A man possessed ... or how a Capri named Carla took over my life ...
Submitted by Speedbird on Fri, 28/11/2008 - 8:50pm.
in
Team 50degreesNorth
A Ford Capri to Mongolia ... and back ... how hard can it be?
My last post described how I came to be possessed by a 1980 Ford Capri Ghia with an auto ‘box and a 2.0 litre Ford OHC ‘Pinto’ engine. I say possessed deliberately and with feeling. Followers of the story so far will have noted my impulsive and reckless purchase of ‘the car you always promised yourself’ and read how I described her as flirty, almost thirty, and very definitely dirty. I wrote that the Force was strong with this car. Nothing since has proven otherwise. She sits now on my drive a little cleaner; and somewhat chastened by the wrinkles and pock marks that show her age. All her camouflage has been removed. Her dark shades - gone; the killer heels - gone. The tinted quarter window film, smoked indicator units and black headlight shields have all been stripped away and the oh so pretty but oh so impractical RS3100 alloys have all come off. And yet she still draws all who see her to pause, sigh and remember another time, another place. Or indeed, Another Girl, Another Planet. She still has the power; the Force is still so very strong in her. She has occupied my life for more than a year now and since the decision to attempt The Official Mongolia Charity Rally in her, she has kept me busy night and day. Yet she still has not run more than a few miles! I have become a man possessed indeed!
I have become possessed by a fury of red oxide and a hurricane of Hammerite as I wage war on rust. Possessed by the need to strip, clean and repaint every nut, bolt, washer, screw, body part and panel. I have refurbished, repaired or replaced just about every conceivable fixture, fitting and fixing (and some inconceivable!) that I could turn a spanner or driver to. I have improved parts and destroyed parts. I have made some things better and others I have made worse. Still I go on ... it has proven to be an addiction, an obsession, a possession of the highest order.An early example of this frenzied activity manifested itself in the refurbishment of the entire nose section:
uh oh.small.JPG "'Kurust' on...")
'Kurust' on... 
then 'Magic' happens.small.JPG "silver Hammerite applied")
silver Hammerite applied
This almost epic transformation from rusty brown to shiny silver was achieved after much wire brushing and rubbing back. 'Kurust' was applied to chemically stabilise the surface rust. Red oxide paint as a primer was quickly followed by a liberal application of Hammerite Smooth Silver, first by brush and then by spray can to finish. The end result justified the means: it is now clean, tidy & stabilised. It won't last forever, but it will certainly last until Mongolia!
Once the shell was sorted, it was then necessary to look at the components ...
(By the way, for what it is worth as a warning to others: I only removed the near side headlight unit to replace a cracked lens ... but that is how most of this project happened ... one thing just led to another.... you have been warned!)
It is very easy to get carried away ... it went something like this ....
The broken headlight ...
the back of the headlight unit
Replacement headlight
Stripped, cleaned & repainted
I even colour coded the covers!
Back on and working ....
replace the broken headlight unit casing
Clean up the grill & badge
and reassemble with new fixings
The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is have already gone over.... Soon she will be ready to run free again, to run like the wind ... all the way to borders of Mongolia and back ... but for now, the rally preparation continues ...
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More blogs from this team
Date | Message | ||
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 days 5 hours ago | Don't worry, the night is warm, the beer is cold & the sheep are safe. Will resume my rally to Mongolia via all of England (& now Wales) tomorrow! Night all xxx | 0 | |
| 2 days 6 hours ago | In true random rally style I accidently visited Wales today whilst heading to County Durham via Cheltenham & Liverpool. Now wild camping on the Severn Estuary x | 1 | |
| 3 days 8 hours ago | "N-LA 915 V Norm, Larry, Andy, 9-15 victory... we got 13 green Capri2Mongolia .... in 38 days in London we'll be back UB done Russia gone 915 split 24 ways ... 38 Jack! thirteen in a row ... thirteen in a row ... low and slow ... We are good to go... 13 in row................. let's go!"
the god of numbers is smiling Speedy-B
| 0 | |
| 4 days 4 hours ago |
| 0 | |
| 4 days 4 hours ago | Re: Shed Monsters have been stirring...
| 0 | |
| 1 week 2 days ago | Ha.. sleep is forr losaz, lol. Fed and washed, now wide awake again. Prob | 1 | |
| 1 week 2 days ago | Car is really close to driveable, the interior is resembling an interior again. We are going with Rally look (stripped out, wires visible etc.. above the window line, and Grey velour recaro "sports saloon" below. lol. Loads of extra switches (with illuminated tips - I can get "missile style" flip up covers (red) but didn't feel the extra £3.99 per switch fully justified. There will be a "go baby go" button, but mood I'm in it will set the alarm off, then lock you in ;) | 0 | |
| 1 week 6 days ago | Fathers day! I ignored the whole thing and escaped to the garage from 9 this morning till just now (10.30pm) read more »Lots done, windscreen changed, some more interior fitted, roof bars and rack tried out, dash fitted, radio fitted. Looking for a good place to put the inverter, given that river crossings were mentioned - how high is the water likely to get? | 0 | |
| 2 weeks 14 hours ago | The Just Giving charity donation site is undergoing some technical glitch this morning. Give it a couple hours. Hopefully it will be back on-line and running soon. PLEASE come back to make your donations. All funds go directly to the charities. None to us. If you'd like to donate to the Team, please email us to become a sponsor. We could certainly use fuel money, food money, and lodging money. All of that is coming from our pockets in order to make the charity pledging aspect go forth. But all the same, please donate to the charities, soon as the glitch is fixed later today. Thanks, Norm | 0 | |
| 2 weeks 5 days ago | Aw, Speedbird Andeh, relax, my friend. Breathe, inhale. A cleansing breath. Now listen, you're a brave lad. This concept is your nutty idea. I'm the one who was circumspect, and dragged some additional expertise into the web: Larry and Scary. We're both quite fortunate to benefit from their enthusiasm and skills. Now then, you've done a lot of brave things and some foolish ones too, and some that are both. I too. But think of Larry! He's along with stage rally drivers in the passenger seat, with an open face helmet, and a packet of route instructions and a computer below the front windshield. No wheels to turn or shifter to grab or brakes to stab for Larry! Complete faith in the intentions and preparedness of his cohort(s). read more » | 0 |
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