Puma 1.7 Rebuild Mk II

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Looking at Wednesday of next week. Some house moving and car issues on J's end. Not to worry though. We had a chat about the clutch on the Focus and he recommended putting it in 3rd and trying to pull away. No slipping on the clutch so it put my mind at rest somewhat.

Anyway, as ever I'll keep you posted once I get more news. With everything J's end hopefully being sorted next week the progress on the Puma should pick up pace shortly.

Ed
 
Funnily enough, I've always been an impatient person. I can do nothing but wait as I'm still paying off my overdraft. I'd been impulsive getting the project underway without enough savings to cover it all. Having said that, if I had stuck to the original plan of an engine rebuild only I'd have been out of debt months ago. Probably would've come in at about £1750 in total. However I've now spent double that amount.

A lot of friends have repeatedly told me to get someone else to finish the work, and I've always told them that I financially can't do that. Had I done this project a year or 2 ago before I bought my first house I could've got the mechanic who lived over the road from my parents to do it. He'd always fitted performance parts to my previous cars and always a quick turn around and very cheap hourly rate.

When I worked with his wife she did say his time keeping wasn't the best and I know there's been a lot of changes in their lives since the project went underway. Yes, he probably should've finished it by now, but he hasn't. Nothing I can do about that.

I just know I'll be over the moon once I've got the car back. Recently I have stressed to him that it needs to be done before the Focus is due it's MOT at the end of March. I've set a lot of potential finish dates since this project started last summer. I'm hoping this one materialises.

Ed
 
So I had a great chat with J yesterday and I'm definitely getting the car back before the end of the month.

Now, I know a lot of dates have passed by where I thought the car would be worked on or possibly finished and when I asked if it would be finished before the Focus was due for it's MOT, his reply of "Yes mate." probably wouldn't have filled many people with confidence at this point.

However, upon reading that reply, I knew deep down this was it. It was actually going to happen. So I left it a couple of weeks, as i'd been pestering him a lot prior to this. We chatted yesterday and I could tell things are definitely in motion. He also asked me what colour I wanted the engine block. I figured black would be fine as the aftermarket LMS inlet manifold is black as well.

So there we have it, in around 3 weeks I'll have the first step in this project done. Knowing an end date has definitely quelled any doubts I had about keeping the Puma project going. Whilst I won't be able to get anything new done to the car in quite a long time, I think I want to keep adding to the car bit by bit. I'm convinced now that, asides from going with the Millenium Edition interior and seats, I want the exterior to remain completely standard.

I want to see how the cams, inlet manifold and larger throttle body affect the engine tone. I know getting cold air induction will also help improve the engine note. I'm saying this as I'm half tempted to avoid going down the aftermarket exhaust road. Or maybe look into just doing the manifold. I know performance cars and aftermarket exhausts do have a much deeper note to them, but unless I'm hearing large displacement engines, I think bassy exhausts just sound cheap and chavvy. Whilst my last Puma with the piper system was a laugh, it's a little too brash for me to live with day in day out in my 30's.

But we shall see I suppose. My mind changes a lot and if I ever had the money, there's no knowing if I'd wind up not buying it. :lol:

Ed
 
Renewal letter for the car insurance on the Focus came through. 97 more a year. Cancelled the renewal and told J the last day the Focus is insured is the 28th.

He confirmed he'd like the Focus to break for parts. Originally I'd said I'd sell it for £100. But I offered it to him for free - I just need the Puma back and we're approaching the final weeks of the project.

21 days to go.

:arrow: :arrow: :arrow: No going back now. :arrow: :arrow: :arrow:

Ed
 
Here's a turn out - I just went on Confused and looked up insurance for the Puma with the modifications. It's somehow turned out nearly £150 cheaper than my renewal quotation for my standard Focus.

£572.21

For once I've been quoted happy. :eek:

Ed
 
Guy at work knows all sorts of people and he's hooked me up with a contact in the next town who does bodywork repairs.

Next on the agenda will have to be the bodywork. If this is going to be a long term project I need to ensure the rust and any potential rot is cut out ASAP.

30 quid to give the car a full going over and inspection which I'll do as soon as I get the car back. Then I'll know how much money I need to save up to get the car sorted.

Ed
 
Hi.
If you need any help with insurance at all then please feel free to drop me a line.
Regards,
Dan.
 
I did a quote with Adrian Flux before the Puma was modified and for some reason they quoted me nearly £1500.

If I can feasibly get cheaper than this latest quote I might give them a call.

Ed
 
13 days until the insurance runs out on the Focus.

giphy.gif


Ed
 
raggamuffin said:
It's personal preference, but I have to admit that I've never been that keen on the silver panels in the Puma interior:


48420037_310978923086177_487711747122135040_n.jpg


Once again, I hadn't even intended to buy any more parts at the moment, but I noticed an(other) eBay bargain which will help go with the all black millennium door panels I won:


12.jpg


I'll replace the head unit with a black fascia and aftermarket head unit that has USB so I can have all my music on a flash drive. I'm also thinking of buying a spare speedo surround/trim and getting it carbon dipped:


12.jpg


Although I'm not sure if that last one would look a bit tacky.

Finally, I want to get the dashboard flocked. My only grievance would be the plastic covers on the door covers and the usual light coloured roof colouring not matching with the rest of the car. Come to think of it, my ST180 was the only car that had a dark roof lining.


124.jpg


Ed


Changed mine to black, back in 2010:
 
Yeah, that looks much nicer imo.

What's the textured bit on the dash inbetween the top of the head unit and beneath the clock?

Ed
 
The "textured bit" was Velcro, to hold my mobile and use it's satnav, before the days of magnetic mounts (which it now has). I've also replaced the 6000 radio with the 6006e, which looks the same style as the original Thunder radio, but in black.
 

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