KT

Ive never really thought of my car as a project car until recently. It wasnt until i sat down and totted up what i had spent on it that i decided it was worthy of its own thread. Ive owned the car since Feb 06, I bought it of a copper who was its second owner. Made in Jan 2000, at the time of writing the car has just turned 9 years old.

Modifications so far include:

Leather interior (possibly from a black or thunder, im insure) £250
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Milltek Cat-Back £300


Later Spec 260mm brakes, std Discs and Mintex pads £120

Later style third brake light tailgate £10


Blue Interior Lights £100
(extremly difficult to photograph, looks much better thanthis in real life)
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Smoked side repeaters £20
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Alpine Head unit & JBL component speakers. £100 (Head unit is from my old car, so free) Nothing too fancy, no amp or sub, just makes listening to music alot more enjoyable than with the standard Ford stuff.

Tinted windows £75
(ignore old exhaust)


Ford Mudflaps and Handbrake sleeve £60

Custom Tax dsic holder £15



Weitec lowered suspension. At a whopping £400 fitted it was the msot expensive upgrade yet. Im undecided if it was worth it yet, it doesnt look as low as i was hoping......


Powerflex poly bushes all round £280

Total So Far : Circa £1400

To be fair to the suspension though, there are some other issues which need looking at.

Most urgent is the bushes. Pumaspeed told me these need replacing as soon as. Im hoping that by sorting these the ride will be significantly improved. This is having a knock on effect of wearing the tires on the inside quite quickly, meaning the current front tires, which are only about 18 months old, need replacing. There is no point doing this until the bushes are sorted though.

Bushes are going to cost £300 fitted at pumaspeed. Unless anyone can suggest another option, im going to have to fork out their prices.

Two new tires and tracking is another £100

And PS also mentioned the water pump was leaking, so that needs looking at. Anyone tell me is it a DIY job?

Thanks.

Good post mate, you've done a fair bit since you've owned her.

The water pump could be a DIY job dependant on your ability I guess, from memory it is driven by the aux belt so you have to take that off to replace the pump.. if not done before might be worth replacing the belt and tensioner when you put it back together..

©Jacko
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Any talk of belts is no for me, not confident enough. Could that be what the squeak is on start up? It is really loud on start up, something spinning, dies down as the car warms up. If it water coming from the pump onto the belt, then that might explain it?

Ive got a Ford guy who is quite good, might be able to do this for me.

Yeah any competent mechanic should be able to change it without too much issue.

And yes if your waterpump is leaking it could mean that there is play in the part that moves and water is leaking out of there. Could all be related.

Chris (and I) did my water pump on Thursday. Not that hard to be honest, but having the car in the air on proper ramps makes it so much easier!

£300 for bushes? :shock:

Get the kit off ebay for £100 and get a local mechanic to do it. PS take the pee with their prices sometimes.

Well tony said something about there being play in the arms, or something, and that it would need some sort of FRP bit. I didnt ask what he meant, he was sort of talking to himself more than me.

I want to make sure i get the right bits! Also Pumaka pointed out that some of the ebay kits dont have all the best bits, some of the bits are cheap.

That's probably the flat rear wishbone bush - it's only recently that Powerflex have started doing that one and he probably has no stock.

What makes you think PS don't use 'cheap' bits?

Well, i always assumed they would as they survive for the most part by word of mouth from people like us and fiesta/focus owners, a bad word on a forum can do alot of damage.

They don't have a very good name on ZSOC!

One persons bad experience could be coupled with 200 good ones you don't hear about so who knows. I've used them quite a bit in the past and wouldn't go back knowing what I know now though.

Update. Had bushes done at PumaSpeed on friday. The difference? Considerably better. Its now less of an effort to turn the wheel than it has been for the past fortnight. It also responds better over bumps too. Its not the handling revelation i was expecting though. I think im still getting used to the firmer ride from the coilovers. The firmer ride is great, i love it, but now every trim squeak and rattle is exaggerated so im going to have to track them down! :shock:

Another point PS raised was the passenger side ball joint was shot. It was moving up and down by about an inch, and apparently this should be immobile. Since ive had the car there has always been a clunk as its pulls away from the front left, as the weight momentarily lifts from the suspension then returns. This has now been solved. I like PumaSpeed, i think they know what theyre doing, but theyre so expensive im reluctant to return.

The job breakdown should of been:
£150ish for bushes, plus £120 for fitting. Circa £270

£25 for Ball joint, plus about the same (£25) for fitting.

Grand total: £330.

What was i actually charged: £378

I dont think ill go back, which is a real shame as like i say, i quite like their expertise.

They have a habit of quoting you a price, and then slapping VAT on come bill time. As it seems they've done with your bill. Always ask for a "with VAT" price then complain like mad when Tony tries to put it on again and tell him your not paying that much as you were quoted differently.

Oh, and about the road noise debate; its definately louder. There is like a whirring noise, like you can hear the tyres themselves spinning. Its not very noticeable and only someone listening would pick it up.

I spent "ROUGHLY" £20K on my old mk2 CRX VTEC!!! I kid you not!! There wasn't much left of the original engine, suspension, brakes etc etc!!

If i was to tune a CRX again it'd cost me loads less 2n time around as i know what parts i'd go for whereas before i tried all sorts of stuff, 2 sets of cams at £800 per pair, 3 different exhausts, different brakes, different induction kits, a super chip then a stand alone ECU with countless remaps!!

After a while i had managed to get the mapping software & as i'd spent so much time at John Noble Motorsport getting a talk through from Darren their mapper I ended up buying an air fuel ration meter etc & doing it myself every time i added another mod!!

I said i'd never go that nuts again with tuning!! Especially not with a NA car as it costs waaaaaaay too much to get more power!! Unless you cheat & just bolt on a turbo kit or supercharger!!

I only spent about £500 on my FTO GP Version R Aero Series then after that i spent about £700 on my Evo 5 GSR!!

I'll prob buy some bits for the puma. Already bought a rear spoiler. Gonna lower it, possibly just get coilovers, def getting a panel filter & possibly a stainless cat back exhaust!!

TBH the puma was just bought to fill a gap. I sold my Evo in march last yr to help fund a house purchase. I've been running a 1.25 zetec mk5 fiesta sicne then but have also been saving for another toy. I've had £5k until buying the puma. I was aiming to save £10k but decided i couldn't cope with a 75bhp fiesta for another 6 months or so!! :lol:

The puma isn't gonna cost me that much more to run than the fiesta. Only £3 per month more insurance & can get ok mpg so i can still save whilst having waaaaaaay more fun :wink:

oh & sorry for babbling on, i get a bit carried away, especially when somebody mentions cars & tuning!!


Craig

DradusContact said:

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Looks so much better without a number plate

No comment re: PS :evil:

Shop around for your Puma parts, remember it's just a Fiesta underneath and you won't be jailed for not buying parts from a 'Puma Specialist' (sic)

After being lowered for 3 weeks now i think its settled a bit, and it looks alot lower now than when i first got it home. Very pleased

8)

Liking it Dradus Looks lower now than before for sure, just needed time to settle. Nice work mate!

looking good k: