‘MY GEARBOXEATING CAPRI’
Dale Vinten’s £800 ‘bargain’ buy
Ihad a quick look on ebay for Capris. As luck would have it there was a black 2.8i with no bumpers, so I put in a cheeky bid without seeing it. Madness, but my bid of £800 was sufficient to call it mine and I promptly went to collect it in the dark. The previous owner had replaced the injection system with a Weber carburettor. He was also half-way through ‘smoothing’ the bodywork. It took all of two days for the gearbox to eat itself. A few months later the diff seized, taking fifth gear with it, meaning a second gearbox swap – along with an entire rear axle as it was easier to source the complete unit. The car is now SORN awaiting an engine swap. I got a Scorpio Cosworth and removed the 24V BOB engine, so that’s the next step. Send your buying story to: russ.smith@gmx.com