Hi All,
Long time since I've posted on this forum due to other commitments.
I'm the mug who bought FRP 416 to bring it back alive.
Many moons ago i bought geniune shell with the plan to take me white puma (posted on here years ago) which was slowly being eaten by tin worm and reshell. However, with renovating a house and new born the project went on hold and consequently the car died and went puma heaven.
During that time I'd been collecting geniune bits a great prices, wings, bumpers, suspension (std and coilovers), brakes, last set of new hubs from a dealer in cornwall, wheels & tyres. I then saw 416 and grabbed it knowing i have a great shell to transfer the bits due to it being rotten.
In bringing it home, the car had been played with quite a lot, so to have confidence in the parts being fitted, I bought a low mileage car from the same year with great history to begin the build. Time slipped past again, so it was time to get rid as it felt like it was never going to get completed, and you may have seen me trying to shift it on eBay.
Then, my best mate (who owns a bodyshop and garage) suggested we re-shell the two cars into the empty shell in 24 hours so parts don't get lost or we forget how it goes together. With us both being handy with the spanners, we set to it and as a result slight over 24 hours of a weekend spent, I turned the key and it fired up.
It didn't feel quite complete running the standard puma engine, but I had 85% of a racing puma and began the search for racing inlet, cams etc & interior to make it complete. In the hunt I came across the original engine in a fiesta and whilst I was ripped off due to the state the engine arrived, I have all the parts to take it back to 100% racing puma, albeit without the 416 inlet manifold number, but the one a puma specialist fitted.
So car now requires paint to finish off (As the body is scruffy from storage & doors are from the donor as the originals were too rusty), but after 3 years, FRP416 should be road legal again very soon.
So now I've got a spare FRP shell with panels, a focus ST engine and a volvo RWD gearbox..........wonder what I should do next???
Long time since I've posted on this forum due to other commitments.
I'm the mug who bought FRP 416 to bring it back alive.
Many moons ago i bought geniune shell with the plan to take me white puma (posted on here years ago) which was slowly being eaten by tin worm and reshell. However, with renovating a house and new born the project went on hold and consequently the car died and went puma heaven.
During that time I'd been collecting geniune bits a great prices, wings, bumpers, suspension (std and coilovers), brakes, last set of new hubs from a dealer in cornwall, wheels & tyres. I then saw 416 and grabbed it knowing i have a great shell to transfer the bits due to it being rotten.
In bringing it home, the car had been played with quite a lot, so to have confidence in the parts being fitted, I bought a low mileage car from the same year with great history to begin the build. Time slipped past again, so it was time to get rid as it felt like it was never going to get completed, and you may have seen me trying to shift it on eBay.
Then, my best mate (who owns a bodyshop and garage) suggested we re-shell the two cars into the empty shell in 24 hours so parts don't get lost or we forget how it goes together. With us both being handy with the spanners, we set to it and as a result slight over 24 hours of a weekend spent, I turned the key and it fired up.
It didn't feel quite complete running the standard puma engine, but I had 85% of a racing puma and began the search for racing inlet, cams etc & interior to make it complete. In the hunt I came across the original engine in a fiesta and whilst I was ripped off due to the state the engine arrived, I have all the parts to take it back to 100% racing puma, albeit without the 416 inlet manifold number, but the one a puma specialist fitted.
So car now requires paint to finish off (As the body is scruffy from storage & doors are from the donor as the originals were too rusty), but after 3 years, FRP416 should be road legal again very soon.
So now I've got a spare FRP shell with panels, a focus ST engine and a volvo RWD gearbox..........wonder what I should do next???
