2007-09-23
Today we finally finished welding the passenger side of the car. Just a few pieces left.
First I cut off the rusted side panel bottom section.
Fitting a patch for the beam.
Patched! There will be three layers of sheetmetal at places, so no need for 100% welds.
On to making a new bottom for the side panel:
I think that often the best metal for an old car comes from another similar car. The steel is same quality, thickness and has the same bending/stretching characteristics as the original. Often times modern sheetmetal is tougher/harder than the original, which can be problematic when you try to reshape a patched area.
Also 96 has some parts made of very thick sheetmetal - one can't use a 1mm plate to patch a 1.3 mm plate etc. so you would need various sheets at different thicknesses in stock.
There's plenty of junk Saabs left - the above piece I cut from the roof of some 96 stroker - just find a rust free spot. (...also, recycling is much cheaper than buying new sheetmetal!).
Finding the basic shape.
The patch in correct shape after 3 hours of fitting and banging and bending and fitting and...
After cleanup.
And then the inner fender:
Seems to be something missing here... ;) Patchmaking in progress.
Done, finally!
A small sand blaster is great for cleaning up slightly porous welds and other tight spots.
And the primer:
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There was a Saabclub trackday a week ago. There's some photos here.