The Dodge Challenger Message Board

This is my Ford Capri MK3 2.0 pinto

I bought this when I was 15 and gave it a full bare-shell restoration.
Im 19 now (yes it took me a while) and love driving around in it.

It has 2.0 pinto engine with cam upgrade, four branch manifold.
Uprated suspension
New paintjob
better brakes etc etc etc.

Yes I used to like the Capris a lot when I was your sort of age. Always wanted a Mk1 or 2 myself. The Ford 302 engine drops straight in you know? Just needs a sump swap for a truck version. There used to be conversion kits to fit a chevy small block too.

Me and my Dad have rebuilt a few 2.0 Pinto engines. Mostly in Cortinas. I liked the 1600 crossflow better though. I had a hot cammed 1600 in my Mk2 Escort Ghia. Flying machine that was. Got me into loads of trouble.

This was late 70s and early 80s mind you. Before you were even born!

So what year is that car? looks to be a fine machine,

and a young gun to boot

The Mk3s were made from 77-86 and by the registration number on that one it must be one of the last 86 models.

dave-r wrote:Yes I used to like the Capris a lot when I was your sort of age. Always wanted a Mk1 or 2 myself. The Ford 302 engine drops straight in you know? Just needs a sump swap for a truck version. There used to be conversion kits to fit a chevy small block too.

Me and my Dad have rebuilt a few 2.0 Pinto engines. Mostly in Cortinas. I liked the 1600 crossflow better though. I had a hot cammed 1600 in my Mk2 Escort Ghia. Flying machine that was. Got me into loads of trouble.

This was late 70s and early 80s mind you. Before you were even born!

Damn,,yer an OLD MAN

dave-r wrote:The Mk3s were made from 77-86 and by the registration number on that one it must be one of the last 86 models.

So they made a few of them with some different body styles over the years I would assume? i would like to see more pix please of your car Benmay100

Cool Capri! Congrats on having it done!
I had two MK3's as my first cars, not brave enough to go for V8's from the beginning Mine were German 2,8 version and the coolest bang for the bucks.

yea i like capri,s to you see a few pirahna,s from time to time at car shows but most are fakes with 302 winsors in them but hey a small car like that would be a hell of a lot of fun with a v8 in it
cheers ian

The origonal Mk1 was my favorite to be honest. The 302 V8 was deemed too big for the UK market so the biggest engine offered was the 3.0 V6.
Still a lot of engine for a small car though.
It was the closest thing to a "Pony Car" ever offered in the UK.

I'm certain the Capri was marketed in North America as a Mercury Capri some time in the 70's, I assume it must have had the 3 litre V6 otherwise Americans would'nt have bothered to buy it.
My wife had a couple of 'em, her last one was an '85 2.0S model, 5 speed, white with black graphics, was her pride and joy till I swapped it for a '78 Trans Am
Perfect car to practice driving sideways

I have a copy of Hot Rod magazine with an article on fitting the 302 to the Mercury Capri.

The only type initially available used the British 1600-cc Kent crossflow, with a starting price less than US$2300. The 2.0-L OHC I4 was introduced for the 1971 model year. The '71 2.0-liter Capris are particularly desirable, since they have a 9.0:1 compression ratio (which was reduced to 8.2:1 in 1972). The 2.6-L "Cologne" V6 was introduced late in the 1972 model year.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mercury_Capri

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ford_Capri

Thanks for the comments guys

yep it is an 86' model

not quite as fast as a V8, but the four cylinder pinto sounds REALLY nice

will put some more pics up

More pics of the capri!

very neat & tidy looks great
cheers ian

Yea that,s a nice looking car , nice place,and great pix

Ditto on what Drew said! Had a buddy, back in the day, that had a 302 in one of those. That car was nuts!

That would make for one spunky car Pat
I love the "specials" that small automotive engineering companys used to put out, stuff like Savage Cortina's, Black Prince Victor's,Tickford Capri's, they were our British answer to your Yenko, Baldwin-Motion, Mr.Norm type street racers, who else remembers that stuff

Savage Cortina was on my most wanted list in my late teens.

I had an uncle who was a circuit racer in the 60's and mid 70's, mainly open wheel stuff, he had Jeff Uren convert his 68 Mk2 estate to Savage spec, was a proper sleeper, screw most any British car at the lights
It was wonderful riding in cars like that when you were a kid

Would it have been faster than my Dad's Reliant Supervan?