2002 Thunder - Vimto

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oli8925

New member
Joined
Nov 13, 2012
Messages
122
Location
Kent
I've stuck a thread in the intro section, so I'll put a bit more detail in here and use this place to ask lots of noob questions.

Miss Oli8925 and I were looking for a car to replace her Classic Mini for short town journeys and the very short work run. Obviously it needed to be fairly cheap, small and economical, a good reputation for reliability was a must, especially as the Mini has recently refused to do anything at all. I pushed the point that if it was to replace a Mini and if I was to drive it regularly, it needed to be fun a little sporty as well, with a bit more character than 'just a car'. A small bit of research later and the Puma became no.1 candidate.

We've been on and off looking for a while but the missus was getting desperate without a working second car, and by desperate I mean dragging me off to look at £250 Fiestas that were well beyond their calling for the scrapyard. I spotted this on ebay, a bit above what we wanted to pay but local enough so decided to take a look. I was more than impressed with it's condition and it drove amazingly, FSH and the all important cambelt change. We got the price down a bit and shook on it. This morning it was delivered.

I've spent today jacking it up and exploring, it's not as good as I thought, but I'm still pleased and we both love it. Due to an insurance cock up (I don't recommend Churchill to anyone!) it looks like it will spend the next month on the driveway until the Saab's insurance runs out so we can get a multicar policy. I'm not too bothered though, it gives me a chance to sort a few things.

I was a bit disappointed to realise the sills were a bit bubbly at the front and the O/S/R arch/quarter has been repaird, possibly with 'some' filler involved. Otherwise, apart from about 5 very minor dents and a few more paint chips, it's pretty good.

So, the list of jobs and possible upgrades.
A really good clean, polish and wax. Might get it machine polished.
Shampoo and condition the leather
Renew both rear brake pipes (MOT advisory)
Renew rear top strut mounts (MOT advisory O/S)
Renew front suspension arm bushes (MOT advisory N/S, ?poly)
Remove arch lining, take back loose paint and surface rust, rust inhibitor, PU sealant, paint, waxoyl
Explore slightly 'fluffy' sills
Ford floor mats
Eibach springs
Buy Haynes and owner's manual
Replace cracked N/S/R light - can these be taken apart, cleaned and properly sealed to stop them leaking?
Replace hazed headlights - wet sanded
Osram Nightbreaker bulbs
Smoked or clear side repeaters
?Wind deflectors
?Spoiler like this - A long way off yet.
Look at correcting the little dents and chips.
Replace 6006 with 6000 and Connects2 Ipod/aux adapter
Reprogram key fob
Fix BAS & TCS light - N/S/F Sensor
Fix drivers window
Replace front speakers with 5.25" comps


This is the current fleet, neighbours are pleased...
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You can download the "Owner's Guide" from here:
http://www.mediafire.com/?fq7p9omol87m2wj" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
Ah thanks for the link. I'll also get myself a mk4 Fiesta Haynes, I wondered why there weren't any for a Puma around. It's a shame they never made one.

What is generally recommended for spares providers in the world of Ford? With a Vauxhall Viva, there is nothing, so you end up buying what little there is off ebay which often happens to be cheap Chinese rubbish. Mini - everything comes from Minispares or one of the others. Saab - either one of the few dedicated spares providers who survive off breaking cars and finding job lots, or buying 2nd hand off ebay/owners club. I've always been jealous of the Ford availability of parts. Is there a recommended spares website, or is Ford themselves recommended (what are their prices like)?

Wondering where to get rear brake pipes (have my eye on these - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251199467900?ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT&_trksid=p3984.m1423.l2649" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;), also the strut top mounts and the suspension arms/bushes (are they all in one or can the bushes be replaced?)

Does anyone know of a good indy garage around Tunbridge Wells, Kent too?
 
oli8925 said:
Does anyone know of a good indy garage around Tunbridge Wells, Kent too?
Nearest ones I can think of are Owen Garages in Haywards Heath or Silverback Performance in Rochester, but while both of those have extensive Puma experience, they are about 40 minutes away from you - check the garage list in my signature below to see if there's one nearer.
 
If you're prepared to travel, there's Ollie at OC Motorsport in Brentwood and Steavie at Performance Puma in Loughton E18; they're both about an hour away, but you won't hear a bad word said about either of them.
 
That's not too bad, we're often going up to Hertford anyway so it doesn't seem as far as it's on the way. I very rarely use garages, once in 5 years of driving, it's just useful to know a good Indie you can trust if there is anything you don't have the tools, skills or time for. Thanks.
 
Due to the issues involved in trying to get the DVLA and insurance company to do their jobs/talk to each other, the Puma has only gone on the road today. I have to say, what a brilliant, fun little car. So glad we bought it as the successor to the Mini, such a hoot to drive. Also so quiet and pleasant to drive when around town or cruising yet picks up so nicely when you change down, quite liking having a very rev happy car, haven't really owned one as of yet. It's certainly no where near as fast as the Saab and has half the power and torque, but unless at 70+ and in a straight line it really feels much faster. Perfect. Might have to get one all for myself now...

A problem we've found is that the windscreen wash doesn't appear to work. I'm hoping this is a fuse or relay, is it a common problem? I can't hear any noise from the pump.
 
Have just realised I have a set of nice Phonocar 13cm comps that are no longer in use as I'll be changing my set up in the Viva. Seems a shame to waste them so as long as they fit I'll put them in the front of the Puma. Will they need adapters to fit, like so?
 
We've had a bit of a bad week with the Puma. It's been booked in to see Steve at Performance Puma for the MOT advisories and the MOT tomorrow, and earlier in the week the ABS and TCS lights came on and then the drivers window got stuck down.

I'm not too bothered about the window as you can pull it back up and it's an easy job for another day, but the lights worried me greatly because of the MOT and we're struggling for money at the moment so didn't want to keep adding things to Steve's list. Testing the plugs with a multimeter I found it to be the N/S/F sensor and got a new ATE one from SC Motor Factors for £35 (Ford wanted £90!). Getting the old one out was quite a bit of trouble as the body snapped off and left the sensor part in the hole, so I had to break out the hammer. Lights are now out and all ready for the MOT, but it gave me a good chance to look behind the arch covers. I was amazed by how much mud had built up between the back of the outer and inner wing, so much more than any of my previous cars including the classics. It was a good 2" thick so I've cleared it all out and dried it as best I can and replaced the self-tapper bolt mount...things... There's a fair bit of rust at the bottom of the inner wings but I don't think it's made any holes yet so when we have a dry spell the wings will come off and it'll all have a good going over with Dinitrol amongst other things. I think I'll try to make some extra gaurds to sit at the bottom of that gap to push the lining against the lower lip/mud flap and to help stop the mud ingress a bit.

On the plus side, the brake discs and pads look nearly new and nothing seems to be in particularly bad shape, although at some point I'll replace the brake flexis as they look a bit tired and are a bit twisted, will get some fancy braided ones. Also too the chance to change the side repeaters over to the smoked ones as they needed a bit of persuasion. Not sure taht they're a great improvement but I think they're ok and match the front lights a lot more.

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It passed, on the road for another year.

Got all the work done and it was awful to drive, obviously the new wishbones/bushes and strut mounts had tightened everything up and thrown the tracking way out (I think it was out a bit anyway because it was very twitchy and not pleasant to drive enthusiastically) so we got the tracking done immediately and its like a different car. Good stuff. Although we've spent so much on the car in such a short time and had a fair few problems in the month we've had it that we're losing faith a bit...

Meant to add this in with the last update. Last month I swapped over the passenger rear light as the original had a big crack in it. I was going to flat back the lens and polish it but they came up more than well enough with some elbow grease and G4. Makes the car look much neater. The fronts are too far gone for just a polish but I'm worried about completely ruining them if I flat them back...
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glad to hear, its always best to get tracking adjusted after major suspension work! :thumbs:
 
no no no :oops: oz ultralegera .....ford cossie 16 .... anithing , just not those rims ...thej are realy bad ...sorry
 
:lol: Don't worry, the spokes are staying, they're for the grey bus behind it. Just thought I'd see while they were off the car as they're 4x108, 16x6.5, offset's wrong though.
 
Got a few little bits done here and there, started by swapping the front speakers for some decent 5.25" Phonocar comps I got a couple of years ago for the Viva. Bought a spare pair of mirror covers off Ian G and attacked them with a holesaw for the tweeters

Everything ready to go in
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Those of you that know the front speakers on a Puma are looking at those adapters thinking "no, that's not right", I hadn't discovered that yet. Wasn't best pleased when I removed the door card to find out but there was no way I was stopping to find a solution so I got the dremel out and cut up the adapter. Not perfect or ideal but it works. I then struggled to find a place to mount the corssover units as there's very little inner skin to the door. I thought about cutting a pocket in the foam lump stuck to the door card but decided instead to make some covers for them and effectively tape them in teh correct position on the door card. Again, not ideal, but they're not going anywhere. This was all a trial run anyway as there were still some bits in the post for me to do a proper job, so some of the wiring was scavenged from my old system.

With it all installed it works and the improvement is a good one, even the girlfriend noticed so it must have been worthwhile. I now have the bits to finish it so that will happen with a wiring tidy up tomorrow so it's all a lot more presentable. It's also given me a chance to listen out for rattles, and there's one near the drivers woofer that needs sorting.

Nice and subtle
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Today I had a late start, but decided to take the plunge and wet sand the headlights. I wasn't too worried about the outcome as they were so bad I was pretty sure I'd need some new ones anyway, but the finished product is quite pleasing and much better, even if far from perfect still. Might try it all again but take a lot longer on the initial stages.

I only did the nearside today, but forgot to take a starting photo, it was much the same as the offside though
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Started off with 600 grit which was harsher than I'd planned, but it was barely touching it so went to 400.
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600 again
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800
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1200
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Now I came a bit unstuck as I'd lost some of my paper so had to jump straight to 2000 grit
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2500
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3000
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You can see there are still lots of imperfections in the lens.
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Cutting compound applied
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Polished and buffed
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Still there :(
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But it's been worth it, they're so much better than they were as can be seen when compared with the other side
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