Hi,
A friend is considering buying a 2.8 Capri as a bit of a laugh.
Has anyone on the board got Capri ownership under their belt?
I would be grateful for any technical advice on common faults, etc, to look for when viewing potential cars.
Cheers
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The 2.8i had a fairly predictable fault which would cause it to end up facing the wrong way in the middle of the road when driven hard ;)
Joking aside though, I've never owned one, but I hear from people who have that you can get some real enjoyment out of them as long as you treat them with a bit of respect! :)
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i owned a couple of capris a 3000s and a 2.8i the 2.8 in particular was quite a serious bit of kit in the early eighties, top end about 130mph, 0-60 under 8 secs and, considering its primitive suspension design even for the period fords rod mansfield and his team did a pretty good job on the handling side of things, this along with the smooth fuel injected cologne engine gave you a lot of car for the money at the time, and you would still i think find a good one lots of fun to drive even twenty years on
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I had a Capri for 16years, and had a lot of pleasure from owning it. It was the most reliable car I've ever owned, and when I scrapped it (very sad!) had covered 255,000 miles on the original engine, gearbox, back axle, well, original everything, really, except for the things that wear out on all cars like brake components, tyres, exhausts, batteries and cambelts. Oh, and I had the clutch changed just once. I have to say that nothing ever went seriously wrong with it.
I would imagine the biggest problem that one would find on a Capri today would be RUST! The very newest ones are now 16 years old, and rust can be hidden in some fairly inaccessible places, like the "A" frames. You would literally have to cut the car apart to fix it successfully.
The 2.8i engine has a fibre distributor drive cog which can break without any warning. I think the replacement is nylon, that is, if the job hasn't already been done.
I can't think of anything else that's all that serious. They are so simple in design that almost anything can be fixed.
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If you're looking at a 2.8i and hear a grinding noise coming from the back axle on tight turns, it's almost certainly from the LSD with the wrong lubricant still in it -- courtesy of Ford on first manufacture. Before replacing the whole back axle -- as I was suckered into doing by a Ford main dealer -- change the lubricant to the correct one and see what happens. When the car was still under warranty, the dealers lost their hearing and Ford didn't want to know -- no doubt because they had received so many complaints that they decided to tough it out.
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There must be plenty of std. axles out there;3.09 from the 3.0/2.8 and 3.22 from the 2.3(germany) and 3.44 from the 2.0(v6/ohc).
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I owned a 2.0 twin choke a few years ago and loved the car,I only sold it because with a young family it was very hard to get babies into the rear seats (2 door)
When i got the car both rear springs (leaf) were snapped and had to be replaced and there was a fair bit of rust underneath.
If you get one im sure you will enjoy it,just looking over the big bonnet is a pleasure.
My mate had a ford mustang and tried to teach his wife to drive in that,but it was way to powerful so he sold it and got a 2.8 capri instead for her to learn in,he said it was like driving a pedal car in comparison,the mustang was i think 5 litre (you cant please everyone)
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Look for rust in the following places :
Along front edge of bonnet
Around headlamps
Front of door frames
Inside the petrol flap (if it still has one)
Front valance
Lip of tailgate
Sills at rear wheel arch
The doors also drop on their pins but other than that great cars.
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I had a Capri 2.8 injection special a few years ago . Paid a lot for it as it was a pretty good car in condition . The things to look out for are rust !!! big issue with the Capri , panels are still available through specialists but be prepaired to have a very deep pocket !££££ .
The Capri we had we used to go to Fordfair and the usual classic car shows , the limited slip diff did have a terrible grating noise when turning .....but dont replace it unless its very very noisey , go to a Ford dealership parts department and ask for "Sturaco" its an oil additive especially made for the limited slip diff. I got mine from an "RS" ford dealership, but the oil additive had to come from germany , fairly expensive stuff to if i remember correctly......!
If you can get hold of some , whatever you do "DONT" smell it !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! as it absolutally stinks !!!!!!! But it certainly worked........no noise at all after putting it in the diff.
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The other car to consider is the XR4i. This had the 2.8i engine and gearbox from the Capri, but was the Sierra equivilent.
Charles, my long standing friend and fellow backroomer used to have one and was very pleased with it, so I understand.
If your mate has two options it will make it easier for him to find a good 2.8i Ford.
Oh, and you mustn't forget the Xr4x4i, the 4WD answer. I think they made them up to 1988 or so, but I will probably be corrected in good time...
Any one of these would be a good car to have.
H
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