tuonokid
Active member
No comment, I just wanted to get the thousandth reply in :grin: :thumbs:
Barry
Barry
The £650 Puma
- Thread starter The Arch Bishop
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The Arch Bishop
Active member
Ha! Yes, I should have probably just left it alone to be honest, but it's the trapping of being a pedant! Dead dash gauges just strike a nerve! Also, on a bad day, my speedo and rev counter sticks so it's possible to end up with nothing but a fuel gauge for company! The revs can usually be sorted by giving the cowling a Fonzie style slap. The Speedo usually bursts back into life the next time you start the car.red said:
Having seen that sensor, I would stronly suggest cleaning all the connectors and greasing them with silicone grease to get nice contact points again
The Arch Bishop
Active member
What I've done isn't final as it was pretty much a bodge. I'll be going back to it when the weather's warmer and soldering the ring connector. I'm also keeping an eye out for a suitable method of covering it all up as the rubber boot is scrap. Ideally, you need to remove the throttle body for decent access.
I would suggest putting on some heatwrap after soldering. But, I would, me being me, dismantle everything, clean it properly, repaint etc and only then solder it and heatwrap it up
The Arch Bishop
Active member
That is pretty awesome! It's possibly because I've had every problem possible with my Puma - good for Google searches!
The Arch Bishop
Active member
The time had come to replace the old Falken 912's that I'd bought when I got Jegger. Their grip had dropped off markedly and the inner edge of the fronts had worn when I'd had the Eibach springs on. I'd ordered some Toyo Proxies from Black Circles - no longer state of the art but a very good price for a decent tyre.
I had bought a very nice set of Prop alloys years ago that had been stored down in the shed, so I dragged these out and gave them a clean up;
I packed them all in the boot very carefully using some old packing foam and cardboard and set off for Lavender Motors in Haywards Heath;
After a (surprisingly long) wait Jegger emerged with a fresh set of boots;
First impressions are that the ride is better and Jegger feels pretty smooth to drive.
The tram-lining issue that seems to plague me is now....different... Whereas before, the steering wheel would fidget quite violently over ruts, this tendency has reduced but been replaced with a strange swaying sensation. It's a bit like the front and back are articulated and it shimmies around the body's centre point. It's not violent, just disconcerting.
Thing is, rear beam bushes aside, I've pretty much run out of suspension parts to replace to cure it.
Weirdness!!
I had bought a very nice set of Prop alloys years ago that had been stored down in the shed, so I dragged these out and gave them a clean up;
I packed them all in the boot very carefully using some old packing foam and cardboard and set off for Lavender Motors in Haywards Heath;
After a (surprisingly long) wait Jegger emerged with a fresh set of boots;
First impressions are that the ride is better and Jegger feels pretty smooth to drive.
The tram-lining issue that seems to plague me is now....different... Whereas before, the steering wheel would fidget quite violently over ruts, this tendency has reduced but been replaced with a strange swaying sensation. It's a bit like the front and back are articulated and it shimmies around the body's centre point. It's not violent, just disconcerting.
Thing is, rear beam bushes aside, I've pretty much run out of suspension parts to replace to cure it.
Weirdness!!
Have you got geometry sorted as well? This behaviour you are describing sounds like you have toe set exactly at zero (neither in, nor out) so tha car is wandering around on tyre sidewalls a bit. Puma should be set toe out by 2 mms (roughly) but that leads to uneven tyre wear so some tyre specialist set it at toe in by 1 mm...
Btw, nice set of props, may I add?
Btw, nice set of props, may I add?
The Arch Bishop
Active member
You may! yes, they're in very good nick! Not perfect, but near enough.
It's been tracked up numerous times. The last time was only a few hundred miles ago and I've touched nothing on the suspension since.
The only thing I can think of is that the pattern suspension arms that I've used just are not up to the job. They appear to be nice quality double skinned ones but maybe the bushes are soft and wear quickly.
It's been tracked up numerous times. The last time was only a few hundred miles ago and I've touched nothing on the suspension since.
The only thing I can think of is that the pattern suspension arms that I've used just are not up to the job. They appear to be nice quality double skinned ones but maybe the bushes are soft and wear quickly.
tuonokid
Active member
Hi Lee
There is another answer to this. The roads are in appaling condition now as the councils have no budget to spend. There's a couple of roads near me that if I cross the road to overtake I have to really hold on to the steering wheel as it's all over the place as I cross from one camber to another.
Barry
There is another answer to this. The roads are in appaling condition now as the councils have no budget to spend. There's a couple of roads near me that if I cross the road to overtake I have to really hold on to the steering wheel as it's all over the place as I cross from one camber to another.
Barry
The Arch Bishop
Active member
The roads I use are fairly appalling, but on the relatively high-profile rubber, you'd expect it to be better. My Wife's Fiesta is on lower profile tyres and that, over the same roads, tracks pretty straight. I was under the understanding that Puma's on standard wheels tracked very true and didn't tend to get upset by camber changes/ruts. Maybe I'm expecting too much!
The Arch Bishop
Active member
I've adjusted the pressures a little and went for another drive. The tram-lining is certainly gone and on the way out they were still all over the place, but on the way back on the same road seemed to be getting better. However, on a straight stretch, giving the steering a little tweak left and right instigated the weave. It's a bit like driving on marshmallows, but it could simply be a breaking-in period. A bit of forum searching seems to suggest that they need scrubbing in first before they give any feel or precision.
I guess we'll see!
In other news, a while back, I managed to source another set of Recaros in better condition, so I've put those in today. I'll be putting my tatty but comfy old set up for sale soon.
I guess we'll see!
In other news, a while back, I managed to source another set of Recaros in better condition, so I've put those in today. I'll be putting my tatty but comfy old set up for sale soon.
The Arch Bishop
Active member
Well, after about 60 miles, the Toyo's still feel like beach balls. A lane-change during an overtake on a smooth straight piece of tarmac had Jegger lurching quite alarmingly. I can only really cite the tyres as the factor here as I didn't have the problem on the stiff side-walled falkens. It's a decidedly mushy drive now and gone is the go-kart steering. Feels a bit like a wallowy tired old barge.
I'm going to have a word with the tyre fitters to see what can be done. I'm not sure what come-back I have as I chose them from Black Cricles, so the garage that fitted them has no real responsibility with regards to supplying an unsuitable tyre.
In other news, I've ordered a set of genuine rear bushes from Ford Parts UK to replace the clunky and now squeaky ones fitted.
Finally, I've still not gotten around to refurbing the ST150 callipers as I haven't managed to remove the old pistons. WOrk has a compressor that should sort that. Then I've got to work out how to put them back together with little to no instructions... That can only go well!
I'm going to have a word with the tyre fitters to see what can be done. I'm not sure what come-back I have as I chose them from Black Cricles, so the garage that fitted them has no real responsibility with regards to supplying an unsuitable tyre.
In other news, I've ordered a set of genuine rear bushes from Ford Parts UK to replace the clunky and now squeaky ones fitted.
Finally, I've still not gotten around to refurbing the ST150 callipers as I haven't managed to remove the old pistons. WOrk has a compressor that should sort that. Then I've got to work out how to put them back together with little to no instructions... That can only go well!
moondustka
Active member
What size tyres are they?
I thought the Toyos were great (215/40/16 at the time) but what you're describing may be similar to what I was feeling as I didn't feel that confident with them unless they were super warm.
I'm now on 195/50/15 Toyo R888s so will see how they are. All I know so far after 1 journey to MOT is that they pick up everything from the road and fling it round the arches :roll:
I thought the Toyos were great (215/40/16 at the time) but what you're describing may be similar to what I was feeling as I didn't feel that confident with them unless they were super warm.
I'm now on 195/50/15 Toyo R888s so will see how they are. All I know so far after 1 journey to MOT is that they pick up everything from the road and fling it round the arches :roll:
Are they T1Rs on 195 50 15? I vaguely remember using these on my standard Puma and was recommended/ing them.
I didn't think you could buy T1Rs any more though
I didn't think you could buy T1Rs any more though
The Arch Bishop
Active member
They are TR-1s, but whether they've updated them I'm not sure. The ride is excellent but the feel and body control on them are the worst I've ever felt. I've had better ditch-finders to be honest!
The Arch Bishop
Active member
Oh, and yes, standard tyre size! http://www.blackcircles.com/catalog.../V/82/f?returnurl=/order/tyres?&tyre=10942912
My last experience of them was on my FRP and they were super albeit a bit soft, I found they wore quite quickly but that could have just been my driving 
Obviously there is much less tyre wall on the 17" FRP wheel so you wouldn't notice the flex quite so much anyway
Obviously there is much less tyre wall on the 17" FRP wheel so you wouldn't notice the flex quite so much anyway
The Arch Bishop
Active member
I have a suspicion that they've altered it recently. I've found a few instances where people have complained about super squishy handling, but the majority seem to like them. Maybe just a bad match to the chassis?
About 15 years ago, I had to replace the Goodyear eagle NCT2's on my MR2. I went with some NCT5's as the 2's were superb. The 5's were dangerous to the point where I couldn't keep up with slow moving traffic in the wet. One junction ended up with me spearing off the road over the curb at comically low speed. Tyre fitter took the car out after I complained and he described it as un-drivable - replaced the tyres with Yokohama's which were fine.
About 15 years ago, I had to replace the Goodyear eagle NCT2's on my MR2. I went with some NCT5's as the 2's were superb. The 5's were dangerous to the point where I couldn't keep up with slow moving traffic in the wet. One junction ended up with me spearing off the road over the curb at comically low speed. Tyre fitter took the car out after I complained and he described it as un-drivable - replaced the tyres with Yokohama's which were fine.
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