55.2-59 1958 Saab story

[dsraven]

sometimes I think I should start on the passenger side first then the upgrades will be on the driver side where it will get used more, haha.

[6DoF]

i've always been a fan of the blacked out pillars, just cleans up the lines so much.

[gottattooz]

I got up this morning and register the panel truck, so now I can legally drive to the gas station. Also finished up the body work around the headlight to make the bezels fit as best as I could. And I bought blind spot mirrors for the tow mirrors.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

I wet sanded and prepped the truck this morning before work and painted the primer spots when I got home. It was cold and foggy out this morning, and about 68 degrees when I got home. I'm very impressed with the color match from finish masters. It's just a single stage urethane.

-Josh

[Madkidd007]

Originally Posted by gottattooz

I wet sanded and prepped the truck this morning before work and painted the primer spots when I got home. It was cold and foggy out this morning, and about 68 degrees when I got home. I'm very impressed with the color match from finish masters. It's just a single stage urethane.

-Josh

Blah blah blah. Don’t you call me and then no answer when I return your call.

[gottattooz]

I got up this morning and wet sanded the fresh paint with 600 grit to knock some of the shine off so it matches the rest of the paint. Then I installed the tail lights and the headlight bezels.

-Josh

[joedoh]

man this is neat!

[dsraven]

Power polish?

[gottattooz]

Originally Posted by dsraven

Power polish?

I haven't polished anything yet. I'll probably hit it with some rubbing compound, but only to get the surface scratches out.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

I bought a new wiper cowl without the vents. I painted it when I did the fenders. Installed it and put the new wiper arms and blades on.

-Josh

[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

[gottattooz]

I forgot I have to remove the door panel to access the top hinge bolts, so I took both panels off and sanded them down and painted them.

-Josh

[gottattooz]

I assembled the door panels, bolted on the rear doors and headed over to Madkidd's house to hang out and shake it down for any driveability issues. I did end up ordering stock loaded struts to raise the front end up a bit. It rubs in corners of you hit a bump. And she needs a bath badly.

-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

[6DoF]

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

[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?

[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