rainagain

Great work and that looks like a handy tool, I made something similar out of part of a pallet when I changed the clutch and flywheel on my 307.

I love how it’s called a ‘gear carrier’. “Yarr I’m just loading up my off roading gear to the Defender, yarr let’s off road. Better engage 4x4 that pot hole looks deep”.

I think this is the same battery at Halfords if you have a trade card

That’s not a brake shoe, this is a brake shoe

put some heat on the tie rod, even a heat gun will do. Also get two hammers and smack them together with the rod between them. Shock and heat are your friends. Once you finally get the new gaiter on if the access is anything like my 307 which I believe shares parts with the Xsara you won’t be able to get a cable tie tight enough on the gaiter, I used a jubilee clip and lots of extensions to reach in and tighten it. I couldn’t get a cable tie to hold.

Regarding your sound insulation still letting engine noise through, I’d say it sounds like (pardon the pun) there could be a poorly fitting grommet or other hole in the firewall that is letting noise through. Even a tiny hole can allow a lot noise through. Get a tonal generator for your phone and set it to a reasonable high note and then have someone wave it around in the engine bay while you get the great job of sticking your head in both footwells to see if you can hear any noise.

Could anyone confirm if this is standard Saab fitment on the gear level?

I found holes for footwell lightning but no lamp units as my car is only linear spec. I’m quite tempted to add these but I couldn’t see any wiring harness for them. Does anyone know if I’m likely to find it taped up somewhere or if Saab had separate looms for each spec?

I also found this little Motorola unit which I unhooked from the loom and found it was the bluetooth kit that I couldn’t get to connect to my apple phone (I’m assuming as apple have strange ideas of Bluetooth).

I’ve been trying sort a stale smell in the car so I thought it would be a good idea to change the pollen filter. After removing the lower trim and then the glovebox I managed to get the old filter out which turned out to be like the air filter I replaced a genuine Saab part. It was manky but not too bad. I used a radiator paint brush to clean out the enclosure. The old foam had gone all weird and sticky. I also noticed some interesting wiring repairs much like the front washer pumps.

Great save, I almost bought myself one of these (although it was the 140 one) many years ago. I’ve always regretted missing out as I still think they have a good look about them.

Just to add for anyone thinking of going to upullit, their website says they shut at five apart from a Sunday. I went on a Monday and a man started sounding ‘time!’ at me whilst pointing to his watch at 4:15. I eventually figured out he wanted me to leave as they were shutting. When I went to pay I asked the guy if the website was right as it said they shut at five, he just added to the confusion by replying “last entry is half four”.

Possibly, I’m sorry but I wasn’t really looking for them. Their website is good with regards to what they have. That’s how I knew they have a TiD 9-5 in. Worth a check if you’re after something.

I was down at upullit Inverkeithing (or Edinburgh as they call it). I managed to get a boost hose, a rear washer pump and an alarm siren for the grand total of £12. I noticed this Volvo that might of use to someone for parts. @captain_70s? There was also this poor Saab 9-3 that looks like it had just had a full brake service with new discs and callipers before someone gave up on it.

I noticed I was leaving James Bond levels of black smoke when I pushed the accelerator down more than half way. I had the window open and I could hear a whooshing noise. Boost leak I thought, I was worried I was going to have to take the bumper off again. I popped open the bonnet and found my top hose had split. It had made a nice mess of the sound proofing with oil spray. I’m away from home right now so I only a socket set for tools. I wrapped some gaffer tape round the hose and found a cider can was the perfect size to hold it all together. Hopefully this should get me home later today.

Great work! Next time you’re spraying a section like the arch on the wing, rather than masking off with the tape flat against the panel use wider masking tape and curl it back on to itself like you’re trying to make a tube. This will mean you’ll get a softer edge when you paint.

That’s a good price, for the amount of faffing involved. How did you find the difference in ride? I thought it picked up the smaller bumps more although I’m loving the lack of knocks and bangs.

I’d try a sensor spacer on the post cat sensor. It sounds like it’s just being a bit sensitive if it passed the mot ok

I took the front wheels off and following an excellent tip off here I cleaned them with cillit bang burnt on degreaser. This took all the crap off both sides with hardly any scrubbing required. My friendly fitter then popped my new tyres on. I was only able to collected the wheels the night before the test was due, I put them back on and went to give the car a blast as recommended by the tester. Of course the car had other ideas and the battery has gone flat in the week since the fail. I’m not sure if it has a fault somewhere causing an excessive current draw or the battery is just terrible. I only bought the battery over a year ago but it was literally the cheapest new battery I could find. Supposedly it has a four year warranty but how exactly I’m supposed to show it’s faulty and do without a car when I send it back I don’t know. Luckily I had a charger in my basement so I was able to charge it over night. The morning of the test I got up even earlier than I normally do (4:30 for the win!) and gave it a good blast round where I stay. Well worth it as I got this later in the day:

And…bugger The smoke plate says 0.5 and they failed it at 0.51. The tyres are annoying as I only put them on last year after the first mot test. I was a bit paranoid it was going to shit itself with a major fault so I put part worns on. They have plenty of tread but the tread is starting to break up. They said they could do the joint for £100 and as I don’t have the tool to remove it I let them do this. I’ve ordered some Radar Dimax R8+ from round trip tyres. They are supposedly A rated for wet grip so I’m hoping they’re not completely shite. I’ve got a tame fitter who will pop them on for me.

All done i also slapped in some waxoyl mixed with a smidge of old engine oil to make it look less like the titanic.

I had to take a short break when I managed to get the first cup on, only for it to ping off whilst I was moving the spring around after cutting the wire. Eventually it was all together. I used these funky pliers to pull the top spring on. I’m not entirely sure how they’re supposed to work but the hook part is perfect for grabbing the spring. Edit: I watched a YouTube video and I now know how to use these. One side done, one to go.

With everything removed, I cleaned the backplate and gave the dust shield a quick vactan. Then I fitted the lower mech, both shoes and lower spring. This was a moment requiring great patience not to scream too loud when the whole load fell on the ground for the umpteenth time. But eventually it was together. I’m glad I bought the brake spring kit as the retaining pins were well past their best. After reading many horror stories about rebuilding these on the net I picked up a tip of putting the retaining springs in a vice and wiring them compressed. Then you slide them over the pins and cut the wire. I thought I’d give it a try. I had a problem where the back pin having nothing to hold it would fall out the back making it hard to get the cup on. I used an old hard disk magnet with a couple of washer to push against the back of the pin, the magnet held the whole lot snuggly against the back plate.

May be a bit late now but if you want to enhance the sound proofing put a layer of a house carpet underlay between the carpet and the dynamat. It does look amazing.

Well done on the pass, I’d be tempted to leave the led lamps in. I’ve passed plenty of mots with different cars with leds fitted. As long as they’re half decent ones so you get the same beam spread.