84 900 F Prepared Notchback

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SwedeSport
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Re: 84 900 F Prepared Notchback

Postby SwedeSport » Wed Jan 30, 2013 6:11 pm

Almost have all the bits to put the dash all back together. Need to weld up the slot for the pin on the clutch pedal, and reinstall the pedal assemblies. The throttle pedal has a broken plastic bit that I need to find. The collapsing column just needs cleaned and lubed and put back in. I have an EMS wheel to use until I find something better.

One step closer...

I was thinking I might try flocking the dash, and I'm definitely painting the hammered sheet with a darker flat color.
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2013-01-30 11.18.55.jpg
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Re: 84 900 F Prepared Notchback

Postby SwedeSport » Sun Mar 03, 2013 3:09 pm

I have been a bit under the weather for several days, but have been tinkering with the dash project a bit. I ended up painting the hammered aluminum dash fascia with a dark charcoal metallic. It's the right color, but it still has too much gloss for me. To remedy this I plan to scuff the shine with a scotch pad. If that doesn't do the trick, it will get overlaid with a matte clear.


I have been researching and experimenting with dash flocking. I am familiar with the process, and posess the equipment and materials to do it on tee shirts. I own and operate a Custom and Contract screen printing business, and even though it has not been too popular since the late 70s, I can flock shirt designs, and other flat fabric based products.

I have found the adhesives that I have in stock are less than ideal for interior and dash parts. It is too thick to be sprayed or even brushed on. It prints well through a low mesh count screen though. I have started looking into getting the proper materials for the substrate. Typically dashes are vinyl, or ABS, and are best coated with a 2 part epoxy based glue. Unfortunatley the initial investment to do it right is several thousand dollars for equipment and supplies. There is a wide array of colors that can be had to do it. If I were to invest, I would offer only black at first.

I am going to move forward with trying to find an adhesive that will work on the dash, and use my existing fiber dispenser to do my dash. I am going to try Krylon Fusion plastic paint. Supposedly any paint that will stick to the plastic can work. I will post results as I go.


If I were to nail this and be able to do it, would anyone be interested in having interior parts done? I can't see any reason to invest in equipment without some pre-interest.
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2013-03-03 14.46.48.jpg
2013-03-03 15.06.02.jpg
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Geoff
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Re: 84 900 F Prepared Notchback

Postby Geoff » Tue Mar 05, 2013 7:39 am

Retro flocked T-shirts would be cool.
The kind of dirty that doesn't wash off :eyebrows:

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Re: 84 900 F Prepared Notchback

Postby SwedeSport » Tue Mar 05, 2013 10:58 am

Geoff wrote:Retro flocked T-shirts would be cool.



Aeropostale, Abercrombie & Fitch, and numerous other clothing companies are bringing back alot of that old school stuff like flocking, and applique. Fashion trends usually make a loop and come back into popularity.


Maybe I should do some SAAB shirts with some of the vintage logos, and make em fuzzy. How bout a SAABRALLY shirt with flock.

I have a handful of colors. Yellow, green, red, black,... I even have "diamond crystal" for a little bling bling...

Another SAAB related use for this stuff could be restoring the cubby in the center console, or the coin holder next to the ignition.

I got a quote from a major industry supplier to provide me with the guns, glues, flock, and other necessary supplies. In order to set up an operation to do automotive grade stuff would be close to 2500.00. I would have to line up 15-20 jobs to break even.

Seems the average dash costs about 150-200 to get done professionally, But most of the shops that do it are on the other side of the pond. So you would have to add in shipping there and back.
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Geoff
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Re: 84 900 F Prepared Notchback

Postby Geoff » Tue Mar 05, 2013 10:29 pm

That seems like a big investment to me.

But if you can do T-shirts with the equipment you have I think some '70s-style SAAB shirts would a a riot.
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Re: 84 900 F Prepared Notchback

Postby Jordan » Wed Mar 06, 2013 6:41 am

Geoff needs one that says "Who wants a mustache ride?" complete with fuzzy 'stach.

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Re: 84 900 F Prepared Notchback

Postby Adrian Thompson » Wed Mar 06, 2013 8:37 am

There are several kits available to flock dashes DIY for less than $50 and knowing how tight fisted (broke) most SAAB people tend to be I think most would opt for that rout.

I'm in for a retro SAABRALLY or SAAB Rally SPort flocked T shirt though :)
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Re: 84 900 F Prepared Notchback

Postby SwedeSport » Wed Mar 06, 2013 11:24 am

I have seen a few of the DIY hobby grade kits.

Essentially you just apply the adhesive, and broadcast the fiber onto the dash into the glue.

With the professional equipment you get a more uniform distribution and a better end result. You apply electrodes to the dash so that when you spray on the glue they apply a negative charge to the wet glue film. The gun positively charges the fibers, which in turn is polarized, giving it a tendency to stand up in the glue.

Without the +- charging, it just mats down and looks uneven.

For a dash with a broad surface area, it's best to use an adhesive that can be sprayed on with a cup gun to get a smooth wet coating. There is only a very small window of time to apply the fiber before the adhesive skins over. The pump tube DIY kits do not distribute enough volume to cover the entire dash evenly in the given time frame. It's probably fine for lining the inside of a jewelry box, or even doing small parts though.



I guess I need to work on a few retro flocked tee shirts for Carlisle this year. Maybe I could even crash the SOC and set up a shirt stand in the parking lot.
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cp70.jpg
This is similar to the equipment that I have, with the exception that the one pictured is new, and mine is 30 yrs old and held together with rubber bands and duct tape.
cp70.jpg (32.07 KiB) Viewed 2847 times
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Re: 84 900 F Prepared Notchback

Postby DrewP » Wed Mar 06, 2013 11:41 am

Geoff wrote:....if you can do T-shirts with the equipment you have I think some '70s-style SAAB shirts would a a riot.




Yes please. :yay:
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Re: 84 900 F Prepared Notchback

Postby SwedeSport » Wed Mar 06, 2013 11:59 am

Here ya go Geoff,

This one is for you...
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Re: 84 900 F Prepared Notchback

Postby SwedeSport » Fri Mar 08, 2013 12:14 am

Spent a few hours in the shop tonight.

Put in the interior side panels, and worked on mounting the smoked rear windows. I also put another coat on the dash fascia.

experimented with using Krylon Fusion spraypaint as flock adhesive.
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2013-03-07 23.26.02.jpg
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Crazyswede
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Re: 84 900 F Prepared Notchback

Postby Crazyswede » Fri Mar 08, 2013 8:17 am

whats with the air brake on the trunk? :lol:


on serious note...won't those tires get cut by your fender lips? Looks like you need to cut the fenders out and install some massive flares in order to have any hope of suspension travel?
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Re: 84 900 F Prepared Notchback

Postby SwedeSport » Fri Mar 08, 2013 11:27 am

Yeah the tires are huge. The plan was to get a set of the extra wide S&R flares from RP Glasfiber, but attempts to communicate with Anders have proved frustrating and expensive. Worst case scenario is I can run normal size tires for the first few outings.

I was holding off on cutting the fenders until I actually have the flares. It may not be as bad as you think though. The springs are going to be really stiff [750 rear 650 front] therefore there will be very little suspension travel. It is not sitting at final ride height as it currently only has chopped 900S springs in it. Just enough to hold it off the ground for now. But to answer the question, yes I will probably have to cut the fenders.

In my opinion a rear spoiler on a 900 is necessary not so much to add downforce, but to improve stability at speed. My tan 86 did not have a spoiler, and would waggle around at highway speed. I put on the ducktail and it was fine. I will probably run the tall spoiler at hillclimb events, and autocrosses. I have a smaller version that is about half the height for track events, and open road racing.
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Re: 84 900 F Prepared Notchback

Postby Jordan » Fri Mar 08, 2013 1:10 pm

I think you would have been better off tucking the tires inside and leaving the track width relatively close to stock.. now you have kind of unknown suspension geometry and probably some weird steering characteristics. With some perch mods and different springs you can run 225s which should be more than sufficient under the stock fenders.

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Re: 84 900 F Prepared Notchback

Postby SwedeSport » Fri Mar 08, 2013 1:31 pm

I recall watching some old video of the factory rally team running incredibly wide wheels on a car. I believe they were running a closed course tarmac event.

The dimensions from the hub surface towards inboard is identical to the stock wheels and tires. all the width is added to the outside of the rim.

Wasn't someone on here running 10 inch stock car wheels with fat slicks on it without much problem?
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