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[john1959]

hello. new to the forum, when i was selling cars many years ago, i found i really liked Capri convertibles. they just made sense, front drive , rear seat , hard top. great real-world stuff. well, i finally picked one up , and we really like it. we found a 93 base with 70000 miles. it was in an unheated shed ruined top, no coolant, gas tank full of rust and at least 15 year-old tires. did the mechanical stuff and it runs like a champ. next challenge is the suspension. when we drive, it shakes and quivers on small bumps, dash, doors and windows rattle and the body rolls in turns. i will be replacing the struts front and rear..... so after all that , the question; should i just replace anything rubber i find in the suspension or are there certain components that cause more trouble than others or should i just replace the struts and see how it drives and go from there.  thanks for the help

[mitch1204]

When you buy the struts, mounts and boots it's just a few dollars more to buy the ball joints, control arm bushings and tie rod ends. I also bought after market trailing arms for the rear. I'm about to change my wheel bearings and seals.

The way I look at is parts are getting thin. Get it while the getting is still good. Plus I want to know what I have before I go investing $400 for the tires. Any sitting which many of these cars done is hard on the rubber. Rubber is meant to flex to stay healthy. When it sits it dry rots on you. Usually you are good to about 100k but under the circumstances I would thoroughly go through it.

The same goes with all your coolant hoses. Like you I put a whole new fuel system on just to have a little bypass hose go to leaking. A couple miles from the house I pushed it too far and warped the head. Now I have a new cooling system, gasket set and head over an eight dollar bypass hose. Pay close attention to the little bypass hose under the distributor from hard pipe to thermostat. That one and the one on the IAC to intake gave me problems. Needless to say I have all new rubber under the hood. Moral of the story is few dollars can save you hundreds. On the bright side I was questioning the head gasket. I don't have to worry about that stuff for awhile.

[john1959]

thanks. i was thinking that while i had the car up and the struts out it would be a good time to just dive in and get it done.

about the cooling system , this is the first car i have bought that has set for an extended time.

 when i bought it last year it seemed to be all ok with a change of fluids and fresh gas and a new top.

then after i started driving it again this spring it really needed some attention.  all the rust in the fuel tank fell out with the new gas , the exhaust system started coming apart, rubber hoses and bushings started showing their age. tires dry rot.


it seems that there are a whole different category of challenges that come with putting an inactive car back on the road.

that's one reason i didn't mind the top being ruined, it was just simply put a new top on right away. (which was , happily , pretty easy)

[greywolf27030]

Wow, mine had been outside for a few years, has 150K and would seem to be in much better shape.  The suspension went up a couple of inches after removing about 300 lbs. of pine needles.  I do need rubber replaced in the supension, but other than that, it is really tight and the alignment was spot on.  Just lucky I guess.  So far have done much of what you mentioned, but didn't find the little bypass hose or the one from IAC.  I also did a new alternator, water pump, oil pump, timing belt, fuel pump, fuel filter and accessory belts.  Gonna have to check that bypass hose out.  Got some really wild high speed idle symptoms that I haven't checked into yet.  Love the forum.

Jack Byrd

[john1959]

now my Capri and i can bond in the garage this winter. music and weather reports from the keys to keep us warm. (thanks, i heart radio)  simple problems that can be solved with a hammer. inexpensive parts that i can understand what they are and how they work. and a lot of fun next summer in a awesome little ride. sounds pretty good to me.

and i am old enough to still appreciate all the great help and experience that is available for free on this forum. internet is great for this . all the tech info and parts were never this available at any price. really thanks

also, i have to buy pine scent for the car. you got 300 lbs for free,   nice
 

[kupasoh]

John,
Let me know what you find.  I have a 91 n/a Capri with 53000 on it. I have replaced the front struts due to leaking, new tires and wheels, and alignment.  I still get the same kind of shake you referred to when going over rough patches.

My next move is to check mounts, just have not had the time.

Lou

[mitch1204]

I was getting a roaring sound out of my rear tires like it had off-road tires on it. One tire was visually bad which started me on the suspension. After buying new tires I still had that knobby tire roar. So after pulling the rotors I found the inner bearings were shot. They had just a dab of grease on them is probably why they wore prematurely as I know they were replacements. One side was made in China while the other side had Timken bearings. New bearings and she is quiet again.

New problem today I noticed a shake after all these new parts and money??? Turns out one of my ball joint bolts was stripped. I knew I torque them and they were fine when I installed them in August. It turns out Driveworks sells cheap bolts with their products. They have many negative reviews about their bolts. Come to think about it this is my second Driveworks bolt mishap. So I went down to Ace Hardware and bought some 8.8 case hardened fine thread M12 bolts. That should take care of my shake. I'll post in a day or two. Something to be aware of. I know I should of bought Moogs. The $6.50 I had to pay for each bolt set would have more than played for it. ☺