T464 PNB - "Smokey Joe"

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Cheers, it's the little things that make the difference. That's my excuse anyway, ahem :roll:

Ta about the arches, i'm pleased with how they came out. But in fairness, as anyone who has done them before, with the right tools it's easy, just requires some time and a steady hand. Plus somebody who can paint :lol: That's the tricky part.
 
Back in the realm of the non-cultured; the private plate has been sold.

:lol:

It's like losing an arm, there's just no comic book action with the POW!
 
Central locking issues have plagued me recently. For the last few months it's been increasingly difficult to lock and unlock the car, requiring multiple button presses. It came to a head on Monday when the key fob finally gave up the ghost. Unfortunately for me the car was locked at the time, and my door barrels are shot. Basically, trying to unlock the car with the key blade makes the entire lock barrel spin in the door. Plus, it doesn't disable the alarm, so i had to effectively break into my own car and turn the alarm off. Luckily i have no interior so unplugging the sounder was easy. Disarming the alarm was another story.

It was only after completely dismantling the drivers door did i discover, by total fluke, that turning the ignition on and off a few times with the doors locked disarms the alarm. Whether this is supposed to happen or just my ECU at fault i don't know, but then at least i could drive the car, albeit without being able to lock it.

So i bought a key on eBay, £6 posted, can't complain. Came today, reprogrammed the central locking to the new key, took all of 15 seconds, and away i went. Doors locking and unlocking beautifully. And now i can open my boot with the key again woooo! :eek:k:

So today i am happy, might buy some goodies for the old boy.
 
sounds like a new battery in your old key would have sorted the problem out for you but it dosnt hurt to have a spare key :)
 
Actually the circuit board had gone doolally. There was continuity across the lock switch all the time. And the battery was still making 3V.
 
Something that had been bugging me since i got the car (3 1/2 years ago) was one of the headlamp adjustment motors was knackered, and would adjust randomly, giving me a wobbly light at times.

So thanks to The Arch Bishop i got my hands on a nice new (old) one and whacked it in. Now i can enjoy stable light motoring :eek:k:



Also, how fabulous are those mats?!
 
And i got my hands on a CD changer from a nice 98 Puma. But more on that later.

For now i'm just enjoying a multitude of CD selections :grin:
 
It was quite a week in the run up to FordFair, with a fair bit to do. Waiting for parts to arrive in the post, new bearings to fit and ABS sensors to play with. But in the end, after a number of very late, very hot nights I go it all done.

The first job was to sort the exhaust back box, which had completely eaten itself. So a nice new shiny one was ordered from Euro Car Parts and it was put in place, except it didn't fit and I didn't like the tailpipe. So out came the grinder and a few hours later a lovely new, well fitting, back box was in place, with custom "rally style" ( :wink: ) tailpipe in place.





Then came the suspension, a long overdue job, as the rear dampers weren't really doing any damping. So after 8 hours of toil (and no pictures, sorry) the car was finally sitting at the height it deserves. And a special thanks is awarded at this point to ethanfitz for giving me the source of the elusive coilover lock rings that I couldn't find anywhere. At this time I stuck some 20mm spacers on the front, which required a complete strip down of the hub knuckles, which without the help from the local Kwik Fit bearing press would have been simple impossible. And thanks to the invention of ABS it was made that little bit harder because I had to cut the old sensor out of one hub and stick it in the new one, thankfully it worked :thumbs:

After that it was a case of finishing touches and setting the coilovers, and a session on the laser tracker. With my new, uncrashed bonnet and fully working heater panel (courtesy of Ian G) it was looking like a proper car again. So i set to work with the polish and wax and made it look like god's very own car (maybe). And then I drove outside and this happened



Anyway, undeterred I set off the next morning (4am btw) to Silverstone, and what a day it was, glorious sunshine and glorious Puma's. After a session with the Instant Show Shine (does exactly what it says on the tin) the old boy was looking fresh again. A few compliments here an there and I felt like my work paid off, plus I think it looked damn good in the sun, the Panther Black really comes into it's own and the metallic shines through.

So anyway, the (for now) finished product






Whilst browsing everybody else's efforts and being impressed I realised the next thing I need to do is remove the spare wheel carrier and stick the wheel in the boot. And besides, then I can show off the fact it's got the original spare tire from the 90s :eek:k:

Then I want to look at some poly bushes for the rear beam and fit my new strut brace (thanks CherryVimto). And in the more distant future it'll be time for a 1700 swap and rear disc conversion, and at the same time a look at widening the rear track, now that the fronts are on spacers it's 38mm wider again, and my OCD can't have that for too long haha.
 
Your puma was looking pretty tidy yesterday mate.. I went round and took individual pics of every puma on the stand and unfortunately your one was out of focus :( the only pic as well. Apologies in advance lol, at least you got a couple of good shots of her :eek:k:
 
I think the camera couldn't handle the quality of the car, so it had to go out of focus to save itself :wink:
 
So today I fitted my new lower front strut brace, which was nice and easy, dirt and greasy.

All was fine, an here it is in all it's resplendent, grey glory



However upon first starting the engine I realised that the gearbox resting on the brace makes for a fairly noisy, vibraty ride, but not to worry, I can just tell people it's a race car 8)

However again, when I got home it seems there is now so little ground clearance I can't drive up my own drive without dismantling part of the gates, which sucks major balls.

So it's time to don the thinking cap and get the measury stick out.

Aside from that the drive home was great, although a mostly straight traffic jam doesn't really test the limit of handling.
 
Today, well yesterday, has seen the beginning of the biggest change to the Pum Pum;



That would be a nice, new (old), 1700 engine. It's done 84k, came off a V-reg and I picked it up with gearbox, ECU, transponder ring, key, airbox and all ancillaries for an absolute steal off eBay. I wasn't even planning on buying one until next year but the price was too good to pass up on. So over the next few months I'll be stripping an rebuilding it, nothing fancy it'll stay largely standard, but at least it'll be nice and healthy.

Also, I'll be selling what I don't need, so that's the box, ancillaries, starter and airbox. I'll make a proper sale thread but if you want something let me know.
 

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