My 97 Melina

First edition bought for not much but with a lot to do!
Getting it fully sorted will take me a year I reckon but first off it's been operation roadworthiness and MOT.
Pictures paint a 1000 words


Welding to be done this weekend



Mk3 Mondeo callipers and Mintec ST 300mm discs. Wheel bearings replaced at the same time.
Next I fitted a Hoffman race tube (cos the centre pipe was fubar and these tubes are well cheap ) and Piper back box. No fotos cos the job was awful and I got angry with it

Bye bye shite knackered G max kit

Hello Kilen 35mm springs and KYBs.

Yes I had got the springs on upside down in that foto. Doh!


Fitting those fronts in was a nightmare :evil:

I've done a full service, replaced the rocker gasket, fitted a new ford stat and ford super posh coolant. The plugs were Bosch and I'm not joking, they were gapped at over 2mm. NGK platinums gapped to 1/3mm went in and immediately helped smooth out the power...still have an issue with the car running slightly under temp and the fan not kicking in in traffic though.
A bit of welding this weekend, some new rubber and an italian tune up and it should be worth putting in for an MOT I reckon. It runs out at the end of the month so I am all systems go with it at the moment...
Oh and I have had to order a new crankshaft seal as it decided to blow about 2 litres of expensive fully synth
Oh and I need to do a 'quick' wheel refurb ready for new tyres, balancing and alignment.

If anyone has a front driver's side full mudflap they'd part with, please let me know!

Hi Dubmeup
Mine took nearly two years and it's ongoing but really well done with your car. Keep up the good work! :grin:
Barry

Yeah I reckon a year is being a bit optimistic Thanks for the encouragement.
That G Max kit btw. When I'd stripped it down I compressed all of the dampers to see how they responded. All of them were notchy as heck on the way down. Two of them refused to rebound and are no doubt still in the squished position. One took about 5 minutes and only one came back up evenly and steadily :lol:
I've noticed quite a difference and the brake upgrade is just

You're very welcome, if there's anything you want to know that I've been through feel free to ask.
Barry

http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=26171&p=324749#p324749" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
:wink:

Unfortunately I saw your heating/cooling issues on the other post and didn't have an answer to it as mine's been ok that way but I'm sure some one will give you an answer to that.
Sos again
Barry

No worries. Cheers for looking

How did you get on with the welding as that must be the most important thing now on these old cats?
Barry

How are the kilen springs? It's hard to find a review for them on the puma.

The welding will be done this weekend. There's a few inner arch patches and an O/S sill rebuild to do.
I'll have a pop at the patches but a neighbour is going to do the sill as it's a bit beyond me. I'll let you know how it goes

I can't really say much about the Kilens as yet. The old struts were so bad that anything would have been better.
But, so far the Kilens and KYBs seem pretty good. The ride is definitely a lot smoother and a lot of the chatter has gone when cornering under compression. It's firm but not harshly so, until you are on a farm track The rear is still a tad high for my liking at -35mm. I may swap the rear springs for 50s which would level it out a bit looks wise.

Just a couple of things before you start welding it. If you're not going to take the petrol tank off take the spare wheel carrier off and have a good look around the tank and also around the front where the fuel filter is to make sure there are no leaks. Also if the inner arches have holes in them it's likely that the inner sills right at the back will need patching as well. If you can get underneath to look thats the bit that returns up to the chassis rails and it has a bracket secured by a 10mm nut that holds the handbrake cable.
Barry

Cheers. Good advice about the tank
The spare wheel carrier is still off from when I undersealed the boot floor and arches, I checked the tank then too but you're right it would be a good idea to double check before welding. You're right about the inner sill. The whole o/s/r corner needs rebuilding, which is why I've deferred to my fabricator neighbour for that. I'm a novice welder
The n/s sill has already had work. It's 'sound' but not the best job so that will come later.
For now it's just get an MOT.
When the welding is done I'll be literally filling the car with waxoyl.

Don't fill it just yet, you've seen my post, have a good look all around, preferably on a four poster and when you've finally decided there's no more rust then fill it with waxoil.
Barry
PS Well done with attending to the welding, it's good to see a Puma being saved

Aye, my neighbour has a lift in his workshop so it will be gone over thoroughly whilst it's up there. I had a darn good poke when it was on ramps for undersealing and i think i found most of the rot. The floorpan seems fine and solid, that sill is the big one. It'd be an instant mot fail ofc so no choice but to fix it.
There's still a lot to do on this car

Good on you. Keep up the good work!
Barry

Ok. We had the car on the lift and the os sill is fubar from the back to just past the b pillar. My friend assures me that he can use a mk4 fiesta sill and make it fit. Way beyond my skills so i look forward to watching him do it. I had to order the sill though (£25) and it won't be in till monday. So that's a little hold up.
I have new tryes coming to a local fitter on monday too so that's a busy day...gonna have to juggle work.

So with a wheel balance looming, instead of welding, i'm on wheel refurb duty this weekend. Am only going to take them to first top coat stage cos there's obviously a risk of damage to the new paint when the tyres get fitted. I'll finish them off when the tyres are on.
These supertourismos have been kerbed to hell and back and i'm doing a lot of grinding and filling. 19 spokes means a lot of nooks and crannies...my fingers are pretty sore and i still have 2 to do
The two i've done though look so much better. It's a labour of love and it's taking me about 5 hours a wheel but definitely worth it. I'll post some pics when i'm done.

Don't worry about the sill, it will be fine. The hardest work will be when the outer or inner sill's cut out as there will be loads of fiddly to get to inner structures to repair. Once that's repaired and in the right place the rest's easy.
Barry

Cheers, yup I can see the inner sill needs work through the gaping hole :lol:
Anyway, I have been busy on the refurb and all four wheels are back on the car.
Will finish them after the new tyres, but here is a taster of what's to come

Worth the effort! Those wheels are superb! :thumbs:

Great thread this. Watching this avidly!