OUCH! D'oh!

[jwandhistools]

A couple of weeks ago I had a little mishap that resulted in the side of my car being ripped open like a tin can.
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Cost me a set of doors and some elbow grease.

Well, I got the doors on and managed to pull the dents quite nicely using the pin welder/slide hammer tool a friend of mine had.
That is one COOL TOOL!
I HIGHLY recommend one of these for anyone considering pulling a dent.
Takes literally minutes as opposed to hours and NO DRILLING!


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Instead of messing around and just painting one side, I have decided to paint the whole car and include a nice clear coat.
Painting a black car has it's risks.
But if the body is straight enough, black urethane and a nice clear coat can look rather spectacular.


What I thought would be a lost cause actually turned out pretty straight thanks to the coolest body tool ever, and the help of a good friend.

Sometime next week I will have pics of the finished car.

I would like to find a place to get all the side trim.
I don't like the generic stuff sold a Kragen or wherever.
At least I have not seen anything that appeals to me.
The badges are not going back on.

[Saab named Jag]

I have to say that I'm surprised at how good that is turning out, Nice job. So do you just grind off the welds when you are done? I've been doing some bodywork on a project of mine all week and it's a real pita so best wishes.

[jwandhistools]

You just clip the pins and grind the stubs after you pull the dent.
It's just too easy.
The metal on these cars is not very strong, so just a couple of gentle tugs with the slide hammer and it pops right out.

If you are pulling dents, just get one.
You'll be glad you did.

[crwchf01]

Look for the body trim parts @ www.saabsite.com If they don't have them in stock you will at least have the P/N's you need to look for.

[TooMany2cvs]

Originally Posted by jwandhistools

The metal on these cars is not very strong

<boggle>

I think our view points might be calibrated slightly differently...

[jwandhistools]

Originally Posted by TooMany2cvs

<boggle>

I think our view points might be calibrated slightly differently...

The last car I did body work on was a 66 Pontiac hit in the exact same place.
The difference in metal strength is not even close.

[TooMany2cvs]

Originally Posted by jwandhistools

The last car I did body work on was a 66 Pontiac hit in the exact same place.
The difference in metal strength is not even close.

Like I said. Differently calibrated.

I was polishing 'erselfs Pug 205 last week. The bonnet and roof panels were flexing and "popping" as I did so. Without putting too much pressure on. That's fairly solid compared to a 2cv... But, then, a 2cv probably weighs about the same as a door off that Pontiac...

I had a word with a paintless dent removal guy a little while back - he reckoned it'd be a real bugger to remove some of the slight "hand-prints" on the tailgate, because the metal's so solid on the c900 compared to most cars.

[jwandhistools]

Well, the car was supposed to go to the spray booth last weekend.

Then it got changed to Tuesday.

Then it got changed to Thursday.

Now the guy says he can't do it until "maybe next week.."

Never fails.
Each and every time I hire someone to do ANYTHING on my car, they turn out to be a flake.

So, now I am back to looking for a good painter who can handle painting one car without completely wasting my time.

Meanwhile, I get to drive around in a nice stripped down checkerboard 900.

[kemosaabey]

I can see the pontiac having thicker gauge metal, thats what they did back then. Saabs still pretty tough for a 'modern' though...

[crwchf01]

Originally Posted by jwandhistools

Well, the car was supposed to go to the spray booth last weekend.

Then it got changed to Tuesday.

Then it got changed to Thursday.

Now the guy says he can't do it until "maybe next week.."

Never fails.
Each and every time I hire someone to do ANYTHING on my car, they turn out to be a flake.

So, now I am back to looking for a good painter who can handle painting one car without completely wasting my time.

Meanwhile, I get to drive around in a nice stripped down checkerboard 900.

Tell 'em you're a test mule for a "new Saab" 900 and you'll have to kill them if they look too close

[jwandhistools]

Originally Posted by crwchf01

Tell 'em you're a test mule for a "new Saab" 900 and you'll have to kill them if they look too close

With white doors on a black body, I can just tell them I am an officer of the Swedish Police.

[jwandhistools]

Ok, so I got the car back from the painter today.
The car came out really nice.
I will need a few days to let it dry all the way before I put all the trim back on, but the car really looks spectacular.
Jet black with 3 coats of high quality clear.
The materials alone cost me $500, so I will have a good quality paint surface to polish out.
Pics coming asap.

[jwandhistools]

I finally got a chance to take a few shots of the car today.
It has been in my driveway for a few days, so it is a bit dusty and has a number of kitty paw prints on it.
This is right out of the paint booth.
No polishing as of yet since the paint is too new.
On the right side there are a couple of dings that we missed, even though we absolutely could not see them during the body work phase.
Of course with black paint, those tiny dings stand out like craters now, but can still be removed...maybe.
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Over the next couple of weeks I will do all the mechanical repairs that I have been putting off for months: Steering rack, axles, brakes, exhaust manifold, radiator, etc, etc..

This will give the paint plenty of time to completely cure before I buff it and replace all the trim.

More pics as I get them...

[Saabeh]

That looks very good. A friend of mine was just doing his truck with a single stage enamel. If there was too much orange peel he was to wetsand it and clear it which is exactly what he did. Came out great.

[jwandhistools]

With lighter colors, an integrated clear will work really well.
I figured since this car is black and has a lot of distinct body lines I had better just spend the extra $ and get the best quality paint I could get.
I am glad I did.
Even with the dust, paw prints and mini dings the car looks great in the raw.
With 3 coats of clear on there I can probably buff this thing out to a piano finish.

[TrollMedic]

Looks really nice!
TrollMedic

[jwandhistools]

Thanks.
In a way, it's a good thing that this happened...
After crawling under the car today to take the steering rack out, I discovered that my pass side inner driver has about 1/16 turn between the cup and tripod.
That could have been quite dangerous had it gone any further.
So now that the rack and axles are going, I might just do a brake upgrade since the spindles need to come off anyway.
I have some questions on that, so here comes another thread...

[jwandhistools]

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Attachment 14623Finally getting around to doing some polishing before putting the trim back on.
Getting a pretty decent mirror shine.
Should have the trim pieces back on next week.
Hi quality paint really makes a difference.Attachment 14616

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[crwchf01]

Looking very nice... New paint and good weather (sigh).

[jwandhistools]

Found all the trim I needed and finally got the opportunity to put it all on.
Also did some more buffing/polishing.
The mirror in my bathroom does not reflect this well.
Haven't even waxed it yet!

The brand of paint is Onmi.
The primer, sealer, base coat, and clear cost $500.
My advise if you intend to paint your car: Spend the extra money and get the good stuff.
I'm glad I did.

My cat has a habit of sitting on top of the car.
He just tried it and slipped right off!

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