[johnpidge]

So I sold my Melina (?) blue 1.7 to my brother in law who proptly stuffed it on the motorway. We kept it and took all the good stuff of it to put on this little one I found local to me near Twickenham 100k with aircon. Bought it for him to help him out as he had just been made redundant as well - started driving around in it (it needed a service and a small amount of normal rear wing rust repaired) and the magic came back and why I bought one of these anyway. After selling my one to him I bought a Cougar (nice but doesnt handle) and a RS 200 Clio which does but still isnt up to the pure handling the Puma gives- So I've bought yet another one for me - Green with ac again 94k will try to remember how to add pictures

[johnpidge]

and how not to double post!

[johnpidge]

[johnpidge]

Painted and polished

[JHT1888]

Hi John and Welcome Back your puma looks nice

[happy-kat]

They are just great simple unfussy direct driving cars
Any plans for your new one?
I looks quite Black and also pretty tidy.
Has it got leather seats? (looking at the images they don't look fabric?)

[johnpidge]

Yes they are beautiful leather out of the blue one which in turn came out of a Thunder as far as I remember - door cards etc - only issue is the airbag light but as we took the entire interior including the steering wheel (why do so many melt - common problem with Rs Clios!!) I guess a connection is faulty or the clock spring is knackered - have ordered a fleabay spring and will swap it and check connections I have no plans for it at present as it's for the bro in law - it's pretty good as it is However I do wish to do some work on the green one as yet uncollected from dealer As an earlier one 99 on a V reg it seems quicker but will go and do some minor improvements better plugs leads filter remap but early ones have small brakes 240mm so I have some ST150 brakes on the way Maybe coil overs and some reasonable tyres - can you get Goodyear F1s in 195/50v 15s?

[happy-kat]

The earlier the Puma the quicker they were. The torque limiter was increased several times. (done by ignition retardation)
Torque limiter info, also from archives Pumas built before Aug 98, had the TL set at 1500 rpm. After that it was upped to 2500 rpm, then 2800rpm from Mar 2000.

[johnpidge]

My blue one was a very early one 97 I think so that would explain but i would assume some remaps would loose this or reduce it - had a Bluefin on the blue one and whilst many didnt have kind words about a generic map from Superchips it worked brilliantly - this certainly feels slower pulling away 1st and 2nd gear as you suggested - once its up and running its seems as quick

[happy-kat]

OK once going but pull away is where it would be felt.

[johnpidge]

really excited as i am going to get the other Puma (my Green one) tomorrow
Seems I need a few things to sort it out rocker cover gasket and camshaft oil seals need fixing - as does the high pressure aircon hose - I have received bigger brakes from a ST150 which apparently has 280mm brakes

[happy-kat]

Green is very nice, is it the earlier Jewel green? Very close to British Racing Green if it is that colour, Pacific green was a green equivalent to Melina blue in tone I felt.

[johnpidge]

Just collected - a few tiny issues to sort

[happy-kat]

piccy got to have a piccy

[johnpidge]

New Green Puma - very nice to drive and quicker than the black one - several minor issues - back bumper section needs pushing back on its clips better - bit of a panel gap - drivers door mirror electric motor has a bit of a mind of its own (have a spare!) rear hatch inside trim come appart (have a spare) and aircon not working - the valve on the high pressure hose is faulty so i need a new hose and a regas/seals - has some godawful aftermarket radio/cd player so I want to get the original one back in - what do I need for that??
Rest is good to go had a new belt 2000 miles ago and pretty major service (have most history and some bills) quick but it needs a rocker cover gasket and a cam seal as its weaping a bit (both ordered) need to check a few tiny bits on the advisory - brake hoses and an arb bush
the colour is growing on me - quite a rich green but it has a few chips and scratches which need addressing - one tiny bubble of rust on one rear quarter so I will slowly get this lot sorted but it needs a good clean and a bit of man love (blag the kids into helping me clean it)
Simple easy car to drive - no fire ball but lots and lots of fun and its easy/cheap to fix (oh famous last words)

This post has been edited by johnpidge: 26 July 2014 - 09:20 AM

[happy-kat]

Hi
Looks pretty good :-) the photo makes me think Pacific green but a reg year would settle it as Jewel green phased out first quarter 1999 then quite a gap to the other being available.
Did the can belt tensioner get replaced at that same service?
Ian G I expect can sort you put an OEM CD player for good price.
Nothing quote like that rewarding first clean

[johnpidge]

Mentions kit so I think it would include belt tensioner - I've just found a silver 6000 radio (and the four digit code) so i will get that swaped soon

Clean and give the engine a clean as well - dirty doesnt describe it

I will check the V5 when its back to get reg date exactly

Nice colour - certainly growing on me

[johnpidge]

Pacific Green looking at a few others

[happy-kat]

You really want build date to be exact exact as reg can be missleading if sat somewhere (and I should have thought of that), anyway you got it sussed
There is a Vin decoder in the Wiki for build month and year.

[johnpidge]

Spent much of the day cleaning the car top to bottom and oiling all the door hinges/seals/gas lifts and WD40'd the engine bay etc
massive improvement - cleaned the steering wheel and all the gutters. Went over several paint marks with t cut with varying degrees of success
Put some of the maf cleaner in and runs very sweetly indeed
Have now spent some time on fleabay ordering various bits I don't have - LCD clock (had one but thats on the blink as well) ST150 280mm brakes (already arrived) Goodrich stainless hoses, door car clips (they are hopeless) Pipercross foam filter (not much use but they sound a bit nicer) rocker cover gasket and cam seal and a high pressure A/C hose, a handbook and folder (have the service history but not the folder)

Busy day