Just Got My First Puma, Bit Of Advise Would Be Nice!

[sapuma]

Hi guys

Ive just got myself a nice little 1.7 Puma and have started playing with it. I have added a K&N 57i Cone filter and love the roar it gives. But by taking the old box out, i have left what seems like a massive gap between the cone through to the wheel arch, and can see the floor :O

Is this okay? Any advise would be greatly taken on board

I will upload pictures soon, and keen you informed of my progress

Thanks, Matt :grin:

 

[mrMechanix]

Hi and welcome.

Aslong as water can't be sprayed up from the wheel it'll be fine my friend.

 

[sapuma]

Thanks a lot for that! i shall have a closer look and make sure this is the case

One small problem i do have with it is the passenger footwell gets rather wet when it rains, we have checked and cant find where its coming from and have eliminated the windscreen
anyone else had this problem??

 

[madhillbilly17]

hi, welcome if you havent got any kind of shield i would leave the bottom part of the air box in, i had mine like yours when i first fitted my filter and mine was wrecked in a month. i ended up buying a new filter and made a splash/heat shield for it

 

[sapuma]

yeah i dont have any sort of shield, but have already take then bottom half off :/ oops
any ideas where i could gert a shield from? are they expensive?

 

[yippeekiay]

Leak in the footwell could well be the wiring loom grommet under the bonnet, near the fuse box - apparently it's a common problem.

Welcome by the way k:

 

[madhillbilly17]

ive never seen any for sale other than the small heat shields that clip on the side of cone filters, which wouldnt stop any dirt as they only cover the top of the filter for heat.thats why i made mine,the easiest thing to do is put the bottom part of the housing back in, thats how most people have theres with cone filters. i didnt think it was that good or pretty tho so i made one, this is what the one i made looks like.

 

[sapuma]

okay, thanks yippeekiay, i shall have a look if i can see any gaps in the grommet(s)
and thanks madhillbilly, youve done a real neat job there. ill have a look and see if you can see right through to the floor, if so ill consider putting the old bottom half of the box back in, hope i didnt brake it too much taking it out.

ill be sure to keep you posted, M

 

[mrMechanix]

Hey it doesn't have to be as pretty as the mad hillbillies straight away ( nice work btw ) anything will do as a shield, bit plastic or aluminium a couple of cable ties, some self tappers and a bit Ingenuity would see it done. If you can shield the filter from the hot air coming from the engine and stop spray but let the fresh air in to the filter it'd be perfect my man.

 

[madhillbilly17]

Hey it doesn't have to be as pretty as the mad hillbillies straight away ( nice work btw ) anything will do as a shield, bit plastic or aluminium a couple of cable ties, some self tappers and a bit Ingenuity would see it done. If you can shield the filter from the hot air coming from the engine and stop spray but let the fresh air in to the filter it'd be perfect my man.

cheers,yeah theres lots of ways ive see some people use these before http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/3-SQUARE-FOIL...pt=UK_Home_Garden_Food_SM&hash=item4153fb82b3

 

[sapuma]

Haha, time for that! Talk about making a plan. But wouldnt they conduct heat? Arnt we trying to prevent the heat getting to the filter aswell as water spray? :?:

 

[madhillbilly17]

no they dont conduct heat as far as i know they reflect heat thats why they use them on pie bases so the bottom of the pie dont burn lol,if you put a high heat source inside it would reflect that to,but oven heat is higher anyway in the corner where the filter is it wouldnt get that hot. also putting a hole in the bottom like the one i made for a cold air feed pipe it should trap the colder air inside for the filter to draw on.

 

[sapuma]

ahh right, learn something everyday! i think ill invest in some of those oven dish trays and see what i can sort out!
will get some pictures up when made and when on if it works.
yeah i understand now mrMechanix, thanks

 

[andyhyper]

also check your pollen filter housing as the rot at the bottom letting in the water,as they did on my fiesta easy but fiddly takes about an hour to do.

 

[sapuma]

Hi iv sorted the hole with a plastic sheet!
I have also got a new set of wheels for it which i hope to refurbish.. Any advise on this would be useful.
Also the puma has gone in or an mot and one of the struts is leaking and the other is on its way out.(is a strut and a shock the same thing?) I am keen to lower it and was wondering what the best plan of action would be to do... Buy 2 new stuts seperate to new springs or is there kits available with struts/shocks and springs together??
Much appreciated.. Matt!!

 

[Severio]

Hey,glad your liking your new puma!
If you have a search on here you might find a guide on wheel refurbishment...
The leaking strut you mension will be your shock absorber, they have seals in them an over time they just perish an leak.
I'd recommend changing them in pairs if funds allow, as if you only change one side it can cause problems.
Also depending on the age an condition of your coil springs you might get away with not doing them, tho they are prone to cracking (I had my passenger front break on me an when changing them as a pair the other side was broken also!!)
As for a shock/spring kit there are some available (ebay has some but im not sure of there quality) coilovers are an option too (tho blooby expensive!)
Hope that cleared things up a bit

 

[sapuma]

advise much appreciated severio!! i have found these on ebay but am not too sure on the reliablity, and as a student, my funds are rather restricted, but my priorities are with my puma! and i was obviously drawn to these at the price. and i want my car back from the mot place lol
would you consider trusting these or keep looking?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/FORD-PUMA-ECT-LOWERING-SPRINGS-SPORT-SHOCK-/130475723468?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item1e60f58acc#ht_773wt_698" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Severio]

Its hard to say really, I did think about buying a similar set but just cant bring my self to get um, id personally pay a bit more so I know they will last, might be others on here who have them an could tell you different tho..
Something to remember if your thinking of lowering it is, if your car has tired components like the lower arms, ball joints an bearings it puts even more stress on them an can cause more problems in the near future..

My "To do list" before i even think about lowering my car is lower arms, balljoints, anti rollbar link arms/bushes, then just change all the suspension top mounts an bearings so i know im good for a while.
My mrs has the black puma in my sig an ive just changed all her suspension but kept them standard so i feel big difference when using hers compared to mine

 

[sapuma]

ahh right, where did you get the new suspension from? is it standard puma or lower?

 

[sapuma]

Thanks
For all that.. Im sur well consider some of them when funds allow
For now is there any other opinions on that shocks/springs package on ebay? Or do you think theyll be oka? Thank you