Mk1 Focus RS powered Puma, now going RWD, JWRC

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I'm guessing the raised mounting point will allow the front of the car to sit a bit lower? Obviously with the weight of the engine now gone the nose will come up.

Are you raising the mounting of the rear bush to suit as well?
 
Hi Jay,

The raised mount point for the front of the lower arm/wishbone is to remove the ‘anti-dive’ from the front of the car to get some weight transfer towards the front under braking and cornering (now that there’s no engine weight).

The rear bush ideally needs to be a bit lower but considering it’s one of the lowest points on the car already it’s not possible.

The whole car has been made to sit lower to the ground by the new strut top mounting points. Hard to see in the rear because they’re totally different but should be able to see that the front turrets are now slightly taller, as well as being moved further outward.

Hope that makes sense!
 
Sure does.

Its great to see that there is some real thought going into this.... certainly not as simple as slapping an engine in the back and away you go.

Keep it up!
 
Thanks.

I knew it was more than just chucking the engine in the back, but there’s even more to it than I thought!

I actually need to ask Dave’s advice on brakes as I think for obvious reasons the car will need more than the standard split at the rear. Not sure if I can get that through the ABS module.

There’s no point having enormous brakes at the front because the grip won’t be endless due to the lack of weight over the front wheels.
 
True. Its gonna be a huge balancing act and you'll only really know once you get it on the road/track for some testing. Plenty of seat time and mileage and you'll get it dialed in eventually.
 
Very nice fabrication. Maybe you could take a look at what renault did for the clio v6!!
 
PumaJay said:
[post]366078[/post] True. Its gonna be a huge balancing act and you'll only really know once you get it on the road/track for some testing. Plenty of seat time and mileage and you'll get it dialed in eventually.

You're dead right, Dave said the same thing. Some of it we will only know once it's built and then adjust to suit.
I'm definitely going to need a wide open space on some private land somewhere just to see what it does.

siju said:
[post]366079[/post] Very nice fabrication. Maybe you could take a look at what renault did for the clio v6!!

Yup, I have - that's the sort of trim level I'm aiming for on the inside. I want it to handle a lot better than the Clio though!
 
Your best bet is a track day, at least you can test in controlled conditions and build up confidence in the car in an environment that is safe to do so.
 
I was thinking a disused airfield.

I'm not keen on a track day as there will be other cars around. I need lots of tarmac and lots of grass run off! :lol:

Something like the Top Gear test track would be perfect.
 
I know you can buy time at Bruntingthorpe for testing purposes, they have a nice little track to play on and a huge straight.
 
Hi moondustka first up what an amazing project I'm in awe of your Puma! Unfortunately they're not a car we ever got down here in Australia.

Apologies for taking this a bit off topic but I was hoping for some advice on my own project, based very much on your original KA project on passionford. I'm also looking to swap in a 2.0L Zetec but thought a brake upgrade would be a wiser place to start and managed to stumble across an ST170 being wrecked (rare car down here!)

I've fitted the fronts without any issues and I'm about to return and purchase the rears but would like to confirm a couple of things before I do so:

1) Did you use the Focus rear stub axle and bearing assemblies, and did you use any spacers for the rear beam axle to bring the wheels out further? I'm running a 17x7 ET40 and the rears could come out another 10mm IMO.

2) You mentioned a Fiesta ST handbrake cable was needed for the rear disc conversion, do you know what model year it was approximately?

3) Did you need to make any changes regarding the booster or master cylinder to compensate for the new brakes?

Sorry again for taking your build threat off topic, but every other Zetec KA thread I could find have all become inactive.
 

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raceKA said:
[post]366269[/post] Hi moondustka first up what an amazing project I'm in awe of your Puma! Unfortunately they're not a car we ever got down here in Australia.

Apologies for taking this a bit off topic but I was hoping for some advice on my own project, based very much on your original KA project on passionford. I'm also looking to swap in a 2.0L Zetec but thought a brake upgrade would be a wiser place to start and managed to stumble across an ST170 being wrecked (rare car down here!)

I've fitted the fronts without any issues and I'm about to return and purchase the rears but would like to confirm a couple of things before I do so:

1) Did you use the Focus rear stub axle and bearing assemblies, and did you use any spacers for the rear beam axle to bring the wheels out further? I'm running a 17x7 ET40 and the rears could come out another 10mm IMO.
Not in the end, no, because the focus stub axles widen the track anyway. You could probably go for the standard 12.5mm spacers depending on wheel offset. IMHO, 17s are too big for a Ka, 16s will fit a lot nicer.
2) You mentioned a Fiesta ST handbrake cable was needed for the rear disc conversion, do you know what model year it was approximately?
Would have been from a Mk6 and 6.5 Fiesta so 2006 would do it.
3) Did you need to make any changes regarding the booster or master cylinder to compensate for the new brakes?
No I didn't bother, but I did get lock up on the rear around track when braking hard and then turning into the corners. The wheel with the least weight on it would lock. However, this is probably more because I was braking in the wrong place :lol: as you should be turning and braking a the same time anyway, or at least not that hard
Sorry again for taking your build threat off topic, but every other Zetec KA thread I could find have all become inactive.

Hopefully that helps, if you need anything else, let me know.

I didn't know you even got Kas' in Australia to be honest!
 
Thanks for the prompt reply, greatly appreciated! I'll forge on with the rear upgrade, I do seem to have a fairly long brake pedal at the moment but I'm thinking it may be the rear drums causing the problem.

I agree the 17" are a little big, especially with a 205/40 tyre. I managed to track down a set of 185/35s however and they're much closer to the OE diameter.

Thanks again,
D
 

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