Restoration of FRP 477

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Right, well prompted by Chris' comments, time to put thumbs to iPhone and get some updates!

Thanks to the legend that is Simon (Blue3), I now have a brand new genuine rear bumper to replace the damaged old one that had cracks, moisture related acne (more on that later) and had been hacked about for mudflaps. Trouble is, even from the factory the bumper quality leaves a lot to be desired. Simon warned me that the fog lights need fitting and fettling before fitting, and he wasn't wrong. Both sides were a really bad fit:



It wouldn't even sit flat.... And when I'd sorted that issue, it didn't sit square in the hole either...



The towing eye covers didn't fit properly either, so armed with a Dremel, file and sandpaper, I set about making the buggers fit properly before I even put it in the car to go to the bodyshop.

Next up was the rear beam, as you can see from the picture, it was a bit crusty.



The one behind it is a spare I was getting powdercoated for my black Puma. So, off to the powdercoaters for the two beams, all the front bumper grills and axle brackets. Got them back and all I can say is 'Wow!'. Simply amazing job, thanks so much to JK Powdercoaters in Wakefield. Top job!





Good job the wife to be never goes on this forum, the wedding would be off if she saw my car parts in the living room!



Even the brackets came up first class:



So, back to the body....



Work has been really cracking on. The inner sill has been replaced, and a new outer sill fitted courtesy of Ex Pressed Steel Panels and Evil Rob, Emma and Barry's perseverance to get them made.



The bodyshop said they were excellent quality and they look amazing to boot. Being a. FRP, they had to beat the panel about just like Tickford did so there is room for the outer quarter!



I got a bit OCD as normal and got them to paint the sill and inner (original quarter) before putting the outer on.

So to the bumpers. Oh dear. So it looks like they've never been painted, but they were covered in moisture blisters, the bodyshop had to sand down right to the gel coat. As mine was the third last to be built and last to be delivered, it's quite possible that unpainted parts were left exposed to moisture until mine was thrown together



Lastly for now, there was the floor which didn't look too bad. I'd bought a new outer floor strengthener from Ford as the old one was caved in from being jacked up poorly over the years. It took a bit of removal, but once out more rot was exposed:



So more welding to the floor before the strengthener can go back in. I want it to look like its never been off and straight from the factory.

While the car is away, I've been busy doing other bits ready for it to come back. The rear brake lines needed replacing, but I really wanted the proper olive green ones, not copper. It turns out you can get the original pipe, but it's on a roll. So, armed with a little knowledge and a lot of hope, I set off...



Now you'll notice that the original square return on the pipe I've not replicated as my pipe benders just didn't do a tight enough radius. When I'd finished I was really pleased with the rest of the pipe, but I just couldn't live with a bad pipe when you've gone to the trouble of getting the proper pipe. So with some off cut, time to get some practice with the vice, block of wood and screwdriver!



Got it cracked, now onto making another pipe. Can't mess it up though at over £10 a meter! Thankfully, really happy with the results!



And they are pretty dam close to the originals



Now the testing time will be when the car comes back.... Will they fit?!!!!
 
Looking good, thankfully your future wife will be busy with the wedding, and not on the car budget, loving the update. Richard
 
Ian G said:
[post]352394[/post] :cool:

Cheers Ian. And just for the record, Ian is an absolute legend too. That slave axle with drums (who spotted the drums rather than discs?!!) and 'brand new' spare wheels and tyres are on long term loan from Ian. I say long term loan, I think it's a cunning ploy for another morning stripping (cars) and then taking half of it home when I return them.....
 
Cheers guys.

The devil is in the detail so they say, and I'm proper OCD on detail!

Went up to the bodyshop today and the quarter is on and the whole car is fully primed now. They've gone as far as taking the door frame off just to get the handles out so its 'as factory' when painted. Bless them!



Count down now. It has to be finished and MOT'd for four weeks tomorrow. Gulp.
 
Loving the effort put into that car. I noticed you all guys are scared of MOT; is it that difficuilt to pass? What would happen if you don't show on the date you are supposed to and instead are late by a week or two?
 
Wild E. Coyote said:
[post]352454[/post] Loving the effort put into that car. I noticed you all guys are scared of MOT; is it that difficuilt to pass? What would happen if you don't show on the date you are supposed to and instead are late by a week or two?

You don't have to MOT it as long as you don't use it on the road. Mine will expire on 10th June but it won't be done by then so it will just expire. As long as you pre book the test, you're allowed to drive it to the MOT test centre when you're ready.

I'm only worried due to time and the emissions check. FRP's only have a tiny cat, and it needs to be hot to pass the emissions check so you need the garage to test the second you arrive! Then there is the fact that I've had it in pieces so hope it's all back together properly and a wheel bearing or something doesn't suddenly decide to become noisy after being in a box for 9 months....
 
Wild E. Coyote said:
[post]352454[/post] Loving the effort put into that car. I noticed you all guys are scared of MOT; is it that difficuilt to pass? What would happen if you don't show on the date you are supposed to and instead are late by a week or two?

No, Sinisa, the MOT is actually not difficult to pass and my guess is that it's probably one of the more relaxed road car tests in Europe.

I think what we're finding is, with older cars (which the Pumas are now) is that people are trying to eek out the life of the shell and parts without spending any or minimal amounts of money. At the end of the day, not many parts last forever. Depending on the purpose someone has for a car I think has a swing on the money you invest in maintenance and making it better. Especially if someone buys one for £400 and only wants for a daily for the next couple of years or until something fails an MOT because they don't want to invest more than they paid for the car in the first place.

I'm rambling now, so will stop :lol:

Anyway, enjoying the restoration :grin:
 
As the car is still not back, time to get on with more stuff ready for its return. First of all the frivolous stuff that if I'm going to do, I need to do now......

I bought an original Platinum Sound System from eBay last year, roughly wired it up and it works so with the help of trublustu taking some pictures of what an 'original' install would look like, twas time to make mine fit.... Properly.

I had the full loom bar the first meter of the power loom, but originally this option would only have been fitted to cars without a heated windscreen (and none of the FRP's so still no idea why they had the door cards for the upgraded system other than they had a load gathering dust and sent them for re-trimming) and would plug in to this point of the original loom.

When over at Ian G's a while back I extracted a full heated screen loom to fabricate my missing section and set about re pinning the original connector. What a pain in the ass that was!!

First of all you need to pull the red slide out of the plug, then from the front you manipulate the tang down while pulling / pushing from the back to release the pin.



With a bit of wagging, the pins and their associated wires come out:



Then time to re-pin with the two wires needed:



And then in line with my major OCD for the original, loomed it all up in original fabric tape:



Only after this did I find a nick in the loom where the person who took it out of the donor car must have got a bit snip happy with the side cutters and caught a wire. Time to strip back the loom tape, cut out a section, solder in a new wire, heat shrink and then loom back up. You know when a two minute job turns into two hours and it's not even a vital thing to be doing.......

Then there were the stub axles. I remember when stripping the car that one stub was very black which I thought was real strange. So strange I put it in the box to worry about another day. Now is that day, and I spotted a couple of other issues too with the condition of the stub...

One has clearly had a bearing cut off it in the past, the other is damaged, but no idea how.



As it happend, one of my fellow FRP owners who also happens to be a detailer was over doing a detail on my Dad's S2000 (such a shame he had to leave it with me for the weekend while the sun was out, thanks Dad, me and the little un had a lot of fun in 'pa-pa's car') said he could get them welded and lathed down again for free. What a legend! Thanks Alex!

So here we are before lathing but all welded:



The generosity, kindness and support of the majority of this little Puma community never ceases to amaze me. My list of thank you's at the end of this project will be long........ Bless him, Alex is even painting them before sending me them back. Above the call of duty sir!

Lastly there is the lesser spotted FRP heatshield that Simon found for me. It's had a bit of a hard life playing speed bump roulette (looks like it lost, often), and now I need to decide whether I grind it back and polish up, or pay for it to be done properly. Well, let me let you into a secret. I won't be sending it off to the company with a name that polishes metal in Yorkshire as they wanted £100!!!!! Time to acquire another skill me thinks....



Ideas greatly appreciated......
 
That needs a roloc disc on a rotary air tool, couple of grades, then wet and dry, couple more grades then polish! Not the shortest job, probably £5 of materials to do by yourself :)
 
moondustka said:
[post]352609[/post] That needs a roloc disc on a rotary air tool, couple of grades, then wet and dry, couple more grades then polish! Not the shortest job, probably £5 of materials to do by yourself :)

Sounds like a plan. Not worth £100!!!!
 
The time has come for some paint pictures! Got the call today to say it had been painted and the day arranged for collection next week. The painter did an amazing video of the car in the booth but can figure out how to upload it. Massive thanks to Jessops Autobodies, amazing job. Exciting now to know there is a slim chance of getting it built up in time....

Until then, enjoy some bodyshop pictures, including some very strange rot found near the top of the rear window...













 
Hi mate, it s looking great, can't wait to see it finished, did you have to use your spare frp rear qrt to repair the damage. Well done.
 
rnnicol said:
[post]352712[/post] Hi mate, it s looking great, can't wait to see it finished, did you have to use your spare frp rear qrt to repair the damage. Well done.

Yeah, in the end I bit the bullet. Needed a new inner sill, new outer sill up to halfway along the door step and then a lower quarter panel. They did repair the old one but it would have had to have been lathered in filler and the rust would most likely have come back on that section so decided it had to be done properly
 
I know these panels where expensive, as I bought a set also from pumabuild, but it's done it's job, and it will look awesome when it's put back together, well done for not giving up.
 

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