1st Visit to see LIVE race

Just a quick update, we are still here!

Saturday the 14th Chris and myself headed out to Scunthorpe Autograss to see what happens at a race meeting.

We arrived at the venue just before 9am and turned onto the site. The first thing we saw was a line of HUGE motor-homes! We instantly felt like the poor cousins with our 2nd hand 300 quid trailer!

Having had a quick walk round we quickly found an elevated view on the back corner of the circuit (a great viewing spot). Before we knew it 6, 10, 15 races had taken place. Quick 4 lap races full of great racing and noise!

So well organised as one race finished the next one starts. The cars and driving was amazing - I was shocked by how few `Racing Incidents ` there were. We did see a couple of scary roll overs and this bit of skilled driving....

Going to view has given us a kick up the backside to get going on the car again. 

We will have another update very soon.

Lee

First Tiny Steps.

So what has happened since our last blog entry? Our first real PARTS have been purchased, after a lot of advice from various forums (GPRO in my case) we invested in a set of Brembo Brake Pads and Discs. We both agreed that we would like to be able to stop when we wanted. So Brakes ordered. I received a text from Chris saying that the brakes had arrived mid week (I'm sure he got them sent to his workplace so he could show them off ). I must confess I was a little giddy and insisted he tweeted me pictures of our new stoppers. Once the tweet came through and I saw the photo of our big black round discs a feeling of giddy-ness came across me and that buzzing sensation I used to get as a kid the night before Christmas took over (smiling all day). Next we wanted to look for a trailer. EBay to the rescue. Searching through endless rusty shells and crazy out of our budget super trailers, We came across a small beaver tail trailer that would be ideal for our needs, and the bonus was it was located only 50miles away! The bid was standing at £200 with four days left to go, I spotted the top bidder only had ten stars. I knew that eBay noobs always bid in round numbers (10/20/30 etc). I texted Chris and sent him the eBay link, he agreed that it looked good and did the research to check the Puma would fit on the trailer. All systems go! Our bid was placed  knowing the noob bidder would be using full pounds, we popped our maximum bid in as £301.25. The enter key was pressed and the screen flashed up “You are the highest bidder” the amount? £301.25. That's right our other bidder had put his max bud in as 300! All we had to do was sit tight for four days and prey for nobody else to bid. EBay apps on my mobile let us keep track on our trailer. The last hour! All was going well Chris and myself both had the last minuet nerves and via text message we agreed to up our max bid to 350. The seconds ticked away 5....4....3....2.....1... We had won our trailer for 301.25. Both of us were slightly chuffed to say the least (we had thought this piece of kit would cost us a minimum of 500 quid). I made arrangements to collect the trailer the following day and after a quick stop at Halfords to pick up a set of trailer lights we headed off in the glorious sunshine. Cheesy tunes on the radio (although I did find out Christophers deep dark secret!...He knows ALL the words to Livin La Vida Loca by Ricky Martin), windows down, singing out loud. Finding the trailer was easy thanks to sat nav that took us right to the doorstep where we were to pick up our new bit of kit. A quick inspection and payment Dave (trailer seller) invited us to look at his auto grass cars. Again we headed out and we were glad we did. Tucked away in the back of builders yard a Vauxhall Tigra, two Novas all stripped out and ready for racing. Dave showed us what needed doing to get a car ready for auto grass racing and said we could give him a ring for any help (I think he might live to regret that). During our drive home we both came to the conclusion that auto grass was the sport for us (whats auto grass? Have a look - Show Me Auto Grass  )Up to this point I think we were both a big vague what class/type of racing we were going to do. More singing and watching the empty trailer bounce in the air over every pothole (light trailer and bumps do not go well together, but its amazing how far back people stay when you have got a 15ft trailer bouncing a foot of two in the air) we arrived home on amazingly another crisis free day. Next weekend we are set to pop the new brake pads and discs on. Lee.

For sale: A near entire 1997 Ford Puma Interior...

Firstly I think I speak for both myself and my brother when I say a huge thanks to everyone for all their support. The blog has had over 700 visitors, we have had people tweeting support, Facebook messages and a large percentage of you hit a Google advert on this blog. To say we were amazed at the level of support would be an understatement.

So what have we done since those first introductions? The car had a very uneventful journey on a hired trailer from the driveway of my mother's house to my garage. That was almost too easy with virtually no issues other than the Puma's brakes not quite performing as desired. But as these will be the first things to be replaced this wasn't a disappointment.

Stage 2 was to strip as much of the interior out of the car to save as much weight as possible. Carpets, door cards, roof lining, rear seats, parcel shelf, stereo, passenger seat all were removed in a three hour hack and slash. Once again (but generally expected) this was completed with very little trouble. Next stage is to replace the stock brakes for something that will last longer than a couple of laps.

My Introduction...

Hello all, just thought I would take two minutes to introduce myself.

I was/am the proud owner of a 1997 Ford Puma. Yes proud (anyone who has not driven one really should they are a fantastic car).

The Monsters

Summer 2011 my family grew by Two, DOGS that is!

Getting about in a sports coupé with two lurcher’s involved wedging them on the back seat and driving with a gas mask on. Often spending many miles with one of them resting a head on my shoulder.

So a bigger car was the only option, and on our door step we found a cheap 4x4 with plenty of room in the back for the two monsters.

The Puma sat on my mothers driveway (S.O.R.N.) for sale. A few people were interested but insurance quotes soon put most of them off. So from mid October it sat there looking at me wanting to be driven. The MOT ran out, the tax ran out and the battery ran out.

In the back of my mind I had thoughts of turning it into a project car of some type, to do what I had no idea. But I didn’t have the time or the space or cash to do anything on my own.

One family Sunday lunch at mothers house ( I remember it well – Roast Pork, Spuds, Carrots, Swede and Yorkshire Puddings – No dessert though!!). While filling our faces my brother and myself connected on another level and we started watching Rally cross videos on you tube after lunch (as there was a lack of pudding, including the Top Gear episode where they start doing Rally-cross for the cost of Golfing).

The idea was born! And PROJECT PUMA was set loose upon the world.

Lee

And so it begins...

One Sunday afternoon I arrive at my mother's house to find the Ford Puma that my brother has loving left on her drive is yet to sell. It prompts me to suggest that we should strip it out and go racing with it. Luckily for me my brother had already had the exact same idea! And so the Racing Puma Project was born...

The Plan

Over the next 12-18 months the plan is that our stock 1997 1.7ltr Ford Puma will be stripped out, racing seat fitted, roll cage installed and two idiots will enter it into RallyCross races! Over this period we will be blogging our progress including the costs, pit falls, lessons learnt and the fun we've had... hopefully.

First on the to do list is to clear a space in my garage and move it 25 miles from my mother's house to my house. On the upside my brother has a 3ltr Daihatsu Fourtrack with a tow bar, the downside is we don't have a vehicle trailer. £50 rental for the day will do for now but we both think that if this gets serious it may be one investment we can't afford not to make.

Second on the to do list is to start stripping it out. Now Haynes didn't make a manual for the Puma so we will have to make do with the platform sharing Mk4 Ford Fiesta. Apart from the 1.7ltr engine I'm told it covers pretty much all the basics. eBay has them for around £14 new, but as we are keeping costs down hopefully a second hand one will pop up soon.