98 Ford Puma bangernomics
Discussion
I have moved up from my last banger.
a 1995 Astra 1.6 Atlas
purchased 2 years ago run well and been totally faithfull.
Sold it today for £250.
Cost me after tax, insurance and fuel £75 per year.
Now I have my new car, a bit more fun than the vauxhall
98 Ford Puma 1.7
69k with fsh and only 2 owners
New shocks 5k ago
taxed and tested till October
Brand new clutch fitted today as part of the sale.
paid just £1040
I know that there are cheaper ones, but this one drives spot on and needs nothing so I hope I can run it for a year or two and not lose to much money at all. Maybe do a track day or too as well.
Cheap as chips insurance, just over £200 fully comp, which is better than the Astra!
Sorry btw to the PHers I missed on Xbox live, selling the astra and finding this afterwork have taken so much time!
Hope you like?
Plan is to enjoy it and maintain it, its had a decent spray at the rear with new arches welded in, and sills etc are fine.
a 1995 Astra 1.6 Atlas
purchased 2 years ago run well and been totally faithfull.
Sold it today for £250.
Cost me after tax, insurance and fuel £75 per year.
Now I have my new car, a bit more fun than the vauxhall
98 Ford Puma 1.7
69k with fsh and only 2 owners
New shocks 5k ago
taxed and tested till October
Brand new clutch fitted today as part of the sale.
paid just £1040
I know that there are cheaper ones, but this one drives spot on and needs nothing so I hope I can run it for a year or two and not lose to much money at all. Maybe do a track day or too as well.
Cheap as chips insurance, just over £200 fully comp, which is better than the Astra!
Sorry btw to the PHers I missed on Xbox live, selling the astra and finding this afterwork have taken so much time!
Hope you like?
Plan is to enjoy it and maintain it, its had a decent spray at the rear with new arches welded in, and sills etc are fine.
done full service today, As the state of the oil made me think its had been a good while.
Despite the local garage stamps in the service book, I have uncovered a few er "short cuts" in the maintenance.
missing rocker cover bolts, bent and poorly fitted air filter to start with.
Weird issue, the ignition leads are stuck fast on the plugs, I fear I will break them so going to try and get a spare set before I go to town on em to change the plugs.
Got couple of oil leaks too :-( one from the sump, easy fix and one from the back of the engine, not sure where yet.
plan is cambelt and water pump next weekend and full coolant flush and replacement.
Total spend on parts for everything so far is £130.
I am going to poly bush the car, as there is movement in the rear, which is spoiling the otherwise great chassis. cheap as its £180 for the entire car, and as it has new shocks already, it should be back to as Ford intended.
going to add the rear track mod too, £30 its a doddle to fit, so may as well.
Going to look at fitting the bigger later brakes 260mm vs 240mm with the better calipers at some point too. See if I can rob full set up fro a breaker.
I know its a banger, but its such good fun,I can see me keeping it for a few years. so a few choice mods to help me get the most from the car I guess I can allow...
It does need a good wire brush session too and under sealing, few areas that I think if left would get a bit ugly.
Why do these cars rust so bad, not just the arches but the sills, floor pan, front wings etc??? seen some shockers of cars only 10 years old??
Despite the local garage stamps in the service book, I have uncovered a few er "short cuts" in the maintenance.
missing rocker cover bolts, bent and poorly fitted air filter to start with.
Weird issue, the ignition leads are stuck fast on the plugs, I fear I will break them so going to try and get a spare set before I go to town on em to change the plugs.
Got couple of oil leaks too :-( one from the sump, easy fix and one from the back of the engine, not sure where yet.
plan is cambelt and water pump next weekend and full coolant flush and replacement.
Total spend on parts for everything so far is £130.
I am going to poly bush the car, as there is movement in the rear, which is spoiling the otherwise great chassis. cheap as its £180 for the entire car, and as it has new shocks already, it should be back to as Ford intended.
going to add the rear track mod too, £30 its a doddle to fit, so may as well.
Going to look at fitting the bigger later brakes 260mm vs 240mm with the better calipers at some point too. See if I can rob full set up fro a breaker.
I know its a banger, but its such good fun,I can see me keeping it for a few years. so a few choice mods to help me get the most from the car I guess I can allow...
It does need a good wire brush session too and under sealing, few areas that I think if left would get a bit ugly.
Why do these cars rust so bad, not just the arches but the sills, floor pan, front wings etc??? seen some shockers of cars only 10 years old??
I sold my Puma a few weeks ago and still see it about- I was dismayed to see it had a piece of trim missing from the bumper when I saw it yesterday!
Mine too had a couple of small oil leaks- a new rocker cover gasket improved things greatly but there was still a bit of a weep from somewhere about halfway down the block but it sounds like you have a bit more mechanical knowledge than I have so you can probably get to the bottom of that one better than I managed!
I had mine two and a half years and it was a great little car- tyres wise I went for T1Rs as you can usually get them from Camskill for about £35 so a good performance:£ ratio.
Mine too had a couple of small oil leaks- a new rocker cover gasket improved things greatly but there was still a bit of a weep from somewhere about halfway down the block but it sounds like you have a bit more mechanical knowledge than I have so you can probably get to the bottom of that one better than I managed!
I had mine two and a half years and it was a great little car- tyres wise I went for T1Rs as you can usually get them from Camskill for about £35 so a good performance:£ ratio.
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