| Author |  Topic  |
Doive
V4 Fan
United Kingdom
160 Posts |  Posted - 14 Apr 2021 : 10:09:01  
| The 95 V4 has been my ongoing winter project since I spotted some extensive rust in the offside rear quarter sill and floorpan.. Since then I've replaced all that rot, moved on to the driver's floorpan and front of the sill, repaired, painted and rust proofed it all. Now I'm moving on to the nearside to see how bad that is. I knew there was a big hole in the front floorpan around where the bung used to live, underneath the floor mat. The MoT tester was never too worried about it, as it was outwith the suspension zone. Another area of concern was the rear quarter bottom, where the outer wing meets outer and inner sills. On the offside previously I had the same rot, and ended up cutting out and welding in new metal.
Started on this side by pulling off the front wing. The car has had a few bumps and scrapes over the years, with the bumper pushed right back against the wing, so some judicious use of a pry bar, a lump hammer, and blocks of wood pulled that out straight to get the wing off. Grinding it all back with the knotted wheel revealed the same problems as the offside wing, so a coat of Rustbuster123 on to treat the remaining surface corrosion.
The inner wing on this side looks very good, with only a little peeling of the underseal to reveal surface rust only. Sadly the wing top rail has a small hole, but I'll weld that up.
 
The floorpan shows the expected surface corrosion, but thankfully after hitting the topside with the knotted wheel, and scraping the underseal off the underside, it's generally solid. Treated again with the rustbuster, and cut the rotted part out of the very front. Should be a simple enough patch repair.
Moving backwards, the seatbelt mount didn't show any obvious signs of distress or corrosion. Someone has been in this area before, as there is evidence of welding all along the outer floorpan edge. Pleased to report it fits in nicely with my standard of repairs - that is ugly but solid 8) removed the seatbelt lower mount and attacked the floor with the knotted wheel - it disappeared in a frisson of dust and sparks. No big deal, I'd rather find the rot and deal with it all now. Note the welding to the right of and below the mounting.
On then to the rear quarter. I knew repairs would be needed here from the way the seam had blown between the three skins of metal. Removing the little plastic rain gutter from the bottom of the door seal lip, the metal appeared thin and distorted as I tried to unscrew the plastic - not a good sign. It soon vanished when interrogated with the grinder. The surface rust on the sill received the same treatment, however the 'surface' rust on the quarter panel disappeared, taking the corner of the panel with it. I knew there was rust here, I've been ignoring it since last autumn - I should point out for clarity the car has been off the road since last August, I wouldn't knowingly drive it in this condition. Moving along the outer sill revealed more of the same.
 
Once the grinder had done it's worst, I went back in with an inquisitive chisel, to find out how far it had spread. The inner sill crunching and disappearing in the void suggested it's exactly the same as the other side was back in 2017. Ah well, I know what's involved, just need some dry weather to get on with it. Thankfully the jacking points are solid on this side front and back, so that's good news.
 
1970 95 V4 van
1972 Sonett 3
1973 95 V4 estate |  |
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Doive
V4 Fan
United Kingdom
160 Posts | Posted - 14 Apr 2021 : 10:12:36
| Braved the cold north wind over the Easter weekend to try and get the 95 bodywork finished and back on it's wheels. Cutting out and dealing with the nearside rear sill rust, this seems to be an area where the 95 is prone to rotting out, I've seen it on several cars, and ours has gone on both sides. I repaired the driver's side back in 2017.
Cut out the rot and welded in a new inner sill section.
 
Formed and welded in the new outer wing closing panel. Painted it with this lovely colour matched Cromadex paint, which was bought for our Austin K2 lorry, but didn't match that at all. So a gallon of it to use on other projects... the 95 is like a Picasso painting anyway, so I don't think a further colour will detract too much from it.
 
Applied several coats of Dinitrol UB brushable wax underneath the car. Good stuff that has favourable reviews, so will hopefully keep the rust at bay longer term.
 
Gave the wing and inner wing similar treatment - a spray coat of zinc primer, thick coat of Electrox zinc paint, thick coat of Cromadex, and finally two coats of Dinitrol UB. When it is refitted to the car I'll coat the seams with Dinitrol S-50 spray wax, which creeps into crevices.
 
Finally the floorpan was treated as per the inner wing, but I'll give the inside two coats of Dinitrol UC clear wax - it should be almost invisible once treated.
 
The car hasn't ran since just before Christmas, so put 10 litres of fuel in the tank, put the jump pack on the battery, and with a bit of choke it fired right up. Oil pressure 50psi cold, good steady idle. Jobs left to do are refit the passenger wing, and adjust the handbrake. There is a little rust in the boot floor around the bungs, so all that was ground back and treated. In the fullness of time those will get cut out and replaced, but for now the car is structurally sound, and I'm happy.
1970 95 V4 van
1972 Sonett 3
1973 95 V4 estate | |
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melle
V4 Guru
United Kingdom
3833 Posts | Posted - 14 Apr 2021 : 11:40:33
| Wow, you’ve been busy! I know most of it was done a while ago, but a few things if I may:
– I’ve never seen a water pump pulley shear off, that bearing must have been baaaad! Not sure if you’ve kept that pump backplate, but in my opinion it’s in pretty poor condition with the amount of cavitation damage it has.
– I think a vacuum gauge is much more useful than an oil temp gauge as it helps you diagnose engine issues like worn/ burnt valves, HG leaks and vac leaks on the go. Not sure what oil temp tells you?
– I think 30psi/ 2 bar oil pressure is pretty poor for a freshly rebuilt engine and I would certainly investigate what’s going on. It may just be the cheap gauge, are you sure you’re using a matching sender? Did you replace the balance shaft bearings? Did you check the pump internals or replace it? Or are you using really thin oil?
– Is the van next in line? That will be even more useful! 
www.saabv4.com | |
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| Topic | |
RLR534L 95 V4
