My Puma

[Nige_GTI]

Right, thought I'd start a new thread rather than adding to the other one ( http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&f=47&t=854673&nmt=My motors old and new&mid=168258 ).
I've had to sell the 207 in order to get a house deposit, which left me circa £100 to buy a car. After thinking about many options I decided that the Puma was the way to go, and I would put up with the 'hairdresser' comments from those not in the know.

Anyway onto the car 61k miles, part S/H, rusty rear arches, but it has had loads of recent work done, cambelt looks new (although no proof), pulls well upto the redline and had not been washed in years lol

One of the front wheels was buckled and the front splitter is missing, both of which I picked up for £60. Now all I need to do is get rid of the Pirelli P6000 .

Also going to look into sorting the arches, front speakers and rusty backbox.

Anyway after 3 washes with turtle wax, G3 polish, autoglym SRP x 2 it looks a bit better

Photo time;

Edited by Nige_GTI on Tuesday 22 February 21:26

Edited by Nige_GTI on Saturday 12th March 11:14

[mmcd87]

That looks smart especially for the price. Does it still drive like it should after all these years? I'd love a shot of one of these - future classic I think

[Arthur Daley]

Looks alrite for the cash, must be a very early example on an 'R' plate.

[Nige_GTI]

It was registered on 30/1/1998 I have the original invoice for £14950 including the optional metallic paint, CD changer and heated mirrors.

I drives well, handles good, but could do with some new bushes I think. other than that not bad for a 13 year old Ford

[Efbe]

nice car, always wanted a puma.

saw a video of tiff or someone doing some j-turns in one. have a check on youtube, well worth a look

edit: here you are--> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aTgXI1RlseE
now go out and practice, this instant!

[robsco]

They're still a fun little drive even now, and the styling looks surprisingly fresh.

[Shaw Tarse]

Nice "shed", I used to have one, for a Fiesta in drag they are fun to drive.

[Galliano]

I have heard these are fun motors, yet I resent them because they are a rival of my Paseo. Yes, I know the Puma was better in MANY ways but meh. I still love my Paseo

[SteveS Cup]

Is it a 1.4 or 1.7?

The 1.7 is a bloody good engine and the chassis is a peach! My mate used to have a Zetec S fiesta and it was great fun to drive... just needed a bit more power which is where the 1.7 comes in!

[turbolucie]

Nice, I got rid of my 1.4 a few months ago. I'd hardly call it a shed, I'd rather have a Puma over a 206/Corsa/ other cheap car.

[Chunkychucky]

Agree with you on those Pirellis pal, worst tyres i've had the misfortune of driving on. On my Punto they were bad in the dry, and really shocking in the wet, with snap understeer occuring on an a-road at 50mph on a bend which can easily be taken at 90mph+ in the dry. Continental Sport Contact 2 (i think?) were what I replaced them with, an absolutely superb tyre

[FWDRacer]

turbolucie said:

Nice, I got rid of my 1.4 a few months ago. I'd hardly call it a shed, I'd rather have a Puma over a 206/Corsa/ other cheap car.

Couldn't agree more - my 1.7 went last year for 950 quid after 86K faultless miles. 98-R reg too.

great little cars - the FRP is a bona fide collectors Ford.

Original Puma chassis + new rear bushes + Michelin Pilot Exalto's =

Edited by FWDRacer on Wednesday 23 February 17:24

[thetapeworm]

I've got an R plate one and it's been fairly trouble-free in my couple of years of ownership, rear bushes needed doing and that really transformed what I considered to be already good handling and a change of tyres had a big effect on both the Pumas we have. As you said the P6000s are awful things but given how little grip they offer I suspect they must last forever.

I'm just getting my green one ready to sell but I'm going to miss it, it seems to have a certain something the newer X plate one lacks but I can't put my finger on it.

Enjoy it

[Nige_GTI]

It's a 1.7 VCT, Yamaha developed engine I think?

The earlier cars appear to have less of a torque restrictor in 1st gear as opposed to the later models which reduces the 0-60.

It's due it's MOT in 2 weeks, so I'm ditching the tyres and getting the bushes done.

[Nige_GTI]

olly22n said:

If you are changing the front wishbone I have a pair of gen ford wishbones that need new bushes, you can have them if you want.

PM sent

[SteveS Cup]

1.7, nice.

I remember my mates Zetec S on P6000's! Awful. I quite liked the P Zero Nero's on my 106 GTI though.

[Nige_GTI]

Well failed it's MOT today,

Washer Jets (I knew about these and have some on order)
Front Tyres (again I knew about this and have 2 new ones waiting to be put on)
Hole in underside enar seat support (thought it might need some welding, so £50 to fix isn't bad)

No advisories

Overall I'm happy with that, especially as its a 13 year old Ford!!

[soad]

Nothing major wrong then, just need a slight fettle (or two) to iron out those issues.

Still looks good!

[Jw Vw]

Still looks good indeed. They won't cost much to fix either to pass the MOT OP.

[Nige_GTI]

Seeing as the car did soo well in it's MOT (well for an old Ford) I thought I would treat it to a proper clean, and sort out some of the niggling issues. So over the weekend I;

Swapped the alloys over and replaced the worn front (Nankang for now but when all 4 need doing I'll be getting T1-R's)
Removed the spare wheel carrier as it was rusted, waxoiled the floorplan and tighted the bolt
Gave the engine bay a clean
Washed, washed again with super guard acid rain neutralisinmg shampoo, G3 polish on bonnet and wings, AutoGlym SRP all over, finally a coat of AutoGlym EGP.

Only problem is 13 years of marks and scuffs became more apparent and the fact that some tw@t has keyed it!

Anyway, removing the spare wheel carrier appears to have removed one of the exhaust support brackets, meaning it now hits the heat shield, so that will be being fixed this week, if I get home in the light!

Finally some more piccys;