I normally post pics during the weekend, but today's scenery was too nice! Something I like the share 'when it's still hot'.
Over the years, I've explained that during the winter, most jobs are (part) restorations and during the summer, the customers come in for repairs and -early in the year- maintenance. Over the last few winters we had the red Volvo 1800S, the red-and-later-green Morgan, the curry-coloured TR6. All featured here on the forum.
But we never had 3 full-scale restorations at the same time! The red Spitfire MK IV, the Fiat 500 and the blue Saab 96. The Fiat is our long-term pet-project. I've written about that car a while back.
The Spit is going to get a full respray. Despite the fact that I think that the body should come off as well, the owner has chosen to keep the body on the chassis.
And then there's my absolute favorite: the Saab 96. The owner and I can spend hours talking about this car. A while back, I wrote about 'giving the owner some time' to come up with his wishlist. Well, the wishlist is as long as my arm!
First success: tracing a brand-new scuttle (is that the term? We call it a paravan). Perhaps you can remember Edd China working on a yellow USA Saab 96. He had to cut out rust and he made a bunch of inserts for the holes. We managed to trace a brand-new one in Germany. The 'SAAB Aktiebolaget' decals were still on it!
The engine is out and sent off to a Ford engine wizard who's going to change the 1500 cc engine into a 1700 cc engine. Furthermore: enlarging the manifold holes, different valves and perhaps a one-off for Webers! Saab used to have a special catalog for 'fast stuff' and the idea is to obtain/make as much as possible.
There’s no time pressure and the owner is aware of the fact that the total costs will outnumber the value of the car. He doesn't mind.
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