John-saab's Restoration of Saab

[llovegrace]

 

        CAMILLA 412 CAM

                       (The life and times of a two stroke)

     (Originally posted by John-Saab with text copied and posted by llovegrace)

HISTORY...

My car started its working life in Nairobi, East Africa in 1962 having been sold through the Standard Triumph dealership and had the registration

number KHD 902. The cars early history is patchy but by the 25th July 1963 it had made its way to RAF Lyneham in Wiltshire and was given

its UK registration 412 CAM on 7th August 1963.

The car was registered to a gentleman who gave his address as C/O Sawmills Garage, Lyneham, Wiltshire on the buff log book but the address

given in the service book was The Officers Mess, RAF Eastleigh (Hampshire).

Items found in the glove box....including service book and last road tax disk..

For the next 7 years the car was owned by the same gentleman who moved along the South coast until he reached Worthing around 1970.

The car was then bought by Ken Ballamys garage, one of the first UK SAAB dealers and was used as a run-around for the workshop and showroom...

It was handed to his son sometime around 1971 and was parked up in the corner of the workshop for some 32 years onwards, the last road tax disc

was displayed in 1972.

Forward to October 2003, I was walking past a garage, 100 yards from my house and the doors were open...I peered inside and hiding behind a

Daf 66 and a Peugeout 404 was a scruffy looking 96.

[llovegrace]

[llovegrace]

[llovegrace]

I had a chat with the garage owner and a deal was struck later that day which included use of the building the cars were standing in, a disused SAAB workshop, to get the car up and running.
Later that week another deal was done for a number of parts that were lying around...this included 3, used but complete engines, 2 of which were seized and one which was in great condition. Other useful items included were, new brake parts, a front windscreen (handy as the one in the car was cracked) a few internal and external trim items and later I found several bumper sections...enough to make up a pair for the car..
THE PLAN THAT WENT WRONG!
At first my plan was a quick tidy up, sort the engine and brakes and then get the car on the road as a running restoration. But things changed and the more I worked on the car the more minor niggles I found so by accident the car turned into a full restoration including a bare metal re-spray in cellulose...brave for someone who has only ever sprayed the odd panel or two.
The car had been stored indoors for many years but due to a pigeon infestation the paintwork was in very poor condition..any scratches picked up during the cars early life had rusted and the rust had travelled under the paintwork in every direction like cobwebs. Several areas of paint had totaly dissolved due to the acid in the pigeon muck. I wasn't sure what to do next so I bit the bullet and started to strip the car of all its mechanical items.

[llovegrace]

image sharing sites

[llovegrace]

image sharing sites

[llovegrace]

The body was found to be very sound under a layer of mostly fine surface rust on top and some reasonably heavy rust underneath.

[llovegrace]

[llovegrace]

[llovegrace]

photo upload site

The car was cleaned back to good clean metal, above and below, then, after a lot of surface preparation, arust stabiliser was used to make sure any pinholes didn't erupt at a later date.
The underneath was rust treated, 2 layers of Smootherite painted on, it then had 4 layers of stone chip and the 2 layers of wax...I was making full use of the workshops pit while I had the oppertunity...it shouln't rust for a little while.
The welder was only used to create a new mudflap support, the original had been ripped off at some time in the past.

[llovegrace]

Back to the upper body and panels..etch primer as used after I had bought cellulose paint in the correct shade.

[llovegrace]

I had taken a few sample items to a paint supplier and they made up the paint which matched areas that hadn't been exposed to the sun and grime. The first attempt was way off...

[llovegrace]

so they made me a second batch.
I bought the best thinners I could find and sprayed the car a panel at a time, every thing was off the car and spread over the workshop. I am pleased with the result and it was a massive learning curve...I had to buy extra paint because of a few accidents in the process.
All the suspension was stripped, cleaned, painted with Smootherite and new rubber bushes fitted. The shock absorbers and springs were in very good condition and only needed re-painting.
Every rubber item was replaced due to hardening and included the front and rear windscreen rubbers...the rear took almost a day to fit and was difficult due to the aluminium inserts...a job I hope I never have to do again...I can see why SAAB soon changes to a plastic insert.

[llovegrace]

[llovegrace]

post image