New Saab shite

[jonathan_dyane]

So having decided that what I *really* needed was a Saab 900 Turbo, days of scouring located a promising example on ebay. Knackered starter, shit description and crap photographs. What else could I do but buy it sight unseen over the telephone for £250... It did at least have MOT until December.

 

Being in Leighton Buzzard and me in Liverpool SHipley was required, and for a modest £170 the wreck was delivered to my door, hopelessly flattering photograph follows:

 

 

Although it looks reasonably presentable, it has fallen victim to a cheap respray which is bubbling up merrily in places. It also had a flat tyre and the starter was so unaccessable to be practically invisible.

 

Thankfully two evenings had the thing running again (and resulted in removing much skin from my knuckles) and as of Tuesday it lives to the point I managed to drive it to work. The verdict? Well it has a killer knock from the rear (hopefully the exhaust) the cracked exhaust manifiold smells awful when stationary and it has a misfire that so far new plugs rotor arm and cap have failed to cure (hopefully new plug leads will fix it). The clutch also feels like it may need replacing soon. That said, many faults notwithstanding I bloody love it; despite the miss it bloody flies, handles beautifully and is the most likable and charismatic thing.

 

I love it!

[Jim Bell]

Saab Turbo with a towbar.

You just need a sports garden trailer now fella. For high speed boosts to the tip/allotment.

 

Look nice.

Always wanted one, but I'm holding out for one with non leather seats and a non wood clad dash.

[Wilko220]

Looks a lot better than description from the picture (don't they always!)

Love these - hope you enjoy it.

[Spiny Norman]

Great cars these, they have a real habit of getting under your skin. I loved mine.

[jonathan_dyane]

Thanks chaps! (and Mr Shitpeas I'd be all over your trailer if you weren't so damn far away...)

 

Today the postman woke me up with the plugleads which have further improved the running, but its not quite there yet, tickover still slightly stumbly and ocassional slight hesitation. Also when I give it beans the APC seems to intervene when the boost needle gets a little over half way through the yellow on the boost gauge which I suspect isn't quite right. The earth on the cylinder head could use cleaning which I'll do but I'm not going to get too involved fiddling until I get into another tank of petrol; the thing had been standing for months so stale petrol residue may I suppose be a factor. Still goes like the clappers however.

 

The knock from the rear was the exhaust too, two of the rubbers had failed leaving the middle box flailing around merrily. New rubbers and all is well, although I have now identified three areas that will need welding for the MOT (sill end, boot floor and a touch on the drivers floor). Doesn't look catastrophic though...

 

Still to do:

Change engine oil, gearbox oil and fuel filter

Vactanise all rust

Fix inoperative front electric windows

Do something with (like throw away) headlining which is in tatters

Reattatch side rubbing strips which are in the boot

 

Feel like I may not be driving the Merc for a while...

[CortinaDave]

I had one of these as a loan car earlier this year for a month. 270k, utterly shagged and yet strangely addictive. It had a couple of months test left and the garage guy said he'd break it once the test was up.

 

Lo and behold it flew past me at 90 plus on the M90 on Thursday afternoon, so it's clearly earned itself another years test.

 

Bloody brilliant cars

[Justin Case]

 

Today the postman woke me up with the plugleads... .

This does not bear even thinking about  

[Station]

I love saabs but probably the only person not to like the dashboards.

The H block engines are great and possibly won't need much work.

Excellent purchase, very cheap as well.

[Spiny Norman]

I love saabs but probably the only person not to like the dashboards.

 

They're not great, are they?

For a Swede they have some pretty dumb ergonomic flaws IMO, not least of which is the pedal positioning which even after two years ownership never felt quite right.

The engines do last for ages, UKSaabs (well worth joining if you haven't already) have got a few members with 300k+ on theirs.

[jonathan_dyane]

First more pics! Apologies for the crap camera phone quality.

Looks great from a distance:


Closer up less pretty:


Rear wheel arch also grim:


With this tasty surprise in the wheelarch:

I'll have to weld that up soon

From the rear:


And the purple seats which I love:


Headlining is less alluring:


As is the non functioning sunroof that leaks:

I suspect this is not the usual park position for the sunroof. It makes an unhappy clicking noise when I operate the switch.

Given how the car drives (a few flat spots/occasional miss and reluctant tickover unless cold start device is in operation or its hot when it idles a little better)) and also the behaviour of the Turbo/APC gauge (goes up just beyond hald way through the yellow then flickers and drops back) I have the suspicion that I am not getting the full boost as the misfire activates the knock sensor and bleeds off my boost.

What I have so far done (with little improvement) is:
Replace plugs (with the correct NGK items)
Replace plug leads with quality Bosch items
Replace distributor cap and rotor arm
Add intector cleaner to tank
Replace fuel filter

I have a suspicion that the problem may be the injectors however before moving on to testing them I still plan to clean all the earths, check/adjust the throttle plate and check the timing, but I would appreciate it if those more experienced with K Jetronic could perhaps comment as to whether they think I am on track.

Further information:
Sometimes when I start it the cold start device seems overenthusiastic and the engine eight-strokes like a car with a choke does with too much choke.
All of the vaccum tubing appears intact however the EGR is disabled; I broke the stubs of the waxstat device in the head that operates the EGR so I have simply plugged the vaccum pipe that feeds the EGR where it exits the intake.

[alfetta]

yoiu can manually wind the motor for the roof in the boot under the floor (left hand side I think, somewhere...) Shouldn't leak if the gutters and drain tubes are clear.

[HillmanImp]

[purplebargeken]

I've always hankered after one of these. Ther was a bloke at work who had two. One black and the other a sort of brick red colour. Both were happily shoddy yet continue to give sterling service. Why can't they have made decent headlining though, same for the off Volvo and Jag. Must be shite materials from 'the day'.

 

Bloody bargain and hope to see it all sorted.

 

Ken

[Station]

Are the purple seats actually faded black?