Hello from another car rescuer

[efcbluepete]

Hi,

just joined on the recommendation of a fellow Saab fixer-upper. recently got a 1991 Saab 900 that turns out to be a rot box. I have bought panels for the main aesthetic areas (all four arches), and am probably going to let a professional welder sort that.

the underside, and other less visible areas I am thinking of trying to re-learn how to weld & fabricate (approx 30 years ago, I learned how to weld & fab in my 1st year of basic apprentice training, and kept my first few cars on the road with that knowledge & training).

So, onto the "new welder" part of the forum and do a bit of reading up, and then look at how/where to fit a welder into my rather small garage.

CHeers,

Pete

 

[anjum]

Hi Peter,
Are you on UKSaabs?
Very helpful and friendly site. Lots of help and sources of parts and panels, e.g. door bottoms and driveshaft tunnels.

 

[Kent]

Hello Peter. If it's real bad consider carefully that it is worth saving now rather than after many hours of work

 

[Robotstar5]

Hi Pete, welcome aboard.

 

[ms08]

Another Saab fan here.........

 

[efcbluepete]

Hi Anjum,

Hi Peter,
Are you on UKSaabs?
Very helpful and friendly site. Lots of help and sources of parts and panels, e.g. door bottoms and driveshaft tunnels.

yes, I am on UKSaabs, and have had some good advice from yourself on there for my C900 T16s.

both door bottoms are fine, but one door edge is knackered (trying to get a decent door shell from a UKSaabs member in Scotland - transport companies are being a bit of a pain). mostly the outer and inner arches - which I have gone a bought a full set of, but a few more bits here and there on the under side and at bumper mounts, etc are needed to be sorted before I can get the arches aesthetically grafted on.

@Kent fair point, one of my colleagues has said the same, so trying to get costs together to make sure I don't go wildly over-budget. I am intending to keep the motor for a good while, so want it to be in decent shape and then have some resale value should I decide to sell a number of years down the line (to fund my old age!)

Cheers,

Pete

 

[anjum]

Have a check of the inner arches, the ones that attach directly to the outer wheel arch edge. Mine had the arches replaced by the PO but they'd completely bodged the inner arches with filler and mastic. I didn't notice until I'd primed the wings and had to redo the prep after repairing the inner arches.
The inner arches are available, I think form Billj, as this will be much easier when the outer arches are off and rather than making up patches form scratch and scrunching yourself up underneath to weld them in.

 

[ms08]

You know the rules from UKSaabs.... pictures please....

 

[efcbluepete]

Hi @anjum yes, the inner and outer arches are shot to bits, so I have got a full set of inner and outer arches. the N/S front has some newspaper to make the bodge job all that more classic!

@ms08 here goes with some pics...

here is a close up of the front of o/s rear arch;



here is the n/s front arch before I got all of the windscreen sealant off;




here is how it looked when I picked it up;



here is the front of the n/s front arch - the bumper bracket is surface rust only, but the underside of the wing/arch interface is in need of cutting out and replacing before the inner & outer arches can be done;




the size of the job has not been underestimated, but I am prepared to take the necessary time, as I think it is a long term "keeper".

Cheers,

Pete

 

[mikejack]

that's like a new car , try a vw campervan ! welcome

 

[Swift&Bold]

Another Saab fixer-upper here, 9-5 Aero!