My ProjectPuma master plan...

Hello all!

I bought my 1st Puma back in July (http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=14402) and have since taken great pleasure and inspiration in reading other peoples' projects on here.

I have covered a few (thousands) miles since July and have got used to the pros and cons of a Puma as a daily driver. Overall I am enjoying ownership far more than I did with my previous cars. It is much more suited to somebody who wants to get into track days and motorsports yet hasn't stopped my normal activities - I had 3 passengers, 4 lots of gear and 4 mountain bikes in/on it - covering several hundred miles in one trip. I even moved an old (heavy!) 46" plasma TV in it.

Instead of neglecting this car as I have with others in the past, I have a plan. A long term project of a plan (which I will update as I progress). Here it goes:

Stage 0 (July '11 - Nov '11)
(a) - Buy 1.7 Puma in reasonable condition (done)
(b) - Test performance in standard form and compare with factory figures (done)
(c) - Enter Practical Performance Car Magazine's 2011 £999 challenge (done)
(d) - Take Puma to a rolling road to check power and torque against predicted (done)
(e) - Weigh Puma to check 'fighting' weight against factory figures (done)
(f) - Find a suitable method of practicing for PPCM £999 2012 and investigate (done)

Stage 1 (Nov '11 - Apr '12)
(a) - Move Puma to brother's house and declare off-road instead of renewing insurance (done)
(b) - Gather any tools necessary for any modifications to be carried out (welding?) (done)
(c) - Strip out interior completely and weigh each group of parts individually (started)
(d) - Improve the chassis stiffness, suspension performance and ergonomics of the Puma (started)
(e) - Improve power of the standard engine through ITBs, aftermarket ECU and exhaust (started)
(f) - General tidy up and complete service ready for re-commissioning back onto the road

Stage 2 (Apr '12 - Aug '12)
(a) - Tax and insure Puma and map aftermarket ECU (private land or dyno obviously)
(b) - Join suitable motor club, register for BTRDA Autosolo championship
(c) - Re-test performance and compare with a new rolling road session
(d) - Compete in a minimum of 6 Autosolo events and get used to the 'new' car
(e) - Attend Formula Student and FS Germany in Puma and visit the nordschleife
(f) - Prepare for the Practical Performance Car Magazine's 2012 £999 challenge

Stage 3 (Sep '12 - Dec '12)
(a) - Win the handling portion of the PPCM £999 2012 event? - top 10 overall?
(b) - Purchase a suitable tow car (new daily driver) & lightweight trailer (<3.5T total)
(c) - Purchase a 1999 2L Mondeo donor vehicle & scrap all but engine, box & wheels
(d) - Begin gathering remaining parts for a turbocharged 2L Zetec conversion
(e) - Compete in BTRDA Autosolo final round and evaluate season's performance
(f) - Complete any fabrication work with help/equipment use from uni where needed

Stage 4 (Jan '13 - Dec '13)
(a) - Re-register with suitable motor club and BTRDA Autosolo championship
(b) - Complete 2L turbocharged conversion, map and test/verify performance
(c) - Compete in BTRDA Autosolo championship to get used to the 'new' (turbo) car
(d) - Win Practical Performance Car Magazine's 2013 £999 challenge outright!?
(e) - Upgrade brakes & fit roll cage. Attend FS & FSG & re-visit the nordschleife
(f) - Graduate, get a good job, hit 4+ years NCB & 25 years of age, buy a good tow car

...well, that's how far I can see at the moment. It's a lot to do but I'm passionate and am surrounded by the right kind of people. I think I will get there but there are a few things to remember:

-I am a full time student and will be funding 90% of everything I do using my student loan.
-The rules regarding costing for such a build are somewhat vague and frequently bent by others.
-Everything will be done on a strict budget - £999 total parts & car value during each competition.
-As I have a plan I can take my time to snipe eBay bargains (I got a CBR600 RR head for 99p!).
-Being a student hoping for a good degree; there will be times I am too busy to add updates.
-I see great value in your previous experiences of similar modifications so please share :thumbs:

Every time I progress or complete a piece of the plan I will add a new post with photos and videos where possible. I hope you will all enjoy it :grin:

:-D

Isn't a student loan meant to finance.................. Studying :tumble:

Hopes and dreams lol. Can't see the majority of this getting done on that budget. Good luck though lol

Remember if you plan to compete and track - safety first :!: :!:

You have set yourself a tight list for under a thousand pounds :| think you might struggle!
Looking forward to seeing how the project progresses, keep us updated! k:

Good luck with everything - seems you have certainly thought it out so I hope you realise it all

Nice plan, hope it all comes together

Good luck your gonna need it :?

i will bet £5 that it will never go any further than Stage 1 (c)

Negative people need not waste their breath.

Go for it :thumbs:

fatdonger said:

Isn't a student loan meant to finance.................. Studying :tumble:

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It sure is. Thankfully I have an arrangement with my parents whilst studying whereby I live at home with them rent free with food provided and I do my best to succeed in uni so I can afford to look after them and myself in the future when they get old. I have had part time jobs during uni, but in these final years; I'm more likely to focus better through the week if I can spend any free time and loan on something I enjoy. I do try to help out around the house or with whatever they ask.

fatdonger said:

Remember if you plan to compete and track - safety first :!: :!:

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I do agree but the nature of the Autosolo events and the PPCM event are low risk. No high speed multi-car action involved - other than a couple of runs down a drag strip but I felt safer there doing 80-85mph than I do doing 70mph on the motorway or even 30mph in heavy traffic. It is only the strict budget that doesn't allow for a cage or upgraded brakes as early as I'd like - these will be addressed before I take it for some real track use late 2013.

slayllian said:

You have set yourself a tight list for under a thousand pounds :| think you might struggle!
Looking forward to seeing how the project progresses, keep us updated! k:

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I forgot to mention that the magazine event also allows you to sell £250 worth of unwanted parts (interior etc.). With a £400 car that effectively leaves me £850 for modifications.

ScubaSteve said:

i will bet £5 that it will never go any further than Stage 1 (c)

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I have great respect for the time and money you have carefully put into your car - it's a stunning example and is an inspiration :thumbs: . However, I am serious; and I have already begun on Stage 1 (e). So if you really feel the need to add to my funds then feel free!

I'll now dig through the contents of my hard drives to show you what Stage 0 involved...

I only say that because i know how much time effort and expense went into just making my car suitable for what it does and thats just non competition.

Where there's a will there's a way!

Stage 0 (July '11 - Nov '11)


(a) - Buy 1.7 Puma in reasonable condition (done)
As mentioned in my 'Newbie' thread I managed to score myself a green 1.7 from '98 for just £400. This included 12 months MOT, previous MOTs & receipts, full service history (mostly main Ford dealer), spare keys and alarm fob (Scorpion), and a lot of work done for the MOT (some new suspension bushings, new back box, and nearly new tyres). Despite them originally asking £450; I also managed to get them to change the water pump, the cam belt and the tensioner free of charge.

Here are the pictures from when I first picked it up:




Then after a quick wash:

Showing how bright the alarm LED is:


The Puma has proved faultless so far. The only problems which I will eventually fix are the missing rear bumper insert, the flaking wheel centre caps, the couple of paint run marks on the body, and the scuff in the rear bumper (now sporting a new scuff on the front bumper after letting my brother have a go at the PPCM handling course - he went too quick in the slalom). None of these faults are really noticeable from a distance and certainly don't reflect the low price I paid.


(b) - Test performance in standard form and compare with factory figures (done)
I have found a useful site when shopping for a new car has been http://www.parkers.co.uk/. They have reviews and technical specifications for most cars. This is where I 1st checked the figures for the Puma:

I then put these figures into another useful tool on the internet; http://www.torquestats.com/modified/index.php?pid=calculator. This may not be entirely accurate but it gave me a good idea of what to expect:

Next job was to take the car to a suitable testing location with my laptop and diagnostics cable. The software, ProScan; has a cool built in 'virtual' drag strip feature. It uses wheel speed to sense when you start moving and starts timing immediately:

I checked results from previous PPCM events and figured out I would probably end up around mid-pack on the day. I had one last check over the car and re-tested the night before:



(c) - Enter Practical Performance Car Magazine's 2011 £999 challenge (done)
Practical Performance Car Magazine was something a friend in first year at uni introduced me to. It's usually got some pretty wild/ingenious/brave car and engine combos and modifications in it. Since 2007 (I think) they have ran an event in the spirit of Scrapheap Challenge expect for two very different considerations: 1, The cars must be fully road legal. 2, You have an entire year (or more) to prepare! The website with details is: http://www.ppcmag.co.uk/999-challenge.html. I had a great day and it was my first time driving competitively. I made 16 consistent passes on the drag strip with my best result being a 16.4588s @ 82.57mph. This was only good enough for 27th out of 39. Things were better in the afternoon when I managed 13th of 39 in the handling course. 22nd of the 39 overall isn't too bad for a 1st attempt in one of the only standard cars there.

This certainly wasn't a sub £999 contender (then again it couldn't start either):

V8 4WD Audis, Imprezzas, BMW 328s, ridiculous VW Polos...quite some variety:


Not to forget a 3L Alfa V6 powered kit car, the 3rd place Scooby or the Nitrous-ed Fiat:

The only lone pass I did on the strip (Picture by my friend Richard Mortimore):

The Puma having a well-deserved lunch break (Picture by my friend Richard Mortimore):

Slaloming on my first run of the handling course (Picture by my friend Richard Mortimore):

I was glad I pumped up my tyres more than usual (Picture by my friend Richard Mortimore):


Videos:
At nearly 1GB and over 10 minutes for each part I could only seem to fit them on Facebook. The quality has been reduced a touch, and much of the footage was shaky with too much wind noise. There was also an annoying lorry or generator running later during the handling runs. The Fiat Coupé is covered in slow-mo in there somewhere - makes for interesting watching!

Part One: Drag Racing
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150855893250181

Part Two: Handling Course
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150856573835181

Part Three: Handling Course & Awards
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=10150856269595181


(d) - Take Puma to a rolling road to check power and torque against predicted (done)
Now I saw this as a way of checking for any problems with the engine (which I doubted already due to its performance so far) and a way of recording a benchmark to try to improve upon. I made the appointment with my most local rolling road; http://www.dynodemon.co.uk/. Our uni race team had already gained sponsorship and used them for fine tuning our race cars. This obviously didn't include everybody's road cars as well so I went along and paid the £35.

They are known nation-wide as a Subaru tuning specialist with motorsports experience:

There seemed to be just as many Lancers there though. Still intimidating for my little Puma:

It took 10 minutes or so to get everything set up, including the rather large (and loud) fan:

Won't be needing the rear portion of this advanced 4WD dyno (It could use a wash though):

Air to fuel ratio and power at the wheels. Factory figures are usually given from the crank:

2.8HP and about 13ft-lb more than the factory figures. Not bad for over 100k miles:


I know that all dynos are apparently a bit different and (calculated crank figures especially) aren't completely accurate but that is my benchmark set. I was most pleased to see the nice flat torque curve. I will be back once I have modified the engine before the next PPCM event.

Video:
You could barely hear the Puma over a Subaru and then the huge fan. I'll go around the back next time - plus it will be louder anyway by then:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150889474610181


(e) - Weigh Puma to check 'fighting' weight against factory figures (done)

OK so now I knew the power and torque characteristics of my car I wanted to know how close to the given weight of 1038kg it was. There was no way on earth I could afford a proper set of race scales and simply going to a weigh bridge isn't good enough if you have weight reduction planned. I don't want to just go ripping everything out if it ends up ruining the balance of the car. Here is my solution (with a little help from forums I found through Googling it)...

£38.10 worth of ASDA's finest bathroom scales. You may have to make more than one visit:

£17.49 worth of timber (200mm*47mm*4.8m plus one small thin plank) from Beers:

All stuck together. I now realised that this new 'tool' takes up a fair bit of space. Ooops:

We looked silly in a car park in the dark and the car looked silly with unsettled suspension:

It was dark because an earlier attempt was impossible without my trusty 3 tonne jack:

I made a note of which scales went where, how much my brother weighed and my fuel level:


Results:

Weight without driver = 1059.5kg (I'd assume the factory figure must be without any fuel then), 63.6% Front 36.4% Rear, 49.0% Left 51.0% Right.

Weight with driver = 1128.5kg (69kg driver - 71kg on different scales at home), 62.7% Front 37.3% Rear, 47.6% Left 52.4% Right.

I had already checked the scales were reliable enough by weighing myself 3 times on each and checking for variation. Like my brother (who I used as a weighing dummy); I also came out as slightly heavier on the family bathroom scales. I was surprised to see that a driver being present moves the centre of gravity towards the rear - you don't realise how far back you are sitting when you drive. I will be using the scales again at various stages of fitting new parts or removing unwanted weight.


(f) - Find a suitable method of practicing for PPCM £999 2012 and investigate (done)

As I mentioned earlier; I was very consistent in the drag racing half of the magazine event. Without silly power and serious traction problems I don't see there being much skill involved. This is why I feel that to improve my overall result I need to practice in events similar to the PPCM handling course. The closest thing I could think of was Autocross. I soon discovered something called Autosolo in this country which is basically the same.

The website to visit is: http://www.btrda.com/AutoSolo/. I found useful information on regulations and the costs involved. The season's final results are based on your best 6 results plus your points from the final event. Being based in Liverpool; the low entry fees meant that I could stand a chance (competing 6 times plus the final) for a total cost of £250-£300 plus a little extra for fuel used during the events (minimal as it's all relatively low speed and short runs).

I recently attended one of the events in Knutsford to eye-up the competition and see whether it was something I'd like to pursue. My plan of idly standing there taking pictures, with 3 of my brothers; was thrown out the window as we were all very persuasively asked to marshal. We were all based on the Autotest courses rather than Autosolo but I could still see the Autosolo from where I was.

You can see the small, purpose-built Autotest cars and some Autosolo cars on the far right:

There were all sorts of cars competing in the Autosolo, including this old Volvo:

You don't even need a driving license to enter! Just look at this young lad with his 106 Rallye:

The very skilful Autotest competitors treated all of us marshals to passenger rides:

No need for a trailer when your car is this compact! Was most impressed by this:

We stopped at a McLaren dealership which had a '98 F1 car and the new MP12-4C. Nice:


Video:
It's harder than you think to hold a quite expensive camera when you're in a car which officially doesn't even have a passenger seat. Especially when it's doing this:
http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?v=10150889507475181

Good luck on your final year , did you do any work placement experience?

Guessing you are either near birmingham or manchester or london ....... Lol ok there are only 3 mclaren dealerships in uk :lol:

(personally I think they spelt the company name wrong should have been maclaren )

An ingenious way of weighing the car....lol.

Not sure how accurate it is as I'd be sceptical of cheap scales. If you want an overall weight just pop to a scrap merchants or the like and ask nicely if they'll let you use their weighbridge. Most wouldn't mind if they're not busy at the time.

Loving the write up by the way k:

Nice to see a nicely written and gramatically correct project thread lol It was handy the cam belt and water pump was changed before you payed £400 as this work would cost you around £400 to get done. k: .......

That would have meant your £999 budget would have been reduced to £599 lol

Wow, are you serious? you spent all that money on buying bathroom scales and pieces of wood. Seriously? that is one of the stupidest things I have ever seen in my life, how can you be so stupid?

Why not take it to a weigh bridge for an accurate reading? you wont get an accurate reading using bathroom scales ffs. It scares me that there are people as daft as you behind the wheel.

Dave the Jew said:

Wow, are you serious? you spent all that money on buying bathroom scales and pieces of wood. Seriously? that is one of the stupidest things I have ever seen in my life, how can you be so stupid?

Why not take it to a weigh bridge for an accurate reading? you wont get an accurate reading using bathroom scales ffs. It scares me that there are people as daft as you behind the wheel.

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come on mate give the lad a break, yes its abit bizarre but the difference in accuracy wouldn't be significant in a driving situation.

I think your comment was abit harsh