The £650 Puma

[The Arch Bishop]

Sorry. :lol:

 

[The Arch Bishop]

Right picky time. Sorry, but Jegger's filthy at the moment!

YOG's exhaust fitted to replace the old holed one;

Fabricated trailing end repair;

Where the fabricated sill repair sections went;

Nice! Still very chuffed!

 

[quest63]

The Arch Bishop said

Well, the original Jegger (the begger) was a tramp that lived around the town I grew up in; Shipston-on-Stour. He was quite famous due to various antics but the one that everyone remembers was that he was often caught having... uh... 'fun' with the local stray cats.

Phew thank god for that, I was afraid it was something really sick like having something to do with keith Cheggers Chegwin from the BBC

 

[The Arch Bishop]

Dear god no! Nothing is as sinister as Keith Chegwin!!

 

[slayllian]

Done a nice job on the sills! Did you get rid of that weird turned up piece of metal in the arch which does nothing other than rust? When I finally get mine done I will get that bit cut out, or whats left of it :grin:

 

[Neil]

Good stuff - this is one of the more interesting project threads on ProjP k:

 

[V220]

If you get some waxy rust prevention sloshed about all inside the sills she will be right for many years to come! Looks a tidy repair that. Really nice

 

[The Arch Bishop]

Thanks everyone! The repairs wouldn't stand up to concours, but it's far better than it needed to be and was very good for the cash!

The turned up bit has been re-manufactured as well as he wanted it to look standard.

I'll be getting some Bilt Hamber stuffy for the sills when post Christmas funds allow.

 

[The Arch Bishop]

I was intending to rest Jegger for a bit but, as the wife's SEAT has decided to throw another expensive tantrum (never trust a VW derived car) she's stolen the Citroen for child ferrying duty.

Driving about today, it seems that the syncro on 5th is getting pretty weak especially when cold (double de-clutching helps a bit) so the gearbox oil change is needed to wring another few thousand miles out of the 'box.

Also, the steering is tramlining like a demon. Now it's always been a bit like this (even after a really good tracking up) but seems worse since the ARB bushes were replaced so I guess dropping the subframe has moved the geometry around.

Having never driven another Puma, can anyone else tell me if tramlining is to be expected to a certain degree? I've driven a few cars where it was to be expected but I'd have thought that the Pumas high profile tyres wouldn't be prone to it.

Can anyone provide a comparison?

 

[crystalpuma]

I believe FRPs tramline worse than normal Pumas...possibly due to stiffer suspension???

 

[The Arch Bishop]

Yep and lower 17" wheels don't help, but I'd have thought that, with the nice chubby tyres on a standard Puma, it wouldn't really wander about at all. Mine feels like it's sniffing for truffles on some roads!

 

[YOG]

Let me know if you want to drive mine. :wink:

 

[The Arch Bishop]

As ever Rick, you're very kind, but how standard is your suspension now!? I thought it was lowered and poly-bushed?

Mine is just wandery and a bit vague around the straight-ahead. The tyres are still perfect and the wear on them is nice and uniform. It just feels wrong somehow...

Might start looking for a low-mileage gear box soon as well. Hmm...

 

[YOG]

Have a look at my 2nd post on this link:
http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=20&t=15118" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Only have Powerflex for roll-bar and front wishbone bushes now and -30mm Eibach springs. This should still give you a good idea how yours should steer.
Last time I drove your Puma, it seemed OK to me?
PM me if you want to try mine.

 

[The Arch Bishop]

I think when you drove it, I'd just had the tracking done a few days before. I think I'll get it re-done as it has had some front suspension tinkering since then. Least getting it aligned gives me a base point.

Cheers Rick, I'm still jumpy about driving yours. It's just too nice! :lol:

 

[The Arch Bishop]

A couple of drives leads me to believe that the rear suspension is probably the main cause of my wandering steering. All of the front suspension has been replaced but other than the bushes, the rear has remained untouched. The shocks must be knackered by now and the top mounts are making increasingly loud protests.

So spring list now includes;

1. Rear shocks and springs (have some nice standard low mileage springs from Rick in the garage but the shocks are for a later Puma).

2. Rear top mounts.

3. Minor service including gearbox oil to prolong the near dead 'box

4. Re-check front suspension (very occasional noise like a gate latch over speed-humps)

5. Rust proof sills

6. Strip interior for a proper full clean and sort out buzzing door cards

7. Re-investigate leaks into cabin (not getting much now though)

8. Live on bread and water to pay for parts.

9. Consider new drive shafts to eradicate the thump during clutch take-up

Sure the list was shorter when I bought the car.....

 

[V220]

Unlucky, my box is dieing on 5th too. Drained all the oil out which was just like metallic brown paint and as course as sand paper. Just bought a fresh one off ebay, Crikey im looking forward to that!

 

[The Arch Bishop]

Ah could be worse! I remember an old girlfriend had a Toyota Carina II (170,000 on the clock, brown velour seats, marvelous) that we bought for £100. Drove beautifully other than having to hold 5th in with your knee. A bit of stubbornness into 5th isn't too much hardship. It'll be interesting to see how long it holds together before it starts graunching like a 90's Honda Prelude (which they all did from about 80,00 miles...)!

 

[V220]

Ive managed 12k as it was a tad grumpy when I bought it if you kicked its brains in from cold not thinking about it, until now when you have to double clutch every time so Its not done too badly. Got alot worse when I changed the box oil last week so I should have used something thicker lol

 

[The Arch Bishop]

12k I could live with! That'd be 2 years commuting for me. What thickness did you put in it? Just need to make sure I choose a thicker one!!