1983 Mercury Capri

RS Hatchback

5.0L 8 Cylinder Gasoline Fuel

Manual

1MEBP79FXDF610221

Clear

Gasoline

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE 83 Capri RS 5.0 (.30 over) w/91 Mustang powertrain / T-5 Once-great car in need of a good home. “Please save me from the crusher!” Short Story If you are looking for a project car to restore, or a parts car, keep reading. This car is not running, not drivable, and will need to be towed away. It’s an ’83 Mercury Capri RS 5.0 HO with the powertrain of a ’91 Mustang (T-5). Car was running last summer; it is no longer running this summer because it’s mad at me. The engine will turn by hand, but it burned out the starter this summer and won’t crank on its own anymore. Long Story If you’re still reading then I’d suppose you know what you’re getting into; it’s good to know there are still people out there who like to turn a wrench and get their hands dirty! Why am I selling this car? Because I love it too much to let it sit out back and deteriorate for another year. I just ain’t gonna be able to do something with it in a timely manner, and I don’t have an inside storage area to keep it in until I get around to restoring it (again). So I want someone who digs Capris to man-up, take care of it, and give it a better life. Let’s take a walk down through the history of this car. I am the 3rd owner, here’s the history as it has been passed down to me. 1983 – The year it was born. 1986 – The year of its first fender-bender. Motor pulled, left fender and bumper cover replaced, parked in a garage for the next 8 years. 1994 – The year I bought and rebuilt the powertrain of the car, registered plates and signed the title in ’95. 1999 – The last year it was driven regularly. 2000 to 2003 – Parked on my asphalt driveway with a very expensive car cover. 2004 – Parked on blocks in the yard behind my Dad’s garage. 2005 to 2011 – Still on blocks behind Dad’s garage, expensive car cover has seen better days, car sits outside without a blankie :( The car looks the same today as the day I bought it – with the yellow front cover and grey fender. I bought it in ’94 and rebuilt everything mechanically through the fall/winter of ’94, I still have a pile of receipts for a bunch of the parts you're welcome to peruse. I drove the heck out of this car during the summers from ’95 – ’99. In 1999 I was in a severe motorcycle accident that amputated my right leg… well… it’s a manual transmission which is rather difficult to drive with one-leg. So the car was parked while I went through physical rehabilitation over following four years. I thought long and hard about converting it to an AOD or even a C-4 automatic transmission, but you know, life happens, house, kid, job, etc. I never drove it in the winter as the tires would break loose if the pavement was barely wet, she couldn’t handle any snow. I never got around to painting the body, I rather liked the way it looked because it was a sleeper and nobody had any clue as to what sort of muscle was under the hood, fun stuff at stop lights and merge lanes :) Mechanical / Powertrain Details As you can see it’s got the sexy curves of a Capri, but a combination of various Fox chassis Mustang parts powering it. The car ran last summer, we started it up every few months from 2000 to 2010, mostly just to annoy the neighbors who already think we’re hillbillies anyhow :) You will need a tow truck. I got one-leg, neither myself, my 56 year old parents, or my 5 year old daughter are going to be able to help you get this out of the back yard. I can supervise and say “hey watch out for that ficus!” but that’s about it; u-buy-it / u-haul-it! 5.0 HO Block – Bored .30 over, the block itself is out of an ’84 Capri RS. I bought this ’83 with no engine, and then I bought an ’84 parts car to strip the motor out of. In ’94 the engine block, heads, cam, bearings, etc. were all properly machined and rebuilt or new where applicable; valve stem seals, springs, etc. So the car has 115,000 miles on it, but the engine and powertrain have only the 60,000 miles I put on them. Carburetor – it’s got a 2 barrel carburetor from some random small block Ford, who knows, it was from a u-pull-it yard, it fit, and it was what I could afford at the time. Heads – the heads and headers are out of a ’91 Mustang. Camshaft – Duration 268/268, Lift .456/.456. Competition Cams brand, purchased new from Summit Racing in’94, this was the biggest camshaft I could get at the time that would fit the stock valve clearance, this cam would just fit and boy did it have a sweet idle. This camshaft model is still for sale at Summit – part number CCA-31-218-2, and I still have the warranty card with specs and firing order. T-5 Transmission – Heck yeah, it’s a T-5 out of a ’91 Mustang, ‘nuff said. Rear End / Gearbox – 7.5” / stock, I was told this was a 7.5” gear box out of an ’82 Black Magic, I can neither confirm or deny that, you’d have to check the stamping numbers yourself to verify. But you’re going to put an 8.8” in it anyhow right? :) That should cover it on the powertrain details. It’s got the dual exhaust from a ’91 Mustang too, all I had to do was change the trans cross-member and those pipes fit like a glove, but they’re probably in need of replacement by now. And what year Mustang are those turbine rims off of… ’87 – ’88 maybe? So what's really wrong with it? Engine NOT running – it ran last summer, it doesn't run this summer, when it did run last it had a rod knock, it’s going to need at least a bottom-end rebuild unless you have a desire to reenact the last few minutes of the Blues Brothers chase scene in an '83 Capri. Quarter Panel Dent – There’s a dent in the right quarter panel from when I backed in to the wife's T-Bird in ‘96. It’s not rusty, not creased, and can be easily repaired by a competent body shop. Hood – is from an ’84 Capri Turbo (that scoop looks sweet don’t it!), so says the hood sticker anyhow. NO Radiator – I had a 3-core in it, but sold it last year. Gas Lines – are clogged, last summer we had to run it off of a gas can under the hood, intravenous style baby! Window Motor – on the passenger side is dead. Electrical System – Unknown, it worked last year, this year it don’t, no dash lights or anything. Could be a blown fuse, could be a bad ground, this car will probably sell for a few hundred bucks so I’m not messing around to figure out what the electrical problem is. Interior Trim – is dusty and dingy, pretty much what you’d expect from a car that’s been sitting behind a garage for the past 7 years. Trim panels are all there, etc, but the interior will need to be cleaned/restored. Brakes are shot – It will still roll, but the brakes are not working, well… maybe like one rear drum brake is working. Bumper Cover – shot/no good. That yellow plastic cover is just pitted and won't take paint. But wait, there’s more! – I’ll throw in an EXTRA bumper cover! What? Yep, I’ve got a cover in my basement off an ’83 Capri that will bolt right on. Rust? – superficial surface rust. The floorboards are solid, body is solid. It’s not like an Arizona desert free-from-rust sort of shape, but it’s not some rusted out old tuna scooner either. Pictures The nicer looking photos were taken in 2008 when the car was cleaned up. It has since seen a few winters without a car cover and is getting rather grungy so I’ve included current photos that were taken last week where you can see the dirt piling up, and there’s a plastic bag over the passenger window to keep the weather out because of the blown window motor. So that is what it looks like today. Please Ask Questions If you are serious about this car – come over to the house and have a look-see, it’s in Batavia, IL. Or feel free to ask whatever questions you may have before bidding. Look man… this auction will probably close for a few hundred bucks, the T-5 alone is worth the starting price. I’m happy to crawl under the car and take macro close-up photos of the rear coil springs if that’s the kind of thing you're into, and if it’ll bring a few extra bucks for the car. If for some reason it doesn't even get the starting bid price amount for the car then it won't be relisted - I’d rather just take it to the crusher and get a couple hundred for its weight in scrap metal. Thank you for your interest, this is a sweet car that just needs a little TLC. You know you want it! On Jun-22-11 at 07:57:25 PDT, seller added the following information: Added 6/22: A few things came to mind that I wanted to add: Coil springs - I put lower Ford Motorsport springs on the rear end in the summer of '98, I never got around to putting the front springs on. I still have the fronts, new, and will toss them in with the car. Air Cleaner - I've also got the dual snorkel air cleaner (not pictured), that will be included with the car.On Jun-24-11 at 06:29:06 PDT, seller added the following information: Auction may close early: The interest in this car has been quite surprising to me. I was planning to let the auction run through until it closes on Sunday, going to the highest bidder of course. However, I've had 2 offers outside of eBay from interested third parties. So this is just a fair notice that I am reserving the right to close this auction early should I decide to accept an offer outside of eBay. Thank you,--Tony