Capri Strut Swap

[mark won]

Gday All, Brand New To The Mk1 Scene, This Forum Seemed Like A Good Buncha Guys And I Thought Someone May Be Able To Clear Up A Few Things For Me, I Am Currently Restoring A 65 2 Door, With A View To It Mainly Being Used As A "club Rego'd" Supersprint/ Tarmac Rally Car. Anyway My Prob Is My Front End Is In Dire Need Of Some Work And Some Pommy Mags Swear A V6 Capri Strut Is A Bolt In Affair, Is This Correct? Can Some One Please Point Me In The Right Direction As A Set Are Available To Me And I Do Not Want To Miss Them If They Can Be Used. Is It A Worth While Exercise Or Are One Of The Coil Over Kits Described In A Previous Post A Better Proposition? Can Anyone Explain The Benefits Of A Coil Over Kit Over A Normal Set Up: Say Koni's/ Good Springs Etc, Sorry To Bombard You Guys With Questions In My First Post But Ive Been Told A Lot Of Different Things And Im Sure Some One Here Knows Which Way To Go............thanks Mark.

[jewels]

hi mark won and welcome :)

the capri front strut is not a 'bolt straight in' option

capris use a front steer arragment and mk1 cortina are rear

from memory i think that a capri is a shorter strut as well

so to fit you would have to change a lot of other things as well with it

[mark won]

might look at one of your coil over kits you were describing to one of the other members. can you tell me more about them, benefits, cost etc? mark

[geoff]

mark won welcome,
will let you know about
front end stuff soon as
i discuss with jewels.:) P

[mark won]

Much Apreciated Geoff. If Someone Could Explain How Coil Overs Work And The Advantages Over A Traditional Set Up, I Would Be Forever Greatful................mark "ignorant" Won !

P.s While I'm On The Bludge, Does Anyone Know Of A Bolt-on 4 Spot Brake Package That Will Fit Inside A Set Of 13" Rims ? I Know Eurospeed In Victoria Do A Volvo Conversion Ready To Bolt Up To A Mk2 Escort For $895

Something Similar For A Mk1 Cortina Would Be Excellent !

[jewels]

in this thread HERE (http://www.cortina-mk1classifieds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=285)
there is one from hoppers
and also smcka performance HERE (http://www.smckaperformance.com.au/)

[hellblue]

As said, they dont just bolt in,We have a company here that make's a bolt in kit,or its a lot of work !! If you like they can be made to work with the Mk1s top mounts though they dont just bolt up either !!
Here's a couple of pics of a capri suspension going into my Mk1 at the mo....
http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u217/hellblue/24v%20mk2/LPG%20mk1/STA60037.jpg

http://i169.photobucket.com/albums/u217/hellblue/24v%20mk2/LPG%20mk1/STA60033.jpg

[Dr Danger]

Errr, the Hoppers kit need 15 inch wheels, not 13's.

I may very soon have a set of Volvo 4 pot calipers plus all the gear to mount them to a Mk1 Cortina for sale. Reconditioned calipers, plus all the spacers (calipers and hubs), plus vented rotors and whatever else I've forgoten.

[jewels]

That Will Fit Inside A Set Of 13" Rims ?
sorry i missed that :)

[mark won]

Thanks For The Reply Hell Blue, Looks Like Yours Will Be Well Set Up With The Rack & Pinion, What Running Gear Will You Be Using In It?

Unfortunately For Us Here In Oz, Except For Jewells & Geoff There Aren't Many Companies Specialising In Mk1 Stuff, Unlike You Lucky Poms Who Seem To Have A Fabrication Shop On Every Corner Dealing Exclusively In Small Ford Stuff!..............uuhhhhhhhhh..if Only I Could Put Up With The Warm Beer!!!!!!!!!

Anyway Looks Like A Coil Over Set Up For Me.

[mark won]

Would Be Very Interested In Your 4 Spot Set Up Doctor! How Soon And How Much?????????????

[mark won]

Gday Geoff

[hellblue]

Thanks For The Reply Hell Blue, Looks Like Yours Will Be Well Set Up With The Rack & Pinion, What Running Gear Will You Be Using In It?

Unfortunately For Us Here In Oz, Except For Jewells & Geoff There Aren't Many Companies Specialising In Mk1 Stuff, Unlike You Lucky Poms Who Seem To Have A Fabrication Shop On Every Corner Dealing Exclusively In Small Ford Stuff!..............uuhhhhhhhhh..if Only I Could Put Up With The Warm Beer!!!!!!!!!

Anyway Looks Like A Coil Over Set Up For Me.

Pinto, 5 speed & baby atlas (for the ratio i want)
Yes we do have a few companies over here ! A lot deal with escorts, flash the cash & you can get any thing done !! I though like to do it myself & HAVE TO
As for the warm beer !!! i have just come in cos its bloody cold outside !! still it's only nearly May

[Dr Danger]

Depends on how soon you are after it Mark? As for $$$$, I'd have to have a think. At the rate things are going, $100,0000 sounds about right? That's eBay prices of course. :) Discount for friends of this site...
This is still subject to a final decision but I am fairly certain the current setup will go eventually.

[mark won]

I Know What You Mean Hellblue, I Prefer To Do As Much As I Can Myself. Nothin More Satisfying Than Knocking Off A Second Or Two At A Circuit After Being Up Till 3am That Morning Workin On Your Pride & Joy.

My Fabrication Skills Are Limited (improving), But I Do All Of My Own Mechanical/body/paint.

I Dont Fancy Scraping Snow Off My Car At 5.00am On Race Day Though!

[mark won]

Ha Ha, Hundred Large Maybe A Little Steep For Me Doctor, But There's No Hurry Mate, Would Appreciate A Line When Your Ready To Go Though.

[geoff]

hi mark won
good to hear
from you.:)

[geoff]

its the old saying,
doctors know how
to charge. i wonder
if that was an hour
visit,the dr quoted
you on.my advice
take 2 asprin and
call dr back in the
morning .:) :)

[mark won]

Yes Geoff, All Doctors Certainly Know How To Charge , Ha Ha

At Least Dr Danger Has To Type Here Otherwise We May Not Decipher His Handwriting!

Glad To Be Among A Good Group With The Same Interest's Geoff, Thank You!

[demo2]

You can use capri struts with Mk1 escort crossmember and steering as i have, a bit of mucking around but i did it.

[mark won]

Sounds Interesting Demo

So You Use Rack And Pinion Steering?

How Much Muckin Exactly? Lol

[Dr Danger]

The problem in Australia is that a good engineer will not sign off on Mk1 Escort steering or some Capri/Escort cross because it seriously compromises (alters, changes, buggers) the original geometry of the car. It can introduce all sorts of things like bump steer, poor turning circle and the like. AS YET, noone here has come up with the soultion, BUT, there are a couple of independent people currently doing so via different methods. Both people I can think of are on this forum.

[demo2]

Offset topmounts to get the camber back( the strut comes through offset to the centre of the car to bring the leg in) then u need adjustable tca's to kick the strut out at the bottom. This then gets the camber back to original, crossmember needs some alterations where it bolts to the chassis rail or drill the chassis rail and put tubes in it 2 stop the rail collapsing when being bolted down, but altering the crossmember is easier by along way. Old ford auto services in the uk surply the whole kit 2 do it but i had allready done mine b4 i knew they did a kit. i run a couple more dergree's negative camber than original. If you want 2 alter the castor u need 2 extend the thread on the anti roll bar as old ford auto's do but mine seems ok as standard.
Good thing about doing my car in the uk is u dont need engineers reports etc, when i bought it over here they couldnt say i couldnt drive it here! WA is so hard 2 get mods passed, he told me if i put my engine in an australian cortina it wouldnt be allowed on the road because of the power 2 weight ratio.
www.mk1cortinav8.co.uk (http://www.mk1cortinav8.co.uk) for pics etc
cheers
Paul

[hellblue]

This is old ford auto services site....
http://www.oldfordautos.co.uk/phdi/p1.nsf/supppages/oldford?opendocument&part=6

[jewels]

hellblue, i will include that in our business listings area :)

demo2, you have a very nice mk1 for sure and its a credit to you for bringing out and taking it to our authorities.

on the escort conversion there are other things our vass engineer wont like besides whats mentioned in geometry

is the altering or
making of adjustable LCA lower control arms

they will defiantly frown on this if produced for inspection

a member here 'aeroz' has approached this a different way

very clever and fine machining work has been undertaken

go HERE (http://www.cortina-mk1classifieds.com/forum/showthread.php?t=253) for the thread on his conversion

[demo2]

The tca's were made by old ford auto services as was the link that goes between the steering column and the rack, ( thats basically a 20mm - 25mm bit of hex bar that the uj's can be made adjustable length by cutting the bar down to size and then tighten the uj up. You can buy all the kit or just single items.
Thanks for the comments jewel, out of curiosity how does value of a car go like this in oz, i mean if i wanted 2 sell it, where do u start lol?

[hellblue]

Just looked at aeros's tca's, nice job too, but if you can get away with that why cant you fit capri front suspensions ect ?? we should not weld suspension/steering components over here but hell we DO !! most car builders/companies do it ! ie the adjustable tca
The capri front suspension will fit in both the MK1 & Mk2 cortina's using the stock tca's even though the capri is wider, it will give a touch wider track but can be fitted to give the same camber / caster ect the car was made with ?
We have an SVA test over here but most people do what they like if the car has a registration, the Kit car & inport cars use it cos they have to register the new cars, I did here that your cars can get taken off the road for good if you have done mods like this ?? I think we have got it easy over here !
What can & cant you do to your cars ??

[Dr Danger]

I think this has been taken the wrong way. It's not that we can't do these mods. Of course we can bolt Capri/Escort stuff in and chop things up and so on. BUT (and this is a big BUT), if we were to get dragged over the pits (I.E. a proper inspection from our authorities, which happens alot with older/modified cars), we would get seriously rodgered up the behind if they found anything like what you guys are mentioning. It may have all been okay >5 years ago, but there are new rules now and the consequesces of not adhearing to the rules are pretty dire. It sounds well and good simply to get some adjustable TCA's made but it's not as easy as that - which is why not more people here go down that path. Things have to be crack tested, x-rayed, welding certificates produced blah blah blah, all on top of the original cost which is high because noone will do it for you in the first place...

Then there is the issue of insurance if things go pear shaped while you are hooning around in a car with illegal mods. The list goes on and on and on and on...

We can't put a list of things that we can/can't do up here Hellblue because the list would be 10000 posts long. There is no point anyway because different states have (sometimes totally) different rules and regulations as to what you can/can't do anyway and besides, they come out with new rules and regulations every couple of years anyway.

It's almost not worth modifying cars. Which is exactly what 'they' want. So what we do modify has to be done properly.

[jewels]

as dr danger said above and even different engineers can like and dislike different things

it just depends on the individual