Yeah TinkerJim. I was toying with the idea of sticking the SAAB turbo in it.....the B204 I think it's called?? But that's away in the future yet. I think I'll do a quick top end rebuild of the X16SZR thats in it. That shouldnt take long. A Saturday morning should see that done, maybe a bit longer if I make it a bit prettier and give it a clean and coat of paint. I'll be quite happy when the bodywork is done. Once the front inner wing is done I'm working my way down the car so I have a new sill and rear 1/4 panel to fit, and an inner arch to possibly fabricate. I'm currently making up some panel clamps as they're about a fiver each and I'm too tight to spend £50 on them so I'll make my own for free.
The B204 is one of the Saab engines, the turbos' were Garratt and Mitsubishi. The B2*4 series engines are the best for big tuning as the pistons and rods are stronger but the head not as good as the B2*5 engines so tuners mix them together to produce a hybrid. A Saab powered Astra would go like Usain Bolt on Angel dust, it'll scare the pants off you!
good tips from guys that have a vast knowledge by doing it first hand themselves, the only thing i can add is if doing panel work patches is keep your work cool , dont be tempted to weld it all at once especially on door skins etc ,heat can destroy what would be a good repair ,been there done that, wet cloth or a blast with the airline every half inch or so ,same when grinding . good luck, enjoy, it gives great satisfaction when you know you did it yourself.
Thanks guys. I'm feeling a lot better about the results now. Found the right settings and the right wire gauge and it seems to be coming together. I didn't realise you could use a wet cloth to cool it though, that's another handy tip I'll need to remember. In this case I'd used a sheet of copper weighted down on to the back of the panel which seemed to suck the heat out quite well. I'll need to give the cloth a try the next time...
Decided to have another go at fabrication as my time and budget won't stretch to pretty much cutting the car in half and replacing a full crossmember at £350 odd quid... Took abut 6 hours and a lot of grinding as I ran out of argoshield and had to use the gasless wire.....bleugh. Turned out quite nice if I do say so.......after grinding off all the snot and splatters..lol.
looks almost bought....as long as you don't look too close....