Autosolo Puma Project

I have started this thread to go through my Autosolo Puma project.

If you would like to know what a Autosolo is please read here. They are a fun way to spend your Sundays.....
http://www.farnboroughdmc.org.uk/autosolos.php

With this post I want to explain what I have done, problems I have faced and how I over came them. Where possible I have added images and links to any posts / web sites I have used.

I would like to thank every contributor to this site that has helped me over the past 8 months. However this is going to be a long road until I can get the car as I want it.

Any advice or questions greatly welcomed.
___________________

I got a "new" 51 plate Puma 1.7 (Without Air Con) in August 2014.

All was well with the world until I went to my first Solo at the end of August. It was a bright sunny day..
Over the course of the morning runs the car started to overheat and then finaly the Heat Control Valve broke, with the hoses breaking of the barb connections and spilling the contents of the coolant system over the engine and screen.
Here is the aftermath...
_________________
After the event I looked to replace the Thermostat and the Heat Control Valve (HCV)
The HCV was a simple switch but I needed help with the thermostat replacement and so I found this great guide from a poster on this site called jacko and here is the link to the guide. Its very simple and easy to follow (Thank you jacko)
http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=2974

Please Note: I replaced the old Thermostat with one recommended on the Euro Car Parts website. This worked fine on the road but was not good for any heavy activities as the car overheated. This has been resolved now and I will explain more later.
__________________
Winter 2014/15
I then attended another Solo later in 2014 and the over heating problems persisted.
Having recently replaced the Thermostat and the HCV my thoughts went to the radiator and the water pump. I decided to replace both and again I found some very useful guides this time from ScubaSteve. His guide shows how to replace the pump without removing the cambelt.
http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=16797
As the system was drained I also added a nice new shiny radiator to the car also.

This was also around the time when my MOT was due and as expected it failed :evil:
I had rust issues around the rear suspension mounts so this needed welding up. After being quoted by several garages more than the car was worth I found a friend of a friend that helped.
Here are some pictures...
While it was there and they were under the car I also got fitted a new set of AVO UK Performance Suspension. This has dropped the car and made a big impact on how the car handles.
_________________
March 2015
After all this work, expense and with a MOT the car was back and running well! I booked in on my first Solo of the year and joined the BRTDA Autosolo Championship.

In preperation for the event I fitted several parts that i collected over the winter including OMP strut braces, OMP steering wheel with D1 Spec Quick Release and a races seat with harneses.

Unfortunately the seat fitting did not go to plan as the OMP Subframe did not fit exactly and when tested with the seat gave a very high seating position. I am a short guy and my head was rubbing the roof liner.... I will need to weld this in at a later date.
The Left Rear Mount was about 15mm too high and did not line up with the original bolting points.

I also looked for a new set of front tyres and went with the Toyo Proxes as I had seen that they are openly recomended on this site.
:thumbs:

Then it was time to race again.

--More to come--

Nice start to your project. They hold autosolo's and auto tests a stones throw from my house and am good mates with a few of the lads.
I have dun a few in my time as they are good for learning car placement and other skills. More into my rallying now though.

Graeme

Not sure if Im the only one but I cant see the pictures sadly But seems like you've had some good fun with it and kept it running :grin: You dont happen to have any videoes from the autosolo? I also believe its called autocross in America

Looking forward to watch this topic, but hopefully I'll be able to see the pictures if its on my end its not working

Edit: Got it working now, seems that even logged in it thought I wasnt logged in, but clicked the picture link and managed to login once again and now showing. Great looking car, those tyres should definitely help. Did a run myself this weekend on a gokart track on regular road tyres and it was screaming for grip

Ooh, fancy seeing you on here :wink:

Hi Graeme thank you. It is coming together. Just. About to post the latest update. Your car looks fun. How is the puma going rallying?

Hi KoNLaR, thanks for the post. You are correct in the U.S. They call it Autocross. Unfortunately I don't have any video yet but will look to do that on next years runs. Round a gokart track sounds fun :grin:

April 2015
Unfortunately I had continuing over heating issues at the March Solo and the results were not what I wanted so more work is needed.

In continuing to resolve the heating issue I started by getting a new lower temperature stat but before fitting I flushed the coolant system with a hose to make sure there was no blockages and then fitted the new stat.

After fitting the new thermostat I moved on to modifying my air box to the Racing Puma type. I followed the guide from this site:

http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=4781&p=333223&hilit=Air+box+mod#p333223" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


This mod has improved responsiveness and made it sound much better

In late April I had my next solo and this went well but with a combined class the result wasn't the best. Also the work I had done on the thermostat did not resolve my over heating issues....



June 2015
I also had a solo in early June that was a disaster as I was not able to make any changes between April and June. The car continued to over heat and so did my driving

In the continuing fight against over heating I replaced all the coolant hoses. This was to make sure there were no collapsed hoses or blockages. They are new, shiny and blue

Also gave it a polish.



July 2015
I had a solo early on in July and it went very well. I managed to win my class and come 10th overall. This was a great result and has helped motivate me to continue with the car. The bad news is that the over heating issue was still happening. I managed to nurse the car through and in some cases just ignored the dial.


With the heating issue continuing I decided to modify the thermostat by removing the wax core. This left just the metal plate and a restricted hole that will allow a constant flow of chilled coolant from the radiator in to the system. It was a drastic measure but I was reliably told that some people have done this on their rally cars when they have had the same issue.

I also managed to find the time to fit the race seat and harness.



September 2015

At the September solo the changes made to the thermostat worked as the car was pushed hard without overheating. After a year of hard work this was a great relief. I also managed to pick up another trophy for second in class.
There wasn't much left of the tyres after so I am glad I had got a new set

The car is now tucked up for the winter.

Over the winter I want to get the front bushes replaced and I am looking to replace the track rod arms and ends.

I have just bypassed the drivers seat belt pretensioner as it was causing the Airbag Light to flash and this is an MOT failure.
Here is the guide I have done as I could not find one on the forum.

http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=51&t=28666" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Good work Neil. Looks like your doing well with a few pots for your collection. We used to run realy skinny 14" rims on the back with the tyres pumped up as had as they go lol. What are your plans for over the winter?

Graeme

Thanks Gramme
Having high pressures in the rear does make it a lot more lively and fun. It helps with the twisty tests when we have them. Not got much planned for the winter. Just got to replace the track ends and arms as the threads are worn and so can not be adjusted. The car in its self is running well so don't want to play with it too much.

Neil