1.4 tuning ?

[FirstPuma]

hi guys

I have a 1.4 Puma from 1999 and i think it could use some tuning.
But i don't know what is possible with the 1.4.
and first of all it doesn't need to be a track racer although it would be fun !!
can you guys give me some tips ?

Greetz Ruben

p.s. i am on a tight budget

 

[Ziggy]

What do you call a "tight budget" ? I suspect unless you dig deep it will be waste of time. Better off putting a 1.6 or 1.7 in there and informing insurance company.

 

[FirstPuma]

what i mean is are there some little things that can help the performance that i can do on my own. without spending hundreds and hundreds of money on it. Probably i am going to look for a replacement for the puma but that is not for any time soon. ( i have a good offer on a fiesta Zetec S 1.6 mk5 right now )

 

[fairlight]

Forget it.There is no point putting money into the 1.4
Exhausts and a crap air filter are about your lot. It won't go any better but will sound quicker...

Also, a zetec fiesta isn't half the car a 1.7 puma is.

Save yer pennies for a 1.7 puma, its leagues ahead of the fiesta.

 

[FirstPuma]

http://www.pumadrivers.nl/home/docs/site_docs/InfoblattRallyPuma.pdf

As you all can see there was a 1.4 puma rally car. Now i have a question about it.
Does anyone know what they have done to that 1.4 zetec se engine to get 150 bhp out of it cause that would be a nice project.

 

[Ziggy]

IIRC that 1.4 rally engine used a special crankshaft, pistons, con rods, cams, flywheel, valve springs, ecu etc ie it wasnt cheap. I expect you could get similar power or more if you changed cams, pistons, rods, ported head, exhaust, ECU and ITB's. In motorsport you'll find people spend BIG money on engines to increase power.

Sorry to say you wont see any worthwhile performance increase from a 1.4 spending only a few hundred quid

 

[FirstPuma]

haha yeah i realized that it wasn't going to be cheap but it is not that i want every thing at once probably gonna be a some year's project. and after that maybe use it as a weekend car as told earlier.
and can you just change cams without anything else from upgrades ?
: :shock:

 

[Ziggy]

I would save up your pennies until you can afford to get a complete kit of bits all in one go - chances are you will have changed your mind / car by then - so saving you lots of wasted £

Its not a good idea just changing cams on their own - you will also need to remap / change ECU to get it to run right. A very mild set of cams *might* not need remapping - but the gains would be minimal and you would need different cams if you wanted more power at a later date.