Got my Challenge Car, Saab 96

In reply to NY Nick :

A rusty car is a lightweight car... or something.

In reply to Recon1342 :

LOL, natures acid dipping.

Got a couple hours in today. I finally have everything I need cut out on the passenger rocker. I'm going to weld a rocker back into it and then start on the front wheel well and floor area. I'm afraid I'm going to have to take the front suspension out to fix the rust around the suspension. Trying to pick up the lace because I need this parking spot for the winter. 

Progress has been slow. It has been slow because I haven't put in the time. I think it's Tom that wrote the article about how to fix a stalled project car, heck I think I have already referenced it in this thread.
I have had a gang of excuses on why I haven't worked on the car; work is busy, the kids have a lot of activities, I want to spend time with the family etc etc.  all of those are true but I think there are 2 other issues; 1- this car is such a mess I didn't know where to start so I just kept not starting. 2- I used to be a very hands on engineer, I was always designing and helping to build stuff, as I have gotten further in my career I get farther from actually doing, I think this has trickled into my garage life. At work I have a team, I come up with an idea, maybe detail out the plan and then it happens. Unfortunately I don't have that team in the garage! So I had to shift my brain a little and say ok I am going to dig in and get it done.

This morning I got about 4 good hours of garage time. I made and welded in a couple of patches and then I built most of the passenger side quarter panel. I did it all in spot welds and didn't try to 100% weld anything. It feels very solid so I think it's going to be ok. I have to do a little more welding on the inside but I'll wait until I put the car back down, I am not a good enough welder to weld upside down! 
 

I am hoping that I cleared a mental hurtle today and I can stop being scared, cut out the rust weld metal back in. It's not a restoration so it doesn't have to be perfect it just has to be solid. 🙂

Still making progress, no matter how slow it may seem to you.  As a fan of any underpowered race car and also SAABs, I'm already supporting your challenge effort.

Unfortunately, since you said you "need this space for winter parking" you are probably a little far away from East Tennessee for me to offer you any physical help.  Still, know you have someone cheering you on from afar, and if you need any help on the way to the Challenge, lemme know.  

Bonus, if you enjoy the challenge and want to take it to other budget race series, I'm pretty sure no-one has used the team name Two Pump Chumps in either Lemons or Chumpcar...

In reply to travellering :

I appreciate the offer! Love the name suggestion...

Got another few good hours in this morning. Finished the passenger rocker panel. I determined that the seat mount has to come out. I was trying to save it because it is a big part of the structure but it's too far gone so I am going to rebuild. I have one more patch that I have to do while it's on this side and then I am going to flip it over. I wasn't thinking long term when I put it here in my garage, this is where I park my truck, especially in the winter and winter is coming. 

So plan is to get the patch done in the front wheel well and then flip on the other side to make the driver rocker, link the two rockers at the seat mount and the rear suspension mount then get to putting floor in. 

I also cut a piece of the truck out. The trunk floor pan is shot (shocker). The panel is 36" long by 31" wide. I plan on using a roof from something else to make this floor. I'll be asking for an FMV on a roof soon but we will cross that bridge when I get there. 

wow that is a lot of missing material, at what point do you cut all the bottom out and do a tube frame?

In reply to Mugglesworth :

I'm already there. There is a 7 point roll cage up in there. I have wonky left enough bottom to hold it together while I replace a couple key pieces and then I'll cut the rest of the old stuff out. It's a mess! 

I did a little CAD tonight... I'll try to cut this out of 18ga tomorrow so I can get this patch in and flip this car over. 

Amazing progress, as a southerner I would run from this, you guys up north really take on the rust and don't give up! Good job. Don’t forget to value the steel you use at scrap pricing since it was otherwise going in the dumpster.

In reply to madmrak351 :

lol. As a northerner I should run from this. 
 

I am keeping track of steel patches by the pound. I bought a sheet of 18ga so I was going to budget that by weight used and I got the galvanized for the rockers from the scrap bin. Documented that with pictures and scrap prices on the day I got them (even though it was in the throw in the trash dumpster). 

From cardboard added design to patch cut in 18ga cold rolled. Not time to weld today but it fits decent. 

A smart man once said you can’t weld rust, dirt, or air. But as the owner of a 55-year-old Saab, I’ve got a compelling counterargument.

I won’t say it’s good welding but it’s solid so I’ll take it. Next step flip it on the other side. 
 

So winter is around the corner and I need to move the project car to park the daily truck in the garage. I spent a few hours today taking it from its left side and back to the ground. I need to flip it back up on the other side but I was out of time for today, maybe tomorrow. All rigging done with a few straps, a 1/2T chain hoist and a 1/4T chain hoist and a rope. I did have to change my lowering strap position after I started because it was going to go slack and I didn’t want to shock load the roof 😳. After using a different location it went silky smooth. I will probably turn it up on the passenger side tomorrow. 
One thing that was awesome was after positioning the car I had to take the passenger side wheels off. I jacked it up from the new rocker I made, it was solid as a rock and that was a good feeling. 

Got the car put on the other side. I’ll go at it on the other rocker next week. Than we can start building some floor!

More cutting today. Cut out most of the driver rocker and some of the front wheel well. Also cut out the main support bar for the seat that I was senselessly trying to save. I’m going to build a new one and the new one will have a built in panel that I can build the floor up to. It will also be 16 ga galvanized because that’s what keeps showing up in the dumpster. 
FMV question can I book the dumpster steel at scrap price? 
Second question I just ran through. Spool of welding wire, does welding wire count toward the budget or is that just a consumable? 

In reply to NY Nick :

Scrap prices.  Technically from 3 different sources.  The wire goes in budget.

In reply to Stampie :

Thanks!

If you found it in a dumpster, it's free in the budget.

Project looks awesome by the way. Floors were never easier when you can just tip the body over!

Got a free hour today and finished cutting rust out of the driver rocker. Cleaned up and threw some primer on it that was laying in the garage. I’ll start welding in panels soon, I have them built. 

 

In the 30 free minutes I had this weekend I got 2/6 of the driver rocker welded in. 

Wow, and I thought my Mini was rusty! (actually, it's about this bad....worse in some areas! 

What's wrong with us?  

In reply to MiniDave :

lol. I’m not sure. I go back and forth. Some times I’m working on it and I’m like this is ok, cut cut weld weld it will be fine. Then sometimes I look and I’m like holy E36 M3 this is bad. 
There is no doubt this is the rustiest car I have ever tried to save. I’m on step 1 of this mess still, fix structural rust. After that I still have fix body rust then make it go and make it stop. 
Actually now that I think of it this is probably step 1a build new rockers 

1b floor seat support

1c rear suspension mounts

1d front suspension mounts 

1e floor

1d how about a trunk floor

I am hoping for 2027 but that may be ambitious. 
 

On a positive note I was telling a guy I know about my engine plan and he was like shoot I have one of those in a box, you can have it.  It sure how that will pan out and what the budget hit would be but a free 600 snowmobile engine has to be a good thing.