Restoration of FRP 477

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XAF

Active member
Joined
Apr 8, 2012
Messages
1,056
So, as many of you know I've been an avid Puma fan for many years, my 'other woman' is a 2000 Puma 1.7 Lux that I've had since it was just under three years old. Thanks to a steady drain on my bank balance, the old girl is still pretty immaculate.



Now I've converting another's woman, in this case it was Paul's (748) FRP. I saw it and I knew I needed one in my life. Having seen quite a few rough FRP's that were too much money, good ones that slipped through my fingers and 'the' £15k one that I couldn't come to a deal on I eventually dropped lucky with a tip off from one of the guys on Facebook of all places.

Meet FRP #477, she was registered in December 2000 and appears to have been run by Ford for around 18 months before being bought by its first proper owner. They kept it for 10 years and for reasons I'm yet to understand it was in storage for five years hence the low current mileage of 55k. I bought it off a lovely lady in Wales who absolutely adored it and did very few miles,but there were jobs starting to build and she'd developed a bad back that made driving the FRP agony. A deal was done and #477 was mine.

A full on restoration to her former glory is on the cards, top and bottom so she is ready to be my wedding car next year. Alex Goodier's #401 is my benchmark that I'll fail to meet!





It looks quite tidy from a distance, however, the list of jobs that I thankfully knew about and hence the fair price, is long. So far it needs:

Drivers seat to repair the nick in the bolster (thanks Aaron)

Complete brake overhaul (thanks Chris)



Steering wheel refurb



Alloys need re-furbishing and new tyres all round

The bodywork is straight and free from major rot, the worst bit is the bottom of the b pillar where they all go.



The bumpers look like they've had a really bad respray and looks like water has got under the paint. The front bumper has a tiny crack in it too just for good measure. Think it's missing the rubber trims between wing and bumper too - can you get these anymore?



First job was to get rid of the pimp tints in the back windows and the blue light up washer jets. Not for me I'm afraid!



Next was a completely pointless, not top of the priority list purchase but as the plates on it are just age related I thought, what the hell!



Today's job was to get a spare key. The car only came with one and with me losing everything all the time, I thought it wise to get robbed blind by the dealers and get a new spare. To be fair, it wasn't as bad as it could have been. They coded and cut a brand new non-remote blank for £130 and then coded and cut my brand new remote key for free so can't really complain as I've now got a full complement of working keys. Shame you can't get the little toggle key they come with new....

That's it as it stands for now. A huge box of new parts from Ford have arrived ready for the re-build, and Chris has it booked in for one of his engine out specials for the cambelt so more news in a few weeks.



I'm probably going to take this and my black Puma to Ford fair (is that ok Cherrie? I'll need another stand pass?), and then after that the black one is getting put back to standard to fund some FRP repairs. That rust on the B pillar needs doing soon! Watch the for sale board for some immaculate grey Recaro seats and interior, Eibach springs and mint ET35 Cosworth style alloys....
 
Hi James
Well done mate but just a thought, if there's no evidence of a new clutch you might want to replace that whilst the engine's out. Might save hassle later on.
Barry
 
tuonokid said:
Hi James
Well done mate but just a thought, if there's no evidence of a new clutch you might want to replace that whilst the engine's out. Might save hassle later on.
Barry

Ah, good spot Barry, I missed that off. Chris takes it off anyway to put the engine on the stand so makes sense when it's out so that's getting done too... I'm going to have to sell a kidney at this rate.
 
evilrob said:
XAF said:
I'm going to have to sell a kidney at this rate.
You could start by selling me that keyring...

Ha, ha! Hi Rob!

This is where I found it....

http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=13&t=26057&p=323807&hilit=Key+ring#p323807" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

If you get these sills sorted I'll give you my spare I bought!
 
Sorry to spend even more of your money James but I expect he will be pulling at least one driveshaft off so do that oilseal as well :thumbs:
 
XAF said:
The bumpers look like they've had a really bad respray and looks like water has got under the paint. The front bumper has a tiny crack in it too just for good measure. Think it's missing the rubber trims between wing and bumper too - can you get these anymore?

I've got loads of that stuff mate, let me know when you want it.
Paul
 
748 said:
XAF said:
The bumpers look like they've had a really bad respray and looks like water has got under the paint. The front bumper has a tiny crack in it too just for good measure. Think it's missing the rubber trims between wing and bumper too - can you get these anymore?

I've got loads of that stuff mate, let me know when you want it.

Legend, thanks Paul!
Paul
 
tuonokid said:
Sorry to spend even more of your money James but I expect he will be pulling at least one driveshaft off so do that oilseal as well :thumbs:
He should be getting both crank seals replaced, as well as any other normally inaccessible bits that need doing. I can confirm that Chris does a very thorough job.
Paul
 
XAF said:
I'm probably going to take this and my black Puma to Ford fair (is that ok Cherrie? I'll need another stand pass?), and then after that the black one is getting put back to standard to fund some FRP repairs. That rust on the B pillar needs doing soon! Watch the for sale board for some immaculate grey Recaro seats and interior, Eibach springs and mint ET35 Cosworth style alloys....
No problem, I always order extra stand passes. :eek:k:
 
nice work.

Bit of security advice, edit the photo with the new keys in and blank out the cut area on the tip. anyone can read your key code and cut a new key for your car, enter it without alarm going off then plug in an OBD recoder to code a chip to it.

Dont give them that first easy way in.
 
warrenpenalver said:
nice work.

Bit of security advice, edit the photo with the new keys in and blank out the cut area on the tip. anyone can read your key code and cut a new key for your car, enter it without alarm going off then plug in an OBD recoder to code a chip to it.

Dont give them that first easy way in.

Cheers, not sure how they can cut a key from the photo but better safe than sorry!
 
Apparently there are 5 different cuts possible for each of five positions on the key making ____________ zillion combinations.

And its possible to identify each of the five cuts visually if you know what your looking at.

Or something like that.
 
XAF said:
warrenpenalver said:
nice work.

Bit of security advice, edit the photo with the new keys in and blank out the cut area on the tip. anyone can read your key code and cut a new key for your car, enter it without alarm going off then plug in an OBD recoder to code a chip to it.

Dont give them that first easy way in.

Cheers, not sure how they can cut a key from the photo but better safe than sorry!

https://keysinthepost.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
 
Jesus, thanks all, I've been educated today.

Scary to think a random person can get a key cut from a photo. Keys are now blurred out!!
 

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