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Another great Capri Swarm is in the books! As always, it was a great weekend full of great people and great Capris. Thursday night, we had an Early Bird party at the hotel pool room. Friday, we had our largest Friday Capri turn-out "ever", and the NMRA racing was the largest field we've ever seen on a Friday. Normally, being a work-day, few Swarmers make it to the show on Friday. Wow, not this year. With gasoline at historical highs, we figured for 2 or 3 Capris. We had 10 or so, simply amazing. Friday night, at the Team Blitz event we did some gear-jammin with race karts at Speedz, a sprawling indoors race track in Columbus. Good time had by all! Pretty good food and beer too. Rumor is Speedz plans to re- locate closer to the Swarm in 2006! Saturday, some of the Capris needed a few repairs and maintenance items, and all hands pitched in and got the job done. Folks shopped the swap meet for souvenirs, watched the drag racing and dyno wars, oogled the Ford GT and Thunderbolt parked next to the Swarm, and generally had a great time enjoying each other's Capris and renewing acquaintances. The caliber of the customized and restored Capris was stunning this year. Capri turn-out was outstanding, with 15 cars. Weather gorgeous, as it was all weekend. In the afternoon, we were treated to a rally Capri tech session. The Lantz/Wells Canadian Rally Capri was put up in the air for a thorough look underneath at all the special combat preparations. Majorly fascinating. And done with a close budget as well. It can be done! Jeff and Larry went through each of the systems, relating how they did them, how they evolved, and future upgrades under consideration. Saturday night, we headed over to the banquet hall. We enjoyed a fine meal of fettucini shrimp and chicken, and went right into our entertainment program. Jeff Lantz did a multi-media spectacular with DVD "slides" and VHS tape (in-car and trail-side, with sound!), while narrating his and Larry's 2004 and 2005 rally seasons. They won the Ontario championship last year, and Larry won SCCA Regional rally navigator of the year. Swarmers were riveted to their seats and gave a rousing ovation for Jeff's presenation. Full of amazing facts and packed with scenic adventure. We had an after-banquet party to the wee hours. Sunday was Weslake day. We got right down to the business of mounting the Group 2 FIA 2.9L Werkes Weslake competition Capri motor to the engine stand. Documenting all the parts, linkages, cables, hoses, tubes, and bolts. We reverse-engineered the torque specs on any bolts appearing to be left in as-raced condition. Pulled the intake, heads, dry sump, cooling system, dual-clutch flywheel, harmonic balancer and beltdrives, fuel system, and inspected the piston bore/stroke and steel racing crank and rods. The block and rotating mass in the Weslake are "very" unique among all the Colognes. As well as the heads, which have a unique valve arrangement, massive size, and incredible flow characteristics. As the day progressed, gradually more and more Swarmers headed off for their journeys home. Larry and David helped me finalize the Weslake packing and we adjourned late in the evening for a final evening celebration. We discussed the autocross with the club that CCNA works with and plans are afoot to run it in 2006. A meeting is scheduled to nail it down firmly. So far as we know, only one Swarmer suffered a mechanical breakdown enroute to the Swarm, and it was within close proximity to his house. Otherwise, I hope everyone's journeys were safe and comfortable. Ford Expo trophy winners:
Capri Swarm trophy winners:
These winners were well-deserved, and there were some *very, very* close calls among the other cars which didn't trophy this year. Joe's wiring loom grounded and partially melted inside the engine bay, and some fusebox corrosion had to be overcome. So he garnered the Turtle this year, and did so with grace and good cheer. Thanks, everyone. Let's do it again, shall we? Some of the Capris in Attendance
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