Painted! But still lots of work.

 I will let the pictures tell the story of how it turned out.

Set for paint!

 With all that has gone on in the last year and a half we can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel.

I got the word from the body shop she will be going in for paint in two weeks!

This will probably be a long two weeks for me, but after waiting 43 years to finish the car what’s a couple of weeks! I did get a grill mocked up for the car still deciding on what else it need as it is missing something. The interior is 95% complete I will finish it after the car has been painted as the windshield needs to come out for paint. The headliner was done by a local upholstery shop after seeing how they installed it for sure it was nothing I could have done.I have been taking my grandkids out Sunday nights for cruise night still getting lots of what is that look.

Car Painting

 I did have the car set up for painting in early fall, but with the shutdown of businesses early in the year they have been backed up with work and it looks like late fall before getting the car in for paint. So after a couple of discussions with the Bodyshop we felt it best to do the paint over the winter so it won’t be rushed and will be ready for spring. So for the next couple of weeks I will be finishing the interior. Once done I will post some pics.

Last few touches

 

Almost complete

I still have some rough spots I need to redo but overall I am very please with my lack of Bodyshop skills. I had enough time this week to temporarily fit the front bumper and that turned out great. Im hoping within a week it will be ready for paint.

So far so good.

No real problems or issues with the body work learning as I go along with what works and what doesn’t. Still on target to be ready for paint by the end of July. Next big task is properly fitting the front bumper. Here are up to date pics.

Drivers side almost complete.

Here are more pics of the drivers side as well the passenger door before I get started so you can see what I am working with.

“

Starting bodywork

Time to get this bodywork done!
Here are some pics along with my helper.

Recent pics

After driving the car for the summer and working out the bugs its time to get a plan on how to finish

The bodywork as well as the interior. Looks like I will have to do most of the work myself as most shops I spoke with don’t want to finish any work that someone else has started. As I don’t have a heated shop I will be working on the interior over the winter.

Time to drive

After several months of putting the car back together, getting a coat of paint put on and trying to get rid of engine codes it is time to test drive the car for the rest of the summer.
Hopefully I won’t have too many issues and setbacks, one problem on the first test drive was that the wheel wells were made too small so almost every bump I hit the centre of the wheel rubs.
On a positive side the air conditioning works great as it has been a very hot summer here so this is a good sign. Once I got the car running it was great to hear the Shelby exhaust.
I still have not decided what to with the body work yet the more I look at it the mistakes and poor workmanship i see the more unmotivated I get to keep going on the project.
Here is a couple of pics from this week.

Moving forward

After much deliberation going over budget and missing another deadline, I have decided to remove my car from the Bodyshop. This was a very hard decision but the right one. I searched for another shop to finish the car, but I am finding out that no one wants to finish someone else’s work.
So this past week I made the decision to finish the car myself. I know I will have a challenge with a couple of things but at least I control my own destiny now!
Maybe once I have settled down I will talk about my quest to get this car where it is today.
Here are a couple of pics from when I picked up the car to where it is today.

Another year end upon us already

First off I apologize for not keeping everyone up to date on where we are in the build.
Life takes over blink and another year gone.
Some great news we have the car registered at World of Wheels March 15,16,17, 2018.
Last time I posted we doing some finishing to get ready for paint, however ran into more unforeseen issues to rectify but with those behind us we move forward to paint.
I am trying to keep the finishing pictures until ready for the show, but I will sneak in some fender and hood shots early in the new year.
Thank you for following it is crazy to think that someone on the other side of the world gets to check this out we are all car crazy!
Hope you  have a safe and happy holiday.
Don’t drink and drive!

Getting ready for paint

Now that all the fabrication work is complete it is time to get ready for paint.
I thought all the hard work was done boy was I wrong!
Picking the right colour is a huge challenge. However early this week Danny from Chase Autobody brought down the paint sample I picked and it looks unbelievable. I can't wait to put the sample on the car later this week to see how it might look.
I know I'm jumping ahead already but I started going through the inventory of all the interior parts I have and putting it together in my mind, can't wait to start.
Here is a sneak peak of what it looked like before getting ready to paint.

Work in progress

The final welds are not that far away. The newly fabricated modifications are in place and look great.

I know it has been a long road but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. 

With this year being the 50th anniversary of the Cougar we are trying without cutting corners to get ready for the upcoming car shows. I know I have not posted a picture lately so I will post one today that was taken last year this will give you a hint of what it is going to look like. 

Seasons greetings

I know I said this last year but hard to believe how fast another year has come and gone.
We are in the final modification stages of the Cougar.
I really like the old school meets new beefy look.

Nothing else to show you from a picture stand point once ready for paint I will snap a sneak peek shot.

Until then enjoy the holidays.

Please don't drink and drive.

Futuristic Cougar

While deciding on how to finish the front and rear end I thought I would google futuristic Cougars and see what would come up. Below are artist renders from 2010.

These drawings could not be more exact to what I had in my mind how the car will look when finished. Actually kind of scary as I thought the car already existed but once I read the article I found out where and when and what if a Cougar was manufactured today could look like.

Looks like we will be working hard again through the winter to make sure we are ready for the 50th anniversary of the Cougar. I won't tell you which version is closer to our finished product but I think they both look great!

Quick update

I will try as things get closer to update more than I have been lately. 

Without a doubt it is starting to look like a car again. I should be able to post new pics soon as most of the fabrication is done, within the next two weeks the power train should be reinstalled so we can finish building the front fenders. We have come up with a plan for the front end and do not see any problems putting it together. Thanks again to all those following and asking when you can see the finished product, I also can't wait to see the finished product, but I have now pulled my reins back as we do not have any manuals or videos to watch on how to do this project we are creating them as we go. If don't get something right the first time there is no going back. Looking forward to the last video.

Enjoy the summer they are short.

First draft of new drawing rendition.

I would like to say we are in the home stretch for the project, but home still looks pretty far away.

Front end fabrication is underway the body has been welded and completed. I am still not sure how the front end will look given that their is not as much room under the front clip as I thought. However we have ideas just need to put them together and see what happens. No new pics right now until everything is together and pulled apart before painting. In the mean time Andrew at Main Street Tattoo sent me the first rough draft drawing of the new car. Very talented as you will see below. Stay tuned as things are moving together quickly. 

Prepping under hood for painting

With the engine and transmission removed I had the duty of prepping the engine bay for painting.

This is a good sign that we are getting closer to finishing the fabrication and getting the car ready for paint. Spring is already here, cruising season is just around the corner. I took at picture of my handy work, not sure if I am cut out to do the bodywork.

Happy Holidays

Hard to believe that the year has gone by so fast.

The project still looks to be on schedule, I have not seen the car in a couple of months as life has been very busy. Tyler has not had any issues that he cannot resolve, I will be going to see the car next week as I have some parts to drop off I will take some new pics at that time and post a sneak peak to where we are today. Until then enjoy the rest of the holidays.

Please don't drink and drive.