Hi all, well I finally started the RS restoration, I have spent a few months gathering parts from far and wide. Headlight bezels from Team Blitz USA (thanks Norm), tail lights from eBay UK (thanks Matt), Front quarter bumpers Warnambool(thanks Cameron!!), a gear knob from Rowville(thanks Ken), headlining from eBay Oz (supertrim).

I have also dropped several items off for repair, the entire front suspension has gone to R Kent and Sons in Clayton for straightening, Radiator is off for repair to the top tank and a good clean and test, Seats are off to a local trimmer to have the rails and backs straightened. I may yet get the basket weave re-done as the pattern currently fitted is not quite right.

Panels are coming from the facelift 1600GT I picked up late last year. I have to supply the car in stripped form to a beater for stretching, then the entire right side (other than inner guard) and the roof will be removed and replaced.

Guards will be a minor problem as the RS has factory flares which were not just rolled out at the factory, but a seperate strike on modified tooling. My guards are quite badly crushed-both sides so I don't know if I can cut and paste. I will re-assess when the front is pulled straight to see if the profile returns, otherwise I'll have to got them custom made ** If anyone has a lead on steel RS guards please tell me I'll pay a handsome spotters fee!!**

One good bonus was that whilst removing the interior I located the original Spa Special plate which was thought to have been "souvineered" by the towing company when the car was smashed 10 years ago.

Well that's it for now I'll post photos later

Glad to hear of so much progress JR. That's great news re the SPA SPECIAL plate too.

The seat vinyl (inserts) is available from www.aldridge.co.uk as a full seat cover or just the vinyl.

Ok some progress of late, Interior removed mostly perfect except a few annoying small things. The rear shelf copped a break in the back corner as the filler neck pressed under it during the roll. The break was hidden by the 80's box speakers, and I had previously sold the shelf from the donor facelift.

My dog took and interest and snuck off with one of the right angle plastic rear tray hold downs, and chewed it up. These of course are different to out MK1 hold downs as the tray is longer

Seat rails are a bit distorted but should pull straight

Engine and box are out, all good

Front end removed as one, and is surprisingly straight, one side of the cross member needs some work as the mount was torn off. Strut housings look good. This is a bonus as I thought the crossmember and LH strut would be twisted

RH front wheel has a small flat spot but is not cracked

Norm at Team Blitz swears the RS lip is a factory mod not a seperate strike so the flare may be able to be copied using the donor guards.

On a sad not the chassis box section at the left rear is crushed but is easily replaced, it means removing the diff though. Floor has a tear on the PS rear so I'll replace the whole PS rear floorwell

It sounds like it would be a real accomplishment to pull the shell out straight again - esp the floor pan - amazing what they can do! It would be interesting to see the proceedure [:u]

goodwork JR let's see some progress pics.
Mine is getting closer to getting on the road , Just fitted 3 core less fan and installed 14" thermo in front .

Finally 2 calls I have been waiting on the first from the front end engineers saying the suspension unit will be back this Wednesday night. Then a call from the panel shop saying get the rolling shell in on Thursday night.

Panel guy has had to re-assess due to the floor and rail problem, he is pulling the car straight the putting it in a rotiss to do the floor. He is also upping the price by 2k but I'd rather have it done well than looking like a sheetmetal patchwork quilt. Stay tuned for further

Damn, still no front end, more and more promises, panel guy saying where is car?? Friggin engineers, I'm promised it'll be back this week, this time for sure sure Rocky....

Well, finally, my front end appears, looks a million bucks. They took the liberty of replacing all the bushes and machining the disks, this was a good thing as it saved me doing it later. On the bill was a charge of $90 to straighten a control arm (only $100 to buy a brand new pair...) this annoyed me sligtly but the shocker was the absense of the steering rack.

The delivery guy looks in the ute and says "here you go, by the way it's buggered". I looked at this decrepid piece of junk and say "THAT is NOT my rack, and, where are the brackets and bushes?" "Oh you better see Jimmy on Monday He's the steering guy, heres the invoice mate cash or cheque?"
I say "Well I had to wait 4 months and make 3 or 4 trips you'll be doing the same". Apparantely this is not the case according to them, so I say "take it back and bring it back to me FINISHED"

He agrees to leave the front end with me and sort out the rack and payment on Monday (that's if Jimmy comes in....)

I was surprised how much was damaged in the rollover, repair invoice shows
Cross member straightened,
Engine mount removed straightened and rewelded,
RH strut body and insert straightened,
Swaybar straightened,
Rack body bent - non repairable,
LHF Caliper outer case cracked-non repairable,
RHF Caliper steel brake line nut broken-non repairable
Replace swaybar and all control arm bushes
Steam clean and paint
$850

Price I thought was OK I know the guys actual work is very good, their service however is bad, just a small reality check nudge I suppose (Come on now JR you are dealing with a Capri here now-you are not restoring a HQ...)

Well that wraps up this thrilling installment, whooli is dropping by with a 1600 X-memeber to stick in so I can get the RS rolling as I don't want my shiney new front end getting bent in the rack now

Yay, its great to see stuff happening.[^]

Well the RS has finally off to the panel shop, it will be some months before I see it again. I can collect my radiator next week all straightened up and re-cored.

I took my bumperettes and the rear bar into Vinnies Dandenong today for a clean straighten and buff up. They are going to copper coat them to fill up any pit marks and scratches. They will all then be painted satin black and stored for that day in the future when they are refitted.

I noticed that my rear wheels had 1/4" thick spacers between the rim and the drum, are these standard Len? Also I removed the front bar irons they survived pretty much OK. One has a tow hook attached and a strengthening plate weled to it, both have special driving light brackets bolted to them.

The left headlight backing plate got a bit crumpled and the springs all fell apart when I pulled assembly out, this will take a bit of work to sort out, I can maybe use Escort or TC cortina parts to help sort it out.

That's this weeks update, I should have some more to add soon. I have arranged for the swinging panels to be prepped for painting while the rest of the body is being worked on. I can use the original, left door, bootlid and spoliers, I have supplied a right door and bonnet these will all be stripped repaired as necessary and undercoated the stored with the slowly growing collection of bits ready for re-assembly. Cheers