I saw a Puma the other day now I want one!

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JCJ007

New member
Joined
Jun 4, 2017
Messages
36
Hello Project Puma

I'm a lifelong Ford fan and I am close to completing the ultimate Granada Cosworth project which has been tough but is like no other on the roads.

The daily driver is a 2005 VW Golf which is in many ways the absolutely perfect car except for the fact it's so astonishingly boring, brilliant but dull, the discussion is what to replace it with perhaps another Golf that would be the most sensible thing to do the brown lace up shoe of cars.

I'd like my daily driver to be cheap cheerful and make me smile every time I see it, perhaps in my favourite colour (Yellow) and slightly more frugal but no slower or less fun than my luxury high performance Cosworth. A car that can be rare, cheaply maintained and easy to enjoy. Yes I'm itching to get my hands on a Millennium Puma!

Regards J

PS. a couple quick questions:
I see talk of different rear wheel arch repair methods what is the best one as no official repair panels are available?
 
Hi J
Welcome to the forum. Glad to hear you're going to get shut of the VW :grin: . The Millenium's a good choice for a Puma but wheel arch rust is the least of your worries. The whole area around the sills/inner sills/beam mount/chassis rail/rear outer and inner arch bottoms. If you're going to buy one and want to keep it beyond a year (unless you can weld) take someone with you who knows where they rust.
Good luck
Barry
 
Welcome to the site, good luck living your Puma dream :grin:

A Millennium would be a nice choice, as Barry says, rear arch rust is the least of rust worries as it's usually only cosmetic. You want to be looking underneath at the chassis and sills to get a good idea of whether it's going to last.
 
TY those are useful comments I'm considering the only one online at the moment it may be rust free but yes plenty to check I will find out more, hard to be fully sure till you see a car in the metal or in some cases the oxide.

I'm being haunted by Pumas while campaigning for the General Election the first one was a Grey 1.7 looked in great nick reminded me of the sporty little Ford I am ashamed to admit I had literally forgotten. Just as I was trying to recover from my thoughts of buying a Millennium Puma I saw a real one on another driveway lovely interior but with flat tyres all round, bubbles in the rear arches and a very neon yellow that was fading in places and now matt in finish.

I'm going to keep doing research and will be using my LED torch/magnet to check any car over I'm also going to go underneath.

The Granada Cossie was very rusty in places, arches, sills and a tiny hole under the drivers seat which on further inspection became massive. The Granada has been thoroughly overhauled. To combat the Granadas classic rear arch rust issue we rolled and welded up the lip/raw edges. The roof drainage pipes went directly into the sills rusting them, now rerouted they go from roof to ground without filling the sills with water. The repairs were done, JB weld sealed any tiny gaps, zinc coat and copious waxoyl to finish.

I would adopt similar tricks for a Puma I don't want to buy something rusty and when I buy I will make these sort of invisible detail changes to reduce corrosion.
 
Hi J
If you do buy one make sure you inspect thoroughly the areas I highlighted and if you can get the owner to jack up the rear of the car, take off the rear wheels and the carpet arch liners to look at the bottom of the inner arches, even better. There is virtually no underseal applied to the underneath of a Puma so expect rust everywhere but there is a big difference between rust and rot.
Barry
 
Dear Tuonokid and Red

First of all huge thanks for your very useful advice I never usually listen but I did this time.

For various reasons I had to walk away this time once it is finally sold whilst omitting any identifying details I will explain why I came to that difficult decision.

I will give the Puma a another chance I haven't given up the search just postponed it to a later date.

If anyone has a decent Millie they want to sell, let me know I could be very tempted and I would keep it at it's very best.

Regards J
 
So I dropped out and tried to forget Puma's after the disappointment of seeing a very sorry Millenium Puma and I had discounted the Racing Puma because it was far too expensive, too wide had a poor turning circle, was only a tad faster, has hard suspension and uncomfortable racing seats for alot more money. Only a fool would buy a Racing Puma right?

Er..... yeah so I bought one it's beautiful, quick, is an amazing driver's car, really amazing and those seats are so comfortable. Wow what a revelation and there aren't many cars for this money that are this beautiful and rare when It turned up in the street the neighbours crowded around it. I love it's rarity, it's lurid interior the way it drives and despite it's silliness it's quite efficient. Ok I realise it could do with 300BHP but is certainly quick enough for the B roads.

My trip home involved a dodgy thermostat hence an AA Truck rescued it but It'll be repaired and back in action very soon, meantime it looks amazing on the driveway. I need to fit mudflaps, reconnect the cigarette lighter so I can charge phones and satnavs, and get a good alcantara cleaner and a couple of new racing badges. Later plans polish that Inlet manifold and install an LSD. If I ever have tons of money I'll get it up to 300BHP and start replacing everything with carbon fibre but in the meantime I simply intend to drive and enjoy it.
 
Congrats on the purchase!!

Have a look at racing-puma.co.uk, everything you’d need to know! Plus we’re at the NEC classic car show in March if you want to come along :p
 
tuonokid said:
Hi J
Welcome to the forum. Glad to hear you're going to get shut of the VW :grin: . The millennium's a good choice for a Puma but wheel arch rust is the least of your worries. The whole area around the sills/inner sills/beam mount/chassis rail/rear outer and inner arch bottoms. If you're going to buy one and want to keep it beyond a year (unless you can weld) take someone with you who knows where they rust.
Good luck
Barry

Wish id checked mine before I bought it ...I foolishly thought because non of the mots showed up any rot that it was ok I'm looking at about 350 quids worth of welding :twisted:
 
Thanks all!
Plenty to look in to it's 296/154 AKA the Mongrel. The Millenium I looked at was absolutely rust free the problems were the paint, the strange noise and the price so I had to walk away. The Racing Puma just felt right the moment I sat in it it's a delightful little car I plan on using it and looking after it.
 
Just approved you on the Racing Puma FB page Jeremy. Welcome and shout if you need anything. James
 
What's the condition of 296 like? It certainly gets about, it was over in the Norfolk area I think, then was bought and broken in Peterborough.
 

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