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Roll cage install scheduled. Nov 3, 2006
We've scheduled the roll cage install for our car at Kirk Racing for the middle of December. This should give us plenty of time to get the rest of the car ready. We're considering making the cage to Nasa RallySport specifications as well, in case there's a cool tarmac event that we can go to.
Quirkiness Defined Apr 17, 2007
Per and Kim drove up to Pennsylvania this weekend to pick up our latest project car, a $1400 1977 Saab 99. It'll be a rallycross and eventual historic-class stage rally car. Here are some shots that we took along the way. We left Thursday afternoon and arrived back home in Florida on Saturday night.
We purchased the car from Luke Sorensen, who rallies this super-fast Saab 99 with Nasa and Rally America. Luke is a master fabricator and his car's preparation shows it.
We made it down to Maryland on Friday night.
Back in our driveway, we sorted out a rough running condition, which turned out to be pretty easy, the distributor was loose and the timing was "wicked retarded." Next up, we need to fix an oil leak on the front (or is that rear?) of the engine.
The interior is very clean and yes, that is the original upholstery.
Where we’re hanging out now… Apr 17, 2007
We've been hanging out at the following websites, learning about Saab 99s....
Work starts on the Saab Apr 19, 2007
Saab originally sold minilite-looking wheels made by Shelby and Ronal. The Shelby versions are very strong and good for rally use. We found three on eBay that were local to us, so we picked them up for $150 for the trio.
Then, last night, we decided to break out our newly freshened Daytona MIG 140 (a small 110v mig welder) and start repairing some rust.
After we ground out the fiberglass and filler, we filled the lip back in with small sections of steel. Filler and fiberglass won't last long under the onslaught of thrown gravel. Steel FTW.
Rust Repair for Strength Apr 24, 2007
We've been continuing our rust repair work on the Saab 99. If nothing else, it's a fun diversion while we wait for the clutch to get the car registered and back on the road.
The trailing edge of the right rear wheel well has several small perforations around the lip. While we could just mud this up with some polyester filler, the repair wouldn't last long with gravel being thrown from the tires on stage.
We used a wire wheel attachment on an angle grinder to remove paint and previous filler. The paint and most of the rust is gone, but it's not good enough to weld, yet.
A grinding disk does a better job of getting the metal ready for a weld, then a small piece of 20-gauge steel is tack welded to the area over the hole. The piece is then completely welded down and the welds are ground nearly flush.
The repair continues around the mudflap mounting points. The bottom of the trunk also needs some work.
Before the trunk is repaired, the factory sound deadening and undercoating need to be removed. We used a propane torch to soften up the asphalt based goop. A scraper was then used to scrape everything clean.
Skipping ahead, after the trunk welding, the metal was treated with POR-15s Metal Ready and a coat of POR-15 paint. Next, we'll be using seam sealer to smooth over the joints and fill any pinholes.
Metal Ready and POR-15 were also used around the fender lips. The metal repair will provide a strong foundation for polyester filler on the outside of the fender and a strong mounting point for rally-strong polyethylene fender liners on the inside.