Hi lads,
As you might know I have owned a Puma for about 4 years now and put +/- 100.000km on it. It has definately been a love-hate relationship. Definately not selling though, it is a great car. Not too fast, but quick enough to put a smile on my face daily
Why the hate then? Well, I guess my bank account doesn't exactly like what the car does to me..
When it comes to maintenance the list is rather long:
- Brake discs and pads (five times)
- Brake calipers (ceased one four time now!)
- Wheel bearings replaced all-round
- Suspension bushes; uprated to Powerflex Black
- Shocks & springs, worn so uprated to coilovers. Did drive on custom Koni FSD's for +/- 1,5 years but they kept developing leaks. Ditched them.
- Brake drums + shoes (2x)
- New battery
- Thermostat housing cracked, broke down 200+ km from home
- Headlight glass replaced for becoming dim
- Headlight cabling melted(!!)
- Headlight adjustment motor left side
- Taillight units replaced for becoming dim
- Door panels fixed with Renault Megane clips
- Clutch sensor
- MAF sensor
- TP sensor
- Exhaust back box
- Rust.. Replaced +/- 1 square meter of the floor pan
- Power steering pressure sensor
- Gearbox out and revised, 5th gear from a Fiesta
- and many more
As a nutcase and lover of the car I did a 'few' upgrades too:
- AVO GTZ coilovers
- Powerflex bushes
- Clutch and pressure plate uprated to that of an Fiesta ST150
- MAF sensor has been drilled out
- Rest of the inlet channels has been widened
- ECU altered on the school's and later at work on the dyno
- Sparco EVO bucket seat
- Schroth harness
- Stripped interior
- Original wheels + rims (from 17" to 15") to improve handling with less unsprung weight
- ST150 brake calipers (239 --> 280mm)
- Brake master cylinder from a Focus
- Teflon brake lines
- Black Diamond discs and pads (after having worn a set of Raptor X Racing's)
- Disabled torque limiter by means of some ECU modification and addition of a button to the dashboard
- Strengthened drive shafts
- Air filter box upgraded to Ford Racing Puma spec
- Gurney flap aiding in high speed downforce (+8,7%!)
- Camber adjustment plates
And probably a lot of other small things I forget here.
Anyway, my future plans are to keep it as a weekend car. I bought a 2nd car last week as a city runabout, so the Puma has been sitting since. I also am going to participate in the Wimedo Autoslalom season and the DMSB Autoslalom rennen this year. Plus a few trackdays (Zandvoort and Silverstone are planned surely atm) and perhaps, just maybe I'll try and give Matra a run for his money in one of 'em Scottish Hillclimbs
On my wish list are at the moment:
- Roll cage (FIA certified, mandatory for the DMSB series)
- Change of transmission ?
- Further improve power to +/- 240 DIN hp, didn't spend much time/money as needed suspension, brake and aerodynamics improvements first.
- Steering rack/power steering upgrade
- Finish my full car CAD-models and drivetrain simulations to properly calculate the right settings.
- Pedal box
- 6-point harness
All in all I estimate I spent over 10k Euro excl. purchase over the years. Was it worth it? Yes, however I could have had a better base car to start with.
Thanks for bearing with me. Now some pictures
1- Me driving with a handicapped kid on Circuit Zolder. I'm not sure if me or the kid had more fun
2- New radio + wiring work for the torque limiter switch. At the moment I have three switches for the rear window heater
3- My Sparco seat
4- Some mods needed to the Sparco seat base. Basically a place with a tube welded on top. Nut has been welded on the inside of the tube. Under the floor pan there are reinforcing plates welded.
5- The inertia reel of the harness.
6- My machined MAF sensor. Later I machined even more of.
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