Daily Drive 1.7 (Latest update pic heavy..!)

Well, it is not the project thread I had wanted, but circumstances have forced me to throw Puma back on the road as quick as I can, but I still have to do a fair bit of work to do this as most of the standard parts I removed got chucked - so I have no choice but to put the new stuff on!

Here she is..



After we hit a deer.

Okay so I only posted one pic there because I wanted to make sure I was doing it right!

Unfortunately I have no photos of what she looked like before the incident, but it's a totally standard 1.7 with the usual rusty arches and prop wheels.

More photos of broken bits though:





The front panel was bent and I wasn't sure how I was going to get it unbent without having to drop the engine, but a friend came up with a solution. We strapped her to a Range Rover, held with some chocks and eased it out with Rangie powerrrr. I think it worked out okay.

The bonnet went in the bin, as did all the struts, wishbones, hubs and brakes.

I whipped out the arch liners and found this:





And soon they will all look like this:

there is at least another mile left on those brake pads

The whole lot just fell apart when we took the caliper off. I'm pretty sure the caliper was seized on. That disc and pads only did around 4000 miles, the other side had glazed but were in no way near as bad condition.

I've bought more expensive discs and pads and I'll see if I can get a motorsport friend to bed them in properly for me, or at least talk me through doing it correctly, so they don't end up knackered as well.

I always use a wipe of copperslip on the slides of the callipers to stop them from sticking when i put new pads in

I think the seal on the piston was goosed, and the piston itself was corroded and got stuck fully extended everytime I pressed the pedal.

Another reason my brakes were total wubbish.

On the subject of slides though, I have a set of ST170 brakes that I'm trying to fully dismantle at the moment (figuring it out as I go along with all of this!). One of the carriers sheared while we were trying to get a slide out (there was some heat involved). So I need a rear carrier. Ford quoting me about £90 for one! Probably going to have to lump it and just buy the thing.

had the same thing happen on my old peugeot 406, found it was cheaper to get a complete second hand calliper off ebay and raid it for bits

My arches are finally primed for colour, although I won't be applying it any time soon. Someone had done the arches before (I knew this when I bought it). However they were bubbling up badly so I thought I would see about tidying them up again. No photos before I started grinding unfortunately.







Make-shift rubbing block...!

Ready for Colour, been brush-primed and aerosold. The other side is much and such the same. While I was at it I ended up also tidying the rust in the bottom corners of ther door checks.

Made a start on painting calipers at the weekend also.

The rusty one I hadn't buffed at the point but it had already undergone 2-3 weeks of rust treatment and scrubbing with a wirebrush. The one on the left is the end result after buffing and chipping away rust with a screwdriver.


I wanted to get some paint that BigAl has used on his, but seeing as I had already bought some stuff I figured I might as well use it. I'm happy with how they came out, but may well redo them at a later date anyway.


I did my gear knob as well while I was spraying. Looked like someone had been chewing on it.



Painted the numbers in as well. Will tidy up the edges with some silver and then lacquer it.

nice start, will be great when its done

Some more bits done over the last week.

Was up til 3am on Monday finishing the painting for this lot. Spent yesterday afternoon rebuilding them with new seals etc. Never managed to get the handbrake levers off the back of the rear calipers in the end. Bolts were stuck tight. One caliper may need replacing because the lever is sticky but we'll see how it goes for the moment.

(Quick before picture!)


Was up til 1am this morning test fitting the calipers etc.. It was very exciting.




Wheels are ready to go on.. (Edited with right picture!)


Going to Ford at lunch to pick up some new clips etc to replace stuff that I've lost. Hopefully the brakes will be on properly this evening, ready to for bleeding.

Thanks. Took a good bit of elbow grease to get the calipers in a half-decent state for painting. I'm hoping to buy another full set at some point and get them done professionally.

Looking Very Good!! Love the calipers Colour! :thumbs:

Thanks hopefully they will stand out enough under the new wheels.

Well...

Started her up for the first time since August..

Fired off the first crank and ran sweet as a nut. I love my car. :thumbs: :-D

Rad fan and some exceptionally clean bolts arrived from Ian G (he must have cleaned them, they were pretty much good as new!) so got the struts fitted properly and the rad back on. Will run the coolant through tonight or tomorrow. She's awfully toed out with the focus hubs, so I'll have to adjust t.r.ends to sort that.

Someone who knows what they're doing came round for a lookie last night. My lovely front hoses are too short for full lock. I've measured up for a custom length so will see if I can get hold of the guy that makes 'em and see how quickly he can knock a pair out. Means I might not get it moved this weekend. Could maybe pick up some cheap rear hoses to throw on the front to get it shifted? That way I can gravity bleed the system this weekend so it's quicker to bleed properly when the new hoses arrive. I need to change an inner shaft seal as well.

Still need to paint those quarters..

Probably be about 3-4 weeks for new front hoses.