I've already shown a few pics in the newbie section but thought I'd start a progress thread in here.
T651 MRJ was bought from my mate Alex on 15 Feb 2013. It was already slightly modified with a Chris Tullett Custom S/S exhaust and 4 branch manifold, Gaz Gold coilovers and Vibratechnics engine mounts and torque link. Most of the interior was gone but it still had std seats. Alex had run the car on Comp CXR's with Maxxis road legal semi-slicks but I already had a set of CXR's so opted to buy it on std Puma fan alloys.
As soon as I got it home I started to order parts, first up was a set of Powerflex bushes for the front arms, a pair of Sparco seat subframes, a Momo wheel boss, Ford racing 20mm rear hub spacers and some extra long wheel studs.
I attacked the front end first by removing the lower arms and fitted the Powerflex bushes, a fairly simple affair to remove old bushes and press in the replacements. At this point I found the lower arm pinchbolt was only done up finger-tight! I also investigated the front shock/spring assembly. The front springs were at their lowest setting but were still only slightly lower than std ride height. A trip to Gaz saw the 8" 350lb springs replaced with 6" 400lb. I also found the thrust bearings were missing which meant the springs have a tendency to wind the platforms up/down the shock body when the steering is turned. I bought new bearings and top rubbers. I then had to play around with small spacers to get bearings & topcaps properly setup.
Whilst working on the front-end I went to replace the front wheel studs. On most Fiesta's you can replace the studs without disturbing the drive flanges, however on a Puma with ABS you need to remove the drive flange, effectively knackering the bearings at the same time. 2 new bearings were ordered and the new studs pressed into the flanges.
At this point I also fitted a pair of front strut braces, the top one was bolted down with stainless bolts instead of the usual crappy self-tappers they are supplied with. The lower front went on at the same time as replacing the lower arms.
At the rear I removed the drums and replaced the studs and whilst they were off I fitted the 20mm hub spacers behind the stub-axle. I modded the ABS sensor one side which refuse to fit with the spacer but still ended up with ABS lights showing on the dash. I will need to test the sensor and maybe refit them again.
For wheels & tyres I removed the Compomotive CXR's from my Fiesta RS Turbo and had them fitted with a set of Toyo T1-R which I had bought for my Mk1 Golf but never fitted. My CXR's were a lower offset than those already on the car meaning the fitted the front without spacers and nicely filled out the rear arches as well.
Turning my attention to the interior I removed the remaining front seats and fitted the Sparco subframes along with the Sparco Rev Evo's along with 4-point harnesses. The harnesses are mounted using the std outer seatbelt mounting points. The inner points were modified from a set of S1 RST seatbelt mounts cut & welded together then mounted underneath the central tunnel behind the handbrake. At the rear I removed the strutbrace from my Mk1 FRS, cut it down to size to fit the Puma and re-welded it. It was fitted to the Puma using large hi-tensile bolts and thick plates on the inside of the strut towers. I squidged a load of Sikaflex behind it to seal it up from the elements.
Once all the mechs were done I gave the car a thorough clean inside, around the handbrake lever was a thick sticky pool of mess, it was a combination of melted boiled sweets, dog hair and what looked like pork scratching. I had to unbolt the handbrake lever to get at it properly, I ended up using a large amount of Cillit bang and half a roll of kitchen paper to remove it, yuck!
I finally gave the car another wash and then polished all the glass.
Future mods are a set of rear beam Powerflex bushes, and on Weds I'm getting a set of ST170 calipers and discs, I will need to check how much work will be needed to get these to fit under the 15" Comps. Hopefully being a lightweight motorsport wheel it should be plain sailing. Famous last words!
Last but not least I treated the Puma to a new set of numberplates, some carbon-look from Halfords of all places lol
And finally a few pics!
T651 MRJ was bought from my mate Alex on 15 Feb 2013. It was already slightly modified with a Chris Tullett Custom S/S exhaust and 4 branch manifold, Gaz Gold coilovers and Vibratechnics engine mounts and torque link. Most of the interior was gone but it still had std seats. Alex had run the car on Comp CXR's with Maxxis road legal semi-slicks but I already had a set of CXR's so opted to buy it on std Puma fan alloys.
As soon as I got it home I started to order parts, first up was a set of Powerflex bushes for the front arms, a pair of Sparco seat subframes, a Momo wheel boss, Ford racing 20mm rear hub spacers and some extra long wheel studs.
I attacked the front end first by removing the lower arms and fitted the Powerflex bushes, a fairly simple affair to remove old bushes and press in the replacements. At this point I found the lower arm pinchbolt was only done up finger-tight! I also investigated the front shock/spring assembly. The front springs were at their lowest setting but were still only slightly lower than std ride height. A trip to Gaz saw the 8" 350lb springs replaced with 6" 400lb. I also found the thrust bearings were missing which meant the springs have a tendency to wind the platforms up/down the shock body when the steering is turned. I bought new bearings and top rubbers. I then had to play around with small spacers to get bearings & topcaps properly setup.
Whilst working on the front-end I went to replace the front wheel studs. On most Fiesta's you can replace the studs without disturbing the drive flanges, however on a Puma with ABS you need to remove the drive flange, effectively knackering the bearings at the same time. 2 new bearings were ordered and the new studs pressed into the flanges.
At this point I also fitted a pair of front strut braces, the top one was bolted down with stainless bolts instead of the usual crappy self-tappers they are supplied with. The lower front went on at the same time as replacing the lower arms.
At the rear I removed the drums and replaced the studs and whilst they were off I fitted the 20mm hub spacers behind the stub-axle. I modded the ABS sensor one side which refuse to fit with the spacer but still ended up with ABS lights showing on the dash. I will need to test the sensor and maybe refit them again.
For wheels & tyres I removed the Compomotive CXR's from my Fiesta RS Turbo and had them fitted with a set of Toyo T1-R which I had bought for my Mk1 Golf but never fitted. My CXR's were a lower offset than those already on the car meaning the fitted the front without spacers and nicely filled out the rear arches as well.
Turning my attention to the interior I removed the remaining front seats and fitted the Sparco subframes along with the Sparco Rev Evo's along with 4-point harnesses. The harnesses are mounted using the std outer seatbelt mounting points. The inner points were modified from a set of S1 RST seatbelt mounts cut & welded together then mounted underneath the central tunnel behind the handbrake. At the rear I removed the strutbrace from my Mk1 FRS, cut it down to size to fit the Puma and re-welded it. It was fitted to the Puma using large hi-tensile bolts and thick plates on the inside of the strut towers. I squidged a load of Sikaflex behind it to seal it up from the elements.
Once all the mechs were done I gave the car a thorough clean inside, around the handbrake lever was a thick sticky pool of mess, it was a combination of melted boiled sweets, dog hair and what looked like pork scratching. I had to unbolt the handbrake lever to get at it properly, I ended up using a large amount of Cillit bang and half a roll of kitchen paper to remove it, yuck!
I finally gave the car another wash and then polished all the glass.
Future mods are a set of rear beam Powerflex bushes, and on Weds I'm getting a set of ST170 calipers and discs, I will need to check how much work will be needed to get these to fit under the 15" Comps. Hopefully being a lightweight motorsport wheel it should be plain sailing. Famous last words!
Last but not least I treated the Puma to a new set of numberplates, some carbon-look from Halfords of all places lol
And finally a few pics!
