Cliftonpuma
New member
Puma rebuild 2017
My 1999 Ford Puma 1.7 is now on its way to a full restoration. As yet it has no intrinsic value but as it
used to belong to my daughter, has emotional value.
Why now? Simple – Mot failure. Although the issues were straightforward, the biggest was the usual
– rust! So time to bite the bullet.
The first task is to get rid of the rust. In 2016 I bought two full replacement sills from Ex-Pressed
Steel Panels (www.steelpanels.co.uk) so this is the first job. Just for information I have given them
my scrap Puma shell so they may well be producing other new panels.
Although an amateur restorer I have been interested in cars since I first started driving in 1967. I
have always tried to look after my cars and build my knowledge and experience.
I am currently using the facilities of a local car painter / welder who has painted a couple of panels
on the car.
The first task was to strip out all the interior, seats and carpets and put the car on axle stands. I am
doing the passenger side first so off with the door. By heck, those pins certainly don’t like to be
disturbed.
Cutting out the spot welds was next. Using the new sill as a template I marked where to make cuts
to the body and used tools new to me – an air powered mini cutting wheel and a chisel. Brilliant.
Makes light work of getting rid of metal.
The inner sill needed more cutting and grinding ready for new metal. One issue I found was that the
seam between the passenger floor and inner sill had split. Probably a result of incorrect jacking.
More new metal to be welded in.
Ray welded all the panels so I was left to grind the panels for the smooth finish.
So what have I learned so far? It’s going to be a long job! I need to now make a clear plan of what
needs to be done and by when. The target is the have an A1 Puma ready for it’s 20th birthday in
My 1999 Ford Puma 1.7 is now on its way to a full restoration. As yet it has no intrinsic value but as it
used to belong to my daughter, has emotional value.
Why now? Simple – Mot failure. Although the issues were straightforward, the biggest was the usual
– rust! So time to bite the bullet.
The first task is to get rid of the rust. In 2016 I bought two full replacement sills from Ex-Pressed
Steel Panels (www.steelpanels.co.uk) so this is the first job. Just for information I have given them
my scrap Puma shell so they may well be producing other new panels.
Although an amateur restorer I have been interested in cars since I first started driving in 1967. I
have always tried to look after my cars and build my knowledge and experience.
I am currently using the facilities of a local car painter / welder who has painted a couple of panels
on the car.
The first task was to strip out all the interior, seats and carpets and put the car on axle stands. I am
doing the passenger side first so off with the door. By heck, those pins certainly don’t like to be
disturbed.
Cutting out the spot welds was next. Using the new sill as a template I marked where to make cuts
to the body and used tools new to me – an air powered mini cutting wheel and a chisel. Brilliant.
Makes light work of getting rid of metal.
The inner sill needed more cutting and grinding ready for new metal. One issue I found was that the
seam between the passenger floor and inner sill had split. Probably a result of incorrect jacking.
More new metal to be welded in.
Ray welded all the panels so I was left to grind the panels for the smooth finish.
So what have I learned so far? It’s going to be a long job! I need to now make a clear plan of what
needs to be done and by when. The target is the have an A1 Puma ready for it’s 20th birthday in