2002 Thunder - Vimto

[oli8925]

Got up early today and sanded the other headlight, also used some trim tape to tape the number plates to the car, it was annoying me that they didn't follow the contour of the bumpers - sorted

And finished the front comps install. Don't think I've ever bodged a 'sound system' so much, on top of the adapters and crossover 'mounting' method, using builders flashing tape as vibration dampening the painting it black so it wouldn't show through the speaker grilles :lol: it works though and the wiring is all properly crimped and soldered so that's safe.

Pretty happy with that job, the rattle also turned out to be the woofer itself, one of the wires from the speakers connector bracket to the woofer was flat against the woofer so rattled when it oscillated. Easy fix and not the first time it's caught me out. Now just a tidy and proper clean for it, although apparently more snow is due so more salt on the roads.

I'll also be taking a trip to Ford to get some door trim sockets, the little black bits that fit in the door for the door card to push in to. Several on the passenger side seem to have broken, no wonder it was always a bit flappy and rattly.

 

[PumaJay]

stil lfitting the 3 spokes? i like them!

 

[spunkymonkey]

Tidy puma,
Those Zetec S alloys can be a pain to clean!

 

[oli8925]

stil lfitting the 3 spokes? i like them!

Haha, nah. They're on my Saab now which hopefully by the end of the year will have a little makeover to look like this. I think on the right Puma they could look good though.

Tidy puma,
Those Zetec S alloys can be a pain to clean!

They're not Zetec S, they're original Puma. Might only be on the Thunders, not sure, but they look similar. What size and offset are Zetec S wheels? Would like to keep the current look but do one of the brake conversions and don't want to splash out on decent after market wheels.

 

[oli8925]

It's been a funny couple of years for 'Vimto'. We did a little bit of work to it and basically just enjoyed it up to Feb 2014 when it half unexpectedly failed it's MOT. Not so much unexpected that it failed, but when I drove it back to the workshop to patch the sills I didn't expect the rear underside to literally fall apart. As we'd spent 'decent' money to buy a 'decent' Puma we weren't sure what to do to get the most money back - sell it, pay someone to repair it or break it.

Luckily my brother in law had fallen out with his poor neglected Thunder so we took it on and kept it running, on the promise of tidying bits up and getting decent money for it when it came to selling. While decisions were made over Vimto's future it was parked up somewhere we luckily had available at the time. The new Puma wasn't a scratch on Vimto, bodywork wasn't much better, the radio didn't work, it had a myriad of rattles and the clutch made an awful whine. I gave it hell, almost drive it like you stole it territory. To be completely fair to it, it never complained, never broke down nor put a foot wrong and always coped with me thrashing it through the country lanes at the dead of night between the workshop in Billingshurst and home in Tunbridge Wells. When it did sell I actually felt quite attached to it, it was a sad day, but it went to some who obviously loved Pumas and was going to look after it, so hopefully it's still going strong.


As usual no decision was made on Vimto, and it sat under a tree growing organic matter and looking sorry for itself. Summer 2014 was coming to an end and we were about to move 35 miles away but remain in our current jobs. Running the Saab all that way would break my bank account and, while we needed a diesel, we figured getting Vimto back on the road was the best stop gap. A deal was done with our friend for his uncle to take it on in his bodyshop and do a good job of welding the sills, underside and arches, and to make it cheaper I'd clean up the welds and spray it myself, we thought we had a decent price. While it was having the work done a family owned 320d became available so that was taken on for the work commute, no problem as Vimto would go up for sale with a fresh MOT.

In early September Vimto was delivered back to us. The arches weren't done and the welding, although solid, wasn't terribly neat and was just plated over the cut hole. How was I supposed to clean this up enough to make decent money back on it? We umm'd and arrr'd about going back to our friend, but then his uncle was diagnosed with stage 3 cancer and we weren't going to cause them trouble, so we've just learned from the experience. The weather soon became too wet to paint, and miss8925 didn't get around to selling it.

And now we're in January 2015, Miss8925 starts a new job soon but as someone had driven into my Saab (the 'stay at home' car) it looks a mess and she didn't want to make a poor first impression - something I completely understand. So, after a quick clean and a blast around the back lanes to clean out the cobwebs, almost exactly 2 years after purchase and just shy of a year from last being on the road, Vimto is back. And we've decided to keep it for a little longer too. The Saab will be on and off the road for a major tidy up and soon will be in a bodyshop for a couple of months having some repairs and a respray. Can't say I'm disappointed to be back in a Puma, and to celebrate we've bought a racetube to let our hair down a little. I hope to do a bit more tidying and possibly get it back into a bodyshop to be sorted properly, who knows. Happy motoring!

 

[red]

That's some ups and downs. Enjoy using the Puma again!

 

[oli8925]

Enjoy using the Puma again!

Definitely have been!

The past couple of weekends it's been down to the workshop, some 78 miles each way through Kent and West Sussex's country A and B roads.

I've ticked a few jobs of the list, stripped the lights down to clean and demist them and uprated/renewed the bulbs.

It seems I can't fit the race tube as easily as thought as the exhaust on ours is a single piece from the downpipe back, I was under the impression the backbox was a sleeve fitting onto the mid. Not a priority though.

Yesterday I attacked the passenger side sill (the better of the two). I didn't take before pictures, stupidly, but will do of the drivers side. Fairly happy with how it came out. You can still see the bulge where the plate is, but I was never going to be able to make that invisible and kind of don't want to. It's genuine the way it is and won't be fooling anyone. It's solid and that's what matters at the moment


Fairly good match for Halfords rattle cans. You can make out the freshly painted section from the lip at the bottom of the sill.

Drivers side needs virtually the entire sill repainting, and the arch is still looking pretty disgusting.

On the way there and more so on the way back it was obvious there was a problem with the rear drivers brake, it was making a pretty horrible grinding noise under braking and when cleaning the car this morning I saw it had been throwing hot rust at the wheel. New cylinders and shoes will be fitted tomorrow, hoping a refresh is all that's needed to sort it. Now going to plug one of my favourite cleaning products - Angelwax Revelation fallout remover.

This was the job at hand



Bilberry wheel cleaner took most off the spokes but there were still heavy deposits on the rim


Revelation in action!



Gave it two rounds, then some heavy agitation, and another round with the revelation. The brush wasn't enough but it easily scraped off using a soft plastic 'thing'




Finished wheel

Now looks better than the others :roll: will do the back side of it when I take it off for the brakes.

 

[tuonokid]

Hi Oli
It looks good stuff that wheel cleaner.
Barry