Ford racing puma project - repair + reshell + rebuild

[xrsi]

Thread lifted from another forum so sorry if some of the writing doesnt make sense!
well as i have been on here ages thought it was about time i posted a project thread!

So enter one FRP.... number 0336

I got the car without even looking at it, sent a mate up to get it so the frst time i saw it was as the trailer reversed into my unit, overall am quite happy with it but there is going to be a lot of work neded to get it to its full glory!!!

Here is how it arrived!

so get it into the unit and had a closer look, and try to find out why it smelt quite bad inside as it had been shut up and no water had got in from after the crash..... opened the boot to find this

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v203/t3fiesta/ford%20racing%20puma%20project/DSC00854.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Yes someones frozen shopping, well once frozen! Thanks for that!!!

so emptied that out and removed boot carpet and then set about geting bonnet off to see how bad the damaged is

overall not too bad, both legs needs attention on the end and a new front panel then a bit of paint over the car but could be alot worse and is saveable by looks of initial inspection!
so out came the porta power to try and get the rads out...

looking better already!

Work needed:

slight attention to front legs.
replace front cross member
replace aircon parts
replace engine mounts
repair slight crease in rear 1/4
paint effected panels

Parts needed

Front bumper
Bonnet
Rads
Aircon pump
Engine mounts - got gearbox one already
Pass side electric mirror
Heated screen

 

[xrsi]

Right bit of an update now after not doing anything for well over a week apart from moving it round my unit after just dumping it in!

As you may have read, i have now got a 2nd shell which is in better condition than the first, less damage to it as in both rear 1/4 panels are perfect apart from a slight bubble on one and the heated screen is in one piece which is good news

Also came with the shell was the following:
Full interior loom
Digital engine bay loom
bent rear beam complete with one stub axle and one alloy (can be straightened)
bent drivers door complete with handle and all electrics
fuel filler flap
fuel tank with pump (and some fuel - although its prob stale now)

For the complete shell i paid basically the going rate for the engine bay loom so it doesnt cost me a penny realistically after i have sorted the bits i need and sold off the remaining bits.

I got the shell back to the unit sunday and just left it on the trailer for the evening so it looked like this:

Then Monday with the help of a couple of people we set about moving everything round in the unit so that the new shell was in the middle of a row of cars (well 2 shells and a complete racing puma) and the donor racing puma at the back much to the amusement of one of the helpers as all he could say was "your bloody mad you are! mad!"

anyways after a short time it was in and the pair snuggled up together to keep my mates drift car project company

Wednesday eve was allocated to strip all the remaining bits i needed off out the way and establishing exactly what was needed to repair the shell as unfortunatly this had had a slight bump also - but no where near as involved or time consuming repair as no 0336 so after all the sound deading and wiring etc was removed the damage is pretty much superficial apart from a slight dent in the sill which will be replaced along with the inner arch panel which will also be replaced, the chassis leg etc is all perfectly striaght its just low down damage from the lower arm bending the wheel into the inner arch ( best bit is though that its not as if im short of panels as i have a fiesta shell and also a 2nd racing puma to get the best bits off!!!

So basically thats the update for now, once work commences on the new shell the reapir should be quite quick, although it will have to be as im moving to the unit next door some time next month so no pressure!!!

 

[xrsi]

Right as its been about 2 months since i have updated this thought it was time i did!
The damaged section is pretty much cut out of the replacement shell reasdy for the new panels.

Parts that have been cut are:
Inner wing / turret panel to a pillar
outer a piller
sill
inner a piller may need slight tweek to get lined up as inner sill has slight crease but screen is perfect so is only very bottom moved back about 5mm max

so here are the pics of how car stands at min:

also have managed to pick myself up a racing puma front bumper off ebay so have got everything now except the splitter for racing puma bits, all i need now is 1 headlight, bonnet and engine mount.

also decided to clean out the car

used a fair bit of panel wipe as the floor pans were filthy!

then moved onto the screen and engine bay

so thats how it sits at present.

Just need to get the panels and few other bits then it can go for paint!

 

[Anonymous]

awesome work mate!

Really looking forward to the rest of your progress on this

 

[PumaNoob]

That looks like a hell of a lot of work, That would scare the hell out of most people looking at that! Keep us posted on progress!

 

[xrsi]

yeah is fair bit of work but its a tidy shell and i can do things how i want to make a very tidy racing puma.

To be honest bodywork isnt my comfort zone, only one way to learn tho is doing it yourself... Wont be painting it myself tho.

 

[PumaNoob]

I totaly agree, thats how i learned the bits i know, just jumped in the deepend, whats the worst that can happen ?? :twisted:

Your lucky you have that workshop, ive only got my garage, and i cant get my car in there because ive got too many tools in the way!!

The original parts, wings ect are a right pig to get hold of, and when you do, they come at a premium! But it will all be worth it when your done, youll have a mint, and rare car, and if your doing all the work yourself, it shouldnt cost too much. Then the value should only go up on it, so its worth the hassle!

 

[yippeekiay]

Looking forward to progress updates too....and yes, it'd scare the crap out of me taking on something like that. I can't motivate myself to get my motorbike started never mind rip apart 3 FRP's to make one good one...lol.