UKSaabs

Isn't this a lovely colour combo...
https://www.cultclassics.uk/vehicle-det ... shire-u56/

Am I able to tap into the expertise of the forum? I'm trying to estimate how much welding this will need to make it nice, ideally keeping as much original paint as possible. I have a local classic car restorer but before I contact him I wondered how many days work this is (welding only). From a conversation with the seller I know:
Has been sat at least 10 years in a barn
- Rust on rear quarters, all 4 wheel arches
- Transmission tunnels "crusty"
- Door bottoms are flaky, nearside door dented
- Assume boot floor is rotted out - I've asked for a photo of that

That will leave me to work out how much it will cost to get the rest of it sorted - exhaust, sort engine, potential new fuel tank, interior etc.

TIA - all opinions gratefully received

johneeeski wrote:Isn't this a lovely colour combo...
https://www.cultclassics.uk/vehicle-det ... shire-u56/

Am I able to tap into the expertise of the forum? I'm trying to estimate how much welding this will need to make it nice, ideally keeping as much original paint as possible. I have a local classic car restorer but before I contact him I wondered how many days work this is (welding only). From a conversation with the seller I know:
Has been sat at least 10 years in a barn
- Rust on rear quarters, all 4 wheel arches
- Transmission tunnels "crusty"
- Door bottoms are flaky, nearside door dented
- Assume boot floor is rotted out - I've asked for a photo of that

That will leave me to work out how much it will cost to get the rest of it sorted - exhaust, sort engine, potential new fuel tank, interior etc.

TIA - all opinions gratefully received

Many years ago one of our workshops told us “as long as we have the original data plate we can repair it”. This car looks a bit like one of their projects.

The problem with rust is that it is more often than not worse than it looks.
What you see is often just the tip of the iceberg.

The only way to assess how much needs doing is to get it on a ramp and start prodding.

Any estimates given looking at photos or from written descriptions will just be wild guesses, that will more than likely bare no resemblance to the final cost.

The only safe assumption is that the costs to repair professionally will vastly exceed the value when complete.

Which is fine if it is done as a labour of love with the intention to own and enjoy long term.

Mark_A wrote:The only safe assumption is that the costs to repair professionally will vastly exceed the value when complete.

Which is fine if it is done as a labour of love with the intention to own and enjoy long term.

What he said ^^.

Absolutely agree with all those comments. I wouldn't be doing this to make any money, but also don't want to pay ten times the value of the finished product.

Many years ago one of our workshops told us “as long as we have the original data plate we can repair it”. This car looks a bit like one of their projects.

This made me laugh - and very much makes sense.

I've since had a few more photos sent over and it looks even worse. I'm thinking it is probably worse than "beyond economic repair", it could cost £10k to fill all those holes properly and months of work, especially as there'll be more hidden rot.

Is it a total basket-case?

First batch of photos (in addition to the ones on the seller's website)

I asked for some more of the inside of the boot - which revealed a few holes!

Second batch of photos (in addition to the ones on the seller's website)

Third batch of photos (in addition to the ones on the seller's website)

Final batch of photos (in addition to the ones on the seller's website)

Seen a lot worse brought back to life, Ian Law's 99 was far worse than that but the key thing is that he did all the work himself.

A lot of work to do properly, for example those boot corners are the intersection of about five panels and a drain point. An MOT patch over the top might last a year or two before it rots out again but putting it all back together with the seams in the right place and the drain intact is more akin to surgery.

This is what mine looked like by the time I got back to solid metal - gives an idea of how many panels join there

Mot history here:

https://www.check-mot.service.gov.uk/re ... on=Cur361k

Not had an mot for 11 years, but wasn't taken off the road because of corrosion, which is a plus.

It doesn't look much worse than our c900 was when we started. It's certainly restorable just a question of whether you think it's economically worth it. Look at what good ones go for on ebay and take off £1500. Would you be prepared to spend the difference putting this one right?

I've been watching Bangers and Cash: restoring classics (or whatever it's called). I'm always surprised at what the labour costs are and how much it adds to the final amount. It is very different paying someone £50 an hour to restore your car than doing it yourself, especially when it can be a bit open ended.

I would dispute the ad part that says 'parts are cheap and easily available'.

Mark_A that looks like nice work - want to do this green one for me?!

It doesn't look much worse than our c900 was when we started. It's certainly restorable just a question of whether you think it's economically worth it. Look at what good ones go for on ebay and take off £1500. Would you be prepared to spend the difference putting this one right?

I think that's the point. Let's say I got it for £1k. Then it would be worth (to me), say, £6k. Is £5k enough to do the welding, paintwork, let alone the other work needed? That would buy me about 20 days of my classic car guy's time, leaving a grand for paint. Could it be done in 20 days? And I don't know how fast he actually works, he is a perfectionist.

Another question. Were the engine to be junk, could I put a late year (85/86/87) 8V turbo engine in this engine bay? Is there space? I know you can on the 80s GLs.

HMMM, 20 DAYS @8 HOURS GRAFT IN A DAY..FOR YOUR POTENTIAL '99 PROJECT'...

I SPENT 3500 HOURS, AND 3 AND HALF YEARS RESTORING&BUILDING MY 99 TURBO....EVERY NIGHT, AND EVERY WEEKEND... .AND I DO THIS FOR A LIVING..

THERE IS A REASON, THAT RESTORATIONS TAKE YEARS.
AND NOT MONTHS, OR DAYS...

TO RESTORE A 99,TAKES AN OPEN ENDED WALLET, AN AWFUL LOT OF PATIENCE, AND SOME VERY GOOD CONTACTS...

YOU WILL LIKELY, NEVER SEE YOUR MONEY BACK EITHER...

Thanks BirdieMango - useful insight as ever. Yes, that's a mega amount of time but I appreciate to do it properly does take that long. I'm not expecting to get my money back at all - that wouldn't be the point.

20 days x 8 hours = 160 hours (this was my wild uneducated guess). I'm fearing this is going to be too much as I don't want to spend much more that £10k to get the car set up precisely as I want it and there must be cheaper ways starting with a more solid example.

A finished early 99 wouldn't be worth any more than £10k I'd suggest
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/266285559639 ... R5Tyz9KRYg

Update: somebody (brave) has reserved the 1972 Saab 99.

My classic car guy has estimated it's £20k of work, and will be close to £30k total to include strip down, blast the paint off, repaint and rebuild (which he doesn't do).