...to ignoring the rust 2000 FORD PUMA 1.4

Or at least tackle other issues first! James saves money by servicing the Puma himself – with some parental help

With my Peugeot 406 Coupé out of action due to a sickly clutch, it was time to give the Puma some TLC. It needed a mini service and I was pretty sure that the luminosity of the lights was only just about passable.

Papa Sadlier once again offered to help with the oil change and plug/ filter swap, but I set to with some of the other tasks myself. Changing the pollen filter – which I’d noticed was severely decayed when I had the air conditioning re-gassed a while back – was easy. Opening the bonnet reveals the plastic housing where the filter sits just beneath the windscreen, and it simply unclips. The new filter slid in perfectly – breathable air in the cabin, sorted. And no more occasional smells!

The next job was to restore the Puma’s light luminosity. Thankfully, the good people at Meguiar’s provided me with one of their Two-Step Headlight Restoration Kits. The process is really easy – apply a quick dap of the cleaning compound onto the scrub disc provided and rub it on to the lamp to remove the oxidation that builds up over time.

With the residue removed and the light wiped clean, the second step is to apply the headlamp coating, which ensures that the clear results last for a long time.

With father now assisting me with the oil/air filters, spark plugs and oil change, I jacked the Puma up with a trolley jack and steadied it on a pair of axle stands. The oil drained away easily enough and the new oil filter was a straightforward swap. The air filter was another easy job, though I should probably have replaced it much sooner looking at the state of the existing unit.

The spark plugs swap was rather more involved. The old corroded plugs were difficult to remove and were coated in a strange white residue on the outer edges. No idea what it was, but fitting the four new plugs was easy enough.

The last job couldn’t have been simpler. The Puma has had an aftermarket gear knob fitted to it for as long as I’ve owned it – it looks like it belongs in a Fiesta, which seems odd given that the original would have been a much nicer-looking brushed metal sphere. After considering – and rejecting – all manner of scratched items (the metal is easily blemished, apparently), I managed to find a good replacement on eBay for just £10. It was a simple screw in-and-out job, and now the Puma’s interior is that little bit more original – and much more stylish to boot.

My next round of jobs includes replacing the tired old radiator and hoping that replacing the faulty heater control valve is an easy job.

Watch this space!