ReDBull's project keep it standard....

[ReDBull2345]

Well after spending a small fortune on my last car , a seat leon Cupra R. I got boarded and decided to brake it and move on. I set my self the challenge of finding a run around for £1000. After looking at a few cars (my god there are some real S//ters out there!!!) I bought this. A 1.7 X reg with FSHand just under 69000 miles on the clock.

My brother had a Puma 10 years or so ago. Plus being a EVO magazine subscriber and having read the rave reviews the Puma has always been given by them. Finding a reasonable 1.7 for £900 made my mind up.
Coming from turbo cars getting used to the character of a relatively high reving N/A engine has taken time. But the light well balanced chassis was instantly fun. Shame the driving position is so odd. Steering wheel to low and seat to high.
I've been trying not to start this thread as I know where it will end up going!
So first things I've bough are two (yes two! Got excited buy reasonably priced parts after paying VAG tax for years!!!) steering wheels as mine had melted at the 3 and 9 o'clock positions. Clear and smoked side repeaters as I couldn't decide which to get. A single DIN fascia so I can fit my Alpine head unit, plus some puma floor mats And a set of TSW Hockenhim 15" wheels. A bit of an impulse buy but I always loved them back I the day and they where a good price :grin: I'll be buying some winter tyres at some point so a second set of wheels will be handy...
I don't want to go down the coilovers route as I don't want to change the handling to much. But I would like the car to be a little lower. I'm thinking of getting some Eibach pro lowering spring or if anyone could recomend any other makes that would be great. I'll also be needing a new back box at some point so may be tempted to replace the whole system and exhaust manifold. Again any recommendations would be welcome.
So far loving the car it's a hell of a lot of fun for less than a grand and my stay longer than originally plan. Hopefully it'll get some track time as well.
Here's a couple of photos of my old LCR.

 

[jifflemon]

kudos on the TSW's. I've got a set of Original Evo's to throw on mine for the exact same reason!

 

[ReDBull2345]

kudos on the TSW's. I've got a set of Original Evo's to throw on mine for the exact same reason!

How wide are yours? Not sure whether to go 195 or 205 wide with the tyres?

 

[ReDBull2345]

Just ordered a eBay 4 branch stainless manifold and have some engine mounts on the way to modify. What dose every one use for the engine torque link? I've seen VT do one but you can also buy bushes to re bush the ford one.

 

[alexwilliams840]

if you buy the poly bushes for the torque link it will rattle the car to pieces, it's vile

 

[ReDBull2345]

Is the toque link better or would you recomend the standard one?

 

[alexwilliams840]

i've not experience with VT but i've not heard any complaints of them, new standard one is fine

 

[CherryVimto]

Having a poly'd torque link isn't THAT bad. I'll agree, they do make the car rattle more but I don't think excessively.
Depends on what you want out of the car....

 

[alexwilliams840]

Mine drove me mad, it made the car vibrate terribly i mean you couldn't hear the radio without deafening yourself


i'm not sure why we had different experiences

 

[mrbushrat]

I have a vt mount on the twingo and it's fine.

 

[The Arch Bishop]

I poly-bushed a torque link and it made the whole car buzz frantically when I pulled away. It also transmitted a load of gearbox whine into the cabin. It lasted exactly one day before I went and bought a standard one. :lol:

It would have been superb if I had been building a trackday car, but when you're nipping out to the supermarket for a pint of milk, it was horrible.

I am a bit soft though. :roll:

Edit - Questy has the one I poly-bushed up for sale at the moment although he modified it to make it less harsh (ie: drilled some holes in it). Link - http://www.projectpuma.com/viewtopic.php?f=108&t=22554

 

[jifflemon]

kudos on the TSW's. I've got a set of Original Evo's to throw on mine for the exact same reason!

How wide are yours? Not sure whether to go 195 or 205 wide with the tyres?

I *think* 15x7. Stuck with 195/50's just cos its cheaper on the tyre front.

 

[jifflemon]

kudos on the TSW's. I've got a set of Original Evo's to throw on mine for the exact same reason!

How wide are yours? Not sure whether to go 195 or 205 wide with the tyres?

I *think* 15x7. Stuck with 195/50's just cos its cheaper on the tyre front.

 

[ReDBull2345]

Cheers for the comments on the poly bushes. I'll have a think on it but may go for the VT mount.
I'm just toy with the idea of winter tyres as well...

 

[moondustka]

I've got a VT top gearbox mount.. That was good. Don't need it anymore if you want that? VT torque is good also. I had/have all thre mounts. You do get vibrations from them. I had the competition type rather than the fast road. Torque link is most important to stp engine movement really. Pics of them all in my thread I think.

Like the Leon btw - my mate has one also. Generally nice cars all round.

 

[Neil]

Looks fine just as it is

Red really suits a Puma IMO.

 

[ReDBull2345]

I've got a VT top gearbox mount.. That was good. Don't need it anymore if you want that? VT torque is good also. I had/have all thre mounts. You do get vibrations from them. I had the competition type rather than the fast road. Torque link is most important to stp engine movement really. Pics of them all in my thread I think.

Like the Leon btw - my mate has one also. Generally nice cars all round.

Thanks but I'm going to make some home brew poly mounts. I'll have a look through you're thread.
The Leon was pretty fast and handled well with ARBs, coil overs and Quaife diff. Just always had problem after problem.
This is how it ended up!

 

[ReDBull2345]

Looks fine just as it is

Red really suits a Puma IMO.

Looks wise it's not going to change much. They do look good in red.

 

[ReDBull2345]

A few parcels have arrived.

Nice and shinny

 

[Noobrider]

if you read my thread with this manifold I had a bit of trouble fitting it as fouled the drive shaft and the angle it exited was wrong meaning I had to cut and reweld the centre section to get it to all line up, they were very good though and refunded £40 for my troubles.

All that said it did make a big difference, the engine revved freer and there was certainly more power there, very noticeable.