The other day I changed the oil in my Formula, at a healthy 133,000 miles. While doing so, I decided to put the car up on 4 jacks so that I could fully assess the underbody. I was glad to find that there are no major concerns to be found. The factory paint has nearly all pealed away, surface rust is in it's early stages. Only a few more Michigan winters and a serious concern would likely arise. In an effort to prevent such problems, I hope to use Por-15 or some other rust prohibitor prior to next winter.
A quick inspection also revealed that my emergency cable is in need of adjustment, explaining the play in the handle when activating it. Also, my muffler is on it's last leg, with serious rust holes forming around the seams. All in all, that was about it from the underside.
Once lowered, I studied the smashed up fender I displayed on here a few months back. Courtesy of a trifecta of high speed wind propelled shopping carts, I couldn't take looking at it any longer. I unbolted the charcoal emissions canister and popped out as much of the fender dent as I could. It looks better, but still far from perfect.
I have increased my research of available aftermarket parts in recent weeks, and was happy to find that it seems even more new parts are coming out for these old TPI powered cars. Perhaps the most interesting though was the tubular front K-member from BMR Fabrication. Not only does it strengthen the front end structure, it allows installation of a rack and pinion. If I went with tubular a-arms and a manual rack and pinion (which I'm not sure I'd do with fat tires up front) I could lose around 86 lbs off the front end! I recently ran across the curb weight for my car I weighed some years back, it was 3,440 lbs. This was less than I thought, and figure I could easily drop a few hundred lbs off, perhaps even 300 lbs, getting it into the same weight category as the featherweight ZO6 Vette.
My car is nearly 20 years old now, and with that age comes very cumbersome emissions packaging, all of which I hope to omit when I start putting the car on a diet. Ideally, I'd love to go with an all aluminum LS1, and the aftermarket k-member would make installation a snap. This would help drop additional weight. I also found, to my surprise, that the T56 transmission is on par, and even maybe a little lighter, than my current 700R4. I already have a battery relocation kit for my Camaro that I may use in my Formula instead, which will help transfer weight to the rear of the car and closer to a more ideal 50-50 weight distribution.
Last but not least, I spoke with my friend who painted my Camaro just the other day. I got the low down on what I would need to attempt to repaint my Formula myself. My intention was to repaint my Challenger, and now that my dad owns the car, perhaps I should use my Formula to learn body work/painting. The body itself is still solid, but as mentioned, the rust has made itself at home, and started to show it's ugly face in the wheel well area, rockers, and a few other salt collecting/stone chipped regions. It is getting to be in serious need of TLC, and I wanted to discuss with my friend the possibility of using an epoxy primer so I could do a panel at a time, repainting the car when all finished. Since I plan to continue to use the car as my daily driver, this seems to be the best means of attacking it.
Stay tuned....
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