1985 David Robinson Capri 2.8i – Restoration

Having recently retired, I was looking for something to keep me occupied during the dark winter months. After looking at several cars on Ebay I came across this Capri on Mathewson’s auction site (Bangers and Cash) in April 25.

I bid online and was the winning bidder at £3700, which came out at just over £4000 with charges.
The attraction of this Capri was that it has fairly sound bodywork and had been dry stored for a number of years. The interior was in good condition and the car seemed quite complete. Down side was there was very little paperwork or history with it.

I borrowed a friends recovery truck and brought it back to my home.

After a quick washdown, I had a good look around the car and found it to be exactly as Mathewson’s had described it – the major rust was on the O/S inner wing and wing rails. The missing pieces of side trim were in the boot along with a spare set of door cards and spare front grill. The only thing missing I could see at first glance was the parcel shelf but no doubt I will come across other shortages as I get into the project.

I have not tried to start the car, just checked the oil level and turned the engine over by hand to make sure it was not seized.

I joined Kings Lynn Capri club in May 25 to learn more about Capri’s and hopefully benefit from existing members experience restoring their own cars. I am planning to strip the car down to its bare body shell and carry out as much welding and paint work as I can myself.

In my youth I did work in a bodyshop for a while, so I’m hoping those skills learned are still with me. Paints seem to have moved on massively since I carried out any spraying, so I will have to get myself up to speed there. The plan is to repair the bodywork then move on to reconditioning the mechanicals before the rebuild.

The Capri was supposed to be a winter project, but it seems to be quite infectious as I have already stripped out the interior and started collecting tools and equipment to carry out the restoration. A friend found a rotisserie on Facebook for me. Ebay has also been useful.

There have been no nasty surprises so far on the strip down, bonnet, tailgate and doors are all in good condition. The wings are original and can be repaired I hope but need to be carefully removed so that I can repair the inner wings.

I look forward to meeting more members and seeing their Capris and learning from them. Please give me as much help, advice and encouragement as you can, I know I’m going to need it !!!