Fair while since an update, long time without a drivable puma and May was an expensive month!
As mentioned exhaust blew again at Rockingham and suffered a bad petrol leak which meant had no choice but to be recovered all the way to Southend!
From where it was leaking I was sure it the Filler Pipe which I replaced and drove it to the nearest exhaust garage for replacing (which I guessed) would be the flex perished.. nope gigantic hole in the mani and 2/3 pipes completely cracked not to mention it looked like a dug up dinosaur bone!
Ordered an FRP special (advertised for puma) which was completely the wrong shape/angle! (received full refund from the seller) but my track day at Snetterton was approaching and I was stuck for getting a working exhaust system.
Making matters slightly worse was as the font was lifted to fit the mani petrol again started pouring out around the filler pipe exit! No doubt it was actually the tank this time, luckily I hadn't sold my full refurbished and rustproofed tank!!
Spot the tiny hole(s) causing all that bother!
Old vs New!
Finally sourced a proper FRP Piper mainifold (it's a beast!) but unlike the sportex which fitted the length of the standard centre section it was 2” too long (this wasn't really an issue as I wanted a flex welded in anyway so needed taking back the exhaust place)
Id also got hold of a Hoffman race tube but decided to stick with my powerflow centre instead
Poly Exhaust mounts from Pumabuild
Floating car! notice the bag of compost (only thing I had to soak up the petrol!)
Can tell the Piper has increased torque and likely a bit of bhp.
Stripped back some of the exterior decals and re-did the orange plasticdip bits, looking lots better.
Was finally ready for Snetteron with 2 days to spare and the car performed brilliantly, although on road tyres, predicted rain for most of the day and at 5am where was huge puddles everywhere so decided to not even bother taking the 888's sticking with rainsports, once I the first session it had all dried up and no rain for the whole day, I even got mildly sunburnt! It handled a lot better than I remember it did, I think the areo improvements in the rear bumper genuinely makes I difference turning at speed and the battery relocation balanced thing out more.
Went to my first Essex Ford Facebook group meet yesterday in Ingatestone Chelmsford. Great turn out and there's another next month.
As mentioned exhaust blew again at Rockingham and suffered a bad petrol leak which meant had no choice but to be recovered all the way to Southend!
From where it was leaking I was sure it the Filler Pipe which I replaced and drove it to the nearest exhaust garage for replacing (which I guessed) would be the flex perished.. nope gigantic hole in the mani and 2/3 pipes completely cracked not to mention it looked like a dug up dinosaur bone!
Ordered an FRP special (advertised for puma) which was completely the wrong shape/angle! (received full refund from the seller) but my track day at Snetterton was approaching and I was stuck for getting a working exhaust system.
Making matters slightly worse was as the font was lifted to fit the mani petrol again started pouring out around the filler pipe exit! No doubt it was actually the tank this time, luckily I hadn't sold my full refurbished and rustproofed tank!!
Spot the tiny hole(s) causing all that bother!
Old vs New!
Finally sourced a proper FRP Piper mainifold (it's a beast!) but unlike the sportex which fitted the length of the standard centre section it was 2” too long (this wasn't really an issue as I wanted a flex welded in anyway so needed taking back the exhaust place)
Id also got hold of a Hoffman race tube but decided to stick with my powerflow centre instead
Poly Exhaust mounts from Pumabuild
Floating car! notice the bag of compost (only thing I had to soak up the petrol!)
Can tell the Piper has increased torque and likely a bit of bhp.
Stripped back some of the exterior decals and re-did the orange plasticdip bits, looking lots better.
Was finally ready for Snetteron with 2 days to spare and the car performed brilliantly, although on road tyres, predicted rain for most of the day and at 5am where was huge puddles everywhere so decided to not even bother taking the 888's sticking with rainsports, once I the first session it had all dried up and no rain for the whole day, I even got mildly sunburnt! It handled a lot better than I remember it did, I think the areo improvements in the rear bumper genuinely makes I difference turning at speed and the battery relocation balanced thing out more.
Went to my first Essex Ford Facebook group meet yesterday in Ingatestone Chelmsford. Great turn out and there's another next month.