...Axle stands- check; car jack- check; sockets - check; fleece, head-to-toe waterproofs, and wellies - check... yep, it's been just another day on Puma patrol!
Looking more like I was on the Arctic Convoy than my mum's drive, today was not in fact spent sending tanks to Mr Stalin but bringing out the water cannon to tackle a dirty protest by one of Mr Ford's finest. Very dirty, as it happens, as not only had my rocker cover gasket started leaking again but other fluid decided to come out in support... and there was I thinking I'd finally taken control.
The week had started so well.
I picked up the car from my Septuagenarian sprayer and was really pleased. One scabby arch...
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cut out, German arch panel welded in & resprayed...
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plus surface rust on the other arch, plus schulzting of both inners (albeit a little premature it will do until the weather dries out), plus driver's door... all sorted!
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The car looked decent and was working well. Puma progress!
All it needed now was to start on the upgrades, first being some larger alloys so I could get my 300mm brakes on, and as luck would have it I landed a nice looking set of Team Dynamic 17's via eBay. Yeah, yeah...17's don't handle etc. etc. but if they good enough for an FRP then I'll cope with the ribbing, especially as they only set me back £137 with tyres. :wink:
As such I planned a little road trip on Thurs to go pick up the wheels and drop by the Puma world renowned Ian G to grab some other bits and bobs on the way back.
The journey itself was really rather pleasant. It meant going via my hometown of Liverpool and actually took me through parts I hadn't been to since I was a teenager and Frankie Goes to Hollywood were telling us all to chill out.
The sun was shining, I had David Bowie on the CD again (mainly because I can't get the damn thing out now it's in there, I really must get an aftermarket stereo) and as I went past the road my first girlfriend had lived on and then the pub in Childwall we'd frequent as 16-year-olds (fooling no-one that we were old enough), lots of memories danced in my mind and with the sunlight; their footsteps sending little tingles through me that dislodged more memories again. All-in-all I was pootling along in a bit of a blissful revery and it was all so very pleasant. Until it wasn't.
First, I noticed a juddering from 60mph, then, when having to turn, a weird graunching noise. Crap. As I'd already picked up the wheels, I limped the car over to Ian's and gingerly picked my way past potholes big enough to have their own caving expeditions on the track down to his workshop/Puma cemetery.
Once there it only took the time to exchange hellos and mention the problem for us to look under the car and find a small puddle of power steering fluid. On inspection the pipe joints were dry and the pump seemed it too but we couldn't pinpoint the leak due to the goop underneath (presumably a mix of power steering fluid, engine oil, bits of Ian's path and the ground up remains of some cavers)... hence today's power wash frenzy. The steering fluid also seemed thin and watery in the reservoir. Weirdly the flow slowed right down while there for a few hours (compared to the speed of the initial small puddle) and despite running and revving etc. we couldn't get it to do it again, though I've dropped about 7mm on the reservoir bottle level since then.
Not getting anywhere fast with that, Ian sorted me some Ford wishbones (to re-bush but actually look better than the ones I have on at the moment after cleaning them up), a full set of mud flaps and some caps for the door cards... Oh, plus that rain shield thing that goes over the pollen filter housing. He gave me a wry smile when I asked for it and I understood why when he got one for me as it looks like it comes straight from a box of chocolates. It's more Quality Street than quality control that's for sure, I wouldn't be surprised to see Cadbury's stamped on it instead of Ford. Didn't stop me from getting it back on the Puma though and thankfully the fluid loss and shuddering didn't stop me from getting home.
So today was spent in the rain, power washing anything within reach: the new wheels; the old wheels; the underneath; the front arches, without the liners and then the liners themselves; plus, the wishbones and the mudflaps.
During the process, I got to look at my front arches for the first time...
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G Whizz, on Flickr
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don't look too bad (but still on the rust treatment list for when the weather gets a bit better) which is more than can be said for the brakes....I think that 300mm upgrade can't come soon enough.
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Best of all I finally got to put the 17's on...
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Am really pleased with them looks-wise but they were a bit of a punt offset-wise as the guy had them on a MK3 Capri (normally et22) and said he didn't know what they were (v. annoyingly not stamped) but after looking online he thought they "might" be 37. I was initially fine with this as only 3mm out from standard Puma but now realise that being 7j they should be more like 25mm. So, the upshot it seems is they might be anywhere from 22-37, confused? Glad it not just me then. :grin:
Proof of my being a pudding will be in the driving. Apart from a bit more road noise, which may well be down to the tyres, they don't seem as bad as I feared they might be. Mind, have only driven a mile or so as the wheel nuts don't seem to fit quite as well now either. I could only get 10 full turns on the front and 8 on the rears, but having spoken to an alloys specialist they've assured me that should be fine. Hmmm. All in all, some spacers, and longer wheel studs, may well be on the cards, grrrr.
So having started the week thinking I had brought order out of chaos and that peace and tranquillity were now restored to Pumaland, by the end of it the Puma's guerilla war tactics means I now have this to sort:
1) Power steering...
2) Brakes...
3) Rocker cover gasket (again but will get another Ford gasket this time)
4) Figure out what the real offset is...(assuming that's a tyre off, measure width, backspace, and calculate, job?) then possibly hubcentric spacers and longer wheel studs...
....Oh, and as I was fitting the driver's side rear alloy the shock was moving up and down and clunking...(top mount?) and I noticed I'd lost one of the rear covers next to the fog lights (probably somewhere along Ian's Rubicon Trail :grin: ) and that my nearside headlight bulb had gone...at which point I decided this Puma played dirty in more ways than one, and that this time I wanted my mummy... good job I didn't have to go far really.