The £650 Puma

Bah! Was worth a punt. Thought Kermit might sway you. :lol:

Makes my blood boil people not going to meets :roll:

Kermit was a nice touch Rob. Beaker and I'd have probably been sold. Meep!

Today, my lovely wife gave me the day to do 'Puma stuff'. Unfortunately, this didn't start so well as I had to do an emergency trip in to work to fix website stuff - this took out about an hour and three quarters. However once home, undaunted I decided to don the jeans of grease and get cracking.

First up was the wishbone that I bought a while back. Now you may remember that the last time I attempted to change a wishbone, it took well over 6 hours due to rounded bolts. This time, everything came straight off!

The reason that I was changing this was because it was the last bit of the suspension that came on the car when I bought it. Every other bush, bearing spring and damper has been changed. The wandering steering was just getting worse and Jegger had become nigh on impossible to drive so this was the last chance to fix it.

The old wishbone was frankly destroyed. Here's the distorted rear bush;



And the ball joint which it appears, has long lost its grease;



So this time it was a quick change;



While Jegger was up on stands, I swapped the tyres from back to front. The fronts have not exactly worn evenly...



So with that on, I went off for a test drive. It is an utter transformation. Absolutely no tram-lining, smooth and slack free steering, handling has improved enormously and even the hefty clunk when letting up the clutch has gone. I have finally fixed the flipping thing..... Of course, it had to be the last thing I did....

Anyway, buoyed by this, I thought it was time to get ready for the Recaro transplant, so I stripped Jegger out ready to go;



Then of course, I had to do the same on my neighbours car NAX. So I also stripped out NAX! Then I put all of Jeggers door-cards back into NAX, transferred the pretensioners from the front seats and put those back in too.

I've run out of daylight (and I ache everywhere) to be able to start putting Jegger back together, so I've put the seats in the garage. They are in better nick than I remember - drivers seat (pretty scabby on the bolsters);



Passenger seat is pretty much rip-free;



So all in all, a productive day of doing 'Puma stuff'!

Very good job on suspension. Judging by the look of your tyres you should do the geometry check and probably 'close' the front end...

The Arch Bishop said:

So all in all, a productive day of doing 'Puma stuff'!

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Yep, you and me both.

Yesterday I put in an illuminated cigar lighter. A shaft of green light now shines through the ashtray slot and lights up that very dark area below the heater controls.

Mind you, unlike you, I can't honestly say I was aching all over afterwards.

A busy productive day by the looks of it :thumbs:

Is jegger becoming a bit of a Trigger's Broom? ;-)

Wild E. Coyote said:

Very good job on suspension. Judging by the look of your tyres you should do the geometry check and probably 'close' the front end...

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Probably a mixture of knackered wishbone, lowered (for a time) suspension giving too much camber and the odd occasional period where it was run without the tracking being done (it's been done three times since I bought it).

It'll be done again soon as changing the wishbone has moved the steering wheel 5 degrees to the left off-centre!

Frank said:

The Arch Bishop said:

So all in all, a productive day of doing 'Puma stuff'!

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Mind you, unlike you, I can't honestly say I was aching all over afterwards.

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I'm creaking and groaning like a much older man! Too much time spent behind a desk and not enough physical exercise!

Skippy said:

A busy productive day by the looks of it :thumbs:

Is jegger becoming a bit of a Trigger's Broom? ;-)

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I'm trying to think of what hasn't been changed....

Engine, carpets, body shell (although it's been painted), dashboard. Think that's about it really!

The Arch Bishop said:

Frank said:

The Arch Bishop said:

So all in all, a productive day of doing 'Puma stuff'!

Click to expand...

Mind you, unlike you, I can't honestly say I was aching all over afterwards.

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I'm creaking and groaning like a much older man! Too much time spent behind a desk and not enough physical exercise!

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I didn't ache after putting my Recaro seat in either. Then again, I only put the Recaro rear seat in. - http://www.projectpuma.com/gallery/image.php?album_id=444&image_id=5270" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

I love the look of them, but after an unfortunate incident under the strong Italian sunshine when I slithered onto the lap of the passenger on a bend, I swore that I would never, ever, drive on a leather seat again. But doing it the way I have, I get the pleasure of seeing it every day without having to sit in the damn thing.

Tip of the day: purchase 2 beach towels and some velcro. One day, you'll know exactly why, without needing to be told.

Its always good to see this thread updated. I always find this a very well written everyman / car story which almost all Puma owners can relate to. :thumbs:

Cheers questy, all good fun init?! :lol:
Frank, I know what you mean, I've had cars with leather before. It ain't my first rodeo!

More time today meant I could finish off this weekend's work! Recaro seats are in!





I must say they really work well against the Cuirass paintwork and my God are they comfy!

Very pleased with progress these last two days. :thumbs:

Well done! Glad you are hapy with the outcome!

I thought they would compliment each. Other :thumbs:

The Arch Bishop said:

Right picky time. Sorry, but Jegger's filthy at the moment!

YOG's exhaust fitted to replace the old holed one;

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Hi,

What brand was this new exhaust and how did it compare in terms of sound with the old one. I like the sound of the old exhaust (which I am not sure if is Ford or Bosal) but yours seems different.

Thx!

The Arch Bishop said:

YOG's exhaust fitted to replace the old holed one;

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This, I mean

The Arch Bishop said:

These arrived today

They are 30mm drop springs which is about as low as I'd want to go...

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I'm 100% set on installing these Eibach springs. Why did you pick KYB sampers, what were the advantages as opposed to new OEM ones? And why did you eventually get rid of the Eibachs?

Thx!

Great thread, BTW!!!