SAAB V4 Forum
SAAB V4 Forum
Home | Profile | Register | Active Topics | Members | Search | FAQ
Username:
Password:
Save Password
Forgot your Password?

 All Forums
 Technical
 Projects
 1972 96V4
 New Topic  Reply to Topic 
 Printer Friendly 
Previous Page | Next Page
AuthorPrevious Topic Topic Next Topic
Page  of 16

James Ranaldi
V4 Guru

United Kingdom
1475 Posts

Posted - 27 Apr 2012 :  21:50:05 Show Profile Reply with Quote
Great stuff Gareth.
I have only been teaching for 11 years after 26 years in industry but I am now getting close to the end of the road.
Cheers
Go to Top of Page

Dirtbiker
V4 Guru

United Kingdom
1060 Posts

Posted - 30 Apr 2012 :  22:01:58 Show Profile Reply with Quote
As promised a couple of links to a couple of threads on Retro Rides that I have really enjoyed reading and I think are really useful:

First up this guy, tonybmw really is an expert. Also have a look at his other threads, they are all amazing - I just put this one here as it is the first one I read.
http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=readersrides&action=display&thread=65793&page=1

Hot Rods may not be everyones cup of tea but the fabrication and mechanical skills on the next one I find inspiring.
http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?action=display&board=readersrides&thread=122676
And I love traditionally styled hotrods by the way!

And here is another - this van was surely too rusty to save...
http://retrorides.proboards.com/index.cgi?board=readersrides&action=display&thread=89224&page=1

There are loads more good ones on the site, these are just a few of my favourites.

Cheers
Go to Top of Page

UK_Sub
V4 Guru

United Kingdom
2555 Posts

Posted - 01 May 2012 :  09:24:15 Show Profile Reply with Quote
I must admit - one look at that gutter and I'd have walked away from that camper!
Go to Top of Page

James Ranaldi
V4 Guru

United Kingdom
1475 Posts

Posted - 01 May 2012 :  18:46:41 Show Profile Reply with Quote
Hi Gareth,

Thanks for the amazing links. There is enough there to keep me going for weeks !!

Cheers

Go to Top of Page

x96
V4 Fanatic

Spain
415 Posts

Posted - 01 May 2012 :  20:50:15 Show Profile Reply with Quote
nice links in fact. Thank you.
Go to Top of Page

melle
V4 Guru

United Kingdom
3830 Posts

Posted - 02 May 2012 :  13:15:36 Show Profile Reply with Quote
Got hooked as well.

1970 96V4 "The Devil's Own V4"
1977 95V4 van conversion project
1988 900i 8V
Go to Top of Page

Dirtbiker
V4 Guru

United Kingdom
1060 Posts

Posted - 16 Apr 2013 :  18:30:44 Show Profile Reply with Quote
Hi All,
Long time - no update! Life has got in the way of working on the car lately, not in a bad way, just been busy with other things...
Had a bit of time in the garage at the weekend and motivation is back!
Left off with the rust discovered in the double skinned section of the front NS inner wing.
Lets get back to it! Welded in a panel for the inner section.



The vertical lines are from stripping back the outer panel, going to leave them as they are only shallow. Cut the outer panel from 1.5mm sheet but don't have anything to drill a 40mm hole for the brake hose so hopefully next door at work (metal fabricators) will sort that for me.

So, putting that bit on hold moved on to the NS front leading edge of the wing.



Not much left there...
So chopped everything to nice straight edges and made a flat panel to follow the contour of the wing using a good front panel and the wing to get the curve right. Someone more skilled than me could have made this whole repair section in one piece but I opted to weld several flat pieces together.



Looks a bit like a car again!



A bit of a jump now but here we are with the whole upper bit tagged together.



And welded in and cleaned up.


Then on to the bottom corner, not much left here either...

[/URL]

Making it up as I go along here as both sides are rotten so no reference... All I've done so far is tacked in some inner wing repairs to give something to work to with the front vallance. Theses can easily come off again if it turns out easier to repair the vallance first...

[/URL]

Till next time, hopefully sooner rather than later!

Edited by - Dirtbiker on 03 Mar 2021 22:21:35
Go to Top of Page

x96
V4 Fanatic

Spain
415 Posts

Posted - 16 Apr 2013 :  22:03:34 Show Profile Reply with Quote
Very nice work,
What kind of welder do you use?, those with gas?
Go to Top of Page

Dirtbiker
V4 Guru

United Kingdom
1060 Posts

Posted - 29 Apr 2013 :  21:43:01 Show Profile Reply with Quote
Hi All,
Bit more done!
X96 - I use a MIG welder with a gas bottle. Your car is coming along well, where is the town you live in? It looks lovely in the picture on the Freewheel thread.

Well, I needed to drill out some spot welds on the front corner and my drill was off having a new motor so did this instead.



Brave or stupid...? I missed out on a genuine repair section on ebay so thought I would have a go at making one.







That was on Sunday and got another couple of hours after work today with the drill back.





Well happy with that so far. There were a couple of small miscalculations along the way (rear top edge) but the fit is amazing - better than it looks in the photos. I even had a moment of panic when I measured it on the car and it was 5mm higher at the rear lower edge than planned. Stropped about for a bit then decided to measure the other side - more luck than judgement but it's meant to be like that!

Hopefully weld it in tomorrow then back to the front corner. I'm going to be thinking about heat distortion but the panel above is a bit rippled so will be seeing a light skim of filler anyway. didn't want to have any filler on the car but I think this will be needed for now.

Cheers


Edited by - Dirtbiker on 27 Nov 2021 21:35:57
Go to Top of Page

hillbilly
V4 Fanatic

United Kingdom
225 Posts

Posted - 29 Apr 2013 :  22:36:41 Show Profile Reply with Quote
Great job.......
Go to Top of Page

transit80
V4 Mad

United Kingdom
775 Posts

Posted - 30 Apr 2013 :  07:17:16 Show Profile Reply with Quote
Nice job Gareth,watch for heat distortion when welding, do it bit by bit.Looking good.

Chris
Go to Top of Page

James Ranaldi
V4 Guru

United Kingdom
1475 Posts

Posted - 30 Apr 2013 :  18:49:41 Show Profile Reply with Quote
Great stuff Gareth.

How did you cut those sections from the flat sheet ? The edges are perfect.

Cheers

1968 V4, LHD
1984 99 GL
Go to Top of Page

Dirtbiker
V4 Guru

United Kingdom
1060 Posts

Posted - 30 Apr 2013 :  21:09:06 Show Profile Reply with Quote
Cheers for the comments guys.

James - with a grinder and a fairly steady hand... Actually I cut it so it was a bit taller than needed, clamped it in position and traced the profile of the car to get it just about right.

Had a bit of weldong time tonight. Really hard to weld the thinner stuff. Seems you need a compromise between getting a good weld pool going and blowing holes. I blew a few holes!



Looks a bit lumpy in a couple of places where I blew holes and also because I took the advice from Chris and welded in short sections in different places to keep the heat down.

But cleaned up nice.



Fairly smooth but going to need a skim of filler. Never really used filler before - clean and straight onto bare metal or primer first?

Cheers

Gareth

Edited by - Dirtbiker on 27 Nov 2021 21:38:01
Go to Top of Page

n/a
deleted

108 Posts

Posted - 30 Apr 2013 :  21:43:37 Show Profile Reply with Quote
Really great!
Go to Top of Page

James Ranaldi
V4 Guru

United Kingdom
1475 Posts

Posted - 30 Apr 2013 :  23:48:08 Show Profile Reply with Quote


1968 V4, LHD
1984 99 GL
Go to Top of Page
Page  of 16Previous Topic Topic Next Topic 
Previous Page | Next Page
 New Topic  Reply to Topic 
 Printer Friendly 
Jump To: 
Snitz Forums 2000
SAAB V4 Forum© 2000-04 Snitz CommunicationsGo To Top Of Page