Hi, I'm in the planning stages of my Focus RS powered Puma project and wanted to ask a few questions as I haven't attempted this kind of conversion before but am adament I want to do as much as possible in the garage at home as it's most of the fun for me

Basically what I'm setting out to achieve is to drop a FRS engine into my Racing Puma. My questions are as follows-

1. Where can I purchase some engine mounts or get them made up and how complicated are they?

2. What will I have to do about driveshafts? Will custom one off items need to be made? If so, where is there that can do this? Also, will I have to use different hubs?


Sorry if I seem like a complete novice! lol. Any help would be appreciated, Craig

 

i believe the offside engine mount and torque mount line up ok,

but the n/s gearbox mount depends on what gearbox you will be running?? if you use the frp box then you wont have a problem depending on how much power you intend to go for as obviously driveshafts, box and mount will still work together but shafts and box will find theyre breaking point if you put too much power through them

if you use the mtx focus rs box i believe you have to cut the n/s gearbox mount off the chassis leg then reweld it in a different position

you will have to check the splines and the diameter on the gearbox ends of the frp shafts too to make sure they match with the frs box

 

Legend! Cheers mate. When you say that two of the mounts line up okay do you mean that you can bolt the FRS mounts directly to the chassis at these points or just that they land in the same place? What would be involved in bolting the engine in at these points? ie. what mounts would I use and exactly what would need to be modified? I'm weighing up at the moment whether to use the racing puma ib5 to save time or just go the whole hog and stick an mtx75 in so it's right. If I use an mtx75 will the offset of the gearbox in relation to the wheels be the same or will the driveshafts also need to be different lengths to the originals?

 

Need pics.

 

Pumabuild built one of these years ago, phone them for any information surrounding possible obstacles

 

i would defo change the box!! they are not built to with stand the amount of power a rs can throw at it! even with shot peened gears!

if anything it would be to short a ratio as they are for a mk5 zetec s

hope this helps

 

Yeah, gonna do a proper job I think. Get myself an rs box so I know it's right

 

i would mate defo!

you could earn a good Ł1500 for engine gearbox and loom out of the racing puma so that would help alot towards the build :P

 

well that's what I'm hoping pal only done 31k

 

cool get a few pictures up

 

of the car at the mo? my gallery is a bit lacking eh?

 

yeah get some pics up

 

everything haha

 

 

 

 

ooohhh some nice parts

 

Cheers pal! Some work went into those calipers!

 

Here's what I'm aiming for. This is the one Pumabuild built back in the day. Beast!

 

remember if your keeping the focus engine management youll need to swap over the whole engine bay loom and the whole PATs wiring too so you dont get any snags.

The RS dash will fit too and if your fitting the entire subloom from the focus youll need to fit it as it uses a databus to do revs and speedo.

If your going aftermarket ecu then if it cant do databus communication to the dash then keep the puma dash. the puma dash will run off a ford speed sensor and a tacho feed which most good ecus can do.

 

Brilliant, cheers for that pal. Gonna do it with all focus rs parts though I think. Focus looms, ecu, gem and clocks. Keeps it relatively simple then eh? Do you know much about GEMs?

 

and what does PATs stand for?

 

passive anti theft system

 

Ah right. Cheers.

 

As above Alan did one at PB but from what I saw it was a proper bodge job altho it was a very cool car.

 

How so pal? Which bits were bodged?

 

bodged wiring, shoddy fabrication etc. it looks like a lot of stuff got rushed to get it working and a "that'll do" attitude rather than attention to detail.

With the wiring you need to transfer basically anything connected to the ecu (or at least consider it) so that the ecu doesnt know its not a focus. youll need to sit down with the wiring diagrams and compare the subsystems of both cars.

A GEM is just a electronic module. On a lot of later fords a lot of fusebox and relay functions were integrated into microprocessor controlled circuits. Saves space, more reliable and allows more modern features. eg on your frp, the early pumas would have had a basic electrical fusebox that connected to the ecu and an alarm module and an aux warning module etc with a whole load of relay controls. The later pumas the whole car fuse box was replaced with a GEM that replaced all but 2 relays from the central junction box. it also combined alarm unit and aux warn module all into one PCB.

 

Ah right. Your car's fucking awesome by the way! Saw it on project puma a while ago.
That's what I'm hoping to do with the wiring. Wanna get it as close to completely standard focus wiring as possible. Think I might struggle with the ABS though because apparently it's a different type and the ECU won't register it and go into a failsafe mode What do you reckon would be involved in switching to FRS ABS? Is it possible you reckon?

 

Also, do you know what functions on the FRS are controlled by the GEM? Had troubles with the one on my old mk3 mondeo and it controlled everything! lol Apparently Haynes don't make a manual for either the FRS or the FRP either which helps :/

 

you need to buy an ford etis disc off ebay or download it from a torrent.

It has all the wiring diagrams you need.

ABS has its own module so you'll need to stick with one or the other or bin it completely. AFAIK the sensors are different so if you swapped it over youd need matching sensors as well as matching sensor rings on the hubs for it to even stand a chance of working.

You need to sit down with wiring diagrams and list out all the focus and puma subsystems and look them up and tick off what can stay puma and what needs to change. do it systematically and youll be fine.

 

calipers look good, are those aftermarket ones?

 

Ah right, I've heard of those before yeah. See what I can find on tinternet tonight. Cheers for the help pal. Calipers are original frp ones but i refurbed them last year while I was having the wheels painted. I fully stripped them down then painted them up and assembled them with all new shiny stainless bits. Got myself some brand new pistons made up by hi-spec racing and a bloke off project puma made me the stainless bridge pipes. Lettering is hand painted. Took a while but it was worth the extra effort

 

All on hold at the mo. Building my dad an insane gravel spec rally ka while I save up some money for the pooma conversion. Made a few decisions though. Gonna run aftermarket management to get the most out of engine and save messing about with the standard loom and any future trips to frauds. Gonna use the ib5 box and original driveshafts for now too with a frp lsd and big dirty clutch. Track designs ran a frs powered ka with 300 brake for 7k with absolutely no hiccups through an ib5 and it was driven hard too so it'll be fine for now. Means I've only gotta fabricate the one mount and race designs reckon they can hook me up so it's all good About all I've thought up for now but watch this space

 

when i went to torque of the devil about a year ago they was building a 370bhp one, they could help you if need be mate.

 

sounds like a very impressive project!

 

best of luck mate time and planning ,hi warren long time no speak

 

the one you saw at torque of the devil was pumabuilds one

 

mate pumabuild now have there rs puma back so it would be a good time to ring them about it or just buy theres if they want to sell it

 

I wouldnt, it was a right lash up that car.

 

Looks an awsome project Best of luck with the build, look forward to seeing it in