Blaine's Puma Thunder

It has just rolled over to 50K. I had it to a bodyshop yesterday who is going to call me on Monday with some costs to get the bodywork repaired. So we will see what he comes back with.

With regards to the Engine I don't know If I will put the 1700CC back in or go with an alternative engine. Plenty of time to decide on this if the body is repairable.

If I get a chance tomorrow I will take some pictures of the current condition of the car

It certainly looks worth saving based on your original posts and pictures

The 1.7 is such a cracking unit when working well.. it would be shame to move away from that setup id say unless spending thousands. .

Chris

I did an engine service on an frp last year that had the 'rattle of imminent death' sort of sound.. when i checked the cam timing relative to top dead center it wasnt quite right so went ahead and did the engine service. .although it did run much better, unfortunately it did still need a new bottom end to sort it..

Hope that info helps..
Regards Chris

I certainly hope so, I love the car. Drove it yesterday for first time in around a year and loved it despite the fact that the engine was noisy. The engine is only noisy when it is cold, once it warms up it is fine. I would like to get the original engine fixed however I believe it is near on impossible due to the liners in the current block.

The engine was great until the cambelt was changed so I suspect that the garage have not carried out the timing belt change correctly. Other reason I think this is because the VVT does not seem to pull as much as it used to.

So some pictures of the car as promised. I have had a quote of £1500 to repair the car, which is something that I will be looking to do over the next 6 months or so.

As it currently stands



Interior at present



Rust on the inside of the drivers sill



bottom edge of door and drivers front wing



O/S rear arch



The rest of the arch



Lacquer Peel on N/S rear arch



Rust on passenger rear arch

Rest of rust on the rear arch





Sill and bottom edge of wing



Engine bay at present



Also noticed this which will need to be fixed



As you can see radiator is looking a bit rusty too



rust on bonnet



and lastly how the engine sounds at present



Sorry for the poor picture/video quality

as you can see there is quite a bit to sort out on it

Definitely worth saving. Good luck with the restoration. Shame about the engine but it does now give you an excuse to change / tune it :twisted:

Yeah I agree, more I look at the car the more I still like it.

The engine runs well just noisy. I am in two minds if I should put a Duratec in or find an original 1.7

So still got the Puma and after deliberating for far too much over the past couple of years I have just cleared the garage so that I can start working to repair it properly. So no doubt I will be asking loads of questions regarding various repairs.

I will take some photos tomorrow and post them up

Sorry for the lack of updates and pictures.

Been slowly collecting some parts for the Puma. Looking for underside clips etc.

I have managed to get my heater valve for the car. I need to get the bodywork done but might have to wait until after christmas now.

Up to now I need to get some rear arch repair panels, possibly two new sills and possibly two new wings or some good second hand ones.

With it being such a nice day today, think I will get the Puma out of retirement in the garage and give it a good looking over.

Bought some parts to do a small service on it too.

Got the car out of the garage earlier

Unfortunately have a broken front drivers side coil spring. It has snapped at the top and I need to drive it approx six miles to the garage to get it repaired.

So MOT Time today and she failed!

Rear O/S sill has excessive corrosion which means it needs to be sorted.

So going to order some of the repair sections for the Sills. Hoping to get the rear arches done using the 206 wing method at the same time. Has anybody got any pics of this?

The bottom of the door has rust on it also which means I will need to look into getting the doors repaired. Also need to look into wings.

So as it stands at the minute this is the plans for the car

Chassis

Replace shockers
Replace rear axle bushes
Possibly replace bottom arms
Replace front suspension bushes
Replace anti-roll bar bushes
Possibly replace hubs/bearings
Upgrade brakes, unsure with what yet open to recommendations
Purchase Braided brake lines if available
Replace rear shoes
Replace rear cylinders
Replace rear brake drums
Replace rear handbrake cables
Replace all clips
Replace fuel tank
Fit lowering springs
Replace all brake lines
Clean-up/replace spare wheel carrier


Bodywork

Replace both sills
Get rear arches repaired
Possibly replace doors
Possibly replace wings
Get corrosion repaired on bonnet
Fix rust on tailgate
Full underside restoration
Possibly replace front windscreen
Possibly replace rear windscreen
Replace headlights
Replace rear lights
Replace high level brake light

Engine

Possibly replace engine, unsure if I should keep 1.7 or go down 2.0 duratec route?
Fit new heater valve
Upgrade exhaust system
Clean out throttle body
Replace throttle cable
Replace Starter motor
Replace alternator

Interior

Replace gearknob
Replace speakers
Give interior carpets a full clean
Possibly retrim headlining
Possibly retrim A pillar trims
Fit handsfree radio
Replace heater control (mine's scratched)
Replace door sill trims
Replace door trim clips
Replace door trim screw covers
Replace seats with Millenium edition recaros
Retrim a few other pieces

Other Modifications

Need to have a look and see what is available to to


As you can see there is plenty to be getting on with and it certainly won't be a quick thing to do but I am sure I will get there eventually

So a year and a half down the line and a lot has happened!

Now got a baby so never had the chance to get on with any work on the puma for the last few months. So I intend on getting it out of the garage tomorrow and having a good look around it. Still need to find somewhere up North that will take a look at the rear arches. More pics later

you can bang out your own arches if you cut some wood with the right radial. check my project thread.