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ItsAnArse

Member
Joined
Sep 30, 2021
Messages
81
Hi all,

I've recently purchased a 2001 Puma 1.7 in Moondust Silver that came up for sale locally, I did a lot of research and this is the forum that I found most useful so thought best to join!

It was a tough decision going from my very reliable 128,000 mile 2006 Fiesta 1.4 Zetec, my weapon of choice for B roads. Not fast enough to get into trouble whilst offering brilliant handling which makes it lots of fun. But there isn't much room for upgrades... I did toy with the idea of a 1.6 swap or an ST150 but having read about them feeling nose heavy and the ridiculously high price of them on the used market I couldn't justify paying 4x the amount for practically the same car just with a different engine/brakes etc.

I went to my local 'Ford man' to see how he was doing, with COVID I hadn't been round for well over a year. It turned out he was selling a Puma. I knew what Pumas were, they had a 1.7 with VCT, they're lower down, I couldn't recall the last time I had seen one in person but other than that it wasn't something I had ever considered. Hmmm I thought. Just minutes after I told him I'd never sell my Fiesta. He had bought it with the intension of keeping it but after being in storage for a year he needs to make room.

After much consideration, an arrangement was made with a close friend that he would take my Fiesta. Really the only person I'd want to sell it to. I put an awful lot of work into that car and he knew it. I trust him and wouldn't want it to be wasted on someone else.

So yes, Puma is now sat on my drive. Very clean, 43000 miles on the clock. 1 owner from new. No dents or scratches anywhere, interior is mint. Rear arches have some rust, it has had a plate welded in the sill at some point. Alloys are immaculate. 4 new tyres.

Needs the rust looking at, the front bar where the headlights mount to has some surface corrosion so I plan to strip the whole front down, wire wheel, Vactan and re paint. Headlights need polishing up. I've started to clay bar and polish all the paint work, it has clearly been parked outside under a tree in the sun for most of its life.

I have no service history with the car, it looks to have been serviced by Ford (well, at least with genuine parts) in 2017 since then it has done just over 2000 miles. It needs the cam belt doing so I have bought all the genuine parts to do that. I decided to keep it all genuine considering the condition and mileage. Cam belt, water pump, tensioner, cam shaft seal, VCT seal, aux belt etc.

It needs an inner tie rod as there's a lot of play on the passenger side and the alignment is completely off but other than that I think it'll be a great project, learning experience and a pleasure to own. We shall see what I can contribute back to the forum!

Thanks,
 
:cool: welcome to the site! Sounds like you've found a pretty good example to get you going!
 
Good luck with your new cat, sounds like it will be getting pampered. If you're willing to go 'off-brand' a lot of parts can be had very cheap. I think I paid about £8 or something for a track rod end (pattern).

Good idea to treat the front end rust but if you have the space and facilities, get underneath and check under boot floor (above spare wheel) and sills, rear suspension mounts etc. The same wire wheel and goo treatment will work wonders and keep MoT man off your back. Also check behind arch liners at rear edge of wheelarch where the sill starts, it gets full of muck and rusts.
 
Hi and welcome ! My Puma has a similar mileage but has been rather pampered so not yet required welding.
 
Thanks everyone, good information there.

I've had a look underneath and found it's not too bad apart from a small hole near the VIN. I have planned to do the following so far once cam belt etc has been done:

- Get it up in the air and do all the rear boot, probably take the rear bumper off and underseal up behind there also.
- Take the rear arch liners out, clean, fix rust, underseal. Run he car without the liners if possible
- Remove seats and interior carpet, checking for rust inside and under neath.

I saw someone strip their interior, remove the factory sound deadening on the floor and put down new Dynamat (probably on here!). This will allow to safely weld up the small hole without much risk of fire.

I think for the moment I'm just cleaning up the car, I thought I might turn it into a track car but it's just far too nice. My old Fiesta was a beater.
 

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