fit a kill switch to the main power line, on the battery box.

more to follow....

> Project : rear panel covers

2011-05-31T22:15:00.002+02:00

due to the condition of the original rear panel covers i found i had to use the top curved half on the made up panels i had with the car.

i chopped out wat i needed

and recessed the wood on the made up panel

and resined it on, now they are ready for covering.

more to follow....

> Project : gear shifter

2011-05-31T19:45:00.003+02:00

so having tested out the brakes abit, i realised the shifter mechanism was badly worn, it was very hard to find gears, so a new one was sourced and rebushed.

old on the left, new on the right, the old one had excessive wear on the housing which the shaft goes through.

> Project : interior, details...

2011-05-31T19:22:00.009+02:00

so its been a very long while since the site has been updated, and there has been lots of progress on the capri, so here goes....

managed to source some original rear panel covers, will use this to make up the new panels.

changed the bonnet pin to allen key bolts, looks much better than screws.

finally found out the pads where too narrow, and sourced some originall wider 3000GT pads.

the blead the brakes yet again, got them working 100% now.

some pics of the car outside after testing out the brakes....

more to follow.....

> Rotted : A few neglected Chevs

2010-08-14T18:49:00.008+02:00

One of my friends picked up this 48 Chev pickup as a project, but resold it shortly afterwords.

New bin was made

FORD 351 in a Chev! yes its true

Van had new fenders, cab was rough

This is a 57 bellair that is being converted from RHD 4 door to LHD 2 door....

big block motor

supercharger

Also in this guys yard was an opel captian, waiting for a buyer, has full jag suspension.

Also residing with the 57 bellair was a GMC truck...

350 chevy engine.....

It had extensive bodywork done, reprofiled bonnet, shaved doors, moved filler cap and lowered.

My friend who owns the 48 Chev went to Port Shepstone to find some parts, the guy who had the spares had this 48 Chev and a later C10 chassis

> Spotted : Pair of 3000GT capris

2010-08-14T18:31:00.003+02:00

So i go over to Classic ford spares to find some parts for my capri, the owner there also likes capris alot. He had a gold metalflake one with a V6 which he used for burnouts.

So i rocked up and see that he had resprayed it almost the same color as mine! With the same rims even! Looks good though ;-)

There was also a shell sitting in the yard, which had just had its paint done, very straight body with orange paint with sparkle in it.

Not sure whether the car is for sale or whether he is going to be taking it as a personal car.

> Spotted : 77 Ford Escort Panelvan

2010-08-14T18:26:00.002+02:00

One of my friends built this as his personal car, but decided later to sell it as he ran out of space. Its a 77 MK2 escort panelvan, it was totally redone including an engine rebuild. Its a real eye-catcher.

> Spotted : 72 Ford Ranchero

2010-08-14T18:19:00.002+02:00

This is really abit of an old update, but i found this pic going through my memory card. This 1972 Ford Ranchero was also up for a sprayjob at the panelbeater i sent my car to.

It has a 351 cleveland motor with a dressup kit. It has a pearl blue paintjob.

> Spotted : 57 Chev C10

2010-08-14T17:19:00.002+02:00

My friends uncle from up in Johannesburg imports chev parts, and came down to durban to pickup a pontiac he had bought. He came with his "Towing" van.... a 1957 Chev C10 pickup with a 8.6L big block V8!

It started off as a bare shell, now sports yellow pearl paintwork, with pearl green flames. It has a disk brake conversion from the USA.

All chrome work was redone, still sports the Chev 3100 badges! Has a custom interior complete with sound system

Alot of detail went into the car, just look at the enginebay.

Rear lights imported from the USA with Chev emblems. Custom airbrushing on tailgate.

> Project : Carpeting and details

2010-08-01T21:57:00.008+02:00

So continuing from where i left of with the interior a few weeks ago, i lined the body with felt, where i did not use the sound deadening material....

Got the carpets cut to size and sewed.

Glued in the carpets, trimmed the edges and made stainless steel sills and fitted them in, as well as the refurbished kick panels.

Swapped over seatbelt mechanism from my dads MK2 escort, looks like it came out factory. Test fitted doorpad for fit of other panels.

Refitted center console, sprayed trim black and fitted the MK2 escort seatbelt clips.

I got a really interesting gearknob from the Karmann Ghia in the rotted section.

Boot was looking abit plain, had some carpet left over......

So i carpetted the floor...

Fitted a homemade bracket to mount the spare wheel.....

I mounted an LED strip over the sparewheel also, so i reflects and illuminates the sparewheel as a center piece of the boot.

Brakes did not work the last time, so out they came....

Turned out the rod was too short, had to extend it so the brake pedal would come up in line with the other pedals and offer more travel on the pedal.

Made a section to go between the parcel shelf and the split seats as there was a gap showing, this was covered int black carpet.

One piece that was hard to get was the clutch fork dust cover, ended up using a universal gear gator as an alternative, hope it lasts.

Had to remove all the locks and get keys made up, as the keys that came with the car did not work!

New rear number plate was made, in standard size to replace the square plate.

Oil pressure gauge on the dash was not working, the original plastic pipe was damaged, so i made a new bent steel pipe.

Pipe runs from the engine into the cabin, and to a plastic section and into the gauge cluster.

Next up the seats.....

> New section Added

2010-06-30T21:39:00.006+02:00

I managed to find some cool articles and writeups on the net about the ford capri, from the design stages upto wiring diagrams, you will find all the information in the new section in the navigation bar, just click on READING or the link below.

Technical Articles

> Project : Wiring,Interior and Brakes

2010-06-14T22:35:00.009+02:00

So 1st off on the interior, the dash was stripped to see how bad it really was under the vinyl was carpet...

...which was hidding a really badly cracked dashboard, this was sent of to be recovered in black vinyl.

Also sent off the backboard to be recoverd along with the dashboard. It was made of fiberglass so no real damage there.

Had to source some special brackets to hold the backboard down.

So while the interior stuff was send for recovering, the wiring was done, battery now located in the boot, we had to run power cables to the front.

Dashboard required new switches, could not locate capri switchs so used MK2 escort switches as they are the same size.

Engine bay wiring was refitted and cleaned up and encased in plastic sleeving, new plug leads fitted.

Fuse holder cleaned and repainted. Also replaced the shocks, so repainted the strut tops...

...and put new alan-key bolts to match those on the heads.

The rear brakes where jamming on one side and leaking on the other. The plungers where leaking on the driver side.

The passenger side had a siezed adjusting nut which caused the pads to jam.

Bought some new brake cylinders, matched them to datsun laurel cylinders, they still need to be fitted.

Trim panels for the dash being rubbed down, holes need to be fixed and then reprimered and resprayed black.

Oil pressure pipe needs replacing, as it was badly damaged.

The dash was put back piece by piece after the electrics were all tested and working ok, used vinyl spray to repaint the indicator stalk, steering cover and passenger side dash facia.

Interior light, headlights and fan hookedup.

Pedals were removed and cleaned, and the pedal stalks where cleaned and repainted.

> Car Scene : Cars In The Park PMB (Part 4)

2010-05-24T22:03:00.005+02:00

Thats all for now....until next year.

> Car Scene : Cars In The Park PMB (Part 3)

2010-05-24T22:02:00.006+02:00

continued to part 4...

> Car Scene : Cars In The Park PMB (Part 2)

2010-05-24T22:01:00.008+02:00

continued to part 3...

> Car Scene : Cars In The Park PMB (Part 1)

2010-05-24T21:51:00.011+02:00

So all of you motorheads will know, KZN's biggest show was held on the 16 May at Alexandra park in Pietermaritzburg. With the weather threatening to cause it to be rained out, it was a frantic time for people who where planning to bring their cars. As you can see the weather on Sunday was great, so without futher a-do check out the pictures and enjoy.

continued to part 2...

> Car Scene : Modified Mayhem 3

2010-05-05T21:15:00.006+02:00

Needless to say this show happened to fall on the same day as the KZN motorracing drags. The weather was also not looking to good which caused an average turnout. Many show die-hards attended, so a few of the cars would be familiar from the last show.

This odd looking Nissan Sentra, looked out of place at the show, maybe it got lost on the way to the drags, it had a V8 tucked under the hood, with a full drag racing setup, complete with tramp bars, drag tires at the back and side exhausts. Apparently the car is still street legal, it seats 4 and is used on the road once i a while.

This immaculate Valiant Rebel, has become a common sight in shows in durban, the car is very neat and origonal.

Some euro flavour in the shape of a Golf 5 Gti quiet tastefully modified....

...with a custom sound install.

Now for something more out-there, a late model Toyota Hilux, fully kitted out, with rear seats removed and 2 15" subs in their place.

Not a car you would expect to see at shows, but this Datsun 140Y looked real good, the 17"s looked abit too big on this little car though.

Its been a while since modified beetles have popped up at any shows, this example was very well done, look at the pictures they speak for themselves.

One of my friends brought is RS2000 for the show and shine, it has fuel management and battery relocated to the boot. it is painted a custom metallic blue paint and metallic black custom painted rims.

The 57 chevy made another appearance.

This mazda rustler, checked all the boxes, sound, style and performance.

A well preserved chev constantia with some 17"s, the car was extremely well looked after, the interior looked like it just rolled off the showroom floor.

1966 MK1 cortina, with a toyota RXi motor with a turbo slapped on, car was built at GS Engineering.

A few familiar cars from the last show.

I remember seeing this car a long time ago, it was one of the first Golf 2's in Durban with a VR6 engine dropped in, the car looked very much the same from the many years ago i had seen it, except for the addition of some 17" rims, which finished off the car nicely.

Fiat Strada with a custom body kit.

An import toyota station wagon, i wonder what motor is under the hood.

Finally saved the best for last, before leaving the show this 57 Chev Bellair made an entrance and exit, the car has been known around durban for some time now, and occasionally pops up at shows. I have yet to see a better 57 Chev locally.

> Spotted : 64 Ford Fairlane 500

2010-05-05T20:19:00.003+02:00

Another stroke of luck after attending the SPCA charity run at Pavillion i spotted this entering the mall parking and went afterwards to find it.

This 1964 Ford Fairlane 500 was in excellent condition, the white interior offset the red paintwork nicely, with blinds on the rear window and custom painted period rims is car really looked the biz.

> Car Scene : SPCA Charity Run

2010-05-04T21:16:00.006+02:00

The annual SPCA kloof charity run was this past Sunday on the 2nd of May. I decided to pop in quickly to the departure point at the Pavillion shopping roof parking at 7:30am on a cloudy Sunday morning.

The run was organised by the lotus club, and they turned out in their numbers to support the worthy cause.
The KZN mini club also made an appearance and a few bunker racing members.

A new lotus elise also turned up, the compactness and function over form still plays a major role in lotus cars even today.

Polished stainless steel body work with black panels looking really good.

This later spec lotus with 13" wide and narrows and perspex windscreen looked the business.

On the other end of the scale, a few cobras and GT40s turned up.

This GT40 had a slightly longer tail end, looks like it came right out the 60s Le Mans.

The convoy departed for the Kloof SPCA at 8:15am.

I did not attend the Charity day, but you can view some pics at the charity day on the following link.
Mini Club pics

> Project : Finishing up the engine bay

2010-04-12T21:20:00.005+02:00

Its been a while since some updates, so here goes... After i put the engine in, all the small odds and ends where fitted. the new engine mounts meant the alternator had to be moved, a new fanbelt was required and the mounting had to be cut and modified.

The brake pipes where rebent to new less visible postions, and then rubbed down and resprayed gray, looking much neater now.

The water hoses and pressure pipes where cleaned and refitted. Some pipes where replaced all together. Also the steel fuel line in the engine bay was completed.

The fan unit was cleaned off the rubberiser residue and some of the plastic which was cracked was fixed.

One very hard part to source was a gearbox dust cover, most people discard them, so we fabricated one out of 1mm steel and sprayed it black, we used the gearbox as a template to mark the profile and cut it to fit.

Gear lever was refitted, speedo cable was ceased and had to be replaced. Interior ready for sound deadening.

Managed to source some sound deadening, they are rather expensive. The make in the box cost R350 a sheet, but is heat and sound proof. The other 2 sheets are cheaper and are more for sound proofing.

I used the expensive stuff on the gearbox tunnel and firewall, closet to the gearbox and engine. Also did the footwells since the pic was taken, and will proberbly do some sections of the floor panel.

Cleaned up the boot of the clutter, so i could check space for the new battery cable and battery box.

More updates to follow regarding the electrical system and interior.

> Car Scene : The Ridge Classic and V8 Show

2010-03-29T09:02:00.015+02:00

So with cooler weather in durban, people are out and about, and the weather is ideal for cruising and shows. The Ridge shopping center played host to a V8 and classic car show this past weekend, with some hip-hop dancers on the side.

I got there at around 3pm and from the street there looked like there was nothing going on, upon getting to the entrance i found a corridor of very nice rides parked on display.

It was safe to say this was show was focusing on show and shine and the lineup was awesome. Cruise Control, a club from Pietermaritzburg had drove down around 15 show cars for display.

The cars in the club that really stood out was this pair of capris, both highly customised. They where built by a pair of friends, one did the paint and bodywork, the other the engine and mechanicals.

Both cars had V8 conversions, metallic pearl paintjobs, customized interiors and undercar lighting.

A pair of show wining red cortina mk3's, both where featured in torque magazine a while back.

This pristine yellow mustang is also part of cruise control, i have yet to see a more original mustang.

This liftback TRD was looking very sharp, but original TRD rims would have done the trick.

Original although faded baby blue volvo B122 was a welcomed sight amoung all the V8s and V6s.

As far as conversions go this cortina mk3 had to be the wildest, a 351 V8 could be found squeezed into the engine bay.

Another very rare sight, 2.5 V6 fuel injected alfa GTV, with a GTV 5 bonnet and front spoiler and not forgetting an awesome set of compomotive webs.

Neat little lime green datsun 1200, the original pocket rocket with sidedrafts from the factory.

The 50s and 40s being nicely represented, the red rims with chrome caps and white walls really set the truck off nicely.

The shocking orange fairlane did not stick around long enough for me to get a good enough look at.

An original mini cooper, engine bay was cramped as a sardine can.

Golf GT? THE modern classic, very nicely done.

This impala with hydralics has been tearing up the scene for just over a year now, a definite crowd puller at any show. 56 "soft tail" Chevy

No show is complete without a 1600 sport, the one in the background was at the last show.

57 "fin tail" Chevy, this car has been around for a while now, and always show ready.

This scarlet chrome 57 chev C10 featured a stylish hydrolic loadbin and 20 inch rims.

The chev was accompanied by a 48 Ford F100, done in a tastful and functional resto-mod style.

ome people cant wait to get their cars on show, this cortina mk3 2000GT was part of cruise control and was trailered in.

A lone 70 valiant charger, the car needs some attention, but has great potential.

I decided to keep the best for last, an original perana cortina mk2, a South African great. This car was bought just a few months ago, the undercarriage was totally repainted to perfection, it had compomotive web rims, and triple carbs from the XR6 interceptor. The cars tag shows it is BG0794, it still needed some work, but but was still in extraordinary conidion.

> Rotted : 40s sedan

2010-03-24T17:28:00.000+02:00

This car has been standing at a garage in Parlock for decades now, the previous owner of the garage used to have a collection of vintage cars parked in an informal showroom, and at some point this car was bought for restoration and left outside. The garage then changed owners and a spares shop was opened in place of the showroom. I am not sure what car it is but it is right hand drive, its been lying there for around 20 years. The chassis is rusted, the roof caved in and there is nothing left but rust.

> Spotted : 58 Mercedes-Benz Type 300

2010-03-21T18:22:00.007+02:00

This is certainly a very rare car, it is a 1958 Mercedes-Benz Type 300d, which was the company's largest and most-prestigious models throughout the 1950s. The car belongs to a close friends dad who bought the car in 1975 in Klerksdorp. It was resprayed from white to Burgundy and has had a restoration once, but a few years of standing and the car is due for another restoration. It has a 3lt straight 6 engine, it has airhorns, hydralically adjustable rear suspension for heavy loads, 8 track, self oiling chassis and removable rear quater glasses so the car can be transformed to a unique pillarless phaeton.

> Spotted : 72 Chevrolet Camaro Z28

2010-03-21T18:01:00.008+02:00

I spotted this parked in a street away from the annual Autostyle Birthday Bash last year in Umhlanga, it is a 2nd generation Camaro but a Z28 special edition, i dont know much about the car as it as the owner was nowhere. It was sprayed a custom blue pearl with a slight green flip. Awesome muscle car this, it drew more attention than some of the cars at the actual show and shine.

> Project : Refitting the engine

2010-03-21T09:26:00.012+02:00

So finally came the mammoth task of refitting the engine and drive train back on the car, we had to borrow an engine jack which was absolutely necessary to get the job done.

But before any of the drive train was refitted it was neccesary to refit the exhausts as there would be no place to refit them with the prop and gearbox in the way. We put the car onto wooden blocks and after much manuvering and pushing and pulling they fitted back into the origonal place.

Next the gearbox was put onto a jack underneath the gearbox tunnel and jacked into position so that the engine could be offered up and the gearbox shaft and clutch plate to line up. None of the gearbox mountings where refitted as yet so the gearbox could be manouvered to tmeetthe engine.

Next the engine was jacked up using the engine jack and loaded from the top into the engine bay, when it was dropped all the way down onto the crossmember the gearbox was jacked up to meet it and the gearbox shaft was lined up and the gearbox was bolted to the engine. There after the engine mounts were bolted on and the engine lowered into place, the gearbox mountings were then bolted onto the body.

Next up the propshaft was fitted first on the gearbox side, the propshaft mountings where then bolted up and finally the propshaft was bolted onto the diff. Care was taken to line it up to the origonal position so we had made a mark on the propshaft and diff before we took it out.

There is lots more space in the engine bay now that the battery tray has been removed, plenty place to work.

Few of the odds and ends that need to be fitted onto the engine.

There is still alot of assembling to be done in the engine bay, which will be done in the coming days. Will post pictures as i go along.

Here is the new stance of the car with the engine in, it dropped about 80mm due to the wieght of the engine and gearbox.

> Spotted : 71 Dodge Charger

2010-03-21T09:00:00.000+02:00

More exciting news, i will be adding a new section to the blog, called SPOTTED. It will showcase some of the rare old cars i have come across by chance. Hope u guys like it.

To kick off, we start off with one of the great muscle cars, a 71 Dodge Charger. I came across this car as i went to investigate a ford capri parked on the pavement in Bayview Chatsworth. It turns out this guy was a panelbeater and the capri was a customer car. I noticed something under a tarp in his driveway and he told me it was a charger. It was a LHD burn orange 427 V8, origonally from Capetown. The car is in very good condition, hardly used much, pity it doesnt go out to many shows, a true hidden treasure.

> Project : New fuel lines

2010-03-21T08:46:00.005+02:00

The one thing i was putting off for a while was making new fuel lines for the car, but due to the fact the engine was going in this weekend, i had to get it done while there was still space to work underneath the car. The car had 5mm rubber piping as standard, due to the higher compression pump i decided to go with a 6mm steel pipe from front to back. i bought a 4m and 2m length of steel piping and 1m of 6.5mm rubber piping for joints and places where steel could not be used.

Starting at the back at the tank, we had to use a 50cm length of rubber piping out from behind the tank to the underbody of the car, due to space contraints it would have been near impossible to use a steel line as there would have to be many complex bends. A trick i used was to use the origonal rubber piping which had now gone hard as a template and bent the steel pipe according to it using a pipe bender and by hand.

Once the back section was madeup it fitted straight into the origonal mounting brackets, sectioned rubber piping was used to stop the piping from rubbing onto the body and getting worn out. Only the back section was premade off the car, as the front half had to be fed through a hole in the chassis section and bending the pipe would have made it impossible to feed the lenght of piping through.

The front half of the piping was hand bent while fitted to the car, it was real though work as space was limited but eventually we got the pipe moulded to run alog the chassis leg along the crossmember and into the engine bay. Once the engine is the rest of the fuel lines will be bent to meet with the fuel pump and carb.

> Rotted : Early LHD Karmann Ghia

2010-03-20T17:11:00.000+02:00

So in an effort to bring you more content i have added a new section to the blog, ROTTED. Basically im going to post up pictures of old/classic cars in durban that have rotted down to the ground to an irrepairable state.

First up to kick of this new section I am starting with one of my friends dads cars, an early model VW karmann ghia left hand drive. The car had been parked off in the vacant plot next to their house since the early 90s and has declined to this condition.

> Project : Painting the engine

2010-03-14T20:14:00.003+02:00

So now that all the other bits on the car were painted and polished, the last major thing that had to be done was to paint the engine. Due to not having a engine jack, i had been delaying it, but we had to push forward to get it done. We chained the engine to a steel pipe and levered it between a railing and a steel table to get it off the ground. First off the engine was cleaned using a spray gun filled with degreaser and parafin. The stuborn dirt was removed using a wire brush and a chisel. Alot of the old paint flaked off.

I choose US ford blue for the block, the cheaper heat resistant paints are a lighter blue. Funny enough i found that the engine had been sprayed the origonal burgundy metallic that the car was when i got it. After the engine was clean off the degreaser it was dried using the blower attachement on the compressor, which also removed all the remaining dirt. Parts that where not to be sprayed where masked off and then i sprayed 2 coats of the ford blue heat resistant paint.

Keeping with the theme, other parts where sprayed in matt black and primer grey to tie in with the other engine components. A new thermostat was also fitted.

Next weekend i will hopefully do the fuel lines and put the motor in.

> Project : Slowly coming together

2010-03-08T18:03:00.012+02:00

So now that the undercarriage was done, and what a back breaking and messy job it was, now attention was turned to the finer exterior details. Started out by fitting the chrome bullet mirrors, unlike older mirrors, these new replicas are mounted from the rear so i had to have the very difficult task of mounting the bolts from the inside of the door.

Next went on the set of reverse lights that i sourced from Port Shepstone, these are very hard to find as loose spares.

Unfortunately we misplaced the good set of weather strips and chrome beading that goes with it, so had to make do and use another pair i had spare, the clips that hold them are very strong and can easily cause the beading to bend when fitting and removing.

After many phone calls i finally found someone who would install windows on old cars, the price was good and the guy was mobile so it worked well in my favour.

Due to only Universal rubbers being available, it was abit of work putting them in, buy a slight trimming of the rubber and the front and back glass went in like stock.

The temporary set of rims where starting to look very boring, so i finally got the tires swapped over onto the ensures, and after a few hours the wheels were mounted on the car.....

Center caps were impossible to source so i had to improvise.

Things where finally starting to look up, the car was coming together nicely, beading mounting holes where drilled and trim clamps where fitted.

The side beading were mounted with gutter bolts as there are no universal clips available for these old fords.

The fuel tank has also been fitted and work will begin on the custom 6mm steel fuel lines before the engine goes in.

> Car Scene : CHATSWORTH MOTOR SHOW 2010

2010-02-28T22:41:00.027+02:00

So you guys have voted and now you shall recieve what you asked for. This weekend i took some time away from the capri to attend a car show i listed under my upcoming events section around Durban, the 1st of many in future.

The chatsworth motor show was organised by Max motorsport and the guys behind the Durban Car Shows group on facebook, and was held at Chatsworth Center. Given the current weather we been having, this Sundays weather turned out to be ideal carshow conditions, few clouds, slight breeze and sunny; which resulted in healthy crowds of people who took a break from month end shopping.

There were a few tents, including an SPL tent and lots of interesting show and shine cars, which of course drew my attention. Crusing around i found that the range of cars attending the show was rather broad, and not limited to just modified cars.

50s Ford Prefect in Pristine Condidion

This 54 Riley was extensively restored the level of detail was exceptional

Lotus 7 Kit with a Black top 20v engine and screaming set of throttle bodies

CLK 500 with a sublime Rockford Fosgate sound setup.

65 Cortina GT, mulitple show winnner

66 Cortina GT with a V6 conversion and Weber Triple carb setup

MK3 Zodiac with a 351 V8!!

A very origonal 74 Valiant

Good to see some Euro Style MK1 golfs entering the scene, and move the bar finally!

Surfboard on the Roof, this is durban anyway.

30S Cortinas are still very popular at Durban Shows

XR6 TT????

Closer inspection showed an Alpine intake and twin turbos running off the 3L v6.

This custom mix paintjob in fact inspired my color choice on my Capri project.

An extremely large early 70s Ford Montego, the size of this car is not practical on our roads.

A very well exacuted twincam engine swop into a pristine Ford Anglia

Another common sight at durban shows has been this mazda RX2 capella, with a 13B brigdeport.

A sole AC cobra with an Edelbrock V8, built by G&S engineering.

One of my friends Escort RS2000, very rare and hard to come by.

Ford Power Grid: Escort RS2000, G&S engineering Capri V8 and Cobra

After milling around for a few hours i decided to call it a day and on my way out i caught site of this very neat upcountry escort 1600 sport. I never stay for prize giving, so i do not know which cars won the prizes, but im sure from the pics you can have an idea.

i hope you guys enjoyed this durban car scene article, there will be more in the near future....

> Project : The undercarriage

2010-02-23T23:28:00.003+02:00

So now that the car is back and the body has been done, my attention was turned to the undercarriage.

There was no rust underneath, but it needed a good painting.

Sitting at the panelbeaters the diff and springs picked up alot of surface rust.

I started off by rubbing the flatter surfaces with a medium sand paper and used wire brush on the hard to reach places. the diff was sprayed in matt black high heat paint after all the rust was removed.

After the rear setup was cleaned and sprayed, i used bakkie bin liner (BTC3) on the undercarriage, it bonds welland stays hard. (see pics below to see how it turned out)
moving from back to front the next thing that had to be pulled off was the complete front supsension for a clean and refurb. the easiest way was to unbolt the stabliser bar at the front mounting pionts and then remove the rack ends and remove the steering rack.then the crossmember was removed after the tie-rod ends where unbolted from the strut.

The steering rack before and after.

Crossmember with stabliser bar still attached.

Once everthing was removed i masked off the engine bay to neaten it up as the panelbeater did not do a great job on the lower areas.

The steering rack was refitted to the crossmember and the whole unit was then refitted to the body, was abit of a mission as you have to get the steering shaft in first before you can start tightening the crossmember in place

Pic from below, you can see the undercarriage painted in bakkie liner at the back

Reattached the tie-rod ends and rack ends to the struts

Door tops cleaned an masked to be sprayed in black

I tested fitted some rims to check shock clearance - 13" RS ronal 6.5J

And the rims the car came with - 13" Ensures 8J

The brakepads where also changed and then we refitted the front lights and took it out the garage after a long time.

> Project : Putting it back together

2010-02-17T22:25:00.001+02:00

Now the car has been delivered the real work begins putting it all back together.

Front bumper stipped down rust removed, mounts and rear sprayed,straightened it abit and refitted.

Rear bumper fitted and rear and mounts sprayed and refitted. I also fitted rear lights, cleaned the housing, which had rubberiser on it, and painted the mountings grey.

bonnet clips fitted.

bonnet stand painted, modified grommet fitted and trimmed mounting for clearance.

Door locks cleaned(again) and refitted, bolts sprayed black, fitted rubber door spacers and hole covers

Repsrayed door catch(again) and sprayed bolts black.

I also repsrayed the boot lock and hand polished the boot catch and refitted, forgot to take a pic though

To do list -
repaint inside

Get the damn panelbeater to spray these

> Project : Painting the capri

2010-02-17T22:16:00.001+02:00

Finally we getting somewhere - final top coat!
So anyway i bought the pearl metallic basecaot and clearcoat, used Chemspec basecoat - Juipter Red Rock (Jaguar color) and Standox clear....finally in January 2010

After painting the car was left out in the sun to dry and let the paint cure.

I brought the car home last week, already got started with a few things, will take more pics and post updates soon.

> Project : Body Prep

2010-02-17T21:49:00.001+02:00

Given the amout of work it would take to spray the car i sent it to a panelbeater, took abit of a chance, the guy was small time but long story short, panelbeaters are full of nonsense.

The car sat there from september till january and there was endless running around on my side. well next project i think id rather go to a big panelshop and get ripped off .....

Heres some prep pics...taken in november

The problem with the driver side door was that the driver side had a slight ding and the b pillar was pushed in slightly, this was pushed out about 5mms using a power jack, now everything is 100 percent

Grey primer over MS primer onto which the basecoat will be sprayed...pics where taken around December.

Reverse light openings where cut out, you would never guess the whole rear panel was replaced!

> Project : Week 22

2010-02-17T21:11:00.001+02:00

So now the engine was out work started on the drive train. painted the gearbox and mounting

I hand polished the radiator top and bottom, started with paint stripper, then different grits of sand paper, then finished of with cutting compound and a polishing attachment on a handdrill. needs abit of a clean and another polish, before it goes on.

Propshaft was painted in matt black

> Project : Week 21

2010-02-17T20:56:00.001+02:00

The battery will be moved to the boot, so i bought a neat new new battery box, which will house the battery in the boot and prevent battery acid from spilling in the boot.

The car came with a modified fan and no coweling, bought a visous fan of a V6 bakkie and a 1600 sport coweling, from my friend akash who deals with used Ford spares.

Started paintstripping DONT EVER DO THIS!!! this was a big mistake a made, at the coast it will ruin the body within hours as rust will set in!

Tons of paint and tons of filler this was starting to look like a real mess

The right hand side door was a headache fitting, little did i know what was the problem......

> Project : Week 20

2010-02-17T20:49:00.001+02:00

More engine parts geting ripped out...

Managed to borrow an engine hoist to take the engine and box out, took 3 people to take it out. 1st start by removing the Prop-Shaft. 2nd remove the engine and gear box pipes and cables from the drive train to the body. 3rd undo the gearbox mounting and engine mounting slightly. 4th attach the engine to the hoist, 5th remove mountings completely once engine is held up by the hoist. 6th jack engine out of bay, be careful not to damage the body.

so no pics unfortunately, only got pics of the engine and and empty engine bay.

huge linkage box

look how much of space in that engine bay!

> Project : Week 18 - 19

2010-02-17T20:39:00.001+02:00

Now lets look abit at the suspension, needs cleaning and new rubbers.

Now to the engine bay...mountings need replacing, paint peeling on the mountings, note engine sitting to the left.

Since im doing the whole body, time to take the engine out.... i suggest remove all the smaller componets first before removing the block so to not damage them.

High flow bowl petrol pump

> Project : Week 17

2010-02-17T20:36:00.002+02:00

Front arches, what can we do here...i really liked the RS capri arches so lets see if we can make a fiberglass replica. i put the ensures on to ensure the archs and wheels lined up nicely.

Put down some polystrene, and hand shaped it to look similar to the capri RS arches, put fiberglass and resin over and removed the polystrene when dry. will post some better pics once i rub and finish off with some filler to get a better finish.

> Project : Week 15 - 16

2010-02-17T20:31:00.001+02:00

Ok back to the interior....all the rubberiser was removed,floorpan rust fixed and stonechip painted on.

Now for the boot..

Removed the tank and gave it a rub down and recoat, it had some rubberiser on it aswell

The fuel cap was covered in paint, used paint stripper and a scrapper and look ooo shiny

> Project : Week 12 - 14

2010-02-17T20:19:00.001+02:00

Fitted a rust free doors i source from richmond, the front fender was grinded and painted with some etching primer for time being.

And sourced the rear panel from a 1600GT, took alot of work the car had a small back smash, the original panel was flat instead of curved, and the reverse lights were removed.
BEFORE

The 1600 panel had no reverse light cut outs so these will be done at a later stage. the rear panel was cut in 2 pieces where the boot floor joins the panel and welded on to the car.
AFTER

> Project : Week 9 - 11

2010-02-17T20:10:00.001+02:00

Interior bits where packed away safely in the basement

After grinding down the driver side doorpost with a brass drill wire brush attachment a few rust holes appeared, so driver fender was removed and a new post skin was moulded

Dont have many of the pics of fixing driver post, but have some pics of the passenger fender repair, i used piece of an origonal smashed front fender to weld over the open space, the fender had a lower panel pressed out u the guy never do the proper job of closing everything up.

Also picked up toyota liftback seats, looks close to high back seats, paid R150 for the pair, they need a recover. rear arches were ground down, they where flaired in metal so will leave them.

> Project : Week 8

2010-02-17T20:00:00.001+02:00

Areas for concern....

> Project : Week 5 - 7

2010-02-17T19:49:00.001+02:00

Now for a full rebuild the car would have to be stripped of all components, so the mamoth task begins, first the heavy rusty doors removed are removed

And next the bonnet. The front panel had some filler, that was lifting. Under the filler the panel was dented for some reason on both sides!

Getting back to the rubberiser...it had to go! the long task of scrapping it off

> Project : Week 4

2010-02-17T19:36:00.001+02:00

Rust and rear parcel shelf fixed with fiberglass

Painted over with stonechip

New shiny air filter,

Stripped some engine part and hand polished a few bits where possible using 1200 sandpaper and polishing compound.

Repainted the manifolds

Things were looking bad, i would have to strip and do a major rebuild, so heres the last few pictures before the car gets ripped apart.

> Project : Week 3

2010-02-11T22:14:00.001+02:00

dashboard still looks good

fan and dashboard totally removed.

> Project : Week 2

2010-02-11T21:58:00.002+02:00

Ok, following week got rid of the hockenheims, swopped them and a grand for these.....high polished RS ronals with 205/60/13s, bought a set of custom wheelnuts but are currently being used on my dads escort until the capri is done.

Hey look...rust - a durban favourite!

Pulled out the backboard and seats and found 6x9 holes! who needs 6x9s when u have a 3ltr v6 with cams and a flow? i see some rubberiser

Pulled out the carpets, had a funny smell! rubberiser as far as the eye can see!

> Project : Week 1

2010-02-11T21:30:00.002+02:00

And so begins the stripping down of the capri...

these where the original lights that where put onto the car, colt something or the other....

took off the ensures and gave them a wash

swopped out the smaller air filter for a larger chrome one

took of the 15" inch hockenhiems and transplated them where the ensures used to be, looks horrible, to far inside the fenders!

decided to clean the windows, and look what happend the fell off!

these where originally opening type windows that were stuck using window glue, the catchs are missing, so will need to source new fixed windows as cannot source the catches, these windows were sold to a guy in port elizabeth rebuilding a perena.

> Project : Plan of action

2010-02-10T22:14:00.003+02:00

So the car paid for and is at home now, i can give it a through look and formulate a plan of action.

hmm, looks nice part from the fender

Flared rear arches - dont know if i can live with these or not, will need 215/50/13 at least to fill those babies,big rust hole aswell!

The Ensure rims need some work, 215/50/13 on the front looks abit too wide

Interior....hmm looks nice. look at the backboard...fiberglass and 100% condition, most other backboards are shot, will make a mould of this soon!

Mazda 323 seats upfront, spilt at the rear, very good condition, but front seats dont look right and the rails are shot

Very suspect rear panel, abit to flat, bootlid has a gap at the center, will have to change the whole damn thing!

Underneath still looks clean.

Leaky gearbox seal

Previous repair work, looks like had some rust on the firewall

So it looks like a fair bit amount of work to be done, so i guess im going to have to start taking it apart, and start my first project build!

> Project : In the begining...

2010-02-10T21:31:00.001+02:00

So let me tell you abit about me, i am a 20 something year old car nut from Durban. I have finally decided to go head first and get a project car. Growing up i remember the Ford Capri as being the number 1 car for tuning and modding in the 80's, when car modding was still small in sunny Durbs.

So in April 2009 after much consideration i narrowed my choices for a project car down to a Ford Escort RS2000 or a Ford Capri V6, the RS2000 is almost impossible to find. So i went with the Capri, i found the below car thru a family friend whose friend was selling it as an abandoned project.

The car is a 1972 Ford Capri 3000GT XL spec, it still had the original drivetrain, but needed alot of work, it also came with the highly sought after Ensure 8J 13inch rims. For R18K, the car was running and licenced (barely). There was visible rust in many places, and half baked body repairs. The car also had a newly done interior and the engine was worked, but needed a tune up.

I finally settled on the car and the saterday i was supposed to pick it up the timing was off, so we had to take it home the sunday. Needless to say sunday my dad drove it home, only to find we had 1 wheel braking and we also got flagged down by a guy who wanted to buy it.

Anyway enough with the intro i will soon post up my plans for the car.....