Saab 95 Restoration Progress: Engine Bay

During my last trip up to Oregon a couple weeks ago, I stopped by the shop and visited with Mark. He;s thick in the middle of two restorations, one for this Saab 95 Wagon, and one for a Sonett III. The Wagon has proven particularly "fun" as there was extensive body rot throughout, as documented here.

Mark has made great progress on this car, so I wanted to do a quick scrapbook of some of his work, starting in the engine bay.

Main engine bay cleaned up and primered:


And in paint, using the original paint code for this year:


Passenger side inner fender in primer:


And in body color:


Driver side in primer:


Driver side in paint:


One thing to notice in the above tow pictures is the rectangular access opening at the front of the inner fender. This wasn't stock. the owner of this particular car has thoughts of installing air conditioning, and this opening makes it possible to actually reach the AC belt tensioning device. Here are some pics of they created the opening.

The opening from inside the engine bay:


From inside the wheel well. An access panel was also built that will be easily removed with a few small bolts:

Saab 95 Wagon Restoration: Sheet Metal - Part 1

The 1973 Saab 95 Wagon that is in Mark's shop is getting a thorough mechanical restoration, including as it turns out, a good amount of sheet metal. Quite a few of the usual areas have suffered from demon rust, so here are a few pictures that illustrate how much fun a rusty 95 can be:


Saab 95 Wagon ready for a stripping


Passenger side front floor


Driver side front floor


Left front inside fender


More front floor rot


Left front wheel well


Left rear engine bay, behind shock tower


Left rear wheel well splash panel


Left side floor, behind driver's seat


Old license plates and Guinness Beer cans used to patch rust holes!


Left rear hatch corner, after cleanup


Right rear of hatch, after cleanup


Right rear suspension mounting area

After a lot of cleaning, grinding, and wire wheeling, all of the trouble spots have been highlighted and are ready for fresh sheet metal. Mark has fabricated up a simple rolling cart to mount the chassis/body on, so he can roll it down to the sheet metal fab shop. In a couple weeks, we'll get some "after" photos posted.

-Chris H.

Ashcraft's Vintage Saab Parts New Digs

I paid a visit to Mark's new shop this weekend, since I was up in Oregon visiting for the holiday weekend. When we arrived, Mark was underneath a Saab 95 V4 Wagon, one of two current restoration projects he has going right now. This particular wagon is in serious need of new sheet metal, as the usual areas around the floor, trunk and rockers have suffered from demon rust. I only had my camera phone with me, but at least you'll get to see a glimpse inside the new Vintage Saab Cave.


Mark (right) and Jack (left) pose for a shot. I crawled up on a 2nd level mezzanine and still couldn't get all the parts and cars in one shot.


37 years of gunk and rust have been tough to remove, but Mark is almost ready to get this 95 Wagon into the sheet metal fab shop.


Potential future restoration project? This early 96 V4 Deluxe currently sits in the corner, and has a remarkably complete front end, including all chrome trim, non-dented egg-crate grill, and unbusted marker lamps.


This 1974 Sonett just arrived. The owner sent it to Mark for a complete mechanical restoration.


Unique view of a Sonett III.

Mark indicated he has snapped a bunch of pictures of the 95 Wagon being stripped down, so hopefully we'll get those up shortly.

-Chris H.