V4 SAAB Frame Repair

What grows in your garden?

Move the patient into the operating theatre.  Bonus points if you have a lift at your disposal.

Secure the chassis to the frame jig you fabricated for the occasion. This will provide unhindered access to the frame channels, while maintaining the overall alignment of the body.  And if you need to use the lift, you can roll this project out of the way…

Out with the bad…

Notice the fixture in the center/back of photo.  This slides along the top of the beam, and clamps tightly to the pinch weld under the trunk floor.  The ‘uni-strut’ section is in use to prevent the floor from sagging.

The view looking forward.  The bracket above the C-clamp cradles the chassis off the pivot bar of the lower control arm.

The new frame channel and floor section.  The channel is fabricated from two sections, folded with loving care by a local HVAC contractor.  Spotweld holes are punched with hand-held pneumatic punch/flange tool, and welded with a Lincoln SP-200 mig, equipped with spot timer and spot welding nozzle.

Test fit of the channel and floor section.

Floor section welded to frame channel.

View from the other end.  The aft section of floor is more complicated in shape, and will be fit separately.

Looks like someone got a new(er) camera…

Not the best angle, but you see where the new floor material matches up with the front anchorage for the rear control arm.

Channel with both sections of floor welded into place.

From the front…

…the middle…

…and the back.

Different angle.

Filling in the blanks.  The seatbelt anchor.  Blue metal came from the roof of a scrapped 900.  Trying to avoid organ rejection…

More 900 metal.

I don’t think that is going anywhere anytime soon.

Detail of spot, seam, overlaps and front seatbelt anchor.

Sharpie markers are handy for this type of work.

Old and new.