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More Go-power - more Stop-power!
So, with the track outing at Gelleråsen in mind, the evolution plans for the winter of
1998/99 were beginning to take form.
Last year I bought a set of vented front discs from an Escort RS2000 (similar to the ones
used on 2.8i Capris). Fitting those, together with either Capri 2.8i callipers, or
Austin/Leyland Princess 4-post callipers is the common route, especially in the UK.
With Capri 2.8i's never sold in Sweden, and Princesses rare as hens teeth, I chose another
way to upgrade the stopping power. The front callipers on Volvo (!) 240/260's are of the
4-pot type, and should provide plenty of stoppning power, as they are meant for a car a
lot heavier than the Capri.
The Volvo callipers fit the Capri struts if the mounting holes in the calliper are made
oval. This is an easy filing operation. The plumbing is a bit more delicate, as the Volvo
sports quite a special "triangular" braking system, meaning that each front
calliper has two separated circuits, and theredor two brake pipe "inlets".
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This is the Volvo calliper and RS2000/2.8i disc fitted |
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The Capri calliper is the lower one, you can se the two
"humps" on the Volvo calliper showing it has twice the number of pistons. |
As I intended to stick to Capris dual brake circuit, I decided to use a
"T"-coupling to splice the Capri brake line into two. I tried using the Capri
master cylinder, but I didn't like the feel of the pedal, so I got a Volvo 240/260 master
cylinder instead. Bu just redrilling the mounting holes and switching to the Capri fluid
reservoir this fits the Capri. With the standard pedal arrangement, the pedal will come
very close to floor, so I altered the leverage of the pedal. This meant the brakes got a
bit heavy to push, and I am still not really satisified here.
To further boost (!) going power, the thought of a turbo has been lurking ever since 1986,
when I read an article about Milan Knezevics turbocharged MkIII. Since the
"Pinto" bottom end can deal quite some power, turbocharging is a neat way to go.
The plan was to use the K-jet already mounted in the car. Since this already is a system
made for a turbocharged (Saab) engine, I figure it will work OK for now at least.
Ultimately a computerized EFI would do the trick, but remember, this is sort of a
"budget racer"!
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This is the turbo I got hold of - it's from a Volvo 850 turbo |
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At first I tried with a Saab 9000 intercooler, but fitting
this to the Capri would mean major metal cutting, so I found myself a smaller Saab 900 all
alloy intercooler instead. |
Go to the next stage for the rest of
the story on turbocharging...
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