Winter Project - Free Ford Puma 1.7

[scz4]

A good friend has kindly donated his Ford Puma 1.7 which he no longer requires. It's a '99 with 106k miles and has a fairly solid service history. As a bonus, the car has the optional X-Pack, heated front windscreen, CD player and Air Con.

I'm not sure what my intentions area with the car yet. Primarily it's something to tinker with over the winter. One option is to fix it up and sell on, the aim to at least break-even or I'll probably just run it for a little fun. The last option is to use it as a cheap track car, only convern is it will feel mega slow compared to my M3 track car I sold earlied this year, but it will cost a fraction of the price to run.

Car is in pretty good condition given the miles. Wheels are immaculate and no real signs of wear inside, except for the steering wheel (have a spare one of those). Front bonnet and bumper are stone chipped, but that's to be expected. Best of all the rear arches don't have any signs of rust. Amazing given my wife sold her Puma 5 years ago as rust was showing and that was a 2001 car.

Only cost so far was to have it shipped up from London to Aberdeen, £203.

So what needs done..?

Ideally a new clutch - £120 for Sachs
Two new front tyres
Front pads and discs
Rocker cover gasket
Front number plate replaced
A few other bits and pieces
Could do with a front wing thanks to some yob kicking it.
Needs MOT'd & Taxed when ready.


If I'm keeping it for myself then a set of Eibach springs and replace the water pump for piece of mind. Oil & filter change too (although oil doesn't look very black)

It arrived at 9am this morning. First job was to give it a good wash down & polish. Next job is to get it on axle stands and see exactly what else it may need. I've also removed the spare wheel and tray, saves 15kg I guess. It's a start

But for now here's a few pics.

Edited by scz4 on Sunday 25th September 21:19

[scz4]

wackojacko said:

These with standard suspension bar a thicker rear ARB and Toyo 888's are extremely entertaining on a twisty b road.

Tell me more about the thicker ARB, off the Puma racing perhaps or aftermarket?

I will be keeping an eye out for a used set of R888's - 195 50 15 V if anyone has

[scz4]

Strachan said:

No use in winter

It's a project to do over the winter, rather than a winter run around so doesn't matter so much I'd imagine a Puma on R888's and Eibach's would be pretty handy on the twisty stuff

[scz4]

FlashBastd said:

Are you on Pumapeople?

Best clutch if you are planning other upgrades is the Fiesta ST item.

No not yet. But got plenty of questions lined up Is that the best UK Puma forum then?

Thanks for the info. I'm trying to do this on a budget (for once), so will be interesting to see how much it costs compared to the stock item. Will have a look on Euro Car Parts.

[scz4]

Time for an update.. Work finally got under way a couple of weeks ago, couple of friends have helping out. Anyone who knows me knows I'm terrible when it comes to modifying cars, so in true tradition my budget build has not been quite to budgeted, I couldn't resist a few choice modifications... I tried

I've bought some new Eibach springs with new Sachs shock absorbers (front and rear), new top mounts, bearings etc. Also got a used set of Fiesta ST150 brakes, discs are about 40 or 50mm bigger. Should make a big difference, standard Puma brakes are very poor.

Anyway, this is what I've been upto:

Work done so far this month
- Fitted new rocker cover gasket - See pictures below.
- New Spark Plugs
- Fitted new engine earth cable, original was about to snap.
- Degreased top half of engine, exhaust and inlet manifolds
- Cleaned up rocker cover as I won't be putting the plastic cover back on.
- Removed front and rear suspension
- Painted brake calipers black

Planned:

- Build new shocks and springs
- Fit the above
- See about CV boot leak
- Inspect Exhaust, leaking somewhere
- Clean-up Bottom end of engine
- Fit new brakes, replace fluid, bleed
- Get new tyres fitted
- MOT
- Geometry Check
- Home service including, oil & filter, fuel filter & air filter.

Here's a breakdown in cost so far, firstly what I've spend and secondly what needs spent. As you can see this is no longer a cheap Puma. But it will have fully refreshed suspension, bigger brakes, 4 new Toyo Proxes, amongst other improvements, plus a geometry check, years MOT and taxed for that price.



Oil leak - Just look at the oil sitting in about the plugs


Difference in standard Puma and Fiesta ST brakes:


Old Shocks:


Cleaned up Rocker Cover


Cleaned up engine, well top half anyway:


Poor picture of the new calipers:

Edited by scz4 on Sunday 15th January 19:35

[scz4]

Olly,

Don't suppose you remember the radio code, or where I can find it? It's asking for it since I disconnected the battery.

Graeme

[scz4]

Just measureed them, primarily to see if have the "better" master cylinder as above, which I do They are definitely 240mm..

[scz4]

Just been painting the new Fiesta ST calipers and rear drums.

We all know the ST upgrade is 40mm bigger which is a reasonable increase, but just look at the difference in pad size (ST top), no wonder the standard Puma brakes are so poor. I'm now even more optimitic the new brakes will make a big difference

The 4 new Sachs shocks arrived today, also went to Ford to pick up the new bearings, top mounts etc...Will hopefully get them built up over the weekend with the Eibach springs.

p.s Olly, found the radio code thanks

[scz4]

No, not long after it was the road I sold it on the make space for the next project. Didn't make anything on it, but didn't lose much on it either. But it was fun winter project and handled beautifully when I was finished, would put a lot of modern sports cars to shame in terms of steering feel, feeback and response. Let me know if you have any questions.

Edited by scz4 on Sunday 9th September 13:27

[scz4]

tyrewrecker said:

Someone got bargin

Guy travelled from Ireland to Aberdeen for it, flight fuel, ferry... crazy for a £1100 car.