Seeing some pics of the interior of a Capri, i noticed the instruments might be a "locost" way of getting instruments for the locost. what do you think?

they're individual units and could be separated, the only thing is if the speedo would work. but i guess since some capris have pintos on them and i guess type 9s maybe they should?

thoughts?

edit: dont mind the playboy stitching on the carpet... the owner is scandinavian



[Edited on 27/11/07 by robertst]
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They're not individual units though it just looks like that because of the dash moulding. Take a capri dash apart and you'll find they're much like a sierras

Actually they are individual - you just have to make the housing for the instruments. I've got a capri dash i've removed the speedo from (i'll use a bike speedo behind the weel with the 'dash' in the middle of the car).

By using the dremil & glue i've re-used the plastic housing to make my new housing.

Are you sure they're not joined together!? I had a set of capri guages in the garage for years from a capri I broke for spares and I could have sworn it was a single 'pod' rather than individual units......

I've been known to be wrong mind you!



[Edited on 27/11/07 by D Beddows]

maybe the dash itself can be moulded into the new dash and covered with vinyl, it would still look as if they were individual. problem is if they are compatible with the type 9. also would take a look where the tacho gets its signal from, the fuel sender, etc.

Loads of Capris had type 9 boxes so that wouldn't be a problem and, again I could be wrong, but I'm pretty sure the tacho just gets it's signal from the coil. There wont be anything fancy about the fuel gauge sender either

Capris are no more complicated than a MK2 Escort, especially the pinto engined ones

they are moulded together in the housing - but the actual gagues aren't. Hence the dremil and glue to remove the speedo from mine. If you can make up 52mm ish cases you could have a set of separates.

cool. i'll go check them in the scrappers see if they dont look too wonky for a locost. if they're ok, i shall be saving around £400...

Most capris had a type 9 in them so that wont be a problem but you have to take into acount the diff ratio and tyre size etc for it to read correctly. I dont think theyl be easily recalibrated for your drivetrain unless its the same as the crapi of course.

been checking, apparently capris with the cologne axle had a 3.77 diff ratio. the sierra one on my car is 3.92

would this mean the speedo will read fast or slow? i guess i can compensate for this using different size wheels?

[Edited on 28/11/07 by robertst]

Don't waste your time just go to an Autojumble you should be able to pick up a set of MG or Triumph intruments very cheaply.

quote:

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Originally posted by britishtrident
Don't waste your time just go to an Autojumble you should be able to pick up a set of MG or Triumph intruments very cheaply.

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I'm building a Capri based locost and plan on using the Capri dials. I've not tried taking them apart yet, but will give it a go over the Christmas hols.

Just a note though: its a bit hard to see from those photos (i'll try and add some at the weekend - busy time at work) but if you keep them in the case the dials on the left and right are angled in towards the centre to give a clear view for the driver, annoying as I wanted the dials to be in the centre of my dash (now i'll try dismantling them). also worth noteing the small black dots in the photo are the warning light holes for battery etc... these too are in the casing.

Well I'm off to prepare for two Christmas parties and a trip to Paris!

David