Project Puma...Track Car

[PumaJay]

hey..

ive owned my puma for over 3 years now, and been through alot with it, it once tried to kill me, pretty much writing the car off, but i managed to get it rebuilt and back on the road and ive not stopped working on it since!

brief spec is,
1.7 puma engine,
full piper system inc 4-2-1 manifold,
flowed MAF and throttle body,
FRP spec air box,
Silicone inlet, top, bottom hoses,
uprated ignition leads.
300mm front brakes
Full set of strut braces
AP Coilovers
12.5mm axle spacers
Full polybush kit
Fully Stripped
Bucket Seats
4 point harnesses
Lots of Carbin Fibre

few pics from how the car looked a few months ago but i will update with new pics and progress as and when it comes!

Got alot planned for it over the winter months, cage being the main one!

[PumaJay]

[PumaJay]

Right finally got my finger out and started doing some work on the car... its off the road for winter now, so going to start getting busy and getting some jobs done on the car ready for some more fun next year!!

First job was cleaning the floor up of the rest of the sound deading.. also done the big slab above the fuel tank! more weight saved!


part of my plan for the winter is to remove the orange from the car, getting bored of it now and its not how i want it to look..
so with that ive wrapped the wing mirrors on carbon vynal.. poor first attempt but i'l re-do them again at some point



also wrapped the dash board ends


Main big spend so far has been the bodywork repairs, the car is now rust free, had the rear arches and the B pillars around the bottom of the doors, looks a million times better now! will also be undersealing it soon!




also been gathering a few parts for the car
New Oil and Filter


Motul 600 Brake Fluid


Bits needed to fit my oil pressure guage


Magnetic Sump Plug


13 Row Mocal Oil Cooler


20mm rear beam spacers


oh yeh... and the best bit! 4 Pot Brembo's!! :grin: will be sending them away for a full rebuild, just not sure what colour to have them powder coated.. maybe thinking anodised purple??


Anyway...This weekends fun and games, fancied shedding more weight from the car and the rear bumper was the candidate for some work,

Started by removing the bumper, and then splitting the inner frame from the bumper skin, also drilled some holes along the bottom of the bumper

Bumper without frame


Frame removed - quite a heavy chunk of plastic this!


Now i was going to use bonnet pins to fix it to the car, but the pins aren't long enough so i cam up with another solution, i cut the inner frame in half..

and the bottom - now in the bin!


reattched the top part of the frame with alot of silicone and then secured with some clamps and left to dry



Thats that for now, the bumper is in the shed drying off, will re fit the bumper tomorrow night and hopefully fingers crossed it'll fix nice and solid!

oh and i also fitted a few cheecky stickers! :-P

[Shilly]

nice project always liked the puma

[PumaJay]

cheers dude, still got a stack load of bits to get done on it, might get some time this weekend to do a few bits

[PumaJay]

puma is now in the garage for winter! means i can now get on and start tinkering!

also picked my rear disc conversion up! will be doing more work tomorrow

[PumaJay]

...anyway, bit more progress today, the rear bumper worked using the tiger seal i got, its now solid again and ready for re fitting.

also started on the rear disc conversion,

The donor brakes - Escort RS2000 2 piston calipers


im also going to use the rear anti roll bar off the rear beam i bought


Stripped the drums off the puma


and the car as it is in the garage



Next job is to get the rear beam off and get it painted, need to order new back plates for the rear disc's, new discs and pads, and also tidy the calipers up!

[jonny s2]

interesting trackcar

[PumaJay]

cheers dude!

been up at the car again this evening, nothing major but the car is now fully up the air ready for the front brakes to come off


also did a quick wiring up job on my new battery...its only tempory, will be doing a much more thorough and professional job in a few weeks! just wanted to make sure the battery was ok starting the car


and...seeing as my daily ride has 4 bald tyres, 2 of which have slow punctures and are horribly out of balance, i decided to whip the wheels off it and put my pro races on! It now handles soo much better no wheel wobble on the motorway or anything...well happy, also looks better aswell

[PumaJay]

progress is on hold for the fetive period, got presents buy and dont really have time for the car at the moment, will be gathering the cheaper parts for now ready for the full on assult in the new year!

also i think its about time i showed my trust focus diesel some love....183,000 miles is starting to take its toll, cambelt, service, battery, and some new tryes and it'll be like new again!

[DavidPouker1]

I like 1.7 puma engine. Wow! great information about car. Thanks!

[PumaJay]

had the day off work yesterday so spent a couple of hours doing some little bits on the car, no major progress but just a few odd jobs that need doing

First off i fitted the rear bumper back on, now lighter as i removed half the inner frame and with holes drilled in the bottom to allow the air to flow through and stops the bumper acting as a parachute



also a mate of mine who works in the raf got me some heat reflective tape that they use on the fighter jets... good enough for that then its good enough for me, so i used it to do the underside of my carbon bonnet, doesnt look perfect but it'll serve a purpose



also tripped the brakes off the fiesta st rear beam i picked up from cardiff last weekend



few other jobs i did was remove the front wishbones, they been left with a friend to have the bushes pressed out and the ball joints removed, then they'll be off to the powder coaters along with my rear beam which i still need to remove.

was unsure on whether to use my brembo 4 pots but ive decided to make the most of them and i'll be sending them to MDA motorsport to be machined to accept there brakets to fit them and then once i get them back there being sent to godspeed for a complete overhaul, new seals, pipes, bleed nipples, paint and logos! need to get discs, pads, and brake pipes.


Been spending some money today aswell, finally bought some hammerite underseal, new earth cable and some new battery terminals.

next major job is to remove the exhaust and heat shields so i can get to the handbrake cables to replace them with fiesta st ones. will also gove the heatshields a clean up and some vht silver paint while there off.

[PumaJay]

Little bit more progress made today, started off by removing the rest of the exhaust and the heat shields so i could get to the handbrake cables




Then i undid the handbrake cables and removed them from the car



Next i made use of the face the car was in the air and with nothing on the back end i undersealed the rear arches and boot floors





Also started fitting my ally bonnet hinges (thanks to jacko for those) fitted the drivers side but the passenger side is a abit trickier to get off



old vs new



decided im gonan change the red rivetts on the door cards to black ones...but the battery in the drill went flat after one! DOH! looks loads better and neather tho




And thats the fruits of todays labour... more to come!

[PumaJay]

little bit more work carried out today.... will be back working on the car on monday evening again, hopefully to get the car driveable, will still need a few loose ends tidying up but im not far from having it back out again, main job is brake fluid change, which is mondays job.

any way, a few pics!

The oiler cooler that i mounted a week or so ago..ignore the crappy brackets, i need to get something abit better


Powder coated wishbones, with new poly bushes and ball joints


Rear disc coversion test fitted with 20mm spacers...thinking i may need to go back to 12.5mm


and complete with mintex discs and pads


exhaust re fitted with pumabuild poly exhaust hangers..much much less play and wobble in the exhaust now


started to tidy the wiring up for the battery, so got a junction box and mounted it on the gearbox mount


new carbon fibre canards


and how they might look when fitted


general pic of the car...looking very sorry for itself!



Ive also booked my first track day, cadwell park may 30th, really looking forward to it, gives me a good chance to put the car through its paces and try out the gopro!! hoping it will show up some area's that need improvement, as its got pretty much every type of corner.

[Cochyn]

Tried so many times to get the arches rust free, but in the end the only thing that gets ride of it is chopping it all out and welding new one's in.

Looks good so far, keep it up

[martin xr2L]

its makes so much difference undersealing the arches and under boot! i done mine and it just looks amazing. your projects looking good!

[PumaJay]

The car is now back on the road, passed its mot yesterday so just need to put some tax on it and i'll be back out burning up some fuel!

Did drop one hell of boob while refitting my carbon bonnet, hadnt got the himges properly aligned and it caught in the wings...

luckily it can be repaired so its off to nur-motorsport to be sorted




heres one of the rear wheels with 20mm spacers and rear disc conversion




nice and wide!! will hopefully feel nice and stable on track.

oh and one of it back home

[martin xr2L]

is that a focus disc conversion? i have the rs 2000 with built in drums but i think the ones you have are much better!

[PumaJay]

its a fiesta ST disc conersion

UPDATE!!

Fitted my carbon fibre cannards today, had them in the shed for a while and had nothing to do today other than watch the F1 so made the most of a quiet morning and cracked on, quite simple really, 4 holes and a few nuts and bolts and job done!! Simple but effective, not to everyones taste but as this is a track car is performace over style and im hoping these will give me abit more on the front end, will evaluate rear spoilers/wings next to balance the aero out abit, maybe even a rear diffuser and flat floor aswell but we'll see on that, not planning on spending too much more money on this car as it will be sold towards to the end of the year to help fund my next car, MK1 Focus RS, the only car ive ever lusted after, always wanted one and i need to scratch the RS itch!!







Few pics of the car from when i went up to ashbourne last weekend for a drive round





Oh, almost forgot i fitted a matt black sunstrip today, its a pain in the arse driving around without sunvisors and being blinded all the time!!

[Dan@FastFord]

Nice one mate, keep the updates coming. It's great to see a DIY build!

[PumaJay]

few pics of the front bumper fitted back to the car, looks pretty good i reckon! bumper doesnt line up very well but then it never has done to be honest.





Matt black sunstrip

[PumaJay]

Originally Posted by Dan@FastFord

Nice one mate, keep the updates coming. It's great to see a DIY build!

Cheers dude, more progress this weekend with abit of luck, ive got a set of 15x7 OZ Super Leggera's im going to spray matt black, replacing the 17's as they tend to make the car tram line under braking, hoping the smaller wheels will help the handling, less unsprung weight etc etc...

Plus the tyres are loads cheaper!!

[PumaJay]

The new wheels, will be giving them a repaint in matt black

[PumaJay]

painted the new wheels matt black at the weekend, not the best paint job but im not that bothered!

[PumaJay]

Fitted the OZ's today, took it out for a spin and it feels very different to drive, doesnt feel as stable but im guessing that might be down to the larger tyre walls having abit more flex than my old 40 profile tyres on the 17's maybe?? I probably just need to get used to the way it now drives and feels need to get on top of it asap though as im off to cadwell park on wednesday.

anyway i took a before and after picture, i do like the look of the OZ's makes the front brakes look even bigger and it does sit much better on 15's than it did on the 17's

Before..


After..