Jan 1, 2014
It's a new year and it's extremely cold so I haven't been doing anything yet but check back later.
Jan 14, 2014
It's like I have be hibernating this month..today I finally got to get out in the garage for a while and finished preping the trunk lid on both sides so, now I have it and the left fender ready to shoot when the weather permits. 2hrs
jan 16, 2014
Since I had the day off, I thought I would try to paint in the garage with a heater even though it's 35 degrees outside. I'm surprised that it turned out a well as it did. I sprayed the underside of the trunk lid. Now I might try to do the same thing on the finish side. 2 hrs
jan 20, 2014
Today was a beautiful day, about 60 degrees, so I decided to go ahead and shoot the top side of the trunk lid. I laid down 3 coats and it turned out about as good as any of the other panels, with the usual dirt and one bug and a minimum amount of orange peel. I also painted our new mail box with the left over paint, as it was silver and not black as everyone else's. 2hrs
jan 23, 2014
I hope you guys will bear with me...its going a little slow now. But I promise it will get going when the weather permits. Today, I sanded the trunk lid with 800 and 1000 and then filled a few dips with a brush. 2 hrs
Jan 27, 2014
Off today and its kinda nice outside (45 degrees) so, I sanded the trunk lid some more with the trizact 3000 pad then two sessions with buffing and polishing compound. It turned out good, not quiet the 100% I would like, but it can be worked some more later. 4 hrs
feb 01, 2014
The weather was nice today, so I went to work on the trunk lid in a couple areas that needed more sanding and polishing. I feel much better about the results. I also taped on the polished trim on the bottom just to see what it would look like....nice! 2hrs
Mar 10, 2014
WOW! it's been over a month since I worked on the Cougar. It's not only nice today, it's down right hot outside. I started working on the windshield pillar post, smoothing out some of the factory lead body work. It's amazing how rough they left this because the car was getting a vinyl top. They probably let novice body workers do them. There was a small dip the the top also, don't know if it was there all along or something that happened later. Then on the rear quarter panel where it joins the sail panel, again less than perfect lead work. 2 hrs
mar 11, 2014
Yet another hot day, I think it's supposed to rain tomorrow so..more Cougar time today. I continued with the small dent and wave repairs on the passenger side rear quarter panel and rocker panel. Most of what I repaired was due to the welding up of the side marker light delete job and the rocker molding holes I eliminated. 3 hrs
Mar 27, 2014
I'm back! So...I got some more paint and I painted the left front fender finally. It turned out pretty good with a minimum of dirt, no bugs and a small run. All in all I think it will be pretty easy to sand and buff it out. I hope to be able to finish up the body work on the main body shell and then start constructing the temporary spray booth around it, so I can get it all painted before it gets too hot. 2 hrs.
Mar 31, 2014
Wow...really nice day and I'm off! I decided to use most of my energy doing some spring clean up, as I have not cleaned up one thing in 6 months and my friend John (who sold the Cougar to me) is coming over tomorrow. So, after all that, I sanded and buffed out half of the top portion of the fender, so I could show John the before and after. The sanding and buffing portion took 2 hrs with about 6 more to finish it. It isn't custom painting, it's custom sanding and buffing. I'm including a couple shots of my half of the garage where all the "magic" happens.
Apr 18, 2014
Well..after doing a couple more hours sanding and buffing on the fender, I found a couple of problem areas that I wasn't satisfied with...so out came the bondo and rougher sandpaper. I know...I'm too picky, but it would haunt me forever knowing I COULD have fixed it easily now. So after sanding down the areas and filling the slight waves and dips, I applied a couple coats of surfacer primer and wet sanded them down with 800 grit. Now its ready for more black paint. Only wasted $20 worth of paint and 4 hrs on this.
Apr 22, 2014
Yesterday I reshot the fender and today I started sanding it down for buffing. I got about 3/4 of it down to 1000 grit, so it will take about another 3 hrs to get it all down to 3000 and ready to buff and polish. total time for both days 6 hrs.
Apr 23, 2014
It was a beautiful day for sanding and buffing or anything else for that matter. I finished all the sanding steps up to the 3000 trizact, then buffed it down with 3M rubbing compound then finished it off with the 3M polishing compound. I am tired! It came out what I would describe as a 8 overall, but well within the satisfaction realm. I can always tweek it later after its together. 3 hrs.
Apr 29, 2014
Some updates..John (previous owner of the Cougar) gave me another cover that not only looks better than mine, it fits. Also, I did a little shopping, I got some Meguiars polishing compound, a new 7" blue buffing pad and a roll of 220 grit for my long board. One other thing I got yesterday was some Maguiars NTX 2.0 synthetic wax/sealant, this stuff is REALLY good! Goes on easily and wipes off easily, and hides swirl marks too. Ok, a couple days ago, I went back over the right rear quarter panel and found a few problem areas and spread some Bondo over them. Today, I smoothed those areas out and shot 3 coats of surfacer 2K primer on the quarter. I think I can smooth this out with 800 and just shoot as is. Total for both days... 4 hrs.
May 1, 2014
Didn't have a lot of time today as I was helping my friend Les trying to get his Cutlass running...but I did find and bondo several places much like the right side. Today I just knocked down some of the peaks with 80 grit and tomorrow I will finish it out and possibly prime it. 2 hrs
May 5, 2014
Happy Cinco de Mayo..after sanding and sanding and sanding on the bondo repairs, I shot 4 coats of surfacer primer on the quarter panel. The body work came out very good except at the top of the sail panel where it meets the roof. There was a trench there that I thought I filled quiet well, but there is still a little dip on top and bottom of it. So...it will be reworked. 3 hrs
May 06, 2014
It seems that its either freezing cold, raining, or blazing hot here..hot today, but still managed to sand out a few flaws and I feel its about 95% ready for paint. I just need to fill a couple of pin holes and finish up with an overall sanding with 600 grit. The area I worked on most was the roof/sail panel area, and I feel much better about it now. 3 hrs
may 19, 2014
I'M BACK! Been a while ..today I sanded down some spot putty spots and resprayed epoxy primer over it all with the new spray gun I got from Harbor Freight. This new gun really sprays nice! Next will be a quick over all sanding with 800 then couple more coats of 2K surfacer primer, then I will be building the temp paint booth for the final painting. 2 hrs
Aug 13, 2014
It has been quiet a while since I worked on the Cougar...vacation and lack of funds mostly to blame. But, I finally bought some more primer activator so, I finally shot the last quart of surfacer primer on the body shell yesterday. Today, I filled about 8 tiny craters in the top from rust damage and one minor dip on the leading edge of the top. All that it left before the final paint is a light once over with 800 grit. It still may be late Sept before that happens, due to the hot weather. 4 hrs total
Sept 14, 2014
Well...what can I say? I am still alive. I purchased a dash pad from a very nice guy from Colorado Springs. We went to his house to see it while on vacation to Wyoming back in July. I am about to restore it, I hope. There are some discolored spots and one separation issue, but no cracks. Here's some before pics.
Sept 15, 2014
Today, I cleaned up years of armorall and gunk off the dash and then shot a couple coats of adheasion promoter and then 4 coats of Landau Black SEM vinyl paint.
Sept 26, 2014
It was a nice cool day, so I took advantage of it. First off, I installed the leaf springs on the rear end and then started installing it back in the car. However, I didn't notice I had installed them backwards front to back, until I already had the front spring eyes bolted in. What a dummy! So..after a two hour delay I got it in right. I then went to Harbor Freight and bought a garage in a box to use as a paint booth for the body. It is 10' X 17' and 9' tall at the peak. But before I can put it up, I had to do some housekeeping. The spot it is sitting in was full of leaves and old fire wood and junk pieces off the Cougar. So, I spent the entire afternoon cleaning it up. But I won't be able to put up the garage until next week, as I have to go to the beach Sunday through Tues. I started this mess at about 9am and finished at 4pm...I am tired!
Oct 2, 2014
Just got back from the beach last night..and spent the entire day recleaning the driveway and erecting my portable garage. I think its going to work out just fine. 8hrs
Oct 6, 2014
Had the day off, so I finished up lagging down the garage and installed a exhaust fan and a fluorescent shop light fixture. That's it..about 6 hrs worth.
Oct 8, 2014
Today, I moved the Cougar outside its nice new warm and dry home, to do a little clean up and seam sealing before I start to paint the door and trunk jams. Also I thought I would include what I did yesterday, which was an all day cleaning session in the garage. If you know me, I tend to work well and clean poorly. So all total I put in about 10 hrs between the two days.
Oct 9, 2014
Todays activities include, spraying some black on the interior and trunk space and filling some minor flaws on the body. I also, started taping off the door openings and started the final sanding on the surfacer primer. I got half of the roof done with 500 grit. I will finish that off with 800. Hopefully I can get this thing ready to paint by next week sometime. 6 hrs
Oct 11, 2014
I usually don't work on the Cougar on the weekends, but my wife said it was ok today. I went over to my buddy Les' house and borrowed his air compressor and a couple long hoses, so I could hook the two compressors up together. This will give me twice the volume of air. He also had a drier/regulator I borrowed. I mounted it all in the garage/spray booth and turned on both compressors and it took about the usual time to get to max and everything worked fine. I also stopped by Harbor Freight and picked up a new respirator mask and 100 paint strainers. I believe I am ready to paint as far as equipment is concerned. A couple more hrs of sanding and the right temperature and humidity and I will be ready to shoot it. 4hrs today
oct 14, 2014
The garage/paint booth made it through another storm so, I guess its good to go. I continued final sanding on the body, as well as cleaning, primering and sealing the front and rear window channels. I also picked up some Peel and Seal roofing flashing, to use as sound and heat insulation, at Loew's. I have researched this product and it is not only effective but very cheap too. I covered half of the ceiling of the roof with it and it looks and works great. 6 hrs
Oct 15, 2014
Well, today was spent doing a final clean up of the garage floor and final wash down and degreasing the body. I also put a couple more rows of roof insulation up. As things sit, I think all I need to do is masking off the doors and windows, tack ragging the body and wetting down the floor before painting. It looks like the weather may be just right come Sat morning. It should be about 65 degrees by noon with about 50% humidity. today was only 3 hrs
Oct 16, 2014
I finished the insulation on the roof and did some sanding on the front and rear bumpers. I think I can easily have everything ready to paint by noon tomorrow. 3hrs
oct 17, 2014
It's painted!! Well, it has paint on it anyway. I think this may be more like the John Anderson song "I'm just an ole lump of coal, but I'm going to be a diamond someday". The finish I would describe as 80 gritish, which is probably what I will have to use to smooth it out before buffing. Kidding aside, its doable with a bunch of wet or dry and and a lot of patience. The bumpers I shot with the flattening agent added at 4 parts to 1. They turned out very nice, and won't need any additional work. I'm tried..5 hrs.
oct 20, 2014
Today, I started wet color sanding the body, and it went pretty good. I did find a couple of thin areas of paint which I will refer to as sand throughs. I still have a lot of sanding to do, but I thought i would polish out an area to see how it looks. Only problem is the photos I took show the refection of the garage/tent, therefore making it difficult to tell what you're looking at. 6 hrs
oct 22, 2014
Continued sanding today, had a couple more sand throughs. I also decided to fix a slight dent in the roof that was in a very visible spot. Since I have a few sand throughs on the roof area, I have decided to at least re-shoot the entire roof and maybe a quarter panel. I still have a quart or two of black left so that will be enough to do that and the other little touch ups. One thing good today, I sanded the door jams and sills and shot some clear on one and it turned out real nice. 6 hrs
nov 4, 2014
OK..I have been working on two things at once, the sanding and touch-up of the body and the restoration of the rim blow steering wheel. I'm restoring the steering wheel to sell as it will be worth $500+ when done. It costs $900 to have them restored and they sell for $1250. I can get a NICE leather wheel for $200 and it will look and feel better. I finally got a day when the weather was good, so I touched up all of the sand throughs and I must say it looks great. I filled the cracks on the steering wheel with epoxy putty and then did a coat of adhesion promoter and then a heavy coat of filler primer. Next, I will fill all the minor scratches and holes with spot putty and then shoot gloss black on the back side and clear over the black and the wood grain front. Then with a new rim switch and center button it will be done. two days 8hrs.
Nov 06, 2014
Well, today I started buffing and blending the touch-up spots I sprayed a few days ago. I picked up some new plastic film 3M 1000 and 1500 grit wet or dry 6" discs for my orbital sander. They seem to work much better than hand sanding, I mask off the edges so I won't burn through on them. It's still going to take a week or so to get it polished out, I only got half of the roof done today. Not much to see, but I will post one pic. 4 hrs
Nov 8, 2014
Today I just did some more sanding. It is the hardest thing to do, as it is tedious, boring and a lot of work. I found that taping off the sharp edges make it a lot easier, especially when using the DA sander. Right now I have probably half of it down to 1000 grit with no sand throughs. YAY! I'm not going to waste the time of shooting pics of dull sanded paint. 3 hrs
Nov 10, 2014
I had the day off, so I did some more sanding..yea! I finished the right side sail panel and the entire quarter panel and rocker panel. I did have two very minor sand throughs, which I will have to spot in and re-sand. I also did the sail panel and the top of the quarter panel on the left side. This was all in mostly 800 grit so it will need to go through the 1000-2500 yet. I'm including some pics, a couple of the panel just below the rear window are before any sanding so you can see the dirt I have to contend with. The others are of the 800 grit and you can see the sanding scratches in it. I'm growing tired of this sanding, hope I can finish it soon. 5 hrs
Dec 5, 2014
Well, after a lot of mental anguish, I decided to re-shoot the entire car again. This move cost me 10 hours of sanding and 4 more of painting not to mention the $75 worth of paint too. But, I think it will work out better this way, instead of chasing several small problems and ending up with one giant one, I can start all over. The paint laid down much better this time with only a couple runs and a little orange peel in a couple places. I'm going to leave it alone for now and do the buffing later. total time for the last 3 days 13 hrs.
dec 16, 2014
Almost Christmas...I have been sanding on the paint and will be ready to start buffing it out in a few days, as long as the weather holds out. Sorry no boring sanded paint pics. 12 hrs total since last post.
Jan 24, 2015
It''s been six weeks since I posted, but I have done some things. I finished sanding the body with 800, 1000, 1500 and 3000. It must have taken me at least 100 hours, well it seems like it anyway. I started the first polishing cut and have half of the top and one 1/4 panel done. Here's a little teaser of what's to come..I hope. 6 hrs today.
Jan 26, 2015
Finished buffing for today, there are a few spots that need a little extra attention. I can go ahead and start assembly and take care of the detailing later. I'm calling it a "ten footer" for right now. I'm including a short video just to prove I'm the one working on it. (: 6hrs
Jan 29, 2015
Weather was nice today, in the high 60's, so I rolled the Cougar out and started bolting some stuff on it. I got the passenger door, the trunk lid, tail lights and the lower valance on. I would have put the driver door on, but it needs the hinge pin rebuilt first. Oh, and I just laid the rear bumper in place to take the photos, as I couldn't locate the bumper brackets and bolts. Which brings to mind, I need to organize the parts and bolts before I go any farther. 6 hrs
jan 31, 2015
Today I rebuilt the two door hinges on the driver side and with the help of my amazing wife, we hung and adjusted the door. I still have to install the latch mechanism as well as the window hardware. Maybe Monday. 3 hrs.
Feb 2, 2015
I feel like I'm getting somewhere now! I power coated a few pieces for the bumper install and got it permanently mounted it. 4 hrs.
Feb 5, 2015
A little change of pace..I worked on some of the chrome trim pieces,buffing some of them out and got one installed. A little jewelry for the Coug. 2 hrs
jAN 9, 2105
Today's project was re-assembling the A/C plenum box. I had cleaned and painted much of it earlier, maybe a year or so..time flies. So, I just needed to put everything in it's place and seal it up. By the way, that duct tape on top of the wire (thermocouple) is the way the factory did it. It is now ready to install under the dash. I might start on installing it tomorrow, since I'm off work. The headliner is due to arrive tomorrow too. 4 hrs
Feb 11, 2015
Well, my headliner came in yesterday. So, I decided since the weather was nice, I would install it. After watching a dozen or so youtube videos, I began. It was about what I expected, lots of pulling and tugging and cutting, but in the end, I think it turned out very nice. 3 hrs
Feb 17, 2015
It was freezing cold today, so I decided to do some inside work. I fabricated two new C pillar sail trim panels from some foam backer board and upholstered them with some black vinyl. I think they look great and only cost me $15. and 2 hrs
Feb 18, 2015
I continued working on the sail panels, making clip holders and epoxying them on. I mocked-up on side to see how it will look..of course it will look better after the windlace trim and window are installed. 1 1/2 hrs