1969 Cougar under the knife if our new shop

[NOPANTS68]

Hello All! A good friend an I bought a body shop in Carmichael, California last January. It's been a body shop since 1958 and has a long legacy of excellent work and customer service. It's been called Bob's Body Shop since '58, and we will of course be keeping the name. We've spent the last few months getting everything straightened up, cleaned, serviced, repaired, and ready to do some excellent collision work. We'll be spraying the Axalta line and using Kent and 3M for support.

Of course it didn't take long for two guys with the car sickness to find something to show our team's talent. We bought this 1969 Cougar out of Woodland and have begun the transformation into an Eliminator clone. The car was owned by a younger guy who seemed in a little over his head, but he had a car with outstanding bones and a three pedals. The deal was done.

Interestingly enough, we have a 20 year customer whom we inherited in our book of business who specializes in pre-1970 Cougars and parts. He's been a huge help as we only want to use genuine Eliminator parts during our restoration.

The car is a numbers 351W car that surprisingly had aluminum heads (it was covered in grease and grime) and rollers up top. It ran strong once we tuned it and had good vitals. Once we pulled the engine down we found it had been rebuilt recently and still had great cross hatch in the bores. Mike sourced a rebuilt Toploader and the car already had a 9 inch and a trac-lok which is great. This car also has factory power disc brakes, power steering, and AC so it's a great candidate for some fun. Mike also found us an OE trunk with the Eliminator wing, front spoiler, sport mirrors, dash parts, new lamp lenses and more. We're not sure as to what color it'll be yet, but we're stripping the car now and moving forward. Stay tuned !

[SSLance]

When I was 14-15 years old, my Dad had a red on red 1969 cougar with a 390 / 4 speed. I LOVED that car!!



He sold it right before I turned 16 and I was SO pissed. I wanted that car bad. It was probably a good thing though as I would have killed that car in short order I'm certain.

Can't wait to see what you do with yours...

[NOPANTS68]

Oh man that's a pretty car. I have always liked the bullet rockers on the upper level cars. 390/ 4 speed would have been a stripe maker all day too. Probably a good thing you didn't get to pilot that car at 16 lol.

[NOPANTS68]

Got the body blasted using a new dustless system that's owned by Precision Surface Preparation out of Orangevale. I'm really impressed by it's speed and very little mess. Other than a chewed up left fender, the body is in incredible shape so I'm feeling lucky. Threw on some epoxy primer from Axalta and away we go!

[jarhead]

Glad to hear about the new shop Dave, and cool project!

Will be watching for updates!

[Boss 5.0]

Best of luck with the new venture!

Love the car, while maybe not completely Out of the Box, it's nice to see something other than another Camaro being built. Looking forward to watching.

[NOPANTS68]

Thanks guys! It's been quite an adventure so far. We've been blessed by a great community who's been keeping the bays 110% full!

[NOPANTS68]

Update- I've been working on the gaps and have them almost ready to go. The left , front eyebrow molding is smoked so an NOS one is on its way. We've been slammed but have still managed to get the doors in feather fill and the trunk in color. We wanted to see how the products stack up and how our body work is coming along. Steve, the other owner is learning the metal aspects of the business under the guidance of our seasoned techs. I however, have been learning the ways of the paint shop. Steve finished the trunk lid, got the green light from the techs, and I squirted it. First panel for both of us respectively. It came out very straight and crisp. Color has obviously been decided- Competition Orange with all Speis Hecker products. SO far , so good!

We also cut some rust out behind the gas tank on that supporting lip. I made a new piece at home on the shear and brake. It's a perfect fit.

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[jarhead]

coming along nicely

[WSSix]

x2 Looks good. That orange is going to pop with the black Eliminator parts in contrast. Keep up the good work. Best of luck with the new shop, too!