Wooticus
New member
- Joined
- May 27, 2022
- Messages
- 14
Hi all,
As a brief recap from my introduction thread, I am American military stationed in the UK and I purchased this 97 1.7 Puma with the intent to ship it back to the states with me. As the Puma begins to enter the golden age of 25 for importation into the states, I am very curious to see how much interest they will develop over the next few years. Since I have been in the services, I have seen the GTR and Defender crazes, and I think the Puma will be a lot more niche in the future, but either way I am excited for its future.
Anyway, first I will introduce her, name pending:
She came with some rust, but all the material is sound minus the rear wheel arch flanges. Working airframe the past decade, I have some ideas how to hopefully make it look brand new, and waiting on a few more materials to arrive, but here is what I am working with:
In the meantime, I have been trying to get the interior looking spiffy again. Interesting thing about this Puma, one of the previous owners retrofitted Recaro seats into it. From the ones I have seen on Ebay, these are in great condition comparatively. Forgot pictures, but will get those. The plastic seat covers were cracked/warped so did some work on those. Not too happy with how much the epoxy is bleeding through the finish, so getting better sanders on the way to improve the finish. Used BMW black sapphire for the repaint, snapped a shot of how it compares to the original plastic before repainting it all. Critique away!
As a brief recap from my introduction thread, I am American military stationed in the UK and I purchased this 97 1.7 Puma with the intent to ship it back to the states with me. As the Puma begins to enter the golden age of 25 for importation into the states, I am very curious to see how much interest they will develop over the next few years. Since I have been in the services, I have seen the GTR and Defender crazes, and I think the Puma will be a lot more niche in the future, but either way I am excited for its future.
Anyway, first I will introduce her, name pending:
She came with some rust, but all the material is sound minus the rear wheel arch flanges. Working airframe the past decade, I have some ideas how to hopefully make it look brand new, and waiting on a few more materials to arrive, but here is what I am working with:
In the meantime, I have been trying to get the interior looking spiffy again. Interesting thing about this Puma, one of the previous owners retrofitted Recaro seats into it. From the ones I have seen on Ebay, these are in great condition comparatively. Forgot pictures, but will get those. The plastic seat covers were cracked/warped so did some work on those. Not too happy with how much the epoxy is bleeding through the finish, so getting better sanders on the way to improve the finish. Used BMW black sapphire for the repaint, snapped a shot of how it compares to the original plastic before repainting it all. Critique away!