[shinigami]

I thought I would stick a thread up showing some pretty pictures of FRP #444 as a sort of record and I'll post things I've done to it.

I found #444 in August 2006 and I think it's looking better now than it did when it was purchased back then. The exhaust was dead so the first thing I did was grab a whole new stainless system. Piper manifold and Miltek for the rest. Next on the list was a full service and cambelt change with Topgear Automotive.

I then pottered around in it for 2 years as my daily drive and not a lot was done.

In the last year however, I moved house and ended up getting my own garage so I thought I would treat the car to a few things.

This time last year the car was driven into by some woman in a car park, luckily details were left for me and the insurance company got the front bumper replaced!

The previous brake service (thanks to Eldude-Build) included a new set of stainless bolts and new rubber seal kit along with freshly painted calipers.

I've kept the original tailpipe and had it welded onto the stainless system, can't believe how long I have been meaning to do this, almost 3 years!

I've had some spray work done and also got paintshield material (they're huge) for the rear arches.

Got some old, original and faded Ford Racing badges. Sanded them back with new Ford Racing labels glued onto the underside of the badge plastic. This is another thing I've been waiting ages to sort out as my car was badgeless since I got it. Ten times better than a Gel badge.

All of the wheels have been refurbished when it was in for spray work, it was a cheap job but they still look better than they did and I can get them done properly at a later date.

New Ford Racing wheel centre caps have been stuck on in the last few months. The little things like this really make it look complete and it feels worth it to look at the car without flakey centre caps and empty, badgeless side windows.

I did respray the engine cover in black crackle effect paint with imperial blue underneath, it looked great but for some reason the lacquer is coming up with lots of tiny bubbles in the crackled areas so I guess it's just not working with the engine heat.

And so, as it's been a while since we had nice weather I haven't had much of a chance to get out and take some nice pictures since all the above work has been done.

a few weekends ago I managed to do get some nice pictures, I got the car washed, polished, waxed (meguars idiots guide 3 step system because detailing gets me all confused) on Saturday. Then Sunday, I went for a blast, took a camera and with the help of the girlfriend took some pretty pictures and I thought I would share them. I also thought they could be useful for Big Boy Al as I know he's building a collection of FRP photos and I don't think he has any of mine.









Only things at the moment that I really want to sort are:

*Complete de rusting of the underside of the car - thinking of maybe trying the Deox-gel from Bilt Hamber.

*Steering wheel retrim and possibly drivers seat base retrim.

*Needs new rear lights, the transparent plastic covers seem to be cracking a little in some places, haven't a clue why.

*Interior silver dash surround looking a little tired in a few places, could do with a respray.

*Repsray engine cover due to above mentioned lacquer problem.

*Sprayers missed a bit just above tailgate (hard to get to bit), if you look in the gap between the window and roof, you can see a big patch of what looks like just primer.

*Sprayers sprayed over front bumper/wing rubber join, can't be bothered to go back to them yet again so will go elsewhere.

*I seem to have excessive indentation in the front wings where they are bolted to the front bumpers, may have been tightened too much and forced out of shape so I would really like to get this sorted or see if it can be rectified.... you can really see the indent on the passenger side in the close up photo of the front of the car. It's a lot more obvious in the flesh. It's supposed to be normal but I've never seen a photo of an FRP with indents like mine. Or indents full stop, lol. Perhaps I'll be able to compare wings at Castle Combe this year.

* Original Racing Puma mats need installing.

Well, that's the story with #444 so far! Hope I didn't bore you guys, sorry it's such a long waffling post. I'll stick updates on when I do any of the above but it might be a slow process. Any advice/tips or comments welcome.

Cheers

Gary

P.S no, it's not for sale

[Mogsmex]

Well, that's the story with #444 so far! Hope I didn't bore you guys, sorry it's such a long waffling post. I'll stick updates on when I do any of the above but it might be a slow process. Any advice/tips or comments welcome.

not at all, seems like your addressing all of the bits required, car looks lovely, good to see people looking after there FRP's

think we need a resto section soon as theres a couple of us now with these sort of threads and there great as a "1 stop shop" referance guide


any chance Jason ?????

[eldoodarino]

Glad you added that last line in....

i did think at a first glance it was going to be another..."My FRP has to go" thread....

keep in with the good work dude...i know your a fussy bugger..



Chris
#453

[shinigami]

Thanks, it's nice to slowly improve the condition of something. Something to be proud of. Especially something as pretty as a Puma/FRP.

And nooo way Chris, this FRP is going nowhere! The whole reason I've had work done to it (and why I'm often fussy about it ) is because I want to keep it for as long as I can. Household Bills etc come first unfortunately but If I can get something done to the FRP that I want doing then I'll do it with some spare left overs if there is any, lol.

I agree a kind of restoration index would be fantastic for people wanting to see what other people have managed on their cars.

Happy Kat has just started a new rust removal thread among some others already out there, all of them I find are interesting to read as individuals come across different little problems or ways of doing things. I'll add my own progress as well when I get around to it.

It's also interesting because things never go according to plan! For instance, I just started to install some Racing Puma mats today and I didn't think it would be as difficult as it turned out! I made little holes for the carpet screws, started screwing them in until they got harder and harder to turn. On their last turn most of them went and sheared on me! I've got some more from Ford now - I'm going to try and make little cuts in the carpet in the shape of a cross with a sharp knife to give the carpet screws some more room to move but still get enough bite to keep them in the carpet.

[Big Boy Al]

excellent work, its looking great.

thanks for the pictures too

[shinigami]

No probs dude, just need to get the underside looking like yours now.

I forgot to add to my list, the front lights are also tired looking and the drivers side lamp has some kind of fag burn mark on it. so they'll need replacing too ... one day my mission will be complete, one day.

[Big Boy Al]

trust me it wont , been trying to do things to mine now for two years almost 3 and it never stops, you will find the things you done a year or two ago need doing again and things like brake disk centres and touching up paint on underside etc never stops.

had mine resprayed two years ago and i allready want it doing again and re- armourfending but this time with paintshield, this will be done before the end of the year

This post has been edited by Big Boy Al: 17 April 2009 - 04:41 PM

[Mark77]

Looks excellent

[melinamotor]

Looking good

[shinigami]

trust me it wont , been trying to do things to mine now for two years almost 3 and it never stops, you will find the things you done a year or two ago need doing again and things like brake disk centres and touching up paint on underside etc never stops.

had mine resprayed two years ago and i allready want it doing again and re- armourfending but this time with paintshield, this will be done before the end of the year

I can see how it's all too easy to fight a never ending battle. I think I will leave things like brake disc centres because they are bits that need replacing every now and then anyway and the rust isn't going to hurt, it does looks very smart if you put that extra bit of effort in to paint them though

Looks excellent

Looking good

Thanks for the comments
Today, I completed the mat installation.
Ingredients were plastic safety screws, a knife, tape and a pen.


Laid the mats down, stuck tape where the holes were and marked out where to cut the carpet through the tape, I used a cross shape because I found that a small hole (I originally only tried using a thickish needle) made it very difficult to get the screws in because the carpet is very tough, the screws then stuck out too much or they just sheared. I broke 3 of them being being too forceful . The cross is easy to cut with a knife and still gives the carpet screws a decent grip on the edge of the carpet.

Both screws now in place

Mat now fully secured.


And now, for the first time in my ownership, she has a complete FRP interior. Yay!

[happy-kat]

on top of my drivers one I have a very thin rubber mat from Halfords to protect the posh mat

[Dogsbody]

I have the latest mats like you have fitted with the fixings for everyday use and a pair of the original mats that didn't have them for best
Not that hey have ever seen the floor in the car.
Still in the bag in the shed, which they came from Lisa in

[shinigami]

I may end up getting a thin mat set from Halfords to keep them cleaner, mats do seem to get grubby quickly and I can never get them to come up like new again.
If anyone can recommened a brilliant carpet cleaner for mats that would be great.
I didn't realise that these carpet fixings were a more recent addition. I suppose if the FRP came with these mats to start with then the holes would have already been there, that would have been helpful.

It's a shame these mats are so flipping expensive, otherwise I would also buy a set of extra mats for best but I'll just have to try and look after these ones. They feel really nice and thick though. The car isn't used too much now anyway, I wouldn't have left them in the car if it was used daily as they'd be super dirty after a few months.

I've stuck my old universal mats on the garage wall so I can swing the car door open without worrying about the door edge knocking a brick wall

[happy-kat]

the original mats do not have fixing holes, rather the bottom of the mat is covered in rubber nipples

[R5CPD]

Are those Puma Futura SE mats then?

[Mark77]

Nice, the mats look really good. Might have to invest in some of those myself, did you get the mats and fixings from ford??

[shinigami]

Yeah the mats were from Ford, Finis code 9098319.
It was quite funny because the chap on the parts desk wasn't expecting to be able to get hold of them. He said he would make enquiries, the next day he called me and he was as surprised as me that they had actually turned up in a day.

They came with the 4 fixings but I broke 3 being too aggresive with them. Ended up buying a new pack to finish the job.

Are those Puma Futura SE mats then?

I've never heard of a Puma Futura, is this a foreign special edition that also came in imperial blue?

This post has been edited by shinigami: 19 April 2009 - 08:32 PM

[happy-kat]

yes and it was in Amparo Blue I think
pictures in the gallery
lovely Recaro seats piped in mid blue