TheSamba.com :: View topic

Tue Jan 24, 2012 4:17 am

Hi all,

I've been reading the forum for a while now, and it seemed about time to get an account and show you our project car.

Our car is a 1972 Puma GTe, or 'Tubarao' as they say in Brasil dus to the shark style air intakes. It has been in our family for over 30 years but was at the end of his life 10 years ago and was put in a garage, where it sat and waited until somebody came up with the great idea to get it out and restore it again.

So the story begins....

This is how the car looked after storage

Crappy interior...

So we send the car off to a VW specialist, boy what a mistake that was... After working on the car for two years the did the following; a new electrical wiring, adjusted the engine. And a paintjob done by a 5 year old kid.

At that point we took the car home and started working on it ourselfs. First we had to start to re wire the new wiring, as nothing seemed to work the way is should work. The engine needed some dyno adjusting... two years work... f*cking amateurs.

So fast forward, we fixed the wiring, gave it new carpets, doorcards and seats. We where planning to keep the old seats but restoring them was to expensive, so we stored them for future use.

Doing some test drives

Still a lot to do, the engine seems fine, but it needs a new exhaust, the old one had some holes in it. We want to upgrade with a VW speedshop side exit exhaust, as it seems the only exhaust that is capable of more power and should fit nicely (not much room for exhaust in a Puma) and add some 40 or 44mm HPMX or IDF's, depending on engine plans.

It also needs new floor pans, to make the seats fit better, and some lowering on the front and back.

Let's finish this post with some moving pics and sound shall we?

Tue Jan 24, 2012 9:05 am

Nice Puma and great story about keeping it, then getting back on the road again. I have a GTI myself. We are going to be downsizing soon and it's either sell the GTI or store it for a few years. I'm starting to sway towards storing the Puma until I have time and space to play with it again.

You don't see many Puma's, especially in the states.

Tue Jan 24, 2012 2:58 pm

very nice car...how many Pumas do you have in Holand?

Tue Jan 24, 2012 3:11 pm

You don't see many of them in Holland either... I'm not sure about the amount of Puma's in Holland.

Around 100 where imported to Europe in total over the years.

I'm aware of about six Puma's in Holland, but there should be some more here and there, I reckon maybe 10?

So more exclusive than a Ferrari 8)

Fri Jul 13, 2012 2:56 am

200 Puma were imported to Europe by a vw dealer in Switzerland. Approximatively, 100 stay there and 100 were sold in Germany and some other country.
I wanted to buy one in Sweden, but I loose the deal. So, finally, I've find one in Switzerland.
There are 4 or 5 Puma in France....They are Tubarao models. Never seen a mark 2 in France, but some were imported to Germany....
I've find parts here: www.purringpumas.com

Headlights covers, bumpers....all is avaible.

This is my Puma, when I dicoverd it :

It's a mark1/2, with flat deck lid and other details.....

Color, engine, height, wheels and interior (seats and carpet) will change soon..... :wink:

Fri Jul 20, 2012 2:07 am

Hi Trolls,

Congrats with your new car, glad you could find a good one after missing the first deal. They don't come up for sale very much.

Getting parts is no problem, allthough some parts are very expensive

http://www.pumacars.co.za/ for cheap parts as well.

Keep us posted as the car gets updated!

Dennis

Sat Feb 02, 2013 11:53 am

PumaGTe,

Nice car you have!
I am from Brazil and I also own a 1972 and I know how difficult is to restore these cars!
I suggest you to keep the original seats and steering wheel. You have original stuff, pure gold! Mine is missing the seats and I have to replace the bubble on headlights. There are also some modifications on front that I need to revert.

Trolls

Your car seems a 1973 model. The seats are original. Keep them!
Yours also have 7 inch rear wheels, like my car. It was an optional item at the time.

Here are some pictures of my car, on Interlagos track.

Brazilian market cars are a little bit different from the cars exported to Europe.
This is the dashboard (Console was missing, but now it is in place)

Sun Feb 10, 2013 9:03 am

rotea

I'm working on restoring the dash on my '72. Mine had a piece of black carpet glued on when i purchased it, and now i can see why. What a mess.

Yours looks perfect. Did you have yours recovered, or were you able to fiñd an insert?

I'm trying to take small steps in my restore so I can keep it on the road, but I'm at the point where I may need to pull the windshield to reupholster, which I'd hoped to put off untill I was ready to paint.

Daryl
Seattle

Sun Feb 10, 2013 1:17 pm

dtborders wrote: rotea

I'm working on restoring the dash on my '72. Mine had a piece of black carpet glued on when i purchased it, and now i can see why. What a mess.

Yours looks perfect. Did you have yours recovered, or were you able to fiñd an insert?

I'm trying to take small steps in my restore so I can keep it on the road, but I'm at the point where I may need to pull the windshield to reupholster, which I'd hoped to put off untill I was ready to paint.

Daryl
Seattle

Daryl,

My dash was covered by courvin:

I took off the old dash and cut a piece of MDF with the same shape.
After I used wood-like coverings for cabinets to give the finish.

Put some pictures of your car!

Sun Feb 10, 2013 3:19 pm

Delivery day photos from 2010

First major body restoration work was the trunk compartment.

Anyway, here's the dash mess I'm tackling now.

Mon Feb 11, 2013 2:23 am

:shock:
Really nice car!!!
Now I see what you're talking about the carpet. That's quite simple to resolve, but unfortunately you will have to take out the windshield.
But you have all the original stuff, except for the steering wheel.
You can note that my dash has a defect on the center of the windshield. I also need to take it out.
The wood you remove from the back, and then you send to upholstery. It's a kind of service that, although it's not that complicated, takes a lot of time to do, because of the logistics. Be sure to have the windshield seal and be careful with the glass! It is quite expensive.

Mon Feb 11, 2013 7:56 am

By the way, were they able to get a perfect match for the dash material? Everyone I've shown it to says they've never seen it before.

Mon Feb 11, 2013 8:32 am

dtborders wrote: By the way, were they able to get a perfect match for the dash material? Everyone I've shown it to says they've never seen it before.

Here this material is called "pig bladder". Impossible to find... sorry.

Tue Feb 26, 2013 12:30 pm

Sorry for my late reaction.

You both have some very nice cars! Hope all goes well restoring them. I can't find the time right now to work on the car...

Hope to pick it up soon.

Will see if I can post some new pics next week...

Mon Oct 14, 2013 6:53 am

My car had a new paint job. I also corrected some points that were not original, like the bubbles on headlights and the shape in the front.

Enjoy, Puma lovers!

Next step: New seats

Mon Oct 14, 2013 11:56 am

=D>

Very nice.

Mon Oct 28, 2013 3:39 pm

That looks absolutely perfect!

How did you lowered the front? I bought lowered spindles, but had to use spacers for the wheels... then the wheels rubbed the inside of the arches... to bad.

Now looking to replace the front beam.

You did great work! It must turn everybody's head when driving it!

What wheel sizes do you have front and rear?

Mon Oct 28, 2013 4:17 pm

PumaGTe wrote: That looks absolutely perfect!

How did you lowered the front? I bought lowered spindles, but had to use spacers for the wheels... then the wheels rubbed the inside of the arches... to bad.

Now looking to replace the front beam.

You did great work! It must turn everybody's head when driving it!

What wheel sizes do you have front and rear?

I used adjustable beams, with original shocks. It is not very low at all. And with this system I avoid the problems with the wheels on the arches.

It's almost impossible to drive it without beeing worried about others drivers. They keep looking to my car and I fear for their safety!

:D

Thu Oct 31, 2013 5:19 am

What's your tire size (and brand) on your Puma? They suit the car very well.

Thu Oct 31, 2013 12:47 pm

PumaGTe wrote: What's your tire size (and brand) on your Puma? They suit the car very well.

I use 175/70 R14 on front and 185/70 on the back. Michelin, always!