[RichardP]

Good evening all.

Picked up FRP number 219 just over a week ago from south east London. The trip home was a little eventful (owner forgot to give us the fuel cap key and the fuel pump fuse went) but really fun and I remember why i like it, my mum owned an FRP when they first came out and I've always fancied one. I also have a 1 of 500 Clio 197 so it can be difficult to not compare the two, especially the drop in power when you get back in the FRP. Both very fun cars for different reasons.

Anyway, the Puma has a few mechanical problems I'll fix and bring it back to its former glory. I'm also planning to recon the engine and maybe tinker with it a little to see if I can get a little more power from it, otherwise it'll be back to standard

[happy-kat]

Welcome
Enjoy your new car, anything major to do or just light work?

[Y0ungn1ck]

Hi and welcome.

[RichardP]

happy-kat, on 17 November 2015 - 10:12 PM, said:

Welcome
Enjoy your new car, anything major to do or just light work?

Thanks

A lot of it is light work, new window motor, heater control valves etc. The only thing major is the clutch is sometimes a bit iffy. But that will be replaced when I recon the engine, there's a bit of work going into that

[Rayy]

Hello and welcome!

[happy-kat]

That sounds very light items, the rust be in check already.
Look forward to reading your progress.

[RichardP]

happy-kat, on 18 November 2015 - 07:04 PM, said:

That sounds very light items, the rust be in check already.
Look forward to reading your progress.

I received a standard 1.7 engine yesterday, so that's already being taken apart ready for some new cams and I'm going to be gas flowing the head. When that engine is ready to go in I'll put the FRP's manifold's on etc

Oh and the previous owner had all the common rust area's sorted, part of the reason I was keen to buy this one. I can do all the mechanical work but don't want to touch body work really.

[V4FRP]

Welcome to FRP ownership

[Ian G]

Welcome to the site.

You starting with a new engine just so its not off the road? I'd be tempted to fit the donor and run that for a bit, do the work on the FRP one and put that back in.

Numbers matching car will probably look better in the future

[RichardP]

Ian G said:

1447989493[/url]' post='936671']
Welcome to the site.

You starting with a new engine just so its not off the road? I'd be tempted to fit the donor and run that for a bit, do the work on the FRP one and put that back in.

Numbers matching car will probably look better in the future

I'm starting with a standard engine to have a mess around with, I'll probably then go all out when I take the original engine out. I'll use this engine as a test so to speak. Only problem is the block seems a little problematic on these cars, trying to find shells and torque setting is proving tricky 😁

[Wild E Coyote]

The shells (if you are refering to the bearings) you will find here: http://www.npr-europ...le_id=3&clang=1
Download the bearings catalogue, and there are they listed, both for MHA and MHB engines.

The piston rings are, to the best of my knowledge, impossible to find in aftermarket. You will have to go to Ford for that. NPR is producing the set of rings which are VERY similar in dimensions for Honda accord 1.8 but that engine has a cast iron block and hence the piston rings are chromed.

Puma block is al with nikasil coating and piston rings should be nitrited (check the Porsche piston rings; Porsche is using nikasil forever) so the material compatibility is not good (chromed rings vs. nikasil)

[Fledge]

Torque settings can be found on the shawspeed website if your struggling

[RogS500]

The con rod bearing shells ( big ends ) sizes, for the 1700cc Puma, are wrong in the npr-europe.com catalogue. Most bearing manufactures make the same mistake.




Bearings from a old Mitsubishi 1300 or 1500 work well when the bearing location tags are modified to fit the Puma rod location recess.




Hope this helps.

[Wild E Coyote]

Could you be more specific about that last post? What mitsubishi, please?

[RogS500]

Sorry for the delay. Do not look here often. I will check the part numbers & vehicle engine codes tomorrow.

Regards.

[Wild E Coyote]

Cheers, mate!

[RogS500]

This info may be of use. The Mitsubishi engine codes for the rod bearings, are :- 4G15 or G13B or G15B. ACL bearing part number is 4B1130, or AE bearing number is AEB4793. Both these manufacturers use the heavier duty, lead copper, material on the part numbers given above. As mentioned previously, you need to accurately file away part of the backing tag. I have had no problems using these in competition Puma engines.

Regards.

[Wild E Coyote]

Cheers for that! No similar tricks regarding the piston rings?

[RogS500]

Thanks. Good if you found bearing info useful. Piston rings:- I usually use high compression forged pistons, therefore the rings can be of slightly different dimensions. I am reasonably sure that I have a new unused set of standard Puma rings still on their respective rods & pistons. If you are interested in these rings, pm me to make a offer & I will then explore my garage at the weekend. Alternatively it may be possible to make up a complete set by sourcing from 2 or 3 different suppliers, so some research would be necessary. How soon would you require the rings?

Regards.

[Wild E Coyote]

RogS500, on 14 December 2015 - 11:57 PM, said:

Thanks. Good if you found bearing info useful. Piston rings:- I usually use high compression forged pistons, therefore the rings can be of slightly different dimensions. I am reasonably sure that I have a new unused set of standard Puma rings still on their respective rods & pistons. If you are interested in these rings, pm me to make a offer & I will then explore my garage at the weekend. Alternatively it may be possible to make up a complete set by sourcing from 2 or 3 different suppliers, so some research would be necessary. How soon would you require the rings?

Regards.

PM sent