2000 V6 Ford Cougar comeback

General sill (right side) restructuring is well advanced, but it always helps to mix it up with some cosmetic browsing, yes?

With luck I found a bargain set of 18" in 4x108 on FB Marketplace which ought to suit the car. Not much wrong with these. They should come up well with a home refurb.



ETA, when I arrived the seller was sitting at a table in his shed, lightly hammering something. Watching him were 2 young lads, I assume grandsons, the eldest about 12 years old, both wearing overalls. In the shed was an A40, and old XJ, an Astra convertible, a Mini shell on a spit, a couple of other random old school motors. School is out, but old school was in. How awesome is it those 2 lads are getting a schooling experience like no other?

The front suspension got built today following the fitting of a new ABS reluctor ring. That's looking a lot tidier.
The front is proving simpler than the rear. The wishbone bushes are a bit untidy, but I don't detect enough movement to justify changing them unless the MoT man tells me otherwise in a few months.
The struts still carry the Ford part number labels. It all seems original.



For an idea of the starting point, this is the right side. I've stripped it to the same level as the other side, again to replace the bloated ABS reluctor ring.



A word on cleaning and paint.
On recent projects I've usually sent parts for shot-blasting then primed and painted with some decent quality oil-based enamel paint.
As this is a cheap project (and the shot-blaster is probably out of bounds), I've descaled with cup-brushes on angle-grinder, profiler belt and grinding stones on a dremel. Obviously this doesn't clean up as well as shot-blasting.
A friend uses Kurust to treat the rust so I've been trying that for the first time on this car. Hopefully it holds back the rust for longer.
For paint, I like POR-15 but it's a bit excessive for this car. I gave up on Hammerite/Smoothrite a long time ago. I've gone with No Nonsense Trade Smooth Metal Paint from Screwfix as I get discount It goes on OK, but doesn't feel like it offers much protection other than colouring parts black. Oddly, when I check the parts the day after, they have pin-pricks of orange! Rust spots from the curing of water-based paint perhaps? I've never seen this before. I've ended up painting Waxoyl onto the parts after assembly. That should keep things fresh.

I made some small filler repairs, then on with the Halfords own-brand wheel and wheel trim paint, then Simoniz acrylic lacquer.
The preparation is a pain but I enjoy the process of aerosol spraying wheels.

Thanks. That idea did occur to me, but wasn't sure about it. Sounds like it should be fine.

Enjoyed this havent seen it before - thanks for sharing but one bit of advice as I understand it

You'll need a sympathetic MOT tester or some better weld clean up to make that repair invisible

For MOT repairs need to be continuously welded on all edges - that includes the bottom edge where it's easy to see you have puddle welded it on - you can only replicate factory welding when you replace complete pannels

I ran a slitting disc along mine just cutting thro the top skin and then ran a line of weld along it - that seemed to satisfy the "requirements" of being a continuous weld

I've been rubbing down paintwork and fillering the sill repairs. A nice car is starting to appear. More and more I find the shape looks ahead of its time but that Ford were fitting tiny wheels 20 years ago.

I used a dentman for £60 and it was totally worth it, made a huge difference to the car.

I sent him pictures of all the dents I wanted removing and he quoted £60.

In regards to the MOT test comment, that’s incorrect information, the test rules have changed allowing spot welded seams to be replicated if the original seam was spot welded and the replacement panel work isn’t a patch over the top. Patch repairs still have to be a continual weld but the repairs that have been carried out are perfectly acceptable under the MOT guidelines.