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Sat Jun 18, 2022 12:27 pm

Notchman65 I got a little side tracked with a couple of other projects. Shell off restorations of an Airstream Argosy and a Boler B1700. The Argosy is done and the Boler is just about done. I have done a little work on the Puma here and there but the shop and my wallet have been dominated with the other projects. Here is a couple of photos of them.
Argosy
[img]Grumpy Bear Bryson City NC by Eric Frye, on Flickr[/img]Reasimbly by Eric Frye, on Flickr

Boler when it was in the shop still.
[img]20191127_162430_resized by Eric Frye, on Flickr[/img][img][/img][img][/img]

Mon Jun 20, 2022 12:38 pm

Ok, I can see how much of your time was devoted to those RV restorations and the Argosy look GOOD!

I'm picking up Vince's white Puma from him in CA in July so I'm doing research and gathering ideas and prepping for the trip (>2000 miles round trip so not just a jaunt across town to pick it up).

Really love the look of your Puma with the yellow and I'm seeing how much work you're putting into the paint and body work. whosawhat's Puma he did was outstanding and I've gotten a lot of ideas from his project and Buggee's silver Puma is looking good also.

Tue Jun 21, 2022 7:23 pm

Both campers are worthy projects.

My Puma has lots of paint defects and I really do think it needs to be orange instead of silver. Problem I've got is I'm having too much fun driving it around!

I will look forward to seeing pictures of this one when you find the groove on it. The work displayed so far is painstakingly detailed.

Thank you for sharing pictures of the campers. Get out and use them!!!

Tue Jun 04, 2024 4:00 pm

Puma hasn't gone away just a slow project to get the body straight and smooth. I'm good for a couple of hours of sanding a week. (I hate hand sanding)

Mon Sep 09, 2024 8:05 am

Got some stuff done on the pan, seam sealed and painted. Motor is out being assembled and had the transaxle refreshed with new bearings and a .82 4th gear.

Tue Sep 10, 2024 1:32 pm

I let the top fully cure and today I flipped the pan over the spay the bottom. Well, I'll spray it when the extra quart of paint shows up. I spilled 3/4 of the quart I had to do the job. I'm using Eastwood frame paint.

Sun Sep 15, 2024 1:16 pm

And the final step before assembly, a fresh coat of paint for the bottom of the pan. :lol: :D :lol: :P

Sun Sep 22, 2024 1:36 pm

Well, it has been a bittersweet weekend. Went out to see and hear my engine run and it looks awesome, and the exhaust is perfect but, the straight cut gears sound terrible. They sound like the fan is rubbing the fan shroud if you have ever heard that. :shock: Unfortunately, I can't live with that, so they have to go. #-o On the bright side I did pick up my transaxle with new bearings and a .82 forth gear. That was a good call as one of the bearings was on the verge of failure. Today I put sound deading mat down on the pan as I start the re-assembly of the chassis. Once I have the chassis on tires, I need to put the body back on to make some final corrections before I can start painting.

Mon Sep 30, 2024 1:02 pm

It's looking good!

Sun Oct 13, 2024 6:43 pm

Got the pan on the assembly table and started putting parts on. Front beam is on, and the transaxle is installed. Waiting for a couple of part and it will be back on the ground with tires and motor installed. I also picked up chemicals to do black oxide for some of the parts and bolts.

Sat Oct 19, 2024 3:10 pm

Bit by bit it's coming together. I got the rear brakes installed, wheels on, and motor attached. Biggest issue was getting the throttle cable to feed through the tube. I had some sort of obstruction in the tube around the cut line where it was shortened by the factory. Didn't have issues before so I'm kind of stumped as to what caused it. I was able to use a brass rod about twice the diameter of a coat hanger to punch it out.

Sat Nov 30, 2024 2:48 pm

I've been picking away with little things. Did a test fit of the body and found the exhaust was not going to work. Super bummed on that the Vintage Speed sounds awesome. Had to get a tuck away merged header, not sure about the sound but it fits.

After the test fit, I had to make some adjustments to the engine bay. Puma wasn't concerned with sealing the engine bay and didn't take any effort in sealing around the engine tin. That always bothered me, so I had to fix it. Now it should seal up like the VW Gods intended.
Before

After

I also had to make some adjustments to the deck lid to take care of carburator air filter

interference.

Thu Jan 23, 2025 5:44 pm

It's looking really good.

The Puma I had was also open at the front of the engine compartment and I assumed it was to allow air flow into the engine compatment, due to the small deck vents.

Tue Feb 04, 2025 4:24 pm

Sent out the header for ceramic coating at Jet Hot. Put a coating on the heater boxes using a spay can ceramic coating. still need to do something with the mufflers.