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Blackridge

New member
Joined
May 1, 2013
Messages
17
Hello thought id start a thread on my new Project, had my last Puma all the way back in 2013 a rather tired black 1.7 but had to sell due to needing a more family orientated car...
But that car really was a blast to drive and ive wanted another one ever since, so a few months ago i started looking for a good project and found this locally for a reasonable price, MOT failure with a fairly long list of issues but after talking to the owner i made an offer and a couple of days later she was mine!

The day i took delivery
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First thoughts were positive and the engine drive's nice and smooth so was looking forward to having a closer look once it was in my garage...
So out with the interior and was not shocked to find some rot.

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Yes looks bad but my last project was a 1956 Austin Cambridge lol.

Will update tomorrow, cheers
 
Wont overload with all the floor repairs but all the rot was cut out, treated then patched.
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Then some basic patches made.

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Bit of seam sealer and a dab of paint

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Its not the neatest welding ive ever done but this car wwill be my daily and not some kind of show car.
 
Wild E. Coyote said:
Well done! :thumbs:
What is the thicknes of that metal, as I can see you did some serious welding, not 'dotting' it with MiG?

Most of the floor sections was made up from an old sherpa rear quarter panel i had spare, really nice and thick! no wonder they were so slow :lol:
 
Now for the inner and outer rear sills....
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As you can see it wasnt nice in here!
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And this is what the repair looks like from the underside near the rear beam, luckily the rear chassis box sections where the beam attaches is solid! this was a horrible job to do on axle stands in my cramped garage!!
The otherside was even worse...
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Also the rear inner arch lower lip was toast,IMG_20220109_152046969.jpg
i repeted the same process as the other side and now looks like this.IMG_20220108_200849517.jpg
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Thats all the welding done to the underside,time to tackle the rusty rear arches!
 
Wild E. Coyote said:
You are not welding upside down, i.e. looking up? Or are you?
No mostly laying on the floor, only bit that was upside down was the very bottom of the sills.
 
Blimey is all that turned around in a day? Amazing work. Very impressed with your welding and metal bashing skills. It's so sad to see that rust but so satisfying to see it dealt with!
 
grogee said:
Blimey is all that turned around in a day? Amazing work. Very impressed with your welding and metal bashing skills. It's so sad to see that rust but so satisfying to see it dealt with!
Thank you, but its taken about 5 evenings with plenty of tea breaks! im sure some Pumas have been scrapped for less but i enjoy the work!
 
Little update on the work carried out over the last week.
First up was sorting the rear arches...
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Not too bad so chose to do local repairs rather than go down the 206 front wing route.
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was happy with the inner arch, only a small amount of rot to cut out.
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then had a look around my garage for a piece of metal with a profile i could work with...
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Bingo a Ford Capri MK1 rear arch, by no means a perfect match and the leading edge needed work to line up nicely.
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Works for me.
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Will give a fine fill when im ready to paint, but now my attention is the rear beam bushes! wish me luck lol.
 
Well the rear beam bushes are done, but it was a nightmare! next time it will be beam out and take it somewhere for them to do...
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These were an MOT failure and its not hard to see why.
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my air chisel was a lifesaver in getting these buggers out!
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And this tool only just managed to get the new bushes in.
New rear hoses on and a coat of waxoyl on the inner arches
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Lots of underbody cleaning and treating before a nice thick coat of underseal and some cavity wax will keep me busy over the weekend :grin:
 
Finally got the paint finished today, happy with the match looking forward to giving the whole car a good compound.
ATTACH]
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Passed M.O.T this morning, happy to finally have her back on the road! Need to get a slightly sticky caliper sorted and that's it.
 
Thank you Richard, still lots of things i need to source/buy/fix! If anyone has a working pair of door mirrors....
 

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