Onto the chromework on my Hooper Consul Capri...
The actual condition of the chrome wasn't too bad really, well, certainly much better than the rest of the car anyway! The Hooper had all the same chrome as the standard Consul Capri with the exception of the five star bar on the front grill and the chrome trim around the rear didn't had the aluminium panel within it.
Instead of the five star bar on the front grill there was a straight chrome bar. However, when I got my Hooper, the original Hooper grill bar had been replaced with a standard five star bar. This didn't actually bother me at the time because I thought the five stars looked rather good and appeared to float in the middle of the grill.
My Hooper had some extra chrome trim, I'm not sure if they were optional extras for the Consul Capri or extras from Hoopers or somewhere else as I've never seen any like it before or since.
These included a chrome trim that runs around the front edge of the bonnet. If you look closely at the pictures, you can see it. I'm sure this wasn't a one off trim as it has been made in a cast and comprises three peices that fit together in the corners.
And my favourite of all is the chrome tips that fit over the rear wings. You can see them in the rear shots of the capri. These may well have been one off pieces as they have been made from flat pieces of metal and moulded into the rear wing shape. The workmanship on these tips is great as they really do fit perfectly. Again, I've never seem another Capri with these fitted nor any other Hoopers although I've only ever seem a few Hoopers myself.
Another one was an additional five star strip on the rear panel. The five starts were fitted diagonally onto a piece of metal that was screwed to the rear panel where the aluminium panel would have been on the standard Consul Capri. Again, I have no idea as to the origins of this extra but it certainly did look good. It can't be seem in any of the pictures as I never refitted it after the restoration work and I'm not sure why that was(I have a terrible memory).
The gear stick was also chrome which was a nice touch for the interior. Not sure if the standard Consul Capri has a chrome gear stick or not?
That's about it for the chrome. I'll talk about the Hooper modifications next...
I'm not very good at this blogging lark so it may be a while before the next post.
The actual condition of the chrome wasn't too bad really, well, certainly much better than the rest of the car anyway! The Hooper had all the same chrome as the standard Consul Capri with the exception of the five star bar on the front grill and the chrome trim around the rear didn't had the aluminium panel within it.
Instead of the five star bar on the front grill there was a straight chrome bar. However, when I got my Hooper, the original Hooper grill bar had been replaced with a standard five star bar. This didn't actually bother me at the time because I thought the five stars looked rather good and appeared to float in the middle of the grill.
My Hooper had some extra chrome trim, I'm not sure if they were optional extras for the Consul Capri or extras from Hoopers or somewhere else as I've never seen any like it before or since.
These included a chrome trim that runs around the front edge of the bonnet. If you look closely at the pictures, you can see it. I'm sure this wasn't a one off trim as it has been made in a cast and comprises three peices that fit together in the corners.
And my favourite of all is the chrome tips that fit over the rear wings. You can see them in the rear shots of the capri. These may well have been one off pieces as they have been made from flat pieces of metal and moulded into the rear wing shape. The workmanship on these tips is great as they really do fit perfectly. Again, I've never seem another Capri with these fitted nor any other Hoopers although I've only ever seem a few Hoopers myself.
Another one was an additional five star strip on the rear panel. The five starts were fitted diagonally onto a piece of metal that was screwed to the rear panel where the aluminium panel would have been on the standard Consul Capri. Again, I have no idea as to the origins of this extra but it certainly did look good. It can't be seem in any of the pictures as I never refitted it after the restoration work and I'm not sure why that was(I have a terrible memory).
The gear stick was also chrome which was a nice touch for the interior. Not sure if the standard Consul Capri has a chrome gear stick or not?
That's about it for the chrome. I'll talk about the Hooper modifications next...
I'm not very good at this blogging lark so it may be a while before the next post.
These are my favourite pictures of the Hooper Capri just after it had been restored. I used to drive it everywhere around Brighton. Back in those days you could drive along the beach and park up on the concrete. I think that area has been turned into a basketball court now or something like that and the West Pier has burnt down into a lump of twisted rusty metal.
And this rear shot is great showing the chrome tips on the fins, a feature I've never seen on any other Consul Capri or Hooper Consul Capri. Not sure they were original or not but they are really well made and look fantastic! The Hooper badge is a reproduction one that I painted in a slightly lighter metalic blue. I stil have the original badges in the garage but they have a couple of small chips in them and don't look quite so good.
And this rear shot is great showing the chrome tips on the fins, a feature I've never seen on any other Consul Capri or Hooper Consul Capri. Not sure they were original or not but they are really well made and look fantastic! The Hooper badge is a reproduction one that I painted in a slightly lighter metalic blue. I stil have the original badges in the garage but they have a couple of small chips in them and don't look quite so good.
02/10: Some more pictures at last!
I dug these pictures out the other day and scanned them into the computer.(They were taken before the days of digital cameras!).
I took these pictures of the capri on Brighton seafront after I had finished the restoration work.
You can tell these are old pictures because the fair ground seen in the background of the rear shot of the Hooper no longer exists and has been replaced with a large redevelopment including restaurants, an arcade and Burger King.
I took these pictures of the capri on Brighton seafront after I had finished the restoration work.
You can tell these are old pictures because the fair ground seen in the background of the rear shot of the Hooper no longer exists and has been replaced with a large redevelopment including restaurants, an arcade and Burger King.
Well I took the Capri for it's MOT after doing most of the work I thought it needed...
I'm certainly out of touch with these old cars as the failure sheet through up a few surprises.
About a year ago, I'd stripped down the brakes and cleaned them all and thought they were all fine but they failed in almost every way possible!
So I decided to bite the bullet and just replace the lot. I got some new brake calipers for a mkII Excort and fitted them to the front with some new pads. I also got some new rear wheel cylinders and fitted those making the best braking system this car has ever had!
A few other bits and bobs like indicator bulb, idler arm bush, washers and the list was done.
Best of all, I took the Hooper Consul Capri back for it's retest and it passed! I couldn't believe it when the garage phoned me and handed over the MOT certificate, I thought this day would never come...
All I need now is some sunshine to take the car out for a drive after all this time.
I'm certainly out of touch with these old cars as the failure sheet through up a few surprises.
About a year ago, I'd stripped down the brakes and cleaned them all and thought they were all fine but they failed in almost every way possible!
So I decided to bite the bullet and just replace the lot. I got some new brake calipers for a mkII Excort and fitted them to the front with some new pads. I also got some new rear wheel cylinders and fitted those making the best braking system this car has ever had!
A few other bits and bobs like indicator bulb, idler arm bush, washers and the list was done.
Best of all, I took the Hooper Consul Capri back for it's retest and it passed! I couldn't believe it when the garage phoned me and handed over the MOT certificate, I thought this day would never come...
All I need now is some sunshine to take the car out for a drive after all this time.
26/05: MOT day getting closer...
Well I finally got round to doing a bit more work on the Consul Capri today.
Initially I was going to fit the last remaining bumper bolt that I picked up from the nut and bolts store a few weeks ago. After reversing the car out of the garage and getting all the tools ready, I discovered that the bracket that the bolt actually attaches to isn't there any more!
I must have removed it when cleaning up the underside and never refitted it. I spend a while searching through the boot for it but to no avail. I did however come across a few other parts that I'd forgotten I ever had. To mention just a few...
Another job on my list was to add some sealant to the manifold gasket as although the gasket was fitted new a few months ago and done up tight enough, it was still bubbling when the engine got hot.
So I added the sealant but never got time to take it for a spin to see if it fixed the problem as baby Jessica was waking from her afternoon sleep and I needed to get her up and play on the slide, etc.
Initially I was going to fit the last remaining bumper bolt that I picked up from the nut and bolts store a few weeks ago. After reversing the car out of the garage and getting all the tools ready, I discovered that the bracket that the bolt actually attaches to isn't there any more!
I must have removed it when cleaning up the underside and never refitted it. I spend a while searching through the boot for it but to no avail. I did however come across a few other parts that I'd forgotten I ever had. To mention just a few...
- A Geoff Howe hot road camshaft. - I bought this about 18 years ago to fit into my old Ford Anglia but never got round to fitting it. - It'll be one for ebay when I get round to it.
- A brand new and never used chrome trim that fits onto the number petrol plate flap.
- A bunch of randon Ford five star badges.
Another job on my list was to add some sealant to the manifold gasket as although the gasket was fitted new a few months ago and done up tight enough, it was still bubbling when the engine got hot.
So I added the sealant but never got time to take it for a spin to see if it fixed the problem as baby Jessica was waking from her afternoon sleep and I needed to get her up and play on the slide, etc.
So onto the electrics in my new Hooper Consul Capri... To cut a long story short, nothing worked.
I bought a new battery and fitted it but still nothing worked, and when I saw nothing, I really mean nothing! It was clear that the capri needed to be almost completely rewired. As my Consul Capri had been retrimmed by Hoopers, it had some extra electrics over the standard Consul Capri that rolled out of the Ford factory.
The extras included:
Well that was just a brief description of the electrics, I'll talk later about how I got them all working again but next I'll be talking about the chromework on the Capri.
I bought a new battery and fitted it but still nothing worked, and when I saw nothing, I really mean nothing! It was clear that the capri needed to be almost completely rewired. As my Consul Capri had been retrimmed by Hoopers, it had some extra electrics over the standard Consul Capri that rolled out of the Ford factory.
The extras included:
- A light in the glovebox
- A light under the front parcel shelf
- Reversing lights
- A boot light
- And my favourite, but most daunting of all, electric front windows
Well that was just a brief description of the electrics, I'll talk later about how I got them all working again but next I'll be talking about the chromework on the Capri.
I finally scanned some of my early pictures. Here is a front view of the Hooper soon after getting it home and into the garage. Notice the five star bar in the front grill. This was added in place of the original Hooper chrome bar at some point in the past.
And the Hooper interior with its cream leather buckets seats with maroon piping. The door cards were also covered in leather with a small strip of carpet section along the bottom. Also notice the considerably different dash board. The original Ford dials were replaced by Hoopers with a walnut panel housing the round smiths guages and other switches. I'll talk about the Hooper modifications in a future post here.
Well looking back on these pictures now, the capri looks pretty good but believe me, it was all looks. Wait til you see some of the later pictures when I started stripping it down...
And the Hooper interior with its cream leather buckets seats with maroon piping. The door cards were also covered in leather with a small strip of carpet section along the bottom. Also notice the considerably different dash board. The original Ford dials were replaced by Hoopers with a walnut panel housing the round smiths guages and other switches. I'll talk about the Hooper modifications in a future post here.
Well looking back on these pictures now, the capri looks pretty good but believe me, it was all looks. Wait til you see some of the later pictures when I started stripping it down...
27/02: Pictures coming soon
I'll get round to adding some pictures soon. They'll be following the story of the car so the first pictures will be when I first took delivery of the Capri with further pictures being added as the story unfolds.
27/02: The bodywork (or lack of it)
And onto the bodywork...
I'm not sure where to start really. At first glance the Hoopers bodywork looked OK, just a bit dull really. The lower I looked however, the worse the bodywork got until I got down on my knees and bravely looked underneath(gulp). There was very little of the original Ford chassis left to talk about. The floor pan looked reasonably OK on the other hand - as if it mattered.
All the usual areas on the bodywork had been affected by rust, namely:
And those are just the usual areas on these Consul Capris to go rusty, my Hooper was not only hit hard in these areas by rust but also other less common areas, pretty much the whole of the rest of the car really!
Next time I'll be talking about the electrics, I'm sure you can guess what the general gist will be!
I'm not sure where to start really. At first glance the Hoopers bodywork looked OK, just a bit dull really. The lower I looked however, the worse the bodywork got until I got down on my knees and bravely looked underneath(gulp). There was very little of the original Ford chassis left to talk about. The floor pan looked reasonably OK on the other hand - as if it mattered.
All the usual areas on the bodywork had been affected by rust, namely:
- The headlamp surrounds
- The front tips of the front wings
- The bottom edge of the front wings
- The front corners of the bonnet
- The bottoms of the doors
- Above the sill infront of the rear wheel arches
- Behind the rear wheelarches
- The rear valance
- Corners of the boot lid
And those are just the usual areas on these Consul Capris to go rusty, my Hooper was not only hit hard in these areas by rust but also other less common areas, pretty much the whole of the rest of the car really!
Next time I'll be talking about the electrics, I'm sure you can guess what the general gist will be!
So I finally owner the Hooper Capri but what do I do with it and how can I get it working again? The first thing I did was get in and fiddle around with everything I could find.
Well that didn't last long as although there were plenty of buttons and dials, none of them actually did anything, despite connecting a brand new battery!
So what had I actually bought, apart from a good looking wreck?
I'll start with the mechanicals:
There was no life what so ever from the engine or starter motor. The engine was actually a later Ford cross flow 1600 GT engine, it didn't look healthy and I'm sure that if it actually ran it probably wouldn't have sounded healthy either.
Both the brake and clutch pedal were as floppy as piece of celery that had been lost in the bottom of the fridge for a week. And the brakes themselves were semi seized so pushing this monster of a car was virtually impossible, even more so as all the tyres were flat and bold.
The exhaust system reached as far as the end of the four branch manifold. The rest of it had turned into a long pile of rusty dust many years before.
That was about it in terms of the mechanical condition of this once loved consul capri. Next I'll be remembering the bodywork condition, it will be a long one...
Well that didn't last long as although there were plenty of buttons and dials, none of them actually did anything, despite connecting a brand new battery!
So what had I actually bought, apart from a good looking wreck?
I'll start with the mechanicals:
There was no life what so ever from the engine or starter motor. The engine was actually a later Ford cross flow 1600 GT engine, it didn't look healthy and I'm sure that if it actually ran it probably wouldn't have sounded healthy either.
Both the brake and clutch pedal were as floppy as piece of celery that had been lost in the bottom of the fridge for a week. And the brakes themselves were semi seized so pushing this monster of a car was virtually impossible, even more so as all the tyres were flat and bold.
The exhaust system reached as far as the end of the four branch manifold. The rest of it had turned into a long pile of rusty dust many years before.
That was about it in terms of the mechanical condition of this once loved consul capri. Next I'll be remembering the bodywork condition, it will be a long one...
