October 20, 2011

going a little more classic 99…

I visited a wrecking yard with a few late 60s, early 70s SAAB 99s .. back when the bumpers were chrome and lots of the trim was metal instead of plastic. The cool thing about 99s is a lot of parts are interchangeable throughout the years. I needed a new steering wheel and I ended up with a really nice EMS 3 spoke, but after I saw this steering wheel I sort of thought to go more in the classic direction than the sporty direction.

The wheel itself is hard plastic over a metal ring and in decent shape. There are some old style plastic wheel restoration kits, such as Eastwood’s, which allow you to repair cracks and pits. The horn piece is rubber over metal and the trim pieces are solid aluminum. I used Black Again on the rubber and 300 grit sand paper on the aluminum.

October 5, 2011

It was suggested that I spray the painted lamp clusters with a clear high gloss enamel to protect them. I also sealed the lamp lenses where they had cracked with an epoxy. I cleaned up the rubber with mineral spirits and then treated them with “Black Again” which made them look and feel good as new. I’ll replace the cage nuts with stainless steel ones and I’ve done that with the screws as well. Lets see how they hold up.

October 2, 2011

Rear seat is finished

I picked up the rear seat today. The driver and passenger seat are still getting finished up with new seat and back trampolines. I think they really turned out great. The trunk fabric on the back of the back seat is what is going to be used on the floor panels and side panels of the trunk. There are a few ‘manila brown’ pieces which I plan to paint with a good enamel and cure in a low temp drying oven. The two side panels that fit over the wheel arches in the back seat area are getting painted at the body shop with a very durable paint.