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Saab 96L - An Occasional Series.


artdjones

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Moving on to the front left wheel arch.

IMG_20210101_112344.thumb.jpg.f762ffbe0f23d3f0609c474f1b54ede3.jpg

This strange looking patch is at the junction of the inner wing and the front valance.

IMG_20210101_122208.thumb.jpg.fa3a9c325d3c3eb877d3c9b1ac321687.jpg

What lies beneath ☹️

IMG_20210101_130449.thumb.jpg.0c4d64e8ae44ec9768dcbbf17c4a4ba1.jpg

Tidied up.

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Welded up.  It could be neater but is strong.

I realized that the two valance end are a mix of thin patches and filler so there will be some welding needed there too.

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  • 2 weeks later...

 

After a good look at the valance I realised that the end was mainly some odd shaped patches. It all got chopped off to reveal this:-IMG_20210102_165200.thumb.jpg.8bdbdf67697ecf3960d4321ff200703b.jpg

It had a quarter inch of filler over it before I started. I put a patch in the valance edge, then opened out the main rot hole.IMG_20210106_165613.thumb.jpg.b002b21655625685663fb9085a4edd9a.jpg

Next I tidied up the rusted brackets inside and got rid of the ragged pitted bit on the upper corner.IMG_20210109_165933.thumb.jpg.bd7b41f2a22b188a686fbbd01c77d048.jpg

Then made a patch and held it in place with intergrips.IMG_20210110_155002.thumb.jpg.b9943fb9ec2f484a5bd05212bc5cb4cf.jpg

I lapped the patch slightly under the engine bay floor by a quarter inch.

Then welded it in.IMG_20210112_133055.thumb.jpg.ab2e706a95b22e9fb7c27393c29130f0.jpg

I'm still not in practice with my welding, but the linisher is my friend. And I can always fill any small hole with weld. You can see that I added a narrow strip on the bottom of the inner wing where it laps around the valance. I treated all the bare patches and also put some Hydrate 80 on any surface rust on the inner wing.IMG_20210112_174319.thumb.jpg.5ef15df595ae3eef85b0376d59da7834.jpg

Also I took the opportunity to clean and paint the shock :-IMG_20210112_133824.thumb.jpg.7cf9f8e6b6c40254c14b78ad407ccf78.jpgIMG_20210112_154345.thumb.jpg.d9a47535e7d6bec357219ff55465a469.jpg

And the bumper bracket.IMG_20210112_170225.thumb.jpg.bdfad62f2b768071f4806d19ed84f7b1.jpgIMG_20210112_172721.thumb.jpg.a8ac9b55ceea59438ca67f664ade45eb.jpg

This work was spread over my spare time in the last week.

Next job, seam seal the repairs inside the engine bay and under the inner wing, then more zinc primer.

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10 minutes ago, artdjones said:

I'm not too upset by this amount of rust. And it being such an interesting car helps. I wouldn't do it for an Escort.😁

There are some who would for a mk1 or 2 Escort perhaps but ha no I agree, this is a special car needing some special attention. 

Amazing work, I'm glad you're unphased.

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Seam sealed on Wednesday.IMG_20210113_171140.thumb.jpg.cd95081bd48f571a500f3be55d2810d5.jpg

Two coats of zinc primer yesterday and this morning.IMG_20210114_174605.thumb.jpg.364ec8378f1409a3b2afb156844dd5d0.jpgIMG_20210115_120844.thumb.jpg.8bdf80f8bc4cf9db4937c402aeb4e7f1.jpg

Then on to the sills.IMG_20210115_121016.thumb.jpg.4e4098a8578ba50ed3a0c06a832b8b19.jpgIMG_20210115_121034.thumb.jpg.fc8a750822efe1e5f9b8c7742d7ccdd9.jpg

The front half was a bit crusty. On the last picture you can see the rear jacking point. I forgot to take a picture of its comrade on the front, but unfortunately the sill was holed behind it. So I cut it off.IMG_20210115_135708.thumb.jpg.9977d3bdd82a2163234f4c225f634784.jpgIMG_20210115_135858.thumb.jpg.e172f9e0e238c223555da0c7ed19ec9f.jpg

These things cost ££ so I ground the sill remains off it and treated it for later reattachment. IMG_20210115_145419.thumb.jpg.98e4760dd5408a2f92b4edaec7a328d5.jpgIMG_20210115_145958.thumb.jpg.57a201d5260ae1e2eb79677123411ec4.jpg

Then noticed the edge of the floor had some small holes.IMG_20210115_121851.thumb.jpg.87032c12547731e2f90c04e981aa582b.jpgIMG_20210115_194818.thumb.jpg.76ad879ea64aeb6be32b0ee4ef0ba7c7.jpg

And finally extended the hole in the undersill up to the wheel arch. It will make for a neater join. And there are  two lap jointed patches on the sill further back and I don't want the underneath of the car to look like a patchwork quilt. Although I feel a temptation to cut those patches off and butt joint some new ones in.IMG_20210115_165018.thumb.jpg.cf732e72084d196fb0679d49e8efa24d.jpg

The only thing holding up progress now is a lack of sheet steel. I have enough for the strip on the edge of the floor, but I need some 1.5mm sheet to replace the piece of sill(96 sills are very thick), and I'm wondering where to get it during lockdown. I have some cheques to pay in in town next week, so I may get a chance to go to the local sheet metal worker/tractor repairer to see if he has a small offcut.

IMG_20210115_165018.jpg

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  • 4 weeks later...

I still had a couple of scraps of steel left so l made a patch to fill in the front half of the hole in the floorIMG_20210118_172343.thumb.jpg.d5f811afea7236e6d6998a54d2f6e68d.jpg

Then seam welded it.IMG_20210119_142612.thumb.jpg.5ddecb3275b7199061b31f9d4a0ff58e.jpg

I hate overhead welding. 

I filled in the back half as well.IMG_20210120_192103.thumb.jpg.5ed139dccd57740f4bb5869b47cb7229.jpg

Next bit was to replace the strip of steel that had to be cut out of the sill to get proper access to the floor.IMG_20210120_175528.thumb.jpg.ec10a6d5364cef91f0c9289c48bcdbce.jpg

Note BX jack.

After that the next stage was to replace the front 8" of sill.IMG_20210202_163218.thumb.jpg.44fc1617cb67e067e061071beb21e35d.jpg

I made a stupid error here. I should have welded the jacking point on to the patch rather than waiting until the patch was attached to the car.

It proved difficult to get the jacking point welded on neatly later, whereas I could have plug welded it on from behind on the bench.IMG_20210203_143911.thumb.jpg.4b93478cd9f4140031bd7e70996ba2ac.jpg

There's a very small mudflap on a bracket on the back of the sill on these and in getting the rusty bracket off I found two tiny holes. I opened them back to solid metal with a step drill.IMG_20210204_131110.thumb.jpg.1226cb63a4f0e459313c3a7d2a49f46f.jpg

Then put in two tiny patches ground to shape. A good way of getting these small pieces exactly where you need them to go is to weld a piece of coat hanger wire to them, then you can steady them with one hand while tack welding them in.IMG_20210204_153420.thumb.jpg.0c75e98fc3683353a4308bbba51a6d7e.jpg

They were welded all around, ground back , and a new bracket made and attached.

IMG_20210204_170654.thumb.jpg.aee0c2c54de919ad9ae23b81f7c3cf38.jpg

Then the whole sill was treated, seam sealed and zinc primed.IMG_20210207_144746.thumb.jpg.13a16db28c771d315f6b204b95d53e26.jpg

It's a bit of a patchwork quilt, as there's two other welded patches under there  done many years ago. If any other work is ever done under there I will buy a whole undersill and replace everything. So, now to side two.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Now moving on to the right hand quarter panel. Crusty at the top.IMG_20210212_115724.thumb.jpg.70fde4060c1c67c2219e259cc3e78f53.jpg

Also crusty at the bottom.IMG_20210212_115732.thumb.jpg.ccf99631251e8c012487edce00126eef.jpg

Rust removal at the top left a large hole.IMG_20210212_132509.thumb.jpg.1d4e2d2c357feafee15cc2ccffb8e278.jpg

I decided to work from the outside in. The flange that joins the wheel arch front to the quarter panel was non existent at the top and as it curves in two dimensions is fairly difficult to make.

So first I made a patch to fill the hole in the back of the quarter panel and tacked it into place temporarily.IMG_20210213_160240.thumb.jpg.9a9afed59819ed6b00ca37fc5ba87529.jpg

Then made a slotted flange piece that curved in two directions.IMG_20210213_162044.thumb.jpg.fa40f0519f6300dabd0331df9bd13b36.jpg

Then ground the patch off and joined the two bits together.IMG_20210213_174649.thumb.jpg.913da566854506441d9b084cbb8f135e.jpg

Next step was to make the inner flange to match and weld in onto the car.IMG_20210215_164027.thumb.jpg.fa613c7c89854b5d2d96820a7ed24094.jpg

Then tack the outer piece in place.IMG_20210216_114843.thumb.jpg.2f169f4d59dd3027efd22cb17792f3ae.jpg

Welded it all around.IMG_20210216_120725.thumb.jpg.3256e66d627162da11ddda168c59760c.jpg

Then ground it back.IMG_20210216_123456.thumb.jpg.3a3d5e0858460bce0acec198413932a3.jpg

This was all quite time consuming and I don't think I'll ever be invited on to Welding With the Stars.

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