Saab 900 Turbo restoration progress

The photos are not every day from day one, just taken at intervals whenever I get time to visit and check on progress.

photo session 1 - stripping down, rubbing back old paintwork, starting to treat rust spots

badges, trim, lights, vents etc all ready for refitting

other side

driver's side closer

photo session 2 - rubbing down the bonnet top prior to removal to do the underside rust

corrosion spot found on driver's side front wing, preparing to cut out rot, patch and smooth

door off and rubbed down

rear quarter rubbed down, rust treated and primered

boot lid removed, rust removed from around boot lights and catch, in primer

photo session 3 - driver's side front wing corrosion removed, patched and still being worked on - just drying a layer

doors rubbed back, corner rust gone.

bonnet off, underside rust removed from leading edge, primer on.

photo session 4 - couldn't see much today as you can see she's under wraps outside for a little while (the doors were inside being worked on) the windows are out and waiting on the headlining to be removed tomorrow. It looks like there is a coat of paint on all over but it was hard to tell under the plastic.

hiding saab!

boot lid back on.

photo session 5 - sprayed, awaiting flatting back, lacquer etc but looking gorgeous already!

it seems odd to see her so stripped bare inside and out!

panels are not on properly - just hung back on for now awaiting the next stage. When finished they will be hung and realigned properly.

a pretty bare interior! A bit miffed about that mark on the driver's seat but I'm sure I'll be able to get it out.

no windscreen!

the finished headlining thanks to Julian and Jonty! Beautiful work! They are now doing the quarter panels, photos to follow.

front end

photo session 6: quarter panels out of the car - one peeled.

the condition before!

rubbing off the old torn lining

before condition again

spraying on the contact adhesive

laying the new liner on the backing card and smoothing down

cutting the edge off the liner

tidying the edges

turned over, ready to glue and fold over the edges then sew the corners tight

spraying the otherside for folding the corners over

folding over the edges

the finished article!

photo session 7 - reinstalling the electric windows & runners

yesterday's lovely roof lining and quarter panels back in

the windows will go back in this afternoon and then polishing back begins.

photo session 9 - the morning after collecting her from the paint shop. Here she has been washed (as gently as possible!) as she got filthy on the way home in the rain, but not yet polished or waxed.

She still has some work to do, for example the side stripes to go on, headlight wiper blades, a new alloy wheel centre cap from there one became cooked and discoloured from an overheating brake, wheel arch trims, and some finishing off from the paintshop.

as you can see, one thing still to sort is the boot badges! They're in the wrong place! Also some niggles are mud flaps oversprayed (need blackening up again), too much rubbing back on some door edges (back to primer) which needs blending in again, and more smoothing back at the front of the bonnet as there are still imperfections. We also need the electric windows sorting still as the front one now does not work. The central locking was only intermittently working anyway before but it hasn't started working again since I got her back, also Brian needs to make the stereo work which won't come on. Julian, Jonty and Brian will have a go at fixing the front driver's seat on saturday.

photo session 10 - The roof showing smoothness (note reflections) after polishing/waxing from the top down to the trim line (below that I can't touch yet as the stripes are still to go on under that, so that area will get treated after the stripes are applied)

the roof from another angle

and again

the bonnet

with the car cover on to protect her against dust and damp blowing in from the slatted side of the garage - it is a breathable cover to prevent condensation build-up

nice and snug!

I like this one - the saab, my astra, Brian's astra, my van, and Jess. (Brian's and the van were dirty though, only the saab and my astra were washed and polished, although Brian's got a wash after the others were put away in the garage)