Hello!

ProjectPuma

Help Support ProjectPuma:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Ozakki

New member
Joined
Apr 20, 2017
Messages
7
Location
North Wales
Posted already about a problem I have but thought I'd do a proper Newbie post.

I've had two Pumas before this current one. Joined the forum as I'm fixing this one up and trying to learn a bit about working on cars at the same time. Previously I've had a Thunder (which I should never have got rid of) and a standard model.

Picked this black Puma cheap and starting to regret it a bit. Arches are mint and the sills are fine, but there's lots of small jobs that are proving difficult for me to sort:

1) The old fuel tank corroded and leaked, so the previous owner fitted a new tank. As he couldn't get hold of an analogue sender (or couldn't get it to fit the new tank, I'm not sure), he put an after-market fuel gauge on the dash which I can't stand! Thought it would be easy to sort but it's looking like a second hand tank for the 1999 T reg with the sender so I can get the original gauge on the dash working and rip out that god awful pod gauge.

2) A garage has previously "removed condensation from headlights", as the invoice says. In reality all they have done is butcher the lights and seals, and left a gap between the lens and headlight body. So I'll be sourcing some good replacements.

3) Exhaust is wonky (I think from previous owner putting new fuel tank in) and heat shielding is falling off everywhere and rattles all the time. Just need to get under the car to sort it.

4) Battery cable from positive terminal to the alternator is damaged (already posted in Electrical about this) - hopefully getting replacement from scrappy and putting in the proper size 075 battery.

5) Door mirrors are loose and don't seem to want to clip in. Glass cracked on both sides and someone has just glued replacement glass on top of the broken ones. Found a black scrap Puma so looking to get from that.

6) Clutch just started slipping.

7) Paint is shocking. Hoping it'll respond to some treatment.

And that's it! I love being able to drive a Puma again, although not fully due to the clutch. In it for the long haul and hoping to get this fully back on the road, with some help from this forum in terms of sourcing the parts!
 

Attachments

  • Puma.png
    Puma.png
    888.3 KB · Views: 2,197
Hi. We should start our own 3rd puma club! These are my opinions on your issues

1. Sounds dum. No reason why not, but I have no idea.

2. Headlights move as they're adjustable, if the lens seems to be about a cm away from the plastic in front then that's right. I would take them apart using a heat gun or hairdryer, you can see alot better what's going on. Then, reseal them properly.

3. I'd source the correct parts and take it to a garage to fit fuel tank (not the gatage the guy you bought it off went to though!) Also.. check exhaust mounting?

4. Positive cable replacement is easy. I think the battery Ford mug most of us off with is a lower quality (45ah) for some reason?... £££! 60ah has got to be better. Varta is a good make (made in the same place as Bosch batterys)

5. If the whole mirror won't clip on there's a good chance the bit in the the bit inside is broken. No better way to know than if you take it apart.

6. Driving the car hard will be bad atm, get another clutch! You could get a 2nd hand one but that's always a gamble... that'll be old as f**k too! A new one's always good as most of the charge will come from the labour anyways. Costly but is totally worth it.

7. If it's rust then it's hard to get right without body shop grade expertise. If it's just scratches then tcut it for hours!

Sounds like you'll be busy. That's Puma life baby! :-D
 
Mk02 said:
[post]362427[/post]
4. Positive cable replacement is easy. I think the battery Ford mug most of us off with is a lower quality (45ah) for some reason?... £££! 60ah has got to be better. Varta is a good make (made in the same place as Bosch batterys)
IIRC, the UK 1.7 Puma has always been fitted with a 075 (D21) 60+ ah battery with the heated front screen. People have sometimes wrongly replaced it with a smaller ah one. I believe there was a lower ah and physically shorter (212mm, rather than 242mm) battery also fitted to the 1.4, which may have led to the confusion.
 
Thats why you're a guru, you've hit the nail on the head. 2 Puma's I've owned with heated screens have come with ah45 batterys, which were replacments. Even Euro Car Parts tried to sell me one with ah40 so I thought this to be the original spec. Thanks :oops:
 

Latest posts

Back
Top