Lewis's Banana Boat

Lewisrowezer · Post by **Lewisrowezer** » Wed Nov 27, 2019 2:46 pm

Steering Rack bushes purchased:

Going to begin prep on Saturday and get the subframe stripped

Lewisrowezer · Post by **Lewisrowezer** » Tue Dec 03, 2019 6:50 pm

Lots done this week! Prep work comes to a end after scorching and cleaning..

All masked up!

All ready for painting today

On the side.. I took the subframe apart, looks rank!

So I dropped the subframe, anti roll bar and dogbone bracket off to my powdercoater and he teased me with these two pics:

Off to pick those bits up tomorrow. Painting tonight. Let's do this!

Lewisrowezer · Post by **Lewisrowezer** » Wed Dec 04, 2019 11:47 am

Paint is on now, and I couldn't be happier!
I started off with a dust coat:

Then kept building the paint up, starting from where I started on each coat until we got here:

The paint was touch dry half an hour after, and I'm extremely happy with the results. My masking wasn't amazing and overspray on some parts is evident by the pictures, but for a complete amateur I'd say I didn't do too bad.

Going to give it at least a week to fully harden and then maybe give it some wet and dry before lacquer. We will see! Picking up subframe and ARB today

Wild E. Coyote · Post by **Wild E. Coyote** » Wed Dec 04, 2019 3:40 pm

Top job there!

Post by **red** » Thu Dec 05, 2019 4:50 pm

looking great.

Lewisrowezer · Post by **Lewisrowezer** » Fri Dec 06, 2019 4:16 pm

Subframe and anti roll bar back from powdercoating! Fantastic finish which I'm very happy with

I have assembled the anti roll bar, still awaiting on the remanufactured steering rack I've ordered.

The suspension setup will comprise of: New Wheel Bearings, cleaned up Hubs, Powdercoated Knuckles, new drop links, Bilstein OEM Shocks, Apex 35mm springs, new top mounts, new steering ends. Brakes will be ST150 Calipers, EBC pads and Genuine Discs. As you can imagine, it's going to cost a bit of money so in the meantime I've got to work on Some other bits

I used 80 grit and worked up to 800 grit on the brake bar, then went with a zinc primer and finally gold enamel paint from halfords for the brake bar:

For the brake servo I started with a 40 grit aluminium oxide paper to get rid of the nasty bubbles and rust until I got down to the bare metal:

Then worked my way to a 400 grit before cleaning and priming with the rust inhibiting primer. I haven't finished with it yet and going to go over it with a couple of coats of high build before sanding and painting gloss black, but here we are now with both bits!

We will focus on getting the gear linkages getting nice once it comes to taking them off, I think I'll probably do them in the same "gold" paint as it looks mint!

zinc2000 · Post by **zinc2000** » Mon Dec 09, 2019 11:36 am

That is one hell of a job you are doing there my friend and the more you do the more I hate you

Keep it up, the finished job will be amazing I am sure

Lewisrowezer · Post by **Lewisrowezer** » Sat Dec 14, 2019 12:39 pm

Getting somewhere fast now with the bay! Brake servo painted and lacquered, few bits back in. I've decided to change out all the fasteners I can with yellow zinc ones which I'll be ordering next month. I think yellow zinc looks beautiful and will really add a nice touch to the bay.

On top of that I've decided to mix things up a little bit. I've always been a fan of mix and match colours so I've decided to mix and match everything under the car suspension and mechanic wise up front. I done the steering rack in a green, plan to do the droplinks in a yellow and the brake calipers red. I also done the linkages pink and purple respectively. It might enrage some people but I like having my own little twist on things, furthermore the bay will still stay colour neutral.

I plan on fitting the subframe today with fresh bolts as well as painting up the droplinks and cleaning up the brake lines a bit, maybe even paint the brake lines up

I almost forgot to mention, I scuffed up the shifter rod and repainted gloss black and lacquered for shine.

Wild E. Coyote · Post by **Wild E. Coyote** » Sat Dec 14, 2019 2:27 pm

Not keen on so much colours, but admiring the effort!

Lewisrowezer · Post by **Lewisrowezer** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 4:34 pm

Been a little while since I updated you guys! Since the last update subframe and All the goodies are back together:

I also painted up the power steering pipes with a dust coat of black. After doing so I fitted the aircon back in, which scratched the bay in a couple of spots and f***Ed me right off...

Upon deciding to put aircon back in the car, I will have to replace the condenser as there is a pretty big gouge in the fins which as we all know isn't safe when it comes to aircon.. Ill need a special spring release tool which I'll grab off ebay..

For now that's as much as I want to do, I'm turning my focus over to the engine which has been completely off plan. I originally wanted to do the 1.7, changed my mind and wanted to go with a built 1.6 but due to money constraints decided on the 1.7 again. Spec wise it'll be standard with only a couple of breather mods including a 4-2-1 Decat manifold and LMS180 intake manifold.

After receiving the engine on a pallette I stripped the heavier ancillaries off and fought with the engine to get it onto my engine stand. The engine is a 1.7 @ 60k miles and looks like its very recently had a timing belt change. The sump and cams are very clean and the only signs of wear are from rocker cover gasket seepage. For these reasons I wont be taking the engine apart but instead replacing the upper gaskets, water pump, nuts and bolts only.

After a degrease with gunk and a paintbrush and a little more disassembly I dried the engine up and started going over it with a brass wire wheel drill attachment. I still have plenty more cleaning and wire wheeling to do before I can degrease and paint the block but here's where I got in a hour or so;

Because I got the engine from a breaker, there were a couple of bits that concerned me. The threaded coolant pipe on the back of the head has been cut so ill need to source one elsewhere and the crankshaft pulley is visibly damaged so will also need replacing. Apart from that everything else is pretty straight. I have a few bits I'm going to drop off at the powdercoaters so I'll be doing that after the new year. I'll see you guys shortly with more updates!

Wild E. Coyote · Post by **Wild E. Coyote** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 7:07 pm

If the crankshaft pulley is visibly damaged, I would check the crankshaft and the bearings. Since the engine is at stand already, it is very easy to do now...
I would check the endplay.

PaulZ · Post by **PaulZ** » Mon Dec 30, 2019 9:18 pm

What happened to the original engine to warrant replacing it with something of presumably unknown origins and history if it's from a breakers yard?

Paul Z

Lewisrowezer · Post by **Lewisrowezer** » Thu Jan 02, 2020 10:10 am

PaulZ wrote: ↑
Mon Dec 30, 2019 9:18 pm
What happened to the original engine to warrant replacing it with something of presumably unknown origins and history if it's from a breakers yard?

Paul Z

I gave it to my friend Ed as he helped me a lot with getting the car apart etc, I was originally planning to go with a 1.6 hence why I got rid of the 1.7 but changed my mind. It was the lowest mileage engine I could find for a good price

Lewisrowezer · Post by **Lewisrowezer** » Thu Jan 02, 2020 11:06 am

Engine is coming along well, she's all painted up now (Simoniz matte black) and I decided to polish the rocker cover which looks a lot better. As good as it looks I have had the idea to do it in a wrinkle red instead though, because wrinkle looks sweet so we will see.

As well as cleaning those bits up I dismantled the fuel rail which was pretty fiddly, it took a lot of patience to prize the injectors out without damaging them but plenty of WD-40 and back-and-forth levering with a small screwdriver helped a treat. I cleaned the fuel rail thoroughly and painted it in Hammerite "hammered" effect silver before reassembly.

In terms of bits I have left to Replace/Refresh:

Genuine Plastic Water Manifold - Done
Genuine Rocker Cover Gasket - Done
Thermostat - Done
Thermostat housing seals - Done
Rear Head Coolant Metal Pipe
Starter Motor
Water Pump - Done
Crank Pulley (Current one chipped)
Drive Belt
Spark Plugs
Oil Filter - Done
Sump Plug

Powdercoated Parts:
Sump - Satin Grey - Done
Water Pump Pulley - Gloss Black - Done
Gearbox Mount - Satin Grey - Done
Driveshaft Bracket - Gloss Black - Done

Lewisrowezer · Post by **Lewisrowezer** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 5:21 pm

Some pretty new yellow zinc bolts arrived so started putting bits back together.

Awaiting water manifold, MSD coil pack and leads and for my powdercoated bits to get back to me. Also need to swap out that damaged Crank pulley!

Lewisrowezer · Post by **Lewisrowezer** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 10:55 pm

MSD coil pack and Formula Power HT leads arrived! Love the look of them!

Van_Dammesque · Post by **Van_Dammesque** » Wed Jan 08, 2020 11:57 pm

Puma Pr0n, loving it! Are you not planning on strut braces? They are reasonably cheap and at this stage should be doddle to mount correctly!

ian cox · Post by **ian cox** » Fri Jan 10, 2020 11:12 am

Hi
Were they brand new or did you get them refinished?
Thanks and kind regards Ian

Lewisrowezer · Post by **Lewisrowezer** » Fri Jan 10, 2020 8:11 pm

Van_Dammesque wrote: ↑
Wed Jan 08, 2020 11:57 pm
Puma Pr0n, loving it! Are you not planning on strut braces? They are reasonably cheap and at this stage should be doddle to mount correctly!

Thank you! Only the front lower, I feel like the other two are a complete waste of time and money. I also don't like the look of the front upper one, looks too busy!

ian cox wrote: ↑
Fri Jan 10, 2020 11:12 am
Hi
Were they brand new or did you get them refinished?
Thanks and kind regards Ian

Brand new Ian. What I done is visited https://ford.7zap.com/en/car/ , went through the diagrams and noted down the sizes of all relevant bolts I wished to have in zinc yellow. I then went to ebay item number 202332086292 for the bolts and ordered the ones I needed and item number 202339582235 for the nuts.

Lewisrowezer · Post by **Lewisrowezer** » Sat Jan 11, 2020 9:46 am

Genuine Superceded water manifold to replace the old corroded metal one. It will require some trimming for the MSD coil pack to fit as I believe its designed for the newer style coil pack, so I'll use a Dremel later..

Painted up the rocker cover too in a red enamel, looks awesome. I decided against a wrinkle paint because of cost.

Engine coming along

Lewisrowezer · Post by **Lewisrowezer** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 9:33 am

Little compilation of the engine bay I put together :

mmc757 · Post by **mmc757** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 10:14 am

Out of curiosity, can you measure the rough dimensions of the empty engine bay?

Lewisrowezer · Post by **Lewisrowezer** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 10:22 am

mmc757 wrote: ↑
Mon Jan 13, 2020 10:14 am
Out of curiosity, can you measure the rough dimensions of the empty engine bay?

I will do when I have a bit of time mate. What dimensions would you like to know?

mmc757 · Post by **mmc757** » Mon Jan 13, 2020 11:18 am

Thanks!.
Width between the strut towers, length from firewall to strut tower centerline and from the strut tower centerline to the radiator support.
I know the lengths wont be precise, but best average is fine.

: Engine bay dimensions.png (4.47 KiB) Viewed 9733 times

Lewisrowezer · Post by **Lewisrowezer** » Wed Jan 15, 2020 9:51 am

Powdercoated parts have been teased on! Here's a few pics:

Prep..

More bits on prep.

Gloss black powdercoated parts

Lower sump

Upper sump

ProjectPuma • Ford Puma Owners Club

ProjectPuma • Ford Puma Owners Club