My Puma

I purchased my Puma on the 15th June 2000 from Ford Garage Delta, Ooestend. Belgium. I imported the car from Belgium at a cost of £11,500 which saved me approximately £4,500 at the time.

At the same time a friend also purchased their Puma, unfortunately he sold his earlier this year.

The car has now covered approximately 105000 miles to date and is still a joy to drive.

The Puma as proved ultra reliable with only general maintenance required including:

New discs and pads
Cambelt change
New water pump.
Air con regas (air still not working properly though!)

Exterior

One of my favourite past times is Car Detailing which has helped to keep my Puma in great condition. Unfortunately this has not helped to stop the common Puma problem of rusty rear arches.

The drivers side has been repaired. This involved the body shop removing the rusted area and welding on new metal. Unfortunately the passenger side is currently bubbling and will need intervention from the bodyshop.

The drivers side cost £200 to be repaired.

The only modification has been to the wheels in which I have replaced the standard nine spokes with 17in multi spokes shod with Toyo rubber.

Engine

The Puma runs as good as the day it arrived, even though it has now covered over 100,000 miles.

As you can see on the picture to the left, I did try and enhance the looks of the engine bay by fitting various stainless steel covers and a blue Samco induction hose. These parts have since been removed as they proved a challenge to keep clean on a car that is driven daily.

The only modification has been the replacement of the standard Ford air filter with a Piper panel filter.

I regularly clean the engine bay with Autoglym Engine Cleaner, a hose down and Autoglym Plastic and Bumper dresser which helps to give that as new appearance.

Interior

The interior has remained standard and is still in great condition. Meguiars All Purpose Cleaner is great for keeping all interior trim in great condition. The original steering wheel has been replaced for another standard item due to the steering wheel becoming extremely sticky. Fortunately I managed to find a great buy on Ebay.

Latest News

16/06/2008

Just passed its MOT and had a service, total bill approx £650. This work included the following:

New front wishbones, the rear bush on each had perished.
New anti roll bar link arms, bushes perished.
Front shock absorbers replaced, NSR started to leak just before MOT causing lots of vibration throughout the car.
Brake fluid change
Service
MOT

This is the most expensibe bill I have phased having owned the car from new, 8 years ownership and 108,000 miles, so not bad all in!

28/05/2008

Had two wheels refurbished at Wheelstyes near Bristol, www.wheelstyles.co.uk. Cost £140 for two 17" wheels.

01/08/2008

Fitted new number plates and flat windscreen wipers front and back. Also spent a day treating the rear arches, rear suspension components and the underside of the boot floor with Waxoyl Underseal, Hammerite Silver Metal Finish paint, Hammerite Black Metal Finish paint and Waxoyl.

Future Plans

Replace the rusty window weather strips on both doors.
Treat underside of main body and underseal.
Get rust on N/S/R arch sorted.
Finish painting garage walls, three done so far.
Purchase and fit Eibach lowering springs, probably won't be until 2009 now.