Classic cars forum & vehicle restoration.

[gillberry]

there is one sitting in a garden near to where my father lives i have not seen it on the road for years a mustard sort of colour it now just sits at the side of his house,

[john-saab]

[Comrade-Paul]

I bet it is too.
In Sprowston?
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Picture taken in 1960??

[gillberry]

Mustard colour estate not moved for many years .

[john-saab]

It's been a busy day and i have now fitted a 2nd hand gear box..it's super smooth and is a pleasure to use..unlike the one fitted when the car arrived.
The new engine i fitted needs tuning but seems to be much quieter than the one that was in the car..the brake calipers i re-built still need to be fitted..i have new flexi hoses, discs and pads to fit.
I have family over for the whole of this next so progress will be slower..but I have a dead line..it must be ready for the meeting i have organised in two weeks..i'm also hoping it will be ready to drive up to Steve's house so that i can give him a hand to fit the new gearbox he has for his 2 stroke!..hopefully if that's done he will be able to also come to the meeting/show
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Rust Junky & oil addict.

[john-saab]

I have been playing with Veronica...I never liked the later plastic grill on the chrome bumpered cars..they look fine on the rubber bumper cars but teh chrome grill is much better looking in my eyes.

The problem is that the later front panel doesnt accept the earlier chrome grill. I had an earlier panel but the verona green paint i have is a slightly lighter shade than that on the car. You can see the different profiles of the later panel (still on the car) and the earlier panel..the section i am holding.

Rather than fitting the earlier panel and coating it in a miss matched paint i drilled the spot welds out of the 2 upright sections that support the headlight surrounds and welded them into the panel that is the correct colour.
With the new brackets in place i fitted the chrome grill. The only problem was that the original grill badge was in terrible condition so...with a bit of fettling i fitted a different badge..i like it and it's staying for now!

The badge looked a bit odd as the slat lines didn't line up with those on the grill so i added a black back to the badge..

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Rust Junky & oil addict.

[RotaryBri]

That looks good John.

I had a late model 95 in a sort of cream colour (I think it was officially a pale yellow!) and regret selling it. I was not keen on the orange seats though. I wonder if it's still around the number, if I can remember it correctly, was LEH 432P
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Keep Torqueing,

RotaryBri

1976 NSU Ro80

[Rick]

Saw the local prize-winning 95 driving through Nantwich yesterday, certainly stood out from the euroblobs either side of it in the queue of traffic

R
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[john-saab]

It's about time this was updated.
Veronica had been difficult to start, she wouldn't idle and oil pressure was getting lower on every outing. I pulled the engine out and dropped a better lump in..this newer engine was rattly but with a change of rocker arm and shaft it now runs like a dream. I have fitted a Webber carb and an aftermarket sports exhaust..she now screams along.
Next jobs are to fit a quieter gear box and make a start on the paint..it's poor in some places and the rear windows leak..when these come out i will spend a bit of time on the metalwork around them as there is bubbling..this is a common area to rot out and the wet getting inside it can cause issues with the top captive nuts that hold the rear wings in place.
We went to the "Swedish day" show at the Haynes museum last weekend and met up with a few other 95/96 owners...I asked them all to meet in the "top field" for a photo shoot and here's the result..

Also met a few people with a love for "Verona green"..

I have clocked up a lot of miles in Veronica this year so i'm hoping to get stuck into a few of my other projects soon in the hope that one will be road worthy soon so it can take the pressure off her!
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Rust Junky & oil addict.

[john-saab]

Veronica missed the snow at the end of 2010 due to another failed engine. I have been through 3 engines in a year..to be honest they were all just pulled from other cars that had been scrapped so were all unknown..the current engine came from a car that had been stationary for 5 years and was thrown in to do a 350 mile round trip..all went well and it lasted 4000 miles over 6 months.
Plans for the new year include a proper re-build of a low milage engine with the best parts i can find.
The weakness in the Ford Taunus engine is the fibre timing gear and the balance shaft bearings..the (white metal) bearings fail usually because someone has over tightened the fan belt..this wears one side of the bearing and the balance shaft (with the fibre timing gear on it's end) jams up..the engine keeps turning and the gears teeth are stripped.
The answer to the timing gear is a metal set (and a properly adjusted fan belt)..slightly more noisy but if the bearings fail the water pump/altinator keeps working and you can get home (although oil pressure drops..that's usually the first sign of a failing bearing) Downside is that the metal timing gear is expensive and rare.
Apart from the engine shs's fine and i hope to spend a bit of time this year on some of my other SAAB and non SAAB projects (Hillman Avenger and Sunbeam Rapier Fastback)
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Rust Junky & oil addict.

[Bluesbreaker]

Yeah, those balance shaft bearings are a real pain in the neck on those V4's.

Hope you get her running allright, those Saab's are fun little motors!
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I just love old cars!

Saab 96 V4 1973
Saab 96 V4 1974
Saab 96L V4 Super 1977

[john-saab]

It's been a while since I last posted on Veronicas progress..
Since the last post I have added 2400 miles onto the engine I re-built, now on it's 3rd oil change and overhauled Webber carburettor it seems to be settling in nicley.
I fitted a "new" interior..one from a car I have in storage..the old seats were mis-matched and were faded.
A lot of cutting and polishing went in to smooth a poor paint job applied to the drivers rear 1/4 ..done before I became the current owner.
The gear box is getting noisy so it will all come out as soon as I have re-built another. I have a stock pile of spares but these gear box's are a little more difficult to re-build because of the "free wheel" facility .
Most of the work was done late last summer so that the car would be ready for a special day out..Practical Classics magazine were runing a feature on 70's estate cars and my car was part of that feature.
The magazine was out in January and my car seemed to have come out of the "head to head" rather well.
Future plans include finding a better drivers door..the scraper channel in the door has rotted out..these are very difficult to repair..I have tried in the past with out much sucess.
A shot from the photo shoot.

I have spent a while tracing the cars previous owners and will have a go at contacting them soon..i'm not really sure how to approach this as some may have.."moved on" I have draughted a letter and searched through the internet for past owners current details..most show up on the electorial register but my real interest is in the cars early days around the Liverpool area and most of the early drivers have proved difficult to trace. I would really like to trace them but don't want to upset family if they have passed on.
I have been using Veronica as my every day transport since late last summer and have been enjoying every moment..I still get a smile when looking back at the car after a long trip like the one to Comerade Paul's place in Norfolk at Christmas

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Rust Junky & oil addict.