My Cat ...... Work In Progress.....

Shagmonkey

Well-known user
Sep 9, 2004
1,266
86
Chichester - Well....close enough!
The story so far....

In a driveway, not that far away from chichester...... yeah...ok...moving on.

As most of you are aware, I am currently giving my current black V6 Xpack, manual, 50k Cat a complete makeover before I sell her.

Due to my ever expanding family, I am in the market for a Renault Grand Espace, so the Cat ( :( ) has to go.

OK. She who must be obeyed (SWMBO) went back to Yorkshire for a week so I took my chance and took over the kitchen/breakfast room. Turned it into my Cougar workshop. Below is a picture diary of all the work done to date. Rain preventing me from being MUCH further forward than I would have hoped.

Car was stripped internally:
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The car was in dire need of a good vac:

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After a few hours hard work:

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As you can see, the previous owner had a dog, so I was stuck with dog hair in places:

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So after some work with sticky tape and tweezers:

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Not perfect but after an hour, I couldn't do any more....I was going cross eyed!

Next was prepping the interior pieces. I had painted some silver before, but due to time constraints I hadn't done as good a job as I would have hoped, so I re-did everything I had done, plus a load more pieces:

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Some pieces were done with plastic filler primer first, to help fill any scratches etc:

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Work on the door cards:

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More interior parts in paint:

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Centre console:

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Whilst the various layers of paint and primer were drying (24hrs between primer and paint then paint and lacquer), I removed the wheels:

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These were filthy and required some specialist alloy wheel cleaner/degreaser to clean them up:

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You can see how any slight kerbing and stone chips etc caused the alloy to corrode and thus the lacquer to lift:

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I taped up the lower parts of the spoke so if I slipped with the sanding wheel I wouldn't scratch the paint:

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I then worked on a small test section with differant pads etc until I was happy I had the one that worked best:

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I then did the whole rim:

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I then did the other wheels, with just the inside lip left to do, before the bloody weather stopped play and I haven't had a big enough break in the clouds to do anymore. I need to machine buff them to a high finish and then re-lacquer

Whilst the wheels were off, I decided to spruce up the very ugly looking brakes:

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Using my drill and a polishing/sanding disc I removed as much rust/debris as possible and then applied 6 coats (yes 6 !!) of red caliper paint:

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After all 4 calipers were painted, it was time to start putting the interior back together. Whilst I had it all out, I decided to give everything a dam good clean. However, when wiping down one of the switches, this happened:

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Time to rummage through my big plastic box of Cougar odds and sods, and I found this:

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Phew, problem solved.....onto putting it all back in. I also fitted my brand new leather gear lever boot and handbrake boot that have been living in my shed for about 2 years:

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I was hoping to recover the headliner with some black alcantera I had left over from Thundercat, however it was just too small.....bugger:

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Carpet on the boot lid not cleaned in this photo:

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I spotted a brake in the clouds yesterday so "just" managed to wash and clay and then wash the car again. This was the clay after the bonnet which I didn't think looked too bad:

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Today, I started to machine polish the bonnet but managed less than 1 hour till the heavens opene'd up yet a bloody gain !! Not a great photo, but hopefully you will see a line down the right hand side of the photo showing the side I have cut and the side I haven't. This was just my first cut and I need to go over it with a final cut, then a liquid glaze and then some DoDo Juice wax:

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So there you have it. I still have the wheels to finish off and then the bodywork. Just the bodywork itself I reckon will take me 4 - 5 days, so long as it doesn't rain......God I miss my garage :sad:

I'll update as and when Mother nature decides to stop raining for more than 30 seconds :incazzato:
 
Mate, that is looking absolutely spot on. You have done a great job and put alot of hard work into it. I know what you mean about a garage....I have to use my kitchen too! lol

Can't wait to see the completed article...when the sun decides to show it's face!!! lol
 
Excellent, clean work Shagmonkey. It's quite an inspiration to go out and do something.
 
Looking good there mate. Loving the newly sprayed interior. Thats something i'd like to do to mine. I hope you get some better weather so you can finish it off.


Tim......have a word with him upstairs will ya, see if he can stop this flippin rain :LOL:
 
Great work Paul! (As always). The interior of the car looks SO much better after a face lift with silver tones - they look dated now without that 'lift'. Someone will be able to buy a cracker of a car by the time you have finished with it.

PS Your kitchen tidy is the same as mine!!!!!!!! lol :eek::eek:(y)(y):D:D
 
Great work Paul! (As always). The interior of the car looks SO much better after a face lift with silver tones - they look dated now without that 'lift'. Someone will be able to buy a cracker of a car by the time you have finished with it.

PS Your kitchen tidy is the same as mine!!!!!!!! lol :eek::eek:(y)(y):D:D

Thanks for the comments guys !

As for the kitchen, this is what it looked:

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The very fact I am still alive shows that i did manage to get it 100% clean and tidy before SWMBO came home :D
 
Your attention to detail is impressive Paul, its almost a shame your selling up, but then again "once bitten twice shy" as they say. Your knowledge of the Cougar should somehow be retained by the club, ie. dont be a stranger ;)
 
excellent job paul(y), quite tempted to remove my interior to give it a clean like that, surely better than being a contortionist trying to get hoover into all the nooks and crannies:)
 
Top job Paul really good to see you getting stuck in again even if it is only to spruce it up to sell?.

You always had perfect attention to detail and it shows mate.

JJ
 
Good work there Paul, as said, its just a shame its being prepped for sale, but some lucky person is heading towards a nice ultra clean cat. My interior is due a refurb this summer, and i like the look of the silver you've used, what is it?