Project Hot Wheels: '67 Custom Cougar

So this isn't your regular project car, but I've had it for 16 years in the shape it's in and thought it was time to restore it back to it's former glory. In the shape it was in it wasn't worth much so I figured I might as well bring it's curb appeal back up.

How I purchased it 16 years ago. The wheels are supposed to be a Big 'n Little arangement, but somewhere down the line they got swapped out for the same size. The Spectraflame Blue has seen some better days along with the axle alignment.

Time to get down to it. Out comes the Dremmel, and away go the rivets.

One down, one to go.

Last one out of the way, now we can open her up.

Here's the exploded view of all the pieces.

Believe it or not, that's actually blue tinted plastic, looks more brown with all the dirt on it.

46 years worth of crud and dirt under here.

Hmm. Positive camber? That's never a good thing on a race car. Time for an alignment.

The new wheels for the ride. Going back to the original Big 'n Little arrangement.

This is exactly the kind of ludicrous overkill that keeps me coming back here.

Where on earth do you get replacement wheels for a Hot Wheels?! This is awesome!

Awesome!

sethmeister4 wrote: Where on earth do you get replacement wheels for a Hot Wheels?! This is awesome!

http://www.redlineshop.com/

I have one of those myself, I bought it new when I was a little kid.

how ya gonna paint the body? airbrush?

My first hot wheel was a copper colored Cougar. I still have it, and its in about the same condition. I'll be interested in how this comes out.

sethmeister4 wrote: Where on earth do you get replacement wheels for a Hot Wheels?! This is awesome!

I got these off eBay, 7 bucks shipped, so they aren't cheap. But I figure if buying a mint first year Hot Wheels would cost over $100 at least, the I can swing $7 to make mine look mint. Also bear in mind these are only for the real early redlines with the pressed in bushing.

fasted58 wrote: how ya gonna paint the body? airbrush?

Yeah I'll use my airbrush, I haven't decided on a color yet though. I was thinking maybe anti-freeze or pink.

And Woody, talking about overkill, I'm thinking about getting a vibrating tumbler to clean and polish up the body with, been wanting one for cleaning up bolts and other parts for a while now, if Harbor Freight runs a sale on the 8 gallon unit I'm gonna grab one up.

Was that Joey Chitwood's Cougar?

In reply to 914Driver:

Might be the funniest thing I've read on here in a long time. Man that name brings back fond memories of the county fair, funnel cakes and not one, but two, demo derby nights.

Hahaha Joey Chitwood!!!

I grew up watching those guys!

And I owned a much larger '69 Cougar XR7!

I'll be watching this thread!

914Driver wrote: Was that Joey Chitwood's Cougar?

I'm sure it's been through some stunts that would make Joey a little weak in the knees!

And now the president of Grand Am is Joie Chitwood III. I assume he's related.

They were always driving Chevy Citations when I saw them. What a great, fun show. I always wanted to learn how to drive on two wheels sideways. That is a stunt you don't even see in today's "action" movies. Fast and Furious series should go back to the county fair.

914Driver wrote: Was that Joey Chitwood's Cougar?

Wow... This should be good....

Over the past couple of years, I've been trying to scale down the size of my projects, from cars to motorcycles to bicycles. This could be the next logical step.

Got the glass polished tonight. The dremmel runs a little too fast even at the lowest speed and the polishing bit kept trying to melt the plastic so I wet sanded and buffed it out by hand. Managed to break it in half during the process though, thankfully I can glue it together and it won't be noticeable once it's installed in the car.

Old Glass.

Polished glass.

Wow!

this is awesome

So we can all factor this in to our own plans - how many man hours do you estimate you have already spent to get to this point in the build?

edwardh80 wrote: So we can all factor this in to our own plans - how many man hours do you estimate you have already spent to get to this point in the build?

lol, not that many actually. I'd say 15 minutes to disassemble, another 10 to wash it all up with soap, 15 more to polish the glass. So, under an hour total time into it at this point.

How do you plan to address the rivet issue?

Woody wrote: How do you plan to address the rivet issue?

Putting it back together? My plan was to break out the JB weld, score some crosshatch marks into the posts so the epoxy has something to cling to, should make a strong enough bond.

Epoxy should work. This site sells House of Color lacquer paint in one ounce jars. I've used it on a few models and the candy colors really pop. The candies need a silver or gold base, and a clear but since it dries fast you can usually do it all in one day and polish it the next if need be.