Project Puma 'Black'

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FlashBastd

New member
Joined
May 19, 2009
Messages
1,585
Location
West Yorks
2001 Puma 1.7 'Black'

I sold my 54 plate IS300 in June, and smoked around in a borrowed '97 Ka2 for a while. Really loved that little car, after the safety net of the Lexus (211HP and RWD with an LSD, but you can't turn the bloody stability contol off, so no tail out antics) something truly chuckable was wonderful. I fancied something similar, but with a touch more luxury, a bit more go, and ABS. I considered the following;

LuxuryKa - rejected it on the grounds of performance, and that if I fitted 16" wheels, which I wanted to to accomodate 300mm brakes, then unless I got Ford Racing arches, it would look silly and I would need rack limiters, plus Ford Racing arches are really expensive.

SportKa - rejected it on the grounds of fuel economy and an appauling turning circle, plus they still seemed too expensive for what you got.

Puma - I'd had one previously, when they were new, but sold it as I was only a poor student and couldn't afford the HP. Should be more economical and quicker than the SportKa, and have a better turning circle.

ST170 - rejected on the grounds that any with Custom and Luxury packs were too damn expensive!

ST220 - rejected on the grounds that it was bigger than I needed. I had a 2001 2.5 Zetec-S from 2004 - 2006 and loved it, but I wanted something more economical after my Lexus (26MPG when going v. steady), and don't need a Mondeo size car.

So the search was on.

I acquired this car in October 2008, at which time it had done 66,000 miles. I had seen it on eBay, the description was poor, and the seller's answers weren't great, but I had been without a car of my own since July and the cash was burning a hole in my pocket. Headed down to Leicestershire to collect to and discovered that it didn't have a passenger airbag, despite the sellers assurance that it did (seems quite a common mistake on Puma / Fiesta / Ka), and on a short test drive that the clutch was shagged. Biggest surprise was just how much less space there was inside compared to the Ka I had been running. At least the boot is a reasonable size.

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I agreed a small discount with the seller and drove the car very carefully to a relative's garage as it was two years overdue for a cambelt. On the plus side, it had 10 months MoT and a Kenwood CD changer. I hadn't really researched the 'Black' special edition, and had expected it to have the same wheels as the Thunder / Fiesta Zetec-S, instead of the F1 style wheels that can't be refurbished due to the plastic fake studs. I had been told that the tyres were all good, and two had been recently replaced, however this was putting a rather positive spin on things. I drove away already knowing that I had spent too much money. I was most petrified however about possibly Nikasil problems, which would make the whole thing something of a liability.

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Got it onto the motorway and the car was SHAKING! I had noticed the n/s/f wheel was a bit scuffed, but hadn't anticipated anything like this. My daughter was in the passenger seat and I was quite worried for her safety. Anyhow, things improved a bit after a few miles, but at least one of the wheels was clearly out of balance.

After a circa 80 mile drive, I dropped it off at the garage, with some Mobil 1 0w40 and instructions to do a full service, cambelt, aux. drive belt, clutch (Focus 1.8), balance the wheels and change the heater control valve.

There are mixed opinions on changing the HCV, however I had been running a borrowed Ka since selling my IS300 in July, and the day before going on hols the HCV had failed, emptying all of the engine's coolant onto the ground. Stopped the Ka as soon as I realised, and touch wood, there were no lasting problems, but I somehow doubted the Puma's Sigma engine would be as hardy as the HCS engine in the Ka). I also ordered a few parts including a replacement o/s A pillar trim, to replace the original that was hanging off.

While the car was away I put together a phone mute loom that would also connect my Kenwood stereo to the car's standard wiring loom and power my Origin B2.

I collected it about two weeks later, checked the CD changer worked, then whipped it out along with the original 6000CD in favour of my Kenwood stereo. I also discovered the paint had surface contamination all over it, so gave it a good going over with a clay bar, followed by a polishing with 3M Hand Glaze followed by Auto Glym Super Resin Polish. Despite this same treatment having nicely removed some scratches from our CR-V only a month of so earlier, the results weren't as great as I had hoped. I also noticed a small amount of rust starting on the n/s/r wheel arch, and that the car was missing it's front spoiler / air dam.

Around this time I also fitted some clear side repeat indicators, the originals were a real pain to remove, and I had to use a cordless drill and two screwdrivers! I was surprised to find that the repeaters had different connections on each side, but it seems this is pretty common.

I soon decided that these F1 style wheels weren't for me. Apart from anything else they were going to be awkward to clean. Bought a single brand new machined finish 16" Scorpio 12 spoke alloy on eBay, then decided that wouldn't be for me, so I bought a single brand new 15" Escort GTi "Cossie Style" 5 spoke, planning to collect another three, and also bought some Mondeo V6 front callipers. I had been undecided since buying the car as to what I wanted to do about the brakes. I had a brand new Puma in 1998 and the brakes were the biggest disappointment. Having previously had a Mk3 Mondeo, and having frequented fordmondeo.org, I was quite keen on the possibility of fitting Mk3 Mondeo callipers, along with ST170 300mm front discs. This realistically meant going for 16" wheels, and I was a big fan of Cossie style wheels on the Puma, so that was what I decided to get. Found some fairly tatty items on eBay, made some enquiries about refurbishing and got them bought, dropped them off for refurbishing and had them fitted to the car 48hrs later with some brand new 195/45R16 Good Year Eagle F1 GSD3 tyres. Cost me a fortune, but it sticks like you wouldn't believe, wet or dry.

Soon after this I had the opportunity to drive the car on some great driving roads, and quickly decided that getting something sorted with the brakes was quite urgent. The 258mm brakes weren't bad as such, but quickly began to fade in fast road use. Sold the Mondeo V6 callipers on pumapeople.com and sourced some Mk3 Mondeo callipers from eBay for around £60 the pair, delivered. Once the guys at the garage had had chance to give them a look over, I procured some new Mintex ST170 discs from a local motor factor, which were fitted along with new genuine Ford pads, Goodridge braided hoses and new fluid.

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I had noticed a knocking noise from the n/s rear which I was unsuccessful in curing, so I ordered some new Powerflex polyurethane bushes for the rear beam, I had these fitted while the car was in for the brakes, and the garage also decided that I could do with new front lower arm rear bushes, so I got some FRP spec items from Pumaspeed and got them fitted at the same time. Being as I was leaving it there for a few days, I had the fuel filter changed due to slight pulsing when cruising, the air con serviced, and an OMP lower strut brace fitted. Most of it was straightforward, but fitting the strut brace was very awkward, possibly due to poor quality manufacture. I would later have an engine mount replaced in the hope it would stop the occasional contact between gearbox and brace, but to no avail. When I collected the car I gave the MAF a clean and took advantage of the ramp to fit a replacement front air dam.

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When I got home, I swapped the air box lid for another item with the resonator removed - value for money, this was a great improvement, in terms of noise at least.

It was around this time that I noticed that the "touch wipe" function wasn't working, so had to get a brand new set of stalks. Feels more like a new car with them though.

I had also obtained a Fiesta Ghia X clock, with temperature display, and a temperature sensor from an old Scorpio. A quick browse at Maplin found a suitable plug to connect the temperature probe to the back of the clock, so after a quick test, and a modification to the back of the clock, I set about fitting it. All went well until I broke one of the headlamps removing it. I hadn't turned the switch and forced it - d'oh!

ExteriorTemperatureSensor012.jpg


I think around the same time I bought a new glovebox light assembly along with a second boot lamp and fitted those.

In my Mondeo, I modified the interior lamp with a couple of diodes so the map lights come on with the main light, so I got hold of a spare Puma lamp and did the same mod.

For some time, I had been planning on fitting Mondeo Mk3 sun visor mirror lamps to our CR-V. Given that this is also lacking in the Puma, and Puma headlings are both cheaper and easier to replace the CR-V ones, I had a crack at fitting a passenger side mirror lamp, with good results. The immportant lesson here was that there is only adequate depth in certain places, so this will dictate the location of the lamp. When fitting a roof mounted DVD to the Honda recently I discovered that there isn't the depth in that car, so rather than fitting the light to the Puma being the "dry run", it was actually final version.

VanityMirrorLamp011.jpg


I had also planned on fitting a rear interior lamp, having done this in my Mondeo, and went as far as buying a Focus one, before deciding that there wasn't enough clearance between the headlining and the roof.

While obtaining the mirror lamps from the scrap yard, I also got hold of a steering column audio control and wiring, which I may use if I decide to change the Kenwood to an Alpine IDA-X305, but most impressively I came across a rather sorry looking Mondeo Ghia with an auto-dim rear view mirror. I had planned on fitting this to the Honda, which uses the same wedge type mounting, but we have a Harmon Kardon Drive / Play in that car, with the screen mounted above the rear view mirror, and the auto mirror wouldn't fit with the Drive / Play screen. Instead I decided to fit it to the Puma. I had to buy a new wedge from a local Ford dealer, and adhesive from Halfords, but mounting it was very easy. I stripped down the loom and made a new one, which I fitted at the same time as the mirror lamps and an electromagnetic parking sensor. While I really have just tapped into existing wiring at the front of the car, I couldn't be bothered finding the right wire, and instead took the feed from the boot instead.

AutoDipRearViewMirror003.jpg


I'd had a slight knocking noise from the n/s/r since I got the car, which hadn't been cured by the Powerflex bushes, in fact they just made the car a bit harsh. I wanted to sharpen the handling a bit, and considered going for one of the lower priced coilover setups, but I was concerned about it being too harsh, and also that if you adjusted the ride height, you would throw out the alignment. I do around 12-15,000 miles per year, so didn't want things to be too hard, I also didn't want to spoil the original balance. With this in mind, I replaced the dampers and top mounts with original equipment and the springs with Eibach items, which were cheaper than four original Ford items. This firmed things up nicely, and also cured the knocking noise. What impressed me most though was that they really improved the stance, the 30mm drop being more noticeable than I had expected.

The remote key I received with the car was a bit worn, and I had a Jaguar remote key left over from my Mondeo, so using a red PATS chip from a redundant key, and the blade from my remote, I set about adapting the Jaguar key to work with the Puma. Around the same time I also got a much smarter Ford remote from eBay and two new 'Horseshoe' sections cut from my local Ford dealer.

While hunting for a replacement headlamp, I came across a Piper back box and Milltek manifold, then shortly after acquired an FRP mid section with sport cat. Having established that the FRP lambda extension loom wouldn't fit my car, I visited a few scrap yards and got hold of the necessary plugs and sockets to put together my own lambda extension harness (green plugs) and MIL eliminator harness (blue plugs).

MILEliminatorLambdaExtension001.jpg


I left the car at the garage while I went on holiday, and phoned up regularly to check on progress. When I heard that not only was it running, but that the Check Engine light was staying off, I was delighted! Similarly when I spoke to the technician, my friend Paul, and he told me that it makes a brilliant noise, and that my lambda extension was just the right length, I was quite pleased, and anxious to get back and have a go. I was however a touch concerned when my mum told me it was "a bit loud", but was still keen to get back and give the job a good course of looking at.

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When I got my car it had suffered from the dreaded melting steering wheel, an issue believe to be a consequence of getting hand cream onto the leather sections of the wheel, from where it reacts with the adhesive and goes all nasty. I had been keeping my eye on eBay for a new steering wheel and while on my hols I was delighted to get a brand new black leather steering wheel for a 1995 - 2002 Fiesta. This was waiting for me when I got back, along with a pair of early Ford 'large oval' mudflaps.

While on hols I also got an Audiovox CC-100 cruise control kit from amazon.com, and some Valeo Ultimate wiper blades, these are the same as the Valeo XTRM ones we get here, but in the US are only USD $20 for two.

Upon my return I set about fitting first the steering wheel, initially with the original midnight black (grey) airbag, then later I got a black airbag from a late model Fiesta with the enamelled Ford badge. Over the next few weeks I also fitted the cruise control and the mudflaps, along with some Sierra rear mudflaps that I managed to get to fit to the back of the car.

BlackAirbag.jpg


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I ran the car like this for a while, with few minor changes. As the exhaust had been bought in bits from different sources, we had to guess what was needed to fit it. The fire ring was no problem as it was a standard Bosal part, but we made the mistake of not using sprung screws for the manifold – mid section joint. Additionally, my MIL eliminator was a bit dodgy, so my check engine lamp kept illuminating, and a minor collision with a very small rock meant the removal of my lower strut brace. A trip to PumaSpeed sorted all of these issues as the lower strut was removed and a TAPE ECU with the FRP map was installed, this ignores the second lambda, and makes the exhaust pop deliciously on the overrun!

I hadn't been especially happy with the handling since fitting the ET40 6.5J wheels, it was grippy, but didn't feel "right", so I had some Eibach 15mm hubcentric spacers fitted at the front, these nicely broadened the front track to match the rear.

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My rear drums were looking a bit sorry for themselves, but a coat of black hammerite soon tidied them up.

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Unfortunately I still wasn't entirely happy with the feel of the front of the car, so bought some 7J ET35 wheels, again 16", Cossie style. Got these on with the original tyres and I was delighted, it felt like a Puma again!

I am a big fan of fuel computers, they really help me to improve my fuel economy. I decided the most suitable device to get was a Scangauge II, which I procured via eBay. It's a brilliant tool and with some minor modifications it fitted discretely into the ashtray.

ScanGauge003.jpg


During a root through some of my old junk in the garage I came across a leather effect book pack, gave it a clean and it looks a lot better than the original one.

BookPack002.jpg


Next mod was to fit some FRP rear discs. I bought a used set and fitted them with new Delphi discs and pads, and an ATE rear ABS loom. Pretty easy to fit, but the new Fiesta ST shields needed modifying to accept the Puma's ABS sensor, and disconnecting the brake lines was awkward. Other than that it was plug and play. My top tip though is to clean out the ABS sensor holes with a dremmel before fitting, makes the sensor much easier to slide into place.

RearDiscs003.jpg


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Once fitted, the extra track from the FRP / Focus hubs, plus the 7J ET35 wheels meant that the track was perhaps a touch wide, and does foul the liners when driven briskly on bumpy roads, so I have replaced the 20.5mm spacers with the 12.5mm to bring it in a touch. At the same time, I fitted ST170 rear brake carriers to my FRP setup, along with 280mm ST170 discs and new brake shields.

7Jrearwheels001.jpg


As seems to be common with FRP manifold cars, the lambda sensor soon died, I have just fitted an new NTK item, which is the same make as OE, and the car seems much better, much less relucatant to go. This had been an intermittent symptom for some time though, so I don't think I can completely blame the FRP system.

Typically, shortly after fitting the FRP rear brakes, some ST170 items came up, so I will soon be fitting the ST170 carriers with (more) new 280mm discs. I have also bought some ST170 front callipers and am looking forward to seeing if they are any better than the Mk3 Mondeo callipers. Also plan to fit some Mintex 1144 pads, along with new discs. Just need to get these parts painted red and they will be ready to go on.

Came across a genuine Ford brushed aluminium effect handbrake handle on zsoc, so got that scooped up and fitted;

SummerGearKnob.jpg


There was a slight defect in the paint from the repair that had been done in late '08, the guy who did the work was great, sorted it out, and also tidied up a small scab that had formed on the drivers door sill.

Following a bit of pondering as to how to fit them, I fitted some front footwell lamps, using standard Ford parts, and some velcro, a little unorthodox perhaps, but fingers crossed it works!

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Maintenance Items / Standard Parts Replaced - new unless otherwise stated

Cam belt
Full service, plugs, pollen, air, etc.
Heater control valve
Steering column stalk assembly
O/S A pillar trim
Various screw covers
All four dampers
All four top mounts
Drivers window rubber
Lambda sensor (NTK)
Air flow meter (MAF)
Front wheel bearings
Puma alloy gear knob (Summer use)
Replacement remote key (with Ford badge intact) - used
Glovebox lid - used
O/S engine mount
N/S engine mount
Torque restrictor
Rear beam bushes
Coil pack (used, nearly new)
O/S/F ABS sensor
Drop links & ABS mounts
Anti-roll bar bushes
Early Puma black parcel shelf
Fiesta Ghia drivers side sunvisor
Fiesta Ghia LHD drivers side sunvisor
Red exhaust hanger – removed

Modifications to date:

Scan Gauge
Ford Focus Mk1 1.6 / 1.8 clutch
Milltek EVO exhaust system, with sport cat and manifold
Lambda sensor extension harness
Second lambda blanking plug
Ford Racing Puma PCM (ECU)
Ford Racing Puma lower arm rear bushes
Ford Racing Puma style airbox modification, with additional front cold air feed, resonator removed
Ford Racing Puma inlet manifold, No. 542, with new inlet manifold, TB and ICV gaskets
Ford Racing Puma specification camshafts
Audiovox CCS-100 cruise control
Kenwood stereo, with iPod interface & steering wheel remote
Pioneer Custom Fit TS-H687 6x8 3-way rear speakers
Pioneer TS-C1320 front component speakers
Origin B2 GPS speed camera detector, painted Halfords Platinum Silver, with Target laser diffuser
Nokia CK-7W hands free kit
Brodit phone cradle
Dashmount phone bracket
Modified Autoleads phone mute loom
AutoLeads DIN stereo adaptor, painted Halford Platinum Silver
Clear side repeat indicators
Jaguar X- / S-Type remote key
Ford Focus II remote key
Transit / Transit Connect remote key fob
Ford PATS torch key
Ford Fiesta black leather steering wheel and airbag
Ford Fiesta black leather gear knob (winter use)
Ford Mondeo MkIII interior mirror lamps
Ford Mondeo MkIII auto-dim rear view mirror
Ford Mondeo MkIII dual tone horn
Ford Focus Mk1 rear interior lamp
Ford Fiesta glovebox lamp
Ford Fiesta Ghia X temperature clock
Second luggage compartment lamp
Front footwell lamps
Ford carpet floor mats
Ford rubber floor mats
Ford 1980's spec universal front mudflaps
Ford 1980's spec custom fit Sierra rear mudflaps
Eibach lowering springs
Ford Ka 12.5mm rear axle spacers
Ford Focus ST170 front brake calipers
Ford Focus ST170 300mm front brake discs
Ford Focus ST170 rear disc brakes, with Ford Racing Puma hubs
Ford Escort estate rear ABS loom
Ford Fiesta Zetec-S front anti-roll bar
Ford Accessories 7J x 16 ET35 "Cosworth Style" alloy wheels x 5
GoodYear Eagle GSD3 195/45R16 tyres
Ford Accessories brushed aluminium effect hand brake handle
Nuerburgring decal
Valeo Xtrm wiper blades
Ford Mondeo MkIII / Jaguar X-Type front brake calipers - removed
Milltek / OE / Piper FRP exhaust system, sport cat and manifold - removed
Powerflex rear beam bushes - removed
Eibach 15mm hubcentric front wheel spacers - removed
Ford StreetKa 20.5mm rear axle spacers - removed
Ford Racing Puma 253mm rear disc brakes - removed
Ford Mondeo Zetec 6.5J x 16 ET40 "Cosworth Style" alloy wheels x 5 – removed


To fit;

FRP tailpipe trim
Anti-corrosion treatment to front wheelhouses & inaccessible underbody areas covered by heatshield & fuel tank
New tail lamps
Waeco MagicTouch MT2000 touch indicator module
Bosch ParkPilot parking sensor
O/S/R wheel arch repair panel

To purchase;

Brake pipe from ABS pump to master cylinder, to facilitate fitment if early master cylinder & servo
Replacement luggage compartment shelf suspension pin

Considering;

Retrimmed Fiesta Ghia leather steering wheel (all leather,not just the side bits).
Fiesta 2.0 ST clutch
Replacement headling, A- and B- pillar trims, to be reupholstered in dark grey alcantara
Front bumper with smoothed no. plate recess
LSD
 
Wow what a write up, excellent work so far!

:thumbs:

I'm impressed with your choice of modifications!
 
That's a very comprehensive write up, I'm impressed :)
 
Thanks, a lot of me wishes I had just started with an FRP, but chances are a lot of the maintenance stuff would still have had to be done.
 
Do you have a back on picture from the back with those mud flaps fitted?
 
Did you get them from Ford directly? Price?

I'm quite interested to see how these would look on mine as that part of the rear bumper gets pummelled from stones.

Thanks for the picture.
 
Unfortunately not. The fronts are a universal fit, got them from eBay, the rears are for the back of a Sierra, these were some old stock at a relative's garage.

I have made enquiries with a couple of Ford dealers, but to no avail.
 
Flash, do you know what year / model Sierra they came from?

Else i'll look at universal fit :p
 
The Sierra ones are for all model years. Be aware however that they aren't ideally shaped, one has a curve to accomodate the Sierra's exhaust, and they have a curved protrusion that would butt upto the Sierra's rear bumper, but in other applications you could really do without it. I have managed to align it with the small aerofoil on my rear bumper so it doesn't look bad, but in truth I only used the Sierra ones because they were there (and free). I planned on getting more of the universal ones, but these came along and are "ok" but not perfect.

Ford have changed their universal mudflaps a few times since then though. Also look out for earlier universal ones which only have a very small Ford badge.

The Puma rear bumper is bloody awkward to fit mudflaps to, it curves in so much, and the curve starts very high, so it takes a bit of messing around to get anything like.

Hope this helps, if you want some more pics of the fit of these 'flaps, let me know and I will take some and EMail them over.
 
Well I have a spare set of universal cannon flaps, the same as i've got fitted to the front but I expect these to be far too thick material wise and i'm looking for a rubber mud flap which is basically quite thin and flat like yours seem to be. Not the rally style sheets though as that's not the look i'm going for.

Do you know what the new Ford universal ones are like?
 
What do you think of these?

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;? ... 0303556865
 
Just amended the first post a bit. I hadn't mentioned some of the other bits that I had replaced, it is a long list!

I am planning on fitting an 18mm Fiesta Zetec-S front anti-roll bar. This part wasn't available when the Puma / FRP were developed, instead it was made specifically for the Fiesta Zetec-S. As we all know, this car's chassis was largely based upon the Puma, so if Ford decided to develop a stiffer ARB for it, it will probably also benefit the Puma. Hope to get it fitted in the next couple of weeks.

I am also hoping to get my ST170 rear caliper carriers fitted soon, but I am a little concerned that they may put additional stress on the FRP rear brake lines. If it works, it will be a very simple modification to fit the bigger discs, as only the carrier needs to be changed. If anyone has done this, successfully or otherwise, please let me know.

Before I can fit the carriers though, I want to paint them red. I know this is likely to split opinion, but I have spent a lot of money on my brakes and don't mind drawing attention to them. Any other colour suggestions for a black car with silver wheels, I would be delighted to hear them.
 
red said:
Do you know what the new Ford universal ones are like?

I think the current Ford universal ones have the clips fixed onto them, and are quite curved round at the edges, possibly not unlike the Canon ones.
 
mmm i just rang my local Ford and they do not do any universal ones apparently only moulded ones.

I've ordered those couple from eBay to see what they're like.

Sorry to hijack your thread for mud flaps.
 

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