14x04 - 1973 Saab 96

[bunniefuu]

The 1973 Saab 96 may not have
been the most powerful car on the road.



It's basically a lawnmower.

A fast lawnmower.

But this rally-bred aviation-inspired
dynamo put the Swedish automaker on the map.

Another Saab innovation.

A cantilevered bonnet.

With their supplied dwindling,
passionate Saab fanatics

are desperate to get their
hands on one in good condition.

Are you hiding?

But with a broken clutch, smashed
windscreen and fistfuls of rust.

This is worse than I thought.

We have our work cut out for us.

If me and Anko go too
far in the red fixing this

car, we could be in for the
worst kind of Saab story.

It looks like you've taken 10 steps
backwards and just a tow forward.

I'm on my way to go and see
one of my favourite all-time cars.

It's a Saab 96.

I love these little cars.

They're so good.

They were so packed with innovation.

Now, Saab had this car
in production for 20 years.

And the car I'm going to see is a 1973.

Now, the guy who's selling
the car, his name is Anthony.

The only problem is with
it, is it's got a broken clutch.

So you're probably
thinking, why am I on the road

to go and see a Saab


Well, let me tell you for why.

It's only three and a half thousand
dollars, and that is a cheap Saab 96.

The market for them at
the moment is really strong.

I see them advertised
anywhere between $7,000 in good

condition, while a top
restoration can get 16 grand.

People like these cars, and the reason they
like them is because of their durability.

These little cars were built to last.

Now, the problem I've got is being
convinced that it is just a broken clutch.

And not something more complicated
and expensive, like a gearbox.

And hopefully, I'll get us a
cheap car that I can take back to

the shop, and me and Ant can
earn some good money out of it.

But it might be on the back of
a trailer, instead of me driving it.

There it is.

Are you Anthony?

Yes.

How you doing?

How you doing?

Nice to see you. I'm Mike.

Nice to meet you, Mike.

This looks fantastic.

So tell me about it.

It's a 1973 Saab 96.
I purchased it from the original owner.

So why are you selling it now?

Well, to be honest with
you, I've had a lot of projects.

I thought I wanted to try something
different, and realized it's not for me.

Well, that's a bit of a shame,
but your loss could be my gain.

Now, when you sent me
the pictures, I could see that

there was a bit of rust at
the bottom of the screen.

Yes.

But now I'm here, it's actually a big
deep hole, almost on both sides of the car.

So that is a problem, because
that's a lot of fabrication work.

But that is a common area
where they go in these cars.

Let's look at the good stuff.
I mean, it's got each and every panel.

You know, when you
see a car like this, you're

looking for bits that
are important to replace,

like glass, trim, door
handles, cappings,

moldings, rear bumpers
there, which is good.

This is nice.

Oh, and there's other bits in the trunk.

Yes.

This is falling off us, is it?

Yes.

Is it somewhere?

Yes, that's for the side.

Oh, I see.

Oh, that's good.
I'm glad it's here, and it's worth keeping.

Now, a weak spot is
top of the suspension

turrets in the rear, and
they look factory fresh.

And down on the boot floor, look at that,
that's the old wood, still in the car.

Wow.

It's even got the original tool kit.

Oh, yeah, look at that.

That's fantastic.

This car's got good bones.

Yes.

They're a nice, strong,
durable car, they really are.

Nice and solid down this side as well.

The interior looks good.

It's got all the original dials and gauges.

These aren't original, these three.

No, those were installed aftermarket.

Aftermarket, but it's nice to see oil
Gauge, water Gauge, and battery voltage.

That's a shame.

The screen's gone.

Don't think it's going to
be easy to get a screen

for one of these, but
I'll have a very good go.

All right.

Yeah, door cards are good.

I love this little feature here.

Just one pivot point,
look how simple that is.

Goes up and down, and that's why it still
works beautifully after all these years,

and it's little things like that that set
this car apart from other cars out there.

Let's have a look under
the bonnet of this car.

I love this.

Another Saab innovation,
the cantilevered bonnet.

Wow.

Look at that, that
wonderful little V4 engine.

Now, weak areas in these
underneath are underneath.

This is the fan, and they rust underneath
the fan, but this one is in good order.

And you say it runs?

It runs, it fires right up.

Does it? Can I hear it?

Absolutely.

Lovely. Fantastic.

Sounds like the manifold is blowing.

Sounds like it's got a little exhaust leak.

Yeah, a little bit of an exhaust leak.

Okay, if you don't mind turning it off.

And while you're there,
would you do me a favor?

Let me just pull this cover back.

Would you just pump the clutch?

Sure.

Yeah.

And I can see the pedals working,
so it has to be around the clutch plate.

Yeah.

The problem I've got is not knowing
whether it's going to be the gearbox.

And if it's a gearbox, then this
car's not going to be worth the money.

I'd have to simply walk away.

How much money did you want for it again?

$3,500.

So it's $3,500.

Have you had a quote to do the clutch?

$700.

$700 to do the clutch?

Wow, they're deer around here, aren't they?
That's expensive.

If I was to take the price
of a clutch off and $700

and make it $2,800,
would you sell it for that?

I do want to let it go.
I want to get it out of here.

I have other projects, as you well know.

So I could do that for you.
I could do $2,800.

I'm not going to shake your hand just yet.

If you can just give me five minutes,
I'm just going to call my mechanic,

have a quick chat with him, and see what
he thinks, and I'll let you know in a bit.

Sure.

I gave Ant a heads up that I
might need him to come out

and look the car over to
see if it's worth picking up.

If it's a gearbox
problem, that could be

really expensive and a
time-consuming repair.

Mikey.

Hey, you're here.

Saab 96.

Yes, how good is that? You like it?

Absolutely lovely.

I know you like them.
I'm a big fan of these cars.

What are you hiding?

All right, we can see past that.

Yeah, it's a little bit of fabrication
work, but other than that, it's a good car.

This is the owner. His name's Anthony.

Nice to meet you.

Nice to meet you.

You have very good taste in cars.

Thank you very much.

This is a great little car,
but there is a gamble to it

because it runs, the engine
runs, but I can't drive it.

You think it's probably the clutch?

Or the gearbox.

Can you get a clutch?

Yeah, before I come and see
the car, I've phoned around.

I can get a clutch locally, yeah.

You're obviously a car guy,
and you've got quite a bit of kit.

I've got tools, and I've got a-

Well, you just get the
clutch. Do you mind if

we borrow your own- I
think we can. Let's do it.

Sure.

Looks like I'm going shopping for a clutch.

We're taking a chance, spending time
and money on a car we don't own yet,

but I'm hoping this investment
pays off big time later on.

It's only when you take the grill off
and the bonnet off and reveal the engine

you realise how compact this unit is,
but that's the brilliance of the Swedes.

They chose a really small,
tiny, but ultra-reliable engine.

I mean, it makes for the perfect package.

But I've got sports bags bigger than that.

Now, the word clutch shudders
fear down the spine of most people.

It's not really a job you'd
normally tackle on the driveway.

But if you have a bit of confidence
and consider that most of the cost

of having a clutch done is
labour, why not have a go yourself?

Now, the clutch is broken up into two
pieces, a clutch plate and a pressure plate.

I can see from here that the clutch
is worn down to barely a millimetre.

I mean, that's good for the bin.

And this looks completely rusted solid.

Yeah, this definitely needs a new clutch.

Now I've just got to wait for Brewer.

Unlike the windscreen,
trim and other vintage parts,

it's not that hard to find a direct-fit
replacement clutch for a Saab.

Aha!

There's a man who looks like he's done...

Whoa, look at that,
quite a bit of work already.

Well done, sunshine.

Clutch.

That's for you, yes.

How much was that?

$320, about £250.

That's not that.

So you got the engine out.

Was it the clutch?



Seriously?

Yep, clutch was wrecked.

I didn't see any problems with the gearbox.

It looked good.

Fantastic.

Okay, so that means
we're in the money already.

Yeah, but we've still got to finish it.

I know we've still got to finish it.

I'll give you a hand.

It's going to be great.

Get it in there.

Maybe I could drive it.

Will Ant be able to get this Swedish
classic from the 70s back on the road?

Should we start her up?

Well, we're going to find out.

Yeah, go for it.

You feel confident?

We're looking at a 1973 Saab 96
that's for sale at a very tempting price.

I could do $2,800.

But it doesn't drive.

The problem I've got is not
knowing whether it's the gearbox.

It's a brilliant car that drives
Saab enthusiasts mad with delight.

But before agreeing to buy
it, I've called Ant in to help,

and we're hoping a replacement clutch
gets this Swedish classic back on the road.

When installing a clutch, you want
to make sure it's perfectly aligned.

To do it the right way, you're
going to need one of these.

This is a clutch alignment tool.

It's basically a spline bit of plastic that
mimics the input shaft of the gearbox.

Put that in.

It lines up the clutch plate.

Make sure it's exactly in the center.

It can only be a millimeter off, and
the engine won't fit to the gearbox.

And it's only a few quid.

That should drop down if I
lower it the rest of the way, look.

Super.

The motor goes back in
exactly the way it came out.

Next, we're reattaching the grille.

And temporarily filling the
radiator with a garden hose.

We'll replace it later with a
proper mix back at the workshop.

Right, let it rest.

All good?

Yeah, I'm happy.

Happy you sure?

Yeah.

Shall we start her up?

Well, we're going to find out.

Yeah, go for it.

You feel confident?

Your silence says a lot.

Here we go.

Go on, plenty of gas.

That's a pretty good
thing to see, isn't it?

Here are drives.

How good is that?

Do you know what?

I love this little car.

It's fantastic.

So we agreed, Anthony, didn't we?

$2,800, right?

$2,800.

Super.

You got yourself a deal?

And I've just bought us a Saab 9-6.

Well done, then.

Great work.

Yes!

$2,800.

Seriously.

Lovely, lovely, lovely.

That's about 2,000 pounds
for a Saab 9-6, a 1973 as well.

Well, a 73.

It is the best year to
get a Saab in America.

It was the last year they
exported to this country,

and by then, they'd
ironed out all the problems.

They would have got everything right.



It's a great car to think about, isn't it?



It's basically a lawnmower.

It is basically a fast lawnmower.

It is quick.

Yeah, one World Ready Championship,
this car, and it drives lovely.

And what's this?

First, second, third, and fourth.

Look at that in the gearbox.

Beautiful.

Clutch is performing
fantastically, actually.

I don't think you'd need to rip this
engine out and do any more work to it.

It feels like it's got good power.

But now we've got it going well.

Let's see if the brakes work.

Whoa!

Yeah, brakes work.

That's steering.

Whoa!

Hello!

Anyway, it rolls round the corner.

Well, these do famously
have a lot of body roll

on them, but they
grip the road really well.

What about the interior?

Right, now there's a couple of things.

Yeah, the headliner's got to be changed.

All the good stuff is here.

You know, the switches,
the dials, the gauges.

The actual seats themselves
are really comfortable.

Window wipers work.

Lights, I think everything seems to work.

What about the horn?

I think Toy Town want their hooter back.

Now, the problem is Saab is a
company that no longer exists.

Parts are scarce.

Parts are hard.

There's a bit of trim missing.

Yeah.

There's going to be bits and pieces.

We're going to have to
go to Europe and get parts.

I will immediately go to the owner's club.

There'll be a wealth of owners out there

that have got a garage full of trim parts.

Trust me, I'll find them.

The one thing that is
worrying me, and it's the

big job when you look
ahead, is the rust issue.

And I'm worried that it's got
through to the inner valance.

And if it has, that means
you're going to be cutting away.

Extra work.

I'll take the screen out, remove the
rubber, cut the rust out, see where we are.

That means, though, we
have got to paint the car.

See, we've got to think about the marketplace,
where this car's going to go on to.

And people want that nostalgic look,

means that me and you can
drive a good price come sale time.

Some people say that
this Saab looks awkward.

And I get that.

The reason the car looks like
this is all down to Saab's heritage.

Saab was founded in 1937
as an airplane company.

built to support Sweden's
air defence before the w*r.

At the end of World w*r II,
they had these huge factories

and a skilled workforce
with very little left to do.

So they evolved.

They started building cars
alongside building planes.

Now, I could raffle on about
my love affair with Saabs all day.

But I've got to get this car stripped down.

I'm going to start with the windscreen.

Before I can remove the windscreen, I
have to remove all the surrounding trim.

It's a shame this windscreen's broken

because I know it's going to be
tricky to source here in the US.

But Mike says he's got it under control.

Good luck with that.

If the windscreen wasn't already broken,

I'd probably take more care.

Now for the real ugly parts of this car.

This rust is worse than I thought.

I'm going to clean it up
now and then tackle it later.

The bumpers and exterior
lights come off next.

These rare, original parts can
be extremely expensive to replace,

so we need to make sure
that they don't get damaged.

I've got a thing about shut lines.

In fact, I lose sleep over
them if they're not perfect.

And my problem with this Saab
is that it's deliberately designed

so that the boot and bonnet
don't fit flush to the panel.

Gives me the jeebies.

A shut line is the panel
gap between two panels.

And the best-case scenario is you want
to have an even gap around all the panels

so that when you stand back
and look at the car overall,

it can be the difference between it
being an OK or a world-class vehicle.

The problem with our panel gap
on this door, it's far from world-class.

You can clearly see at the top
there's a bigger gap than at the bottom.

And if I measure it with my calipers,

the bottom is a shade over 3mm,
while the top is closer to 8mm.

And that's unacceptable.

But the good news is that
Saab engineered a solution.

They made the door hinges
on the Saab 96 adjustable.

You can see the hinge
itself is threaded with

a locking nut on the
outside of the door,

and on the inside of the door behind
this door card is another locking nut.

So I've got to remove
all of this to get to it.

I'm really happy with the


so I only want to
close the gap at the top.

So I'm going to do it
by undoing the outer nut,

create some space, and then do up
the inner nut, drawing the door forward.

Now that already looks better,
but the proof is in the micrometer.



All right, there's 0.2mm difference.

But I reckon even the
Saab will be happy with that.

The reason I'm taking this car apart is
because you have to before you paint it.

And that's because Saab fitted a rubber
seal between the wing and the body.

And they did it for two reasons.

One, it reduced vibration
between the panels.

And two, they believed that it
would actually reduce corrosion.

They believed that the
rubber would protect a

metal panel from touching
against a metal panel.

But actually, it produced an
area where water could gather.

This is one of the three
areas where a Saab can rust.

Hopefully... Ours isn't.

I think we got away with it.

Nice one, Mike.

I've checked that each and every
panel fits with perfect shut lights.

And this lot here is almost
ready to go to the body shop.

The shell, on the other hand,
that's got one major job left to tackle.

And it's a dirty four-letter word.

Rust.

We've bought a 1973 Saab 96.

Replaced the clutch and
stripped off the panels and trim.

But there's one problem you're
faced with pretty much every old car.

And this ingenious Swedish
import is no exception.

Rust is one of those things
that's almost impossible to avoid.

However, Saab made steps to combat it.

And every car from 1970
onwards, and that includes

our car, went through
a multi-stage process.

Each shell was dipped in a metal panel.

It was an electrically charged primer.

They filled all the cavities
with an oil-based preventative.

And they even did a drench test.

Which basically means they
took the car and drove it through

a massive puddle to make
sure there wasn't any leaks.

And despite all these
extra efforts by Saab,

just like every other car on the planet,

Saab's still Rust.

In order to assess the damage,
I need to go back to bare metal.

I'm using a disc sander to remove
as much surface corrosion as I can.

The body needs to be completely
free of corrosion before it's painted.

Now I know what I'm dealing
with, I've come up with a plan.

It's actually not as bad as I thought.

It's not affected around
this grille section here

because that would have been
a nightmare to try and tackle.

But I reckon I'm going
to make it in three pieces.

Firstly I'm going to build the flange,
this return piece around the corner.

Then I'm going to build
a small fill-in panel here,

making sure that I avoid the grille area.

And then finally a third piece
here to take up that big hole.

By the time I've welded it all in, it's
going to look like a brand new bulkhead.

For a heavy duty job like
cutting out the bad metal,

an angle grinder's power and
compactness makes it the perfect tool.

I'm using a caliper to
measure the valance's width

so I know exactly how big a piece of
metal I need to cut for the new panel.

The sheet metal folder helps
me fabricate the proper angles.

I'm going to create for the first part of
my panel a nice flowing smooth curve,

which means I've got to
turn this straight angled piece

of steel into a kind of
hockey stick shaped piece.

And to do that I'm going to use a
brilliant bit of workshop equipment.

These guys here, these are
called shrinker and stretchers.

They're great value, they take up
very little space in the workshop,

plus, with a bit of experience,
anybody can use them.

And they work in a really simple way.

Inside here is a pair of
jaws with loads of tiny teeth.

It grips the metal, holding it tight,

and then once it's secure, a secondary
motion pulls the metal inwards.

It's the shrinker, and it's
that that creates the curve.

Yeah, that looks pretty good.

The hockey stick part of
the curve works really well,

but the bulkhead on our
salve also turns that way.

So I've now got to use the stretcher.

The stretcher works in exactly
the same way as the shrinker,

but instead of grabbing
the metal and pulling it in,

it grabs the metal and pushes it out.

It stretches it, and it's that that creates
the curve in the opposite direction.

For the second stage, I'm going to
focus on repairing this small section here,

and I need to be careful not
to enter or damage the grill.

So I'm going to be using
this 7-inch piece of steel,

but bear in mind that the
car flows up and across.

So this is going to need some shaping.

I'm using a body hammer and an
English wheel to shape the metal.

These old-school tools enable
me to form compound curves

from flat pieces of steel
for a completely custom fit.

I've kept as much of
the old panel as possible,

and I've used it as a guide
for shaping my new piece.

Now what I'm going to do is
use the new piece as a template,

draw around it,

cut out the old bit,

measure and Mark the new panel,

cut out the old bit,

drop the new one in.

Now to repeat the process
with the larger piece.

It's been several
small steps to make this

complicated panel, but if
you break each one down,

you get a bespoke piece of the puzzle.

Dealing with rust is labour-intensive.

This has taken quite a bit of time,

but it's the part of car
building I love the most.

And if you've got the right
tools, we've spent less than $10.

That's around £8 in metal.

Sadly, though, it's only half a job.

But I'm in the zone, so I'm going
to crack on with the other side.

Whoa! Ant Anstead, look at you!

Oh, you've really got
the town on our little sub.

Loved the fabrication work
that you've done in there.

So it looks like you've taken a lot
off and put just a tiny bit back on.

Well, it's a restoration.

It's got to go a few steps
backwards to go forwards.

Yeah, but it looks like you've taken 10
steps backwards and just a tow forward.

That is one stripped-down car.

Give me some parts.

Right, parts, okay. Now, this is exciting.

You ready, ready, ready?

Lights, look at that.

I've got you some door rubbers.

Where does all this come from?

Right, so I did what most people should do.

When you're going to restore a car,

you really need to search far and wide.

So what I did is I joined the owner's club,

I've scoured the Internet,
I've gone into parts

stores, and it's amazing
what you can find.

I even found nice little details like this.

How nice are they?

Look at that one. How cool is that?

Really good.
And I even found a nice Saab badge,

which is lovely.

And, of course, I've
saved the best till last.

Door wedge seal set.
It's four bits of rubber.

It is four bits of foam and rubber,

but they are really important
because it's all about the detail.

We need to get the detail right on this car

because we have got a
chance to go to a show.

It's the annual North
American Saab Convention

and they've said we
can bring that car along

and if we get the details
right on this car and put it in

front of those people, we've
got a good chance of selling it.

Right, so we're talking
about a dedicated Saab event

with dedicated Saab
fans, potential Saab buyers.

Fine, done. No problem.

Fantastic. Okay.

So is there anything else I can help with?

Yeah, where's the windscreen?

Right, now that is the one
problem, so I know I can do that.

Windscreen, windscreen.

Windscreen.

Now the problem is I've
searched everywhere in

North America for a
windscreen for that car,

and other than me jumping on an aeroplane

and heading to Sweden
and buying two tickets.

and putting a piece of glass next to me,

it ain't gonna happen.

But nobody said it had
to be a Saab windshield.

So I've arranged to meet
a guy called Eddie Cotto.

Now Eddie is described
as the Michelangelo of glass.

He says that basically it
can take any piece of glass,

any windshield, and make it fit any car.

And he's arranged to meet me right here.

How you doing, son? Hey, Mike.

Nice to see you. What have you got for me?

Let me show you.

Whoa! Eddie, look at that. It's incredible.

How many pieces are in the rear?

Maybe we have 5,000 glass here.

Right, so we've got 5,000 pieces of glass.

Does that mean that we have to go through

every piece of glass to
find the right curvature?

No. Maybe we can go through 5 or 10 glass.

About 5 or 10. Should we get started?

Each windscreen has its own curvature designed
to fit within its vehicle's body type.

There are thousands of different curves,
but the possibilities aren't limitless.

Now you can see why we need to change this.

Look at the state. Look at the state of it.

We can fix it.

So what we're going to do,
we're going to place the glass.

over another glass.

Yeah, this is a good one.

It's a nice big piece of glass, isn't it?

We can take the middle if it fits,

but the carrot's not right,

so we need to look for the other one.

I think this one will fit.

Yeah, I mean, it's looking promising
out of all the ones we've checked.

There you go.

I have a good feeling about this one, Mike.

Let it go. Watch your fingers.

I've got to tell you,
that's looking really good.

Oh, Eddie. Wow, look at that.

That's absolutely spot on.

That's perfect. You've nailed that.

That is fantastic.

So now you've got to do your magic,

which is to cut this out.

You do this at the car.
You don't do it here.

No, we'll take it to your shop.

I think Anne is going
to absolutely love this.

What's this screen out of originally?

This is a Chevy Impala.

It's a Chevy Impala screen.

Who would have thought
a Chevy Impala screen

shares the same
curvature with a 1973 car.

made in Sweden thousands of miles away.

You, sir, are a hero.

Thank you so much, Eddie.
That is brilliant.

You're welcome.

We know Saab owners
go crazy for originality,

so we painted the car brilliant yellow,

which was an original Saab colour.

that matched through
the old brand paint codes.

Now, Eddie's just arrived to
help fit the Saab's new windscreen.

How's this going to work?

We're going to place the
original one over the Impala glass

and Mark it with a marker
and cut the glass all around it.

Right, so we're going to use the
broken one here as a template. Exactly.

Why did you choose Impala?

The Impala, it's a perfect fit as a curve,

not the size.

And we're going to Mark the
glass and the edge exactly.

So how are we going to cut it?

We use a glass cutter.

Is it done by hand or do you use a ruler?

By hand. It's all done by hand.

You can't use a straight or a ruler.

There is no straight line in the glass.

So I'm going to use oil first.

When I use oil, you can
see the cut on the glass.

So I'm going to start cutting the glass.

See, now it's hard to bend.

If you push more, we're going
to chip the glass with my brake.

We need to use the fire.

Now if you move the
glass a little bit, not much,

you'll see it's more flexible.

So it's just opened up the gap?

Exactly.
I can go from the bottom area like this.

and go very easy.

No heat.

And how do you know?

It moved already.
I have space for the razor blade.

And that's it.

That's amazing.

Eddie's cutting round the pattern he
traced with the Saab's original glass.

There is literally no room for error.

To get it wrong, it's in the bin.

So now we're going to have a barbecue.

Great.

We're going to get some
rubber and alcohol now.

The alcohol efficiently
heats the glass lengthwise.

Which makes it easier to cut.

You can blow it now.

Eddie trims the edges and our custom
windscreen is ready for new rubber seals.

Moment of truth.

That looks amazing.

It's like Saab made it.

It's like original art.

I can't believe that's from an impala.

You're a top man. Thank you so much.

You're welcome.

With the Saab convention
on the horizon, it's

time for our restored


I reckon we could demand
quite a good price for this car.

I love it.

Our 1973 Saab 9.6 has a new windscreen.

Now I can finish putting the
rest of the car back together.

Just a few bolts in each Fender
and I can move on to the doors.

And door handles.

And those shut lines
that I sorted earlier look

great now that the
car has a coat of paint.

It's so pleasing.

The boot lid goes on next.

I'm pleased with this new interior.

I think the combination of the yellow with
the green is going to go down really well.

And the headlining inside here is a
million miles from where it used to be.

I'm really proud of this restoration
and to do a proper job, I had no choice.

I had to take the engine
and gearbox out again.

That meant that we could access the
engine bay and get it painted properly.

And now look at it.

And while the engine was out,
I've given that a once over as well.

It's had new gaskets that
sorted out the exhaust leak.

I've also uprated the
ignition to electronic.

It's going to run really reliably now.

And it needs to be exactly
this good because Saab

owners have a reputation
for being really picky.

The aviation inspired


little 65 horsepower economy
car with unique styling,

excellent build quality and a maximum
cruising speed of just 87 miles an hour.

With an exhaust leak and a
broken clutch, it was priced to move.

I could do $2800.

And got it back on the road with
an on-site clutch replacement.

Fixing the rusted out metal work called
for every ounce of ants fabrication skills.

A mate named Eddie helped
save us a trip to Sweden

by finding the perfect
replacement windscreen.

I got to tell you, that's
looking really good.

So what's this Saab cost us?

We bought the car for $2800.

A new clutch was $320.

Metal fab on the front
valance run to just $10.

A custom windscreen
added $500 to the budget.

The new interior was $1500.

Paint was $3000.

And miscellaneous parts totaled $2500.

All together, this added up
to $10,630 or around £7,900.

And it took 55 man hours to complete.

With the Saab convention
coming up, I'm confident we'll

find a buyer who's as captivated
with this Saab as we are.

I bet there's a punter out
there ready to plunk down a

nice piece of change for a


Now it's time for the fun part.

Taking it out on a test drive, an
ant has found the perfect location.

That just looks incredible.

It really does.

You have so nailed this car.

That looks fantastic.

And I love the way it's just
sitting here popping in the sun in

this amazing location, the Aeroplane
Graveyard at Mojave Desert.

And I see you've happened to
place our Saab, which is derived

from an aircraft manufacturer,
in front of a couple of Saabs.

Nice job.

Well, it just kind of makes sense, right?

Yeah, it does make sense.

And to be fair, this car was
destined to be in a place just like this.

Yeah, scrappy. But now look at it.

It looks like it should be
front and centre at a car show.

And do you know the reason
why it really stands out?

It's the colour, isn't it?

The colour.

Not a fan of yellow cars, but this
one in particular looks incredible.

It really does.

And I love the fact that we've got no nasty
holes underneath this windscreen anymore.

And it looks like it's factory finish.

Jot, the car is solid again.

The interior looks great.

The whole car just looks incredible.

It really does.

Now, I know that the clutch is working.

Yep.

So why don't we turn the jets on
and take this old Saab for a flight.

Don't do any more Jacks.

Go for it.

So come on then, how does it feel?

It feels brilliant.

This car's got zest. It's got vavoom.

It's got four happy pistons
banging away under that bonnet.

It's a really good little car.

I tell you what, it's a
real big feature for me.

And it keeps me up late at night.

Shut lines.

You've got to have perfect shut lines.

You could do the best paint job, best
body work and if the door doesn't fit.

You want them to be
clean and precise and crisp.

Yeah, they have to be.

I know we've got the windows open
at the moment because it's hot outside.

But when the windows are
shut, this car is silent as it

cruises down the road because
it just slips through the air.

I have to remember, this car,
back in the 70s bear in mind,

has a better co-efficiency of
drag than that Aston Martin DB9.

Yeah, it's incredible, isn't it?

It really is incredible.

This car is super clever. I love the
interior. I love what it feels like inside.

The floor maximises the
space from the sill to the sill.

But more importantly,
no transmission tunnel.

Yeah, there's nothing there.
It's a nice big wide floor.

Big foot Wells and that's
because everything in

the engine bay sits
in front of the firewall.

It's all been pushed forward.

I love it.

I reckon we could demand
quite a good price for this car.

How much?

Well I was thinking about
$12,000 which sounds

like a lot of money but
this is such a strong car.

It's strong for a Saab.

This car is really good.

It's now time to call the jets because
we're at the Saab Owners' Convention North

America and it's time to find out what they
think of all the work we've put into this 96.

These guys will be our proper judges.

Oh look, there's a lot here, isn't there?
This is going to be good.

Right, Parker, I'm excited.
Let's go and have a look at some cars.

Now that's just like ours.

It is just like ours. Yeah, it's beautiful,
isn't it, as well? Nicely finished.

Looks original.
The paintwork looks original on this.

What year is this? 67. A bit earlier.

I do believe that is original paint as
well. I don't think this car's been painted.

I've never really been
a fan of yellow cars and

actually there's not that
many yellow cars here.

Ours, this one and that one
but in a car park full of Saabs.

Yeah, there's three yellow cars here
and I'm pleased about that because

I don't particularly like yellow
cars either for a couple of reasons.

One is most people who've
got a yellow car, the car's

already loud and then you
make it louder by having it yellow.

I don't think yellow suits the shape of
cars very well plus the fact, truthfully,

you always get bugs chasing you
down the road. I think it's a big plant.

So yeah, I've never been a
fan of yellow cars but strangely

I'm a fan of this one because
this is quite a rare car.

This is Saab Viggen which is
like the best of the best Saabs and

being that this one's a year 2000
model, they only made 70 in yellow.

So we are quite privileged
to be standing here touching

this person's car because
there's not that many of them.

Alright, I like this yellow car.

Could you stand by the
decision to paint ours yellow?

Well we had a chance to change
the colour. Obviously we needed

to paint the car, we could have
gone down a different colour.

I wanted to paint it black but
you were quite right to stand by the

heritage of that car and paint it
back yellow because it's just so right.

I think our car sits proudly
within this group of Saabs

here. Now we need to
see what this lot thinks of it.

So why don't we go over, give
it a little Polish up and let's get

this lot to look at it really carefully
and see if we did a good job.

Come on.

Hey, how you guys doing?

Yeah, very well.

Sanford Bogage, Sandy.

Have you noticed
Sanford's badge? Look at

that badge round his
neck. What does that say?

President of the Saab Club North America.

Well it's nice to be here. This little car
of ours, we wanted to put it on display. We'd

like you to have a good look round it and
tell us what you think. So have a look inside.

Saab owners are notorious
for their attention to detail.

Okay, well that makes me a
little bit nervous to begin with.

So inside we finished her off with
new seat covers, new door skins.

These are the correct
headrests for this model.

You know I really love the sound that
these doors make when you close them.

And the shut line is really nice.

This is the incorrect mirror
for this year, I hate to tell you.

It's the bigger mirror though.
You can see more out the back.

Okay, well good.

Let's have a look under the hood.

It's the bonnet.

Under the hood. It's definitely the bonnet.

What do you think?

Very clean.

You like it?

Oh yeah. Now this windshield looks excellent. Most
of the 96s you see, especially down the bottom here,

there's usually always rusting underneath and bubbling
up and you can almost never find the trim or the glass.

That is actually out of a 2014 Chevy
Impala. It fits perfectly into a Saab 96.

Wow.

So Sanford, you've had a good
look around the car. What do you

think of our Saab 96? Did we pull
it off? Have we done a good job?

Between the colour and all
the attention to detail you put in, I

think this car would look excellent
at the Saab Heritage Museum.

Incredible. Thank you so much.

Thanks so much for bringing it.

Getting the President's
Seal of Approval is huge and

we can tell. Word is out.
We have a Saab 96 for sale.

So I've got this guy who's really
interested and he's checking

it out on behalf of a client in
New York who can't be here today.

He's called Joe and Joe
knows what he's looking at

because he's really given
this car the thorough once over.

So let's just hope I can
get Joe to convince the

guy in New York that
our car is the one for him.

Well done, Joe. Mike. It's lovely,
isn't it? What do you think of the colour?

It's fantastic.

It sets off this amazing interior.
Have a look.

That's incredible. Very well done.

What do you see under the bonnet as well?
Tada!

Wow. That is beautiful.

So I suppose the big
question is, is this car

for you or, more
importantly, for your client?

I think I'm just going to need to
get him on the phone, show him the

car one more time, see what he
has to say about it if that's okay.

Yeah, no worries. Take your time.

Thank you, Mike.

It's always a little bit difficult third-party
selling when you've got somebody else in

the mix who's interested in the car and
they're not standing in front of it themselves.

But, you know, what's
not to like about this

car? I'm asking $12,000.
Let's see how we get on.

So what did he say?

Well, looks like it's the car for him.

Perfect. Very excited about it.
$12,000 is very fair.

Good. Excellent.

My only request for you is that, considering that
I'm going to need to drive this all the way from

Pomona back to New York, how would you feel about
$11,750 to help me pay for gas a little bit?

Hold out your hand. You just bought
yourself a Saab 96. Congratulations.

Well, I say you bought it. He
bought it. Well done, you. Top man.

Our little Saab 96 is about
to go on another epic journey

all the way from here to New
York, the other side of America.

And it really has been on a journey
from where I first found it, sitting

on that guy's driveway, not even
running until Ant fixed the clutch.

And then with his new coat of paint,
new interior, even the Saab owners

loved it with the president saying
it's one of the best he's seen.

And guess what? We've managed to put
a little bit of profit in our back pocket.

If you want to see more amazing
cars like this little Saab 96 being

turned around by me and Ant, join
us again soon on Wheel Of Dealers.

Ta-la.