Lewis's Banana Boat

[mmc757]

I would say blue to match the rest of the intake, but if that's not an option...Orange

 

[Lewisrowezer]

Super Close to being done now. I'll post a pic a bit later on. I tried cranking over the engine yesterday just to see if the starter worked and it doesn't. Makes a loud click and does nothing. I'm almost 100% sure I fitted my faulty starter to the car which came off my other puma so I'm going to have to buy another.

Left To Do:

Buy And Fit Exhaust Manifold - £129
Buy And Fit Starter Motor - £47
Buy And Fit ABS Sensors - £31
Buy And Fit Brake Lines - £33
Buy And Fit Servo Vacuum Pipe - £15
Buy Custom Centre Section - £150
Fluids - £100
Fit Washer Fluid Lines
Fit Rear ABS Wiring
Fit Torque Mount
Wheel Alignment

 

[Lewisrowezer]

Started to put the fluids in, PSF and engine oil are fine and leak free. Unfortunately there is a leak coming from the offside drive shaft oil seal. I think I might have pushed it in too far? (can't get a pic at the moment)

 

[Lewisrowezer]

Manifold arrived! Lovely quality for £130!

 

[Lewisrowezer]

Super Close to being done now. I'll post a pic a bit later on. I tried cranking over the engine yesterday just to see if the starter worked and it doesn't. Makes a loud click and does nothing. I'm almost 100% sure I fitted my faulty starter to the car which came off my other puma so I'm going to have to buy another.

Left To Do:

Buy And Fit Exhaust Manifold - £129 ✔
Buy And Fit Starter Motor - £47 ✔
Buy And Fit ABS Sensors - £31
Buy And Fit Brake Lines - £33 ✔
Buy And Fit Servo Vacuum Pipe - £15 ✔
Buy Custom Centre Section - £150
Fluids - £100 ✔
Fit Washer Fluid Lines
Fit Rear ABS Wiring
Fit Torque Mount
Wheel Alignment

 

[Lewisrowezer]

Update;

Car is running now! Everything is pretty much done bar the ABS sensors but enough to get me back on the road, I have plenty of time to get her ready for the MOT due in August so going to just enjoy driving in the meantime. Car is leak free now too!

I'm going to Powerflow Southampton Thursday morning to catch up with my mate Tom and have the centre section fabbed up, I've been stuck between a resonated vs non resonated system - what do you guys think I should go for? I think the non resonated systems can sound very tinny and ricey however they sound mint when they are screaming up in the revs. I already have the back box and manifold so it is literally just the centre section.

Following the exhaust system I will be going straight to Southampton Wheel Alignment centre for an alignment.

I also had the car machine polished the other day and it's a serious night and day difference, i'll post pictures when I'm home later.
A few things I need to tweak/perfect/fix now that it's on the road;

Brakes (Spongy)
ABS Sensors
New Tyres (Giti Giticompete, had them on my old MK5 - Amazing grip)
Keep eye on coolant
Paint in certain areas

"Phase 2" will follow eventually and this will include a full underbody tidy up. Nothing too serious, but things like brake and fuel lines will be replaced as well as a restoration of the fuel tank, wiring, underseal and restoration of the rear beam and bushes.

"Phase 3" will be the daddy, this will include extensive rust repair of the arches, sills and anything else that needs sorting.

and Phase 4 will more than likely include the wrap to complete the car. I have toyed around with the idea of giving the car a track look with bucket seats, a freshly painted interior and roll cage but this will be something a long way away.

 

[Lewisrowezer]

Sorry I haven't posted any pics recently, been getting carried away driving the car! I do have a massive issue though, fuel consumption. I'm finding that the car is literally GUZZLING fuel! I fuelled up to the half way mark yesterday and after 16 miles of very careful driving I'm already near on touching the quarter line. This definitely doesn't feel right and I can't think of why it might be. I know that fuelling can be thrown off by decat but surely not this bad?!

 

[Lewisrowezer]

Car has been running really well. I've decided to swap back to the original black hoses and tone it down in the engine bay as all of the colours just made it look silly. Going to change the rest of the green hoses back soon. I'll eventually get the rocker cover off and give it a re-paint too.

I'm really enjoying the car on the road however at the same time I'm really tempted to take it off the road again, strip off all the unnecessary bits and turn it into a track car. It's so capable and to be honest, I miss working on it.

 

[red]

I thought that your whole mantra was go bright or go home :grin:

If you're enjoying driving it, why would you strip it to make it less enjoyable day to day?

 

[Simonavis]

Nooooooooo!! Don’t strip it back after all the work you have done, You can still take it round the track on track days etc. Buy another less clean car and turn that into a track weapon instead that way you get at nice drivable road car and can also create a missile for the track :wink: :wink:

 

[the_penfool]

Plenty of track cars come up for sale, your better off buying one that's already been stripped maybe!

 

[PaulZ]

You have done a top job restoring the car. The colours aren't really my thing but its a cracking effort none the less.

Id also echo other peoples thoughts and wouldn't jump into stripping it back for track days. A) To have a properly stripped out track car you need to be pretty committed to doing track days, sprints etc otherwise it just doesn't justify owning a car so compromised like that and B) If its your only car then be prepared for a noisy drive. Depending on how far you go stripping it but stuff starts to resonate and echoing around the cabin its just not a comfortable drive anymore.

Id definitely recommend having ago at a track day if you haven't done one already but if you own two cars (a daily and this) then choose to go down the stripping it route you'll probably find yourself not using it very often just because its not as convenient or comfy on roads.

Paul Z

 

[Lewisrowezer]

Hello all, it's been a while - I've had a lot on as I've been moving out, settling into new place and the car blew up - lol.

Well, it didn't exactly blow up but the top end of the engine is dead for sure. Crank pulley came loose, probably due to me not torquing it up to spec properly. I was at a set of traffic lights a few months ago, gave it some and the car just died and didn't turn back on again. Originally thought it was due to a bad sensor but found it was something more sinister when the crank bolt was finger tight. Bit of a inconvenience however this has given me the opportunity to do more.

Sourced a head on eBay for £25 intact with the usual coked up valves, a non air con tensioner, new radiator and timing belt kit. I've also sourced a new genuine crank pulley and bolt. I still require a head gasket, head bolts, custom belt (explained in next section) and a few coolant hoses.

I have deleted air conditioning and power steering, my friend Lewis is currently working on gutting my power steering and converting it to a manual rack for simplicity. I have done this to not only tidy up the bay but also to give the car a more raw driving feel as well as negate unnecessary issues with ancillaries in the future. This will also free up a generous amount of weigh, the air con is super heavy! I have also had a few bits wet painted grey to keep things looking a bit more neutral and not too in your face.

As well as working on getting the engine up to scratch again I'm also working on dropping the rear beam and fuel tank to bring to my powder coater for TLC. The underside is looking rather ugly so I will be giving that a tidy up and a fresh coat of under seal before re-fitting the parts. I will get the rear beam powder coated in the same grey as the front sub-frame and the fuel tank undecided (probably red)

Upon removing the rear bumper I found some rust so I will do some research on how to treat this properly and so it doesn't get worse as there is already a complete hole on display in this lower section. This would be a great time to have both front and rear bumpers re-sprayed..but I probably won't. I'd rather get the whole car resprayed as a single job in order to avoid mismatched paint and uneven fade on the paint. This is something that'll come last.

I love this car and won't stop until it's immaculate. There is a hell of a lot more work to be done but I'm lucky to have purchased a pretty solid motor as far as rust goes!

 

[Lewisrowezer]

Rear beam removed since last post, drums stripped and rear beam stripped, it's currently with the powdercoaters getting the treatment. Looking forward to receiving it back! I won't be able to do much with it until I buy the polybushes though. Fuel tank has also been removed - wasn't a fun job.

Looking to paint the tank a nice color, might use stoneguard paint for that followed by a coat of metal paint in silver - it'll require a lot of prep work to get it looking good. Rear shocks and springs have also been removed and ready to go in the bin, currently saving up for some brand new AP coilovers for the car to improve aesthetics and lower center of gravity for better handling. This could take a while and I'm terrible at saving but i'll do it 100%.

I have painted the underside up until the fuel tank area in hammerite gloss black with a brush, it looks mediocre compared to what I'd really like to do but it was a quick, easy and extremely messy job which required me to literally cut my hair afterwards.

I would've loved to get it on a spit and have the car as a complete metal shell and a complete strip down of absolutely everything but unfortunately I lack both the facilities and the money for a restoration of that caliber. Time is another factor as this car is being stored at my grandmas house so I don't want it to be here longer than It needs to be. If I can just get the under body looking acceptable and 1 color (rather than yellow, brown, black and every other ugly) then i'll be happy enough.

 

[mmc757]

FWIW, I blasted and powdercoated an old subframe once and the powder just didnt hold up like I had hoped. In the future, I will use POR-15, Herculiner, or some other super-durable coating.

If you dont expect a lot of road salt exposure than it may not matter.

 

[Lewisrowezer]

FWIW, I blasted and powdercoated an old subframe once and the powder just didnt hold up like I had hoped. In the future, I will use POR-15, Herculiner, or some other super-durable coating.

If you dont expect a lot of road salt exposure than it may not matter.

Only time will tell mate!

 

[Lewisrowezer]

Just ordered some bushes from "Problem Solving Bushes" - They look really good from reviews and a few recommendations from the Puma page. Cost me £26.91 - Saves me the extra £50 or so for the powerflex!