1.7 into 1.4 rally car

[wizbang]

Hi guys, this is my first crack at a puma so hopefully you will all be able to keep me going in the right direction. Ive always fancied building a puma for stage rallying (all of the cars i build for customers are classics) that i can use, when i spotted this one on ebay the other week i couldn't resist.

The 1.7 has a snapped cam belt so the plan is to rip that out and drop in a 1400 which suits the capacity class for rallying. However that is about as far as the technical aspect of the plan has got, building the shell, doing the welding and getting the car into paint (if i can decide on a colour scheme) wont be a problem. Where i am going to need some help is which bits to use, where they come from etc.

Having done some research these are the bits i think i know :-

engine - 1.4 puma or a 1.4 fiesta, did all pumas come with air con or did some fiesta come without it. looking for around 115-120 bhp is this pretty realistic?

gear box - looking for quite a high ratio, which boxes had the 4.25 diff and is there a higher one available, are the various gears for the ib5 gearbox interchangeable ie can i take a second gear from a 1.7 and swap it with one from a 1.4

Is there anywhere i can get my hands on a complete wiring diagram

The car came with a set of avo coilovers, the car is a pre oct 98 model and the rear beam is not compatible (not a big issue) but neither is the shell. what is the difference with the later shell and could someone send me some pictures so i know what i'm looking to manufacture.

I'm sure there will be other bits, but i will look at those when i get to them. I will be fitting this car in and around customer work so progress could be a bit sporadic but when i do a bit i will be putting pictures etc up so you can tell me what i'm doing wrong hehe.

 

[Flying Scotsman]

Hi, i'm doing the same but dropping a 1.6 in the car.

Not all Pumas came with aircon, And power figures, im assuming youre going to do some work on it, if so, you can get more power than just 120 from it.
Scubasteve is the man for gearboxes but ive been told to use a 1.4 gearbox in my car as they had the best ratios going.

Shell differences, there are two types of wide arches you can get for the puma but you just have a standard shell... most likely your suspension was rear eye loops rather than forks... just change the rear beam, if you want to keep the eye loops.

What are you doing to the shell before painting? Where are you located?

 

[wizbang]

we are based between hull and york, i'm planning to gut the car, ive got the build manual for the s1600 cars but its not that much use, so i'm going to play it by ear. first place to start is strip it out completely, scrape off the underseal and seam sealer, seam weld front to back, gusset skid and guard as required plus repair the rot under the original seats and in the arches. The cage is a custom cages one so unless it needs tying in i probably wont bother. After that it will be the fire wall in the back to bring the tank inside and anything i can do to un cramp the engine bay. which should keep me busy fro a day or two. I love the look of the wide arched cars but i'm only going to do it if/when it the rear quarters need repairing so std width for now.
How far along is yours

 

[Flying Scotsman]

Stripping is all done, im currently in afghan just now so everything is on hold until winter and then mines pretty much the same as yours, shot blasted, not much seam welding needed, but strengthened, cage welded, vehicle stands welded on, seat mounts, not sure about brining the tank in. The s1600 was a bag if im correct? Havent looked into the tank much, i was just going to put a kevlar guard over it. Then painted... colour scheme yet to be designed properly... but ive got an ace on the job.
And youre right, those s1600 manuals are a bit pointless unless you have an ex works s1600.

This is my thread as it stands... http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=138&t=13864" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[ScubaSteve]

Leave tank where it is, its in the perfect place for weight distribution

 

[Ian G]

Was the cage already in it? Nice find if so, post the price if you wish so I can be jealous if you got a good deal.

 

[Flying Scotsman]

Was the cage already in it? Nice find if so, post the price if you wish so I can be jealous if you got a good deal.

There is another on ebay....

 

[wizbang]

It was the cage that sold it for me, I gave £2000 for it with a pile of bits inc AVO coilovers and a frp lsd. I would have though with everything stripped out you would want to bring some weight back to re balance the car.

 

[Flying Scotsman]

It was the cage that sold it for me, I gave £2000 for it with a pile of bits inc AVO coilovers and a frp lsd. I would have though with everything stripped out you would want to bring some weight back to re balance the car.

Ha... just bid on your LSD...

 

[wizbang]

Managed to get a couple of hours in last night and dropped the front panels off and made a start of pulling to front wiring out.

 

[Flying Scotsman]

If you can fugure out how to get the loom from the engine bay and inside, out in a oner through the two holes by the fuse box, let me know... short of pulling them out the fuse box.

 

[wizbang]

Well its been a month or two but i have finally managed to get the puma in so i can work on it. A few late nights have gotten the car stripped down to a bare shell and most of the sounddeadening removed. Next step is the seam sealer, so i can mark up for the seam welding. While i have not been working on the car i have picked up a 1400 donor car and decided to arch the shell instead of repairing the rot. What is the diiferance between the F2 kit and the racing kit and has anyone used the kits from pumaspeed

 

[PumaJay]

the s1600 kit is much wider than a standard racing puma bodykit, not sure if anyone on here ha used the pumaspeed kit but there are a couple of people who have sourced original racing puma panels the only trouble is its very hard to find the longer wishbones and driveshafts you'll need to get the wheels right out in the arches.

 

[Dal]

Nope - the S1600 is wider. Think that's what Warren has on his monster.

Edit: What FB said ^^

Found a picture from the Dales meet. Warren's monster on the left, Jacko's standard FRP body on the right:

S1600 left v FRP right

• Dal
• Nov 2, 2009

Notice the wider front wing on the left S1600 kit compared to the FRP on the right.

From the front wing size, you can see the S1600 is wider.

http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?p=77087#p77087" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[wizbang]

finally shifted the sound deadening and most of the seam sealer, so ive got started on seam welding inside










Going to have a look at tieing the cage in before i turn it over. If anyones got some pointers as to the weak spots please let me know.

 

[Flying Scotsman]

How did you do the sound deadening, heat gun and elbow grease?

Are you putting the shell in for shot blasting?

Weak points are around the strut mounts, along the firewall bulkhead, seams along the lines in the forward foot wells and along the floor in line with the B posts.

Search for Andrew Hebron in the members lists and get in touch with him. He is currently re-shelling his rally car and knows a good deal more than I.

Mac

 

[wizbang]

Hi Mac, thanks for that, ive already got those covered. Ive just about sorted all of the internal seam welding and shifted some of the standard brackets and mountings. Ive also managed to trim the dash around the cage and welded in the dash bar. Been looking at the gussets to tie the cage back to the body but hopefully i will be able to turn the car over soon.
I shifted the soundeadening with a hot air gun an a good wood chisel with the corners rounded off so it wont dig in. Never been a fan of blasting, it doesnt get into the seams to help with the welding and ive yet to find a way to get it all out afterwards. Plan is to scrape the underseal, weld skid and re-inforce then ill re seal it or paint if it comes up well.

 

[Flying Scotsman]

Mounting cage to the body, how do you aim to achieve this, ie: where will your mounting points be less the obvious floor points? Nice tip for the wood chisel. That one of my next jobs when I get home.

 

[ScubaSteve]

Heat and wallpaper stripper is all you need

 

[Flying Scotsman]

Heat and wallpaper stripper is all you need

Is it really that eady... I did try it, albeit without heat butI needed a damn hammer on it lol...