Cougar

Prime 2K

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Body Prep is the name of the game. My cousin does the body work, so I try to do what I can to help him prep.

He’s been spending a lot of time sanding the primer, finding imperfections, fixing them, sanding, fixing, smoothing, checking, rinse and repeat. There was some epoxy steps in there as well, and now I need to prep for the 2K primer.

Since the headliner is staying in place, I needed to cover it because a new primer coat and paint are coming. I also needed to tape of the dash area and remove doo-dads from the steering column since the dash was being painted body color as well.

The 2K primer is a little thicker and is also a gray matte color. It actually looks pretty cool as a flat gray. Gives me ideas for the Jeep. :)

Not in a Million Years

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And not for a million dollars, will I ever do this again. Today, I undercoated the car. From a creeper. While the car was on jack stands. With a small brush.

My cousin suggested undercoating the car to protect it from the elements, and help to hide any of the patches in the floor. And it would also make it look awesome and clean. He suggested using the same Herculiner truck bed coating I had used for the inside floor since I had some left over.

This job was long, tedious, back breaking, and very very messy.

First, I wire brushed and scraped the bottom of the car to get all the existing caked on gunk and rust off. Keeping the rust out of my eyes was hard. I know, I know…I should be using glasses, but it’s so hard to see and be sure I’m getting everything. Some one should really invite some nice, very clear safety eye-wear.

Second, I had to use Prepall to clean the surface before painting.

Then the painting began. Stirring the paint under the car, not easy. Painting in between every crevice, not easy. Reaching around everywhere, not easy. Staying clean, impossible.

After about 7 straight hours, I was done with one coat, and there will NOT be a second.

I had truck bed coating on my face, arms, legs, and in my hair. I had to shower with Gojo just to get it off my skin. My skin was so red and raw by the time I was done.

I had had enough.

Playing Dress Up

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Trying to look our best!

Dressing up the engine and engine bay is what we focused on this weekend. My cousin was able to paint the engine pretty well while in the bay. With most of everything removed, it became easier to access as much of the block as possible. It looks pretty good in the Ford Blue rattle can I bought.

Also turns out the valve covers that were originally in the trunk with the original manifolds fit the engine. They have Ford written on them. Hit the letters with some sand paper after painting, and it looks great.

I spent the time updating hitting the rest of the engine parts with a semi gloss black. I think everything looks really sharp, and makes it pop much more.

So today was a lot of brushing, prep, paint, wait, paint, wait, paint, and set a aside.

Also, do you know how expensive battery trays are??? Mine is rotted, so will need to be replaced. Original used parts are $160! For something that holds a battery and will probably rot again from leaking battery acid…no thanks. I’ll opt for the $12 reproduction. I’m sure you won’t tell.