Project S**tbox

Hey all.

Picked up a Thunder a couple of days ago, so thought I'd start a mini project thread up.

All started where all good ideas heppen - while having a good dump.
Browsing Autotrader, not looking for anything in particular and came across a Puma up the road.
Rang the bloke up while still curling one out, bobbed round once I'd put my pants back on and a deal was done. Even washed my hands before we shook on a deal too.

The car's a standard Moonstone Thunder with all the usual features:

Leather in excellent nick,
AC that works,
Working heated screen,
Rusty arches...

A few pics:





Interior:





The name came from the fact that I pretty much bought it while sat on the porcelain express, and my first trip to a petrol station resulted in a cuddly toy in the form of the emoji for a pile of s**t sat on the parcel shelf:



The shelf will no doubt break now :lol:

So, plans...

I've already posted in the newbie section, but it goes like this:

I'm going to be stripping my Capri back to a shell and doing a full nut, bolt and weld... Lots of weld... Rebuild, so the Puma should hopefully give me something to tinker with when I need a break from that.
I find that if you don't take a break from a big project every once in a while, you begin to resent it. Hence how my Capri's been sat untouched for 10 years.

Ideas so far for the Puma after doing a little research:

Slight lowering on some half decent springs, thinking maybe Apex?
300mm Focus/Mondeo front brake conversion, probably with the earlier master cylinder from what I've read.
Bigger wheels, thinking of the Mondeo/Escort GTi 5 spokes, or the wider Puma ones, but they're like hen's teeth I think.
Maybe poly bush the wishbones.
Stainless exhaust and 4-2-1 manifold if the budget will allow.
Remove the torque limiter.

Then hopefully have some fun in it and maybe get it on a track.
If I get into the track a bit heavier, I'll take the mods further and put it on a diet, but for now it seems a shame to strip everything out as it's really tidy inside.

Erm... That's about it for now.

Here's a pic of when it met my Capri earlier today:



Any comments good or bad - knock yourselves out

Cheers,

Steve

All I can say is good luck with all the work you're planning on both cars k:

Feel free to track your capri project in our other vehicles section if you feel the need :grin:

Also the colour is 'Moondust' just in case you start looking for touch up paint and can't find Moonstone

red said:

[post]354273[/post]
Also the colour is 'Moondust' just in case you start looking for touch up paint and can't find Moonstone

Click to expand...

Damn.
Hangover from my Sierra days! :roll:

Had it a week now.

During the week I managed to find a set of brand new 16"x7j Cossie style wheels, so I snapped the guy's hand off as I know how rare they are.

Also on order, a Sportex 4-2-1 manifold, race tube and back box.
Time will tell if it's bonkers loud with having no middle silencer, but it's not my daily so not too fussed.

Got my eye on a suspension kit.
Not sure I want to stump up for coilovers just yet, maybe later on if I start hitting the track hard.
What do people generally lower by? 40mm or so?

Once this little lot's arrived, I'll make a start on the brakes and stump up for some decent rubber.
Thinking Toyo Proxes, unless anyone has a better idea on a budget?

Cheers,
Steve

30-40mm lower is about average.
I liked the Toyos personally.

Postman came today.



7j jobbies. Nice.



Brand spanking new:



Still in their boxes:



May keep the boxes, as the chances of me ever buying another set of brand new OE wheels is slim to none.
On the other hand though, I may just burn them and dance around the fire semi naked like some sort of Manc Native American.
Time will tell.

Exhaust should be here by the end of the week too.

Stay tuned, folks

So nice, new wheels. Shame they don't always stay clean!

Love them wheels! Give them a nice coat of wax before putting on and hopefully they will stay silver for a long time!

Cheers.

Any recommendations on wax/sealer?

I don't do detailing usually, that's what the local Kurdish car wash is for

Doingitsideways said:

[post]354548[/post] Cheers.

Any recommendations on wax/sealer?

I don't do detailing usually, that's what the local Kurdish car wash is for

Click to expand...

I use Smartwax Rimwax. Really easy to apply and smells delicious. But there are a lot of waxes out there. A bottle of iron remover comes in really handy if you have brake pads that dust a lot.

Postman's been busy again...

Sportex 4-2-1 goodness:



Race tube so no middle box:



Tailpipe looks nice and subtle :lol:



Yes, I do all of my amateur photography in the back of my Volvo estate.
ALL OF IT

Time will tell how loud it's going to be.
I bet it makes my ears bleed, not too fussed though as it's not my daily.
Plus, my Capri used to set house alarms off when it was on the road :lol:

Stay tuned for the next installment of "pictures of stuff I've bought blind off the interweb in the back of my Volvo"

Are you plastering in your arches too :lol:

Lots of purchases already - I like it.

moondustka said:

[post]354645[/post] Are you plastering in your arches too :lol:

Click to expand...

Lol, aye why not?
Off to clean up my trowels and get a mix on...

In other news, I got the Capri's engine turning yesterday after nearly 10 years.
Gonna see if I can get it to run today.
Ooh... Exciting! :lol:

Is that centre section the same as a standard one (ie length and shape) as I've never found a clear answer as to whether one can fit a tubular mani (and run de-cat) and use the standard size centre. I also have a Hoffman race tube and am looking at a tubular mani with de-cat for when I (eventually) get on track.

I've heard the FRP manifold doesn't fit without the FRP centre as it's too long, or short, or is that just with the cat fitted? Does anybody know?

No idea on the diameter tbh until I get the old one off to compare.
This is a Sportex jobbie though, so no idea how that would compare to the FRP.

From what I can gather, the FRP manifold is designed for use with a cat, so the rest of the system is too short to reach.

Pumaspeed do a small extension to make the two marry up.
http://www.pumaspeed.co.uk/product-...Race-Exhaust-to-std-cat-adaptor_341.jsp&pic=3

From what I can gather, the Hoffman tube looks the same as my Sportex. Wouldn't surprise me if they are the same as the tube doesn't even look like it's come out of the same factory as the manifold and back box.
The Sportex manifold has a flanged joint, so my guess would be that if the Hoffman tube has the same it should fit.

Oh, this happened today.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xocjVUfxxM4[/youtube]

Starter's sticking, but tbf I think I'd be grumpy after a 10 year kip!

Can't figure out how to embed the video, anyone know how?

From where did you order the manifold and is it cheaper then the Miltek's?

Bobby97 said:

[post]354776[/post] From where did you order the manifold and is it cheaper then the Miltek's?

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EBay.
Lots cheaper than Miltek's, about half the price.
Not stainless though and I'm pretty sure the Miltek would flow better, but I'm gonna see how it goes.

You embed use something like the below

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xocjVUfxxM4[/youtube]

OR (short link)
[youtu_be]https://youtu.be/xocjVUfxxM4[/youtu_be]

I've literally only just added the short link function, video displays slightly differently (better I think).

Cheers