Steel Blue track car project

[Scott134]

Ouch! Ahh well, if it gets it round the track quicker, its worth the extra shrapnel. May have to get my membership sent off so i can try my hand at these autosolos, see how well these pumas go!

Indeed! Puma's could have been made for Autosolos! They're great fun. Definitely give it a go. You'll be surprised how well a Puma does against other machinery. :wink:

 

[Scott134]

Nice car. What seats are they?

I stripped one of my old Clios, spent ages with white spirit and rags cleaning the rest of the glue of! Not a fun job.

Thanks Daveski. Seats are RMD Maximum Protection from Rally Design.
You're right, not a fun job but strangely satisfying to see it coming together at last!

 

[daveski]

I can't go crazy with my car but if it survives its first few months with me then I may look into changing a few things.

 

[Scott134]

Fitted these today so I could close the door more easily! Lol

 

[Scott134]

I picked up the Puma from my Dad's today and the car is looking loads better than when I left it last weekend! A massive thanks to my Dad who has been working on it all week! The seat subframes are finished and painted and look like they've always been there! The seats and harnesses are now in and he even had time to paint the floor to tidy it all up. We are still going to put another coat of paint on and there is more to do to finish it off but that will have to wait a while as we have other jobs to do first. It was great to get the car back on the road after having it off the road since Christmas.

Here's how it looks now (just iphone photos for now):







This shows the where the metal brackets have been removed from the rear strut tower, which used to hold the rear seat and parcel shelf support. Much cleaner and lighter!


I couldn't resist a quick petrol station shot when I stopped to fuel up! We've lowered the rear a bit more but it will hopefully go lower still once I get the suspension properly set up. We didn't want to mess with it too much! Lol


I have about an hour's drive from my parents' house back home and the seats were actually really comfortable. The car feels great on the road now. You really notice the difference having shed so much weight. It is much more responsive and feels quite a bit quicker all round. The handling is also much improved and feels a lot more stable in the corners. That is probably a combination of things, the weight reduction, being a bit lower and the new poly bushes. And probably the best bit ... The noise!!! It now feels and sounds like a rally car with lots of crackling from the manifold and you literally hear everything now!! Lol. I didn't think it was too noisy when just cruising at 30-40 mph. Motorways are worse and it was pointless trying to listen to music on my phone! It sounds great when driving it hard though. Overall, I'm really pleased with the result. Well worth all the work and time spent on it over the last couple of weeks (although mostly my Dad's time!!).

More to come but, for now, I'll just be out enjoying it. :grin:

 

[Scott134]

I've been to the weigh bridge today and the car currently weighs 940kg. I'm aiming for 900kg but I have a few more bits to do that should help me get there.

I also had a full suspension set up recently with laser alignment, which has really helped after fitting the camber adjustable wishbones. I had the set up carried out at Bubble & Kick Racing, which is an awesome garage for race car set up and preparation. They were recommended to me by the owner of Gaz Shocks, who gets his own race car set up there. Check them out here: http://www.bubbleandkick.com/" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false; They even added some extra Bubble & Kick Racing graphics to my car, which look great (pics to follow).
I had a good chat with them about corner weighting (basically adjusting the height of each of corner of the car until the weight is distributed down the centre), so when I have finished all the weight reduction work, I will be going back to have that done.
I was told I need new track rod ends and also that some negative camber on the rear would help. I've found a place that sells shims to add camber to the rear, so I'm going to try that and see how I get on with it. Link here for anyone else interested: http://www.ruderacing.co.uk/Performance_Parts-Suspension_/_Chassis-Alignment_Products-Ford_Alignment-Ford_Fiesta_Alignment/c29632_711_1557_1567_1624/p285810/Rear_Alignment_Shims_for_Ford_Fiesta_Mk4/product_info.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

More updates to come soon.

 

[aberdarepuma]

Oooh! I like that a lot, gotta love a sneaky fuel station shot ,,, the interior looks great btw, keep up good work buddie

 

[PumaJay]

where have i seen those seats and that steering wheel before..... oh yeh wait, i have them!!

Looking good dude, really starting to come along nicely now, those rose jointed wishbones look brilliant... deffo gonna be getting myself some of them!

also some food for thought if youve rose jointed the ball joint then you might as well go for the full monty and get these

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Ford-Puma...arts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4170b1daa9

http://www.compbrake.com/ford-puma-track-rod-ends-pair.html

http://www.compbrake.com/--153.html

Front end will be rock solid then!

 

[Scott134]

Ha ha! Actually the steering wheel was an EBay special with OMP horn button, not the one from Rally Design. Same idea though and I love it! Feels great.

Thanks for the links mate. I've seen those drop links before and was really annoyed as I found them about a week after I put new Ford drop links on! Lol.

I hadn't seen the track rod ends before I actually need a pair now, so those are going my list of parts for next month! Thanks again.

 

[Scott134]

I had a good run tonight with a Chrysler Crossfire. I know they're not the quickest thing out there but I was pleased to be glued to the back of it from 20mph or so up to around 6k rpm in 4th. There wasn't Sally anything in it. He started to have the edge as we got to higher speeds. Checking their spec on Autotrader, the Crossfire has 215bhp from a 3.2 V6, 0-60 in 6.5 and 155mph top end. That's fine but it weighs 1481kg, which gives it a power to weight ratio of 145bhp per tonne. Now I know mine is 133bhp and 940kg, so that gives me 141bhp per tonne. With that in mind I guess the result is not so surprising that I kept up with him! Still feels good though to do that in a cheap 1.7! Ha ha.

 

[Scott134]

Well I've had quite a few additions recently, mostly parts I have collected and will be fitting over the next couple of weeks. To be fitted shortly are the following:

1. Powerflex anti roll bar poly bushes,
2. New track rod ends (gone for standard Ford ones),
3. Luke towing straps in black,
4. The replica FRP splitter made by Kizza,
5. A set of track rims (OZ Racing in black), which were an eBay bargain!
6. Rear alignment shims to add some negative camber to the rear,
7. Polycarbonate front window kit (on order, awaiting delivery),
8. Flowed 2.0 Mondeo throttle body,
9. New brake pads and a seal kit to overhaul the Wilwood 4pots,
10. Lighter wing mirrors, DTM style (which need painting white).

Photos to follow soon.

Keiran (Kizza/FibreBuild) is also working on a couple of special bits for me which I hope to be able to show you all soon.

I also picked up some of these for track days - Yokohama A048's. These were another bargain found locally. They're in great condition but I still need another two!



Finally, this is the latest addition!!



My son William was born on Sunday 17 March weighing exactly 7lbs!

 

[STEAVIE]

congrats mate! :thumbs:

 

[Sparx]

Finally, this is the latest addition!!



My son William was born on Sunday 17 March weighing exactly 7lbs!

So is this a popular mod....?? Does it improve performance??
Don't think i can afford something like that just yet :?

:lol:

(Congrats! k: )

 

[red]

Congratulations

 

[grayfox]

You running another car matey :?: otherwise it's back in with those rear seats for william

Love the clean lightweight look to the interior! exterior not bad either! k:

 

[The Arch Bishop]

Congratulations on the birth of William!

Remember that children and associated child paraphernalia add quite a bit to the overall weight of the car and it's best to remove them for track days...

Car is stunning by the way!

 

[Scott134]

Thanks guys!

And yes, we have another car so William won't be going in the Puma for a while!

Sparkx, it hasn't improved performance yet but you're right it is an expensive addition!! Lol.

 

[Scott134]

Ok, I have a few updates coming today but thought I'd start with a few photos that my brother took on his phone after giving it a thoroughly good clean up for me and a coat of decent wax :wink: . These photos also show the further graphics added recently, including the towing point arrows and the Bubble & Kick Racing graphics.











And another shot of the interior, where you can just see the radio blanking panel my Dad made, which will later house switches, etc ...



There have been a few changes now since these shots were taken and that will follow later.

 

[Scott134]

Ok next up, a few photos of my new track wheels. These were a bit of eBay bargain and are 7"x16". They do need a refurb, as you can see from the photos, but that will be done later together with some other paint work that's going to be needed.

I mentioned above that I had picked up 2 Yokohama A048 cut slicks for track use in 195/50/16. They fitted on the front nicely. As it turns out, I was offered another bargain on a set of rear A048's in 225/45/16. I thought they would be too wide to be honest, either for the 7" wheel or for the Puma, but they actually fit really well! With these wheels I had to remove the large spacers I had on before and fit smaller 5mm spacers all round.

I had a short test drive on the new wheels and tyres yesterday and WOW! There is so much more grip than before it is unreal. I have gone from one extreme to the other though, as my old tyres were just a budget make and had seen a fair bit of action, as this thread shows! Really happy with ho the car felt and handled on the new set up though, much more like a go-kart! It felt awesome.

Here are a few photos of the wheels and tyres on showing the fit...

 

[Flying Scotsman]

HOLD ON.... THERES A BALD MAN TRYING TO NICK YOUR DOOR CARDS!!!!