suspension question

The-Ry-Man06

Im still tickin away at the capri and of course still havnt got round to the most annoying part the rear suspension. Ive more or less scraped the idea of replaceing the whole rear axle with a 2.8 special (sheer lazyness of sorting the new drive ratio). 2 of the leafs in the rear suspension are broken and its really starting to get on my nerves and i dont just want to replace them imo the leaf system is ****e. should i fork out 500e for brand new suspension kit?http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m14b0s3726p0
I could really do with some advise. cheers

245

if those coilovers replace the rear spring then it seems like an ideal time to do it. That's assuming that the rest of the car is good and that you're planning to keep it for a while.

The cost of getting a replacement spring shipped over from the UK would have to be taken into account if you're planning to stick to the original setup and source it there.

ianobrien

The-Ry-Man06 wrote: »

Im still tickin away at the capri and of course still havnt got round to the most annoying part the rear suspension. Ive more or less scraped the idea of replaceing the whole rear axle with a 2.8 special (sheer lazyness of sorting the new drive ratio). 2 of the leafs in the rear suspension are broken and its really starting to get on my nerves and i dont just want to replace them imo the leaf system is ****e. should i fork out 500e for brand new suspension kit?http://www.camskill.co.uk/products.php?plid=m14b0s3726p0
I could really do with some advise. cheers

I'd enquire are they just shocks, or are they full coil-overs. I'd imagine that they are just shocks.

There is a number of problems with going down the coil-over route on a Capri.

First is axle location if you loose the leaf springs. The leaf springs, as well as being springs, also hold the rear axle in place. Loose the leaf, and you'll have to 5 link the rear axle. The problem is that Escort link kits will not work and there is no "proper" link boxes on the market. The next stop would be to get in touch with a specialist motorsport chassis engineering company to get the link boxes in the Capri. Also, I believe the fuel tank would have to move as well, meaning into the boot, meaning plumbing, firewalls, etc..

Second is that the existing top shock mount may not be strong enough to take the shock load of the coil-over (at the moment, it's shared between the spring & shock). That means new turrets, which is again a specialist job, and may result in you loosing your back seat.

The current Capri set-up (leaf springs and shocks) can handle massive power, including yank V8's (with a change to a Mustang axle). If it was me, I'd be looking at new springs. new superflex bushings, Capri Club "A" link kit and Billstein shocks. That's recommended to be the ideal budget set-up. And as you're dropping the whole rear axle to sort this, it makes the 2.8 special swap much easier.

For a list of specialist Capri part suppliers (and loads of advice), get a copy of either Classic Ford or Retro Ford, and have a look at their lists of suppliers

carchaeologist

ianobrien wrote: »

The current Capri set-up (leaf springs and shocks) can handle massive power, including yank V8's (with a change to a Mustang axle). If it was me, I'd be looking at new springs. new superflex bushings, Capri Club "A" link kit and Billstein shocks. That's recommended to be the ideal budget set-up. And as you're dropping the whole rear axle to sort this, it makes the 2.8 special swap much easier.

Listen to this man,he speaks sense,if you have broken leaves on the rear the car will be all over the place,mine was with only one broken spring.if i was you i would put on single leaves from a 2.8,A bars and superflex as has been said,you will see a huge difference.Its all Diy stuff too if you are anyway handy with a soket set,the only awkward part being the front bolts for the leaf springs,but with a bit of ingenuity you can get over this.

ianobrien

By the way, why are you swapping to 2.8 special axle? The 2.0 & 1.6 axle has a higher diff ratio (I'm not sure of the exact ratios off the top of my head), meaning that the 2.0 & 1.6 axle would have faster acceleration compared to the 2.8 axle. Granted the top speed will suffer, but after all, the speed limits stop that fun.

I'm assuming that you're after the limo from the 2.8 axle. For a little bit more than the price of a good 2.8 axle with a re-built diff, I'd get a new Tran-X or Quaife diff and stuff it into the current axle.

All Mk3 Capri's came with an Atlas axle, so the 1.6 axle will still handle the power of a 2.8 special axle. I think the mk2 Capri had either Atlas or Koln axles, and the mk1 had axles of different widths (and were baby atlas or English), and the mk3 axle is too wide for the mk1

mustang68

The Mustang had rear leaves, (4 leaf) they were sagging and one was about two inchs lower then the other, I upgraded to 5 leaf and harder shocks. Differerent car, its now great to drive, great handling.

As was said before be careful about coil over shock, that would mount where the shock was, and a shock takes none of that cars weight, so the mounting points would be too weak.

The-Ry-Man06

cheers for the advise lads, exactly what i needed. Thats more or less put me off the coil overs didnt imagine that much hassle. If i can find a set of good condition single leaf springs from a 2.8 ill go down that route with the superflex. Ill probably leave the axle as it is and sort the diff at a later stage.