55.2-59 1958 Saab story

[gottattooz]

The lower hinge pocket showed up today, so I cut out the rotted section and trimmed the new piece to fit. Drilled several holes to make the weld stronger and ran a bead around the perimeter fit extra strength.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

I smoothed the welds with a flap disc, primered and painted everything. Before hanging the door, I cut out for the wiring harness plugs to clear like I did on the passenger side.

-Josh

[dsraven]

nice. good to get a few miles.I wondered about tir rub but figured you would have that figured out in a minute.
what did you do after lunch then......? haha. fast work.

[gottattooz]

Gave it a bath and figured out the rear door issue. I bought an S10 tail gate to convert the latches with. While disassembling the panel truck door, I found the missing top latch. It had fallen down into the door and was held in with the threaded rod that actuates the latch. I put everything back with new hardware and made a few adjustments and everything works! Yay!

-Josh

[gottattooz]

Driving down back roads, you can smell the exhaust fumes. Running down the interstate, your eyes burn like you've been pepper sprayed. I extended the exhaust tip out and under the bumper. Hopefully that'll fix it.

-Josh

[dsraven]

the pipe over the axle is oval shaped right? bet that took a little persuation to get the extension to fit up. I'm happy to hear you got it fixed, I was wondering about carbon monoxide poisoning and thinking how co builds up in your blood stream and takes awhile to get rid of.

[gottattooz]

It is an odd shape over the axle, but it's round at the hanger. It's angled up a bit, so I had to make a slice cut to bring it down below the bumper.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

New struts came in today. I measured the height at the center line of the front rim, swapped out the struts, took it around the block to settle the suspension and then remeasured. It raised the front end 1 3/4 inches and now the front tires don't rub. I even hit the driveway at speed to see if it would hit and I heard nothing.

-Josh

[dsraven]

will you need to boost the rear a bit to level the truck? adjust the air bags?

[gottattooz]

I'm not sure yet. The rear shocks haven't showed up yet. I'll get those mounted and see what adjustments need to be made.

-Josh

[Madkidd007]

Originally Posted by dsraven

will you need to boost the rear a bit to level the truck? adjust the air bags?

Is the second half of this a genuine question or you trying to explain to him how to change the rear height?

[6DoF]

more clearance, and probably getting less compression with new shock valving too. much win

[gottattooz]

Originally Posted by 6DoF

more clearance, and probably getting less compression with new shock valving too. much win

That's what I was thinking. It's definitely stiffer over bumps now, but I'm just glad it doesn't rub

-Josh

[gottattooz]

I pulled it out of the shop and let it air up and measured at the rocker behind the front fender and in front of the rear wheel. It's 7 1/2 inches up front and 8 1/4 at the rear. It looks level enough for me not to mess with it, and it's not sagging in the rear.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

Well the exhaust issue is fixed, which was a huge relief. While driving around, I was trying to pay attention to the headlight coverage and cut off to make sure I'm not blinding oncoming traffic with 4 low beams. My driveway to the shop is a bit of an uphill, so I think it gives a pretty good example of the low and high beam outputs.

-Josh

[dsraven]

stance looks bang on to me, quite level instead of a big rake angle. lights are really bright too. do you get guys flashing their high beams from oncoming traffic?

[gottattooz]

Surprisingly not. I thought for sure every other car would be flashing me, but I think maybe twice so far. A lot of people around the Atlanta area run their high beams, so I get to see their faces (literally) when I let them know with my high beams.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

Rear shocks came in, so I replaced those.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

I mounted and wired up a reverse camera. Has to pull the driver's seat and center console to run the cable, but everything works, so it was worth the effort.

-Josh

[Madkidd007]

Originally Posted by gottattooz

I mounted and wired up a reverse camera. Has to pull the driver's seat and center console to run the cable, but everything works, so it was worth the effort.

-Josh

That’s funny. I always wanted to add one since it had the right radio already.

[6DoF]

that's absurd! i love it!

[G&R's57GMC]

Now that’s a great pair !

Father and son , oh and the trucks .

Oh and Happy Birthday dad .

[gottattooz]

I removed the old cardboard (probably asbestos) sounds deadening material and found a few surprises. Some really old matches and a mouse's nest

-Josh

[gottattooz]

This is the same stuff I used on the roof of the Jeep. It kept oil canning at high speeds, and it fixed the issue, along with extra roof braces. It's called mat66.

After I finished putting everything back together, dad and I took it for a drive. It was loud and tinny before and conversations were muffled. Now I can have a normal conversation without shouting.

-Josh

[6DoF]

very nice