23. Front Quarter View of Painted Body 4
Painting the Body Parts Figure 1 shows the assemblage of parts ready for a trip into the paint booth. The body will be moved out temporarily. Figure 2 shows the parts moved into the paint booth for painting. The fenders were temporarily masked as shown in Figure 3 so that […]

Painting SAAB Olive Green GN5

2. Eastwood After Blast on Fender 3
Sandblasting The trusty Harbor Freight sandblaster was put to work on cleaning the fenders and trunk lid. Figure 1 shows the pile of coal slag blasted fenders. Phosphate and Zinc Treatment The media cleaned fenders and trunk lid next were treated with Eastwood After Blast, a phosphate/zinc coating product. See […]

Prepping Fenders and Trunk Lid for Painting

37. The Finished Transmission 1
Disassembly and Evaluation I am no where near ready for installation of the transmission but just had to know if I had a good one or not. I was hoping that I might only have to deal with the infamous loose pinion shaft nut and call it a day. But, […]

Transmission Rebuild

17. Front of Grille After 2nd Primer/Sealer Coat 3
Hood Restoration The hood on the MC850 was a replacement, not the original, but it had structural damage and a corkscrew twist to it. I opted instead for the hood from the donor car the grand-kids had applied pasty water paint to because it was undamaged except for pitting from […]

Hood and Grille Restoration

31. Passenger Door Primed 1
Introduction I thought the doors on the MC850 when I bought it were both very nice. Unfortunately, both had been badly patched up with pop-riveted and thin sheet metal which was subsequently covered with a deep layer of body filler. The bottom of the door was “repaired” with a thick […]

Restoring Door Sheet Metal

Gray Urethane Primer Trunk 4
How time flies! This post covers work done two years ago. I am back at it now and I will be posting followups soon on door, hood, trunk lid and grill work in the near future. Cleaning and Sanding to Prep Interior for Painting The first image below shows final […]

Final Bodywork and Initial Primer Coatings

Goodies from Sweden for 1966 SAAB
Loss of Longtime Friend Nicholas Hayden (May 26, 1945 – Sept 7, 2024) I first met Nicholas Hayden in 1974 while desperately searching for a replacement 2-takt engine for my 1968 SAAB 95, my only car at the time. He was a friendly guy who had lost the use of […]

A Sorrowful Loss

20. Group Photo of All Coating Products 1
Media Blasting Underside The most economical media for blasting is coal slag. It’s effective and leaves the metal well textured so paint should adhere well. Figure 1 shows the car rolled outside for blasting. Figure 2 shows the work in progress, and Figure 3 shows the completed blasting of the […]

Media Blasting Underside and Applying Coatings

10. Testing Fit of Jack Mounts
Splash Guards This is a short post showing the last few bits of underside work before media blasting and application of coatings. Figure 1 shows a donor splash guard for the driver’s side. The original was a bit too crumbled to be reworked. Having surplus 304 stainless sheet, I decided […]

Finishing Underside Body Work

18. 304 Stainless Battery Tray Installed 1
Driver’s Side Reinforcement Plate Factory Saabs had a pair of 16 ga reinforcement plates/straps welded from the engine bay floor to the cabin floor, one on each side. One of mine was removed to repair a rusted section of floor. Figures 1-2 show the installation of the driver’s side replacement. […]

Miscellaneous Body Work and Stainless Steel Battery Tray