When we arrived home from our Florida interlude my primary objective was to get to work on the Banana. I wanted to get the car stripped to it's last nut and bolt and start the restoration. What I found was a totally rust free, complete and undamaged specimen. The engine and gearbox were the first items to be removed, along with the complete wiring harness. With the sundry mechanical bits I removed 13 wasp nests, two rather large mouse nests, a load of peanut and pecan shells, two earrings and $0.39 Usd. Most of the nests had been abandoned and those that weren't saw the occupants perish on the trip to the Great White North.
Before it was totally enveloped in domestic 'stuff' I was able to get most of what needed to come off, off. The engine bay was stripped to bare metal by a combination of chemical and mechanical means, etched and primered. Once it becomes available, the doors, interior, fenders, boot lid and all the suspension components will be removed.
Apart from the rubber bumper cars being just butt ugly, they were mechanically inferior (in my opinion) to the earlier chrome bumper cars. One of the priorities in this restoration will be to back date to about 1968 vintage. The rubber bumpers and all the mounting hardware have been removed and a new, older type, front and rear valance have been obtained for the conversion. The front subframe will be replaced with an earlier version to bring the suspension geometry in line with the lower ride height of the earlier cars. New dropped front spindles with the new subframe will bring the whole affair 2.5" closer to terra ferma.
At this point it looks like a Chevy 3.4L V6 with a T5 transmission will be the choice power plant. This will provide somewhere in the area of 175bhp over the stock 86bhp. I have chosen this conversion due to its simplicity and the fact that no permanent modifications have to be made to the structure of the car to accommodate the new drive train.
So, until our son moves out with all his accumulated goods, and our bathroom is finished, all I can do is sit and plan out the next steps. Hopefully by about the first of September the project will once again gain some momentum.
Before it was totally enveloped in domestic 'stuff' I was able to get most of what needed to come off, off. The engine bay was stripped to bare metal by a combination of chemical and mechanical means, etched and primered. Once it becomes available, the doors, interior, fenders, boot lid and all the suspension components will be removed.
Apart from the rubber bumper cars being just butt ugly, they were mechanically inferior (in my opinion) to the earlier chrome bumper cars. One of the priorities in this restoration will be to back date to about 1968 vintage. The rubber bumpers and all the mounting hardware have been removed and a new, older type, front and rear valance have been obtained for the conversion. The front subframe will be replaced with an earlier version to bring the suspension geometry in line with the lower ride height of the earlier cars. New dropped front spindles with the new subframe will bring the whole affair 2.5" closer to terra ferma.
At this point it looks like a Chevy 3.4L V6 with a T5 transmission will be the choice power plant. This will provide somewhere in the area of 175bhp over the stock 86bhp. I have chosen this conversion due to its simplicity and the fact that no permanent modifications have to be made to the structure of the car to accommodate the new drive train.
So, until our son moves out with all his accumulated goods, and our bathroom is finished, all I can do is sit and plan out the next steps. Hopefully by about the first of September the project will once again gain some momentum.
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