Dal

Dal is the second member of the admin team. Originally a moderator, Red promoted him to Admin to help distribute the word-load and general running of the site.

“I bought my Puma in 2006 after deciding I needed a birthday present to myself. I bought it with 41k miles on the clock and in the four years I owned it, added another 60k or so. I like driving!

Any modifications I did were because the original parts had worn out, and I tended to replace them with uprated versions. These included the suspension, (shocks, springs and bushes), exhaust, wheels, brakes, etc. and tweaked it here and there with things such an FRP remapping on the ECU.

I also installed an aftermarket stereo, amp and sub. I’m of the firm opinion that these are not limited to boy racer chavs playing their ‘music’ at maximum volume, as a good quality system can enhance the clarity of music which is more important to me than just the volume levels.

To date I’ve attended too many Puma meets than I can count, including one at the famous Nurburgring in 2007 to celebrate 10 years of the Ford Puma, which was attended by clubs from all over Europe. Whilst on the track there, my lowly Puma put some more exotic cars to shame with its cornering ability. It’ll be going back for a return visit in the summer of 2009.

It’s darkest hour was in November 2007 at the end of one of ProjectPuma’s first meets. There had been an intermittent rattle from the engine bay for a few days, but it decided that night that enough was enough. A trip to the local garage confirmed my worst fears: the engine was knackered. A big end bearing had decided to give up the ghost and disintegrate, causing one of the pistons to scrape out the lining of one of the bores. In short it meant it needed an entire new engine. Thankfully, through the efforts of a mechanic friend, it was up and running again with a new ‘heart’ by Christmas.

I’m normally found around the website forum every day and always on hand to answer questions, if I can, about all things Puma.”

Dal sold his Puma in June 2010 after four years of ownership. Since then he has had a 2006 ST (stuff and trim) TDCi Mondeo in “the best colour” Performance Blue, with half leather heated Recaro seats, an ‘Asbo’ Electric Orange Focus ST2, and a Mazda 3 MPS. Currently he has an Audi A2 1.4 TDi as a daily driver and a 2005 M3 tucked away in the garage.