[Dave2302]

Thanks Ally,

Yeah, I'm a stubborn git too, but like to think I'm fair...........................

If he had made a proper job of it I'd have happily discussed giving extra money, if he could convince me it had been more work than expected !!

But lets face it, this is the kind of awful job, that if you were in a garage reception to pay the bill, you would not pay for it !!
Also like I said, if funds were really no object then I'd be paying a real pro in Inverness to re do the car right now and suing Mr Walker for damages and costs !!

But, I hope I've learned a lesson here, it's sad but I will be a little less trusting now and will want references if I ever go this route again, but personally, I'd rather do the jobs myself now, then I've only got myself to blame if it all goes pear shaped.

On a plus side, I bonded the new rear window in myself, and its pukka straight, so that's another skill I've now learned

Cheers Dave

This post has been edited by Dave2302: 24 February 2012 - 09:57 AM

[Dave2302]

Called into cop shop today, but the reply was the same as the law in England, it's a civil matter and is up to me to take legal action if he refuses to hand over the spoiler.

I'll just get another one, I'd rather not be bothered with this stupid little man any more, what goes around comes around !!

I'm going out into the workshop in a minute to atart rectifying all the mess he's made and add a few stickers, will try and get some pics up later

Cheers Dave

[warrenpenalver]

whack in a small claims for the spoiler. He cant counter claim for costs on a cash in hand unofficial paint job.

When he doesnt cough up, a CCJ against his business will do him a world of good.....


I could have done a better job with rattle cans.

[Dave2302]

warrenpenalver, on 25 February 2012 - 12:35 AM, said:

I could have done a better job with rattle cans.

Yeah, so could I, in fact if you look at the mirrors, wipers and door handles I did LMAO, and they've not been polished yet .

I'll see what it will cost and how much aggro it's going to be, but if it's anything like England, small Claims isn't worth the bother !!

Anyway, I was undecided whether to have the spoiler Silver or Kawasaki Green, and as I have Lime Green left this all has now changed my mind, the car needs a bit of Lime Green at the rear

Cheers Dave

[happy-kat]

The bright green colour will detract from the crass crap on the rear bumper

[Dave2302]

A fair bit of work done on the car this week, since my last update.

A bit of engineering first, I converted the Gearbox to Hydraulic Clutch as the 4x4 Cable systems are notoriously stiff with anything other than a standard clutch, and also the Puma pedal box has a hydraulic master cylinder built in so this made the job easy...........................

Getting the distance right on the concentric hydraulic release bearing as I'm using a thinner and lighter 2.8 Capri Flywheel, a spacer was needed, so I made one up from a spare ally rlease bearing mounting boss......................



2 blobs of ally weld and grind them flat, then drill and tap for the bolts, the layshaft cap locktab bolt will be used for the 3rd bolt........................



Drill a hole for the bleed nipple......................



And one for the pipe to exit the bell housing......................



Left the pipe way too long, once the gearbox is fitted I'll cut it to length and solder on the clip in fitting that goes into the master cylinder..........................





I also wanted to lose the awful thermostat in the bottom hose arrangement, with it's horrible bypass hose that runs betwen the N/S Head and block face, all that was required was to remove the pressed in hose stub, tap a suitable thread and plug the hole, easy while all the manifolds and fuel rail were off the engine........................





I have finally managed to get a set of Group N Cosworth Ford Motorsport "909" numbered Gravel Spec Bilsteins, in good nick for an excellent bargain price of £350, the only other thing I had to buy was a pair of (350lb) Front Springs at 60 squids the coil overs came with about right springs for the rear (200lb), from these initial settings I can go up or down a bit depending on how the car feels on the rough

Fitting the fronts was not without hassle though and has involved some surgery on the inner wing and wheelarch areas, and I have had to fabricate and fit turret tops, but now I have a full 7" of front suspension travel and can get good clearance lock to lock at all stages of suspension travel with 205 / 65 x 15 Gravel Tyres on Puma Steel Rims
Should be good for major flights over the yumps ........................



Adjustable Camber .....................





Next job is to finish weld it all and fit the rears, which will be easier, but need a couple of top mounts fabricating.
I'm also going to dump the front Antirollbar and make up some adjustable compression struts to fit in it's place so the Castor Angle can be easily adjusted too

I've already bought all the rose joints etc to do them, In fact the only thing left to buy is a new rear spoiler and the 4 point Harnesses, but as these are date lifed, I'll not be buying them until it goes out on it's first stage event............................I've got an as new but out of date set suitable for MOT and its first couple of Autotest Shakedown outings

Lastly, heres a couple of pics of the car, with loads of stickers to hide the worst bits of the awful paint job !!

Couldn't resist this sticker ...........................



Looks a proper beast from this angle................................



And the side view ....................................



Cheers for now,

Dave

[happy-kat]

just need a Puma people sticker and it will be mint

[Big Boy Al]

Love it Dave and well done mate the things that you know how to do really amaze me and make me wish even more than i do now that I went into being a mechanic instead of a sparky :-(.

Keep it up buddy :-).

[StevenRaith]

That's quite insane - I approve!

[ally frp364]

Awesome as usual Dave.

Cheers

Ally

[Dogsbody]

Looking Good Dave
Why not go for the Evo spoiler, rather than the expensive F2 one?
I have the Evo one on my car, solves the loose rear end problem the car used to have.

[Dave2302]

Cheers guys,

Will look at the Evo Spoiler, but not sure if it will be acceptable to MSA

Regards Dave

[happy-kat]

Might be.
The problem now is I think all you are likely to get is a copy and maybe not an original item, many copies have the Ford logo embrossed etc. as basically a copy mould made from an original.



There was also this spolier.


Other pages from the Ford motorsport catelog circa 1999

[Dave2302]

Thanks for the info on the spoilers, may come in handy sadly I don't like either looks wise ;(

TBH our local Scrutineer who is doing the MSA Logbook is a diamond, so as long as it has a Ford Logo like the last one, I cant see it being a major problem, but I would have liked something a bit more subtle, like the one I had, which MSA had accepted

Think I might have to go baseball bat in hand and tell a certain painter I am re-possesing the spoiler and he'd best walk the other way while he still can

Oh btw if someone wants to send me a Pumapeople sticker it'll be on there

Regards Dave

This post has been edited by Dave2302: 03 March 2012 - 12:30 PM

[dawesy]

dave looking really good. stickers work well drawing the eye away from any dodgy paint.
how long before fire up?

[Dave2302]

Thanks Buddy,

2 - 3 weeks of work, (mostly cleaning and re painting oversprayed parts) then MOT test I reckon

Cheers dve

This post has been edited by Dave2302: 03 March 2012 - 08:11 PM

[Dogsbody]

Don't like the look

Makes mine much more stable through fast corners and under heavy braking.
Plus you can still use the rear view mirror

[CartMan]

ahh the eternal spoiler issue I remember this hehe I had an aly spoiler on my first puma, I do rememer it making a difference a spped around corners,I also remember not everyone liking the look, but at the time that was the look I was going foor, fast and the furious had just came out I always wanted the evo spoiler, but newer had the money for it. now in later days, I kind of fancy the F2, and especialy the one on the consept puma in the pics above, always wanted that one, but newer found it, so I just gave up.

hovever, now I also think the puma is super cool in it's pure form whitout the spoiler. but as you'r using it for motorsport, I would highly recomend a spoiler, as in your aplication, it wil be a useful tool rather then just estetics....

[Ian G]

5.14 crown wheel, that'd be bonkers.

[Dogsbody]

My spoiler has curtailed the cars top speed a bit.
At Castle Combe it used to run in to the rev limiter in 4th at the bottom of Avon Rise.
I'm now just clipping it before I brake for Quarry corner.
But the extra grip means I'm much faster around the circuit as the car is more stable.

I will have a 40bhp shot of NOS next time the car is out at Combe, so I expect to be considerably faster by Avon Rise