Thanks Wiggy, yes the slapper is one of the most useful pieces of kit when beating.
"Death by a thousand hammer blows", I like that!
I’ve got two. One a flat from super cheap. The other a shrink slapper that cost an arm and leg but looks like a file. I did a course at Mellomotive in Gosford if you know about it. That was an eye opener but was slapping a panel or two before then.
Will like to see how this one turns out.
That's funny Wiggy, I did a night school course at the local tafe, week 1 they told us to go buy a new flat file and bring it following week. Next week we heated the bejesus out of it, bending it into a long 'S'', instant flapper file thing.
The week after that we stretched a massive volcanoe shape in a panel steel frame using an English wheel, then learnt to heat shrink and panel slap it back flat using the new file tool thingo.
The best tool, flattens and the file indent helps shrink. I use it more than a panel hammer most of the time.
Sorry to hyjack I did the Melomotive Coarse that travels Oz. We did many things in three days but most rewarding was making a vintage motor bike wheel mud guard. Convex and concave which had to be precise to a template using the English wheel and plastic mallet and shot bag finished off with metal banding the edges. Also tig welding panels together with a .6mm mig wire. Rewarding.
Are the Melomotive courses ok for beginners, or do you need some previous experience / training?
They are it was a Birthday present from my best half. Setup for everybody but I might have been the elephant in the room.
Bent file works as a slapper for me.
On smaller areas I also run over the surface with it to check progress as well, larger areas need the body file for this though.
It's been a while since and update however during December and January I don't get much time in the garage.
I had a meeting with an engineer in November about modifications I want to make to the Capri including increasing the track as I want to use Cologne arches, due to the limitations we have with track increase the only option is to fit a complete suspension from another vehicle that was manufactured with a wider track.
I had been thinking this may be the case and thought a Nissan Silvia may be the easiest option so had been keeping an eye out for a suitable donor. This one came up and has been "Garden Art" for about the last 12 months.
Now I had confirmation from the engineer I would have to go down this route, many measurements of the S13 were taken and the suspension removed with the rest being sold on, much to the delight of my other half, (I thought she liked "art").
I was a bit surprised how easy it is to get rid of S13 parts including the shell.
I also kept the S13 rear suspension "just in case", although I plan to use a Borg Warner diff.
Then in December a damaged S type Jag with a fairly low mileage Ford V6 Duratec engine came up at Pickles auctions nearby, so that became resident on my front lawn however I have a buyer for the rest of the car so removed the engine last week.
The Duratec engines look a bit of a mess so will be a challenge to make it work, pass engineering and look nice, however seeing as the Capri will never be original and after driving other classics with a modern engine it's the way I want to go.
So not much has been done directly on the Capri in the last couple of months however, I have some parts to work with and now to make it all fit!
A comparison between the Capri and Silvia cross members shows the height between the ground and mounting face to be higher on the Silvia by 45mm. The lower TCA mounting point measurements are within mm of the Capri's dimensions.
So the plan has been to strip the mountings off the Silvia cross member and lower the top section so the car will sit low enough, and make a new plates to mount onto the Capri mounting points. I forgot to take a picture of the lowered cross member only one of it stripped.
Why the Sylvia crossmember Blue74. Is it for power steering or something similar. Will you need engineering with it?
Yes Wiggy, all the mods will need engineering. The main reason for the Silvia suspension is to increase the track as I plan to use Cologne arches. The standard Capri track can't be widened legally by more than 25mm overall so the wider Silvia suspension will widen the track sufficiently however I will have to choose wheels wisely to suit the Capri era. Nothing worse than a car that looks like a Hot Wheels car! Any wheel ideas would be appreciated.
Power steering Ford 5 stud pattern and a lower scrub radius is a follow on benefit of the conversion also.
The front cross member is now tacked in place and I have started on mounting brackets for the caster rods mount. They look a bit agricultural at the moment however as they progress I will neaten them up.
I endevour to use the Capri's existing mounting points for these also. Although I like mods I plan to have the whole suspension conversion reversible if someone decides to down the track.
Now the suspension is mocked up it's time to put some wheels on and get it on the ground to check the wheel alignment and tyre to guard alignment (thanks spud for giving me some dimensions to start from), before fully welding everything.
Wheel alignment came up OK however would like a bit more caster. the Silvia's have about 6° I have 2 - 3°. I will get some adjustable strut tops should sort this out. Although the Capri only has about 1°.
Width wise came up pretty good, now to align the used Cologne arches on poor fitting fiber glass guards., will be fun.
I didn't want to cut up the original steel guards and would prefer to bond similar materials where possible. I don't have any choice for the rear though.
Awesome work. Where are the guards from?