Project I boughted a Saab

[Uncle Jimmy]

Bit more done today, I gave the block a good dousing with Jizer followed by a scrub with some turps and later on a coat of some ancient motorcycle high temp engine paint, rather pleased with my patent engine trolley! Next job will be to remove the rocker covers and sump for painting and get to work on the manifolds. 

[Uncle Jimmy]

Bonus pic of a swarm of bees that took up residence in my garden a couple of days ago. A large swarm as they go, so I was told, about 2' long that lot. A neighbour who's a beekeeper came later on, puffed a bit of smoke about and helped them into a box to take to his hive.

[Uncle Jimmy]

Wee bit more done today; another front spring back in and took the sump off for a cleanup, inside and out.  The oil pump will be replaced. 

[Uncle Jimmy]

There was a fair bit of the black ooze in there...

[Fumbler]

That's a nice swarm. Looked pretty docile too!

 

[Uncle Jimmy]

Bit more done today,  whipped the sump off, gave it a bloody good seeing to with an angle grinder and wire brushes, rust stabiliser and some stove paint.

Then pulled the old oil pump and pick up and replaced with a new one. Replacing a sump gasket upside-down is actually easy enough, the gasket sealant sticks like the proverbial shit to a blanket. 

What puzzled me was that the jack shaft from the oil pump connected to nowhere in particular inside the block. Turning the crank over yielded no motion so I began to think I had lost a part from the block end of the shaft....arse cheese....

Then in a moment of clarity I realised that the distributor lies directly above the oil pump and is the type driven by a pinion from the camshaft. On further inspection the business end of the distributor revealed a hex shaped hole for the oil pump shaft to run in. 

The distributor on inspection has a bit of play in the shaft so I may need to go to electronic ignition to get really accurate timing.

[Uncle Jimmy]

Next up will be some work on opening the exhaust ports to match the new exhaust, replacing the inlet manifold and removing and painting the rocker covers.

[Asimo]

Just read through this thread from the beginning. I had been ignoring it recently 'cos I thought it was about a GM era car!

That hex shaft that drives the oil pump from the distributor is a weak point so make sure it is a good fit in the distributor shaft. The V4 Transit I was learning to drive in rounded it's hex shaft one cold morning and no oil pressure did the big ends in moments. (Easily changed from underneath a Transit. Try that in a 96!. Crank journals just needed a scrape and a bit of wet 'n dry. Learned a lot from Dad, doing that sort of mechanicking)

A 96 is one of the cars I really resent not being able to go and buy new today and regret not running back then......

[brownnova]

I must have missed a lot of this thread! An excellent Reston job in the works here! 

Im very jealous of the lovely car this will no doubt be! 

[Uncle Jimmy]

2 hours ago, Asimo said:

Just read through this thread from the beginning. I had been ignoring it recently 'cos I thought it was about a GM era car!

That hex shaft that drives the oil pump from the distributor is a weak point so make sure it is a good fit in the distributor shaft. The V4 Transit I was learning to drive in rounded it's hex shaft one cold morning and no oil pressure did the big ends in moments. (Easily changed from underneath a Transit. Try that in a 96!. Crank journals just needed a scrape and a bit of wet 'n dry. Learned a lot from Dad, doing that sort of mechanicking)

A 96 is one of the cars I really resent not being able to go and buy new today and regret not running back then......

Yes! The ends of the hex shaft did show some signs of wear but no rounding over; it's a bit small, only about 8mm diameter.

[Uncle Jimmy]

3 hours ago, brownnova said:

I must have missed a lot of this thread! An excellent Reston job in the works here! 

Im very jealous of the lovely car this will no doubt be! 

They're an 'aquired taste' the 96, in the same way as a VW Beetle a Fiat 500 or a Mini, after all they were the 'people's car' in Sweden. 

A marmite car perhaps. They have an awful lot to recommend them to a novice restorer on a budget however, they are still fairly cheap, are very well put together and near enough 'hand built' so they come apart in a fairly logical progression. There are also a fair number left so parts aren't too much of an issue, there's also a lot that can be done to tune and improve them, not that there's much wrong with them as standard, unlike many cars of that era they can be still run as an everyday car.

[The Moog]

I love these cars, always wanted one, don't think I will ever get one. You seem to be getting through the jobs - port matching is quite fancy!

[Uncle Jimmy]

1 hour ago, snagglepuss said:

I love these cars, always wanted one, don't think I will ever get one. You seem to be getting through the jobs - port matching is quite fancy!

Hardly 'port matching', I imagine that on performance engines the ports are all made exactly the same, optimal shape, to match the equal length downpipes (worth doing on your MX5 Will...)

The Taunus V4 has siamesed exhaust ports which are a noticeable impediment to exhaust flow. Short of buying the aftermarket heads with 4 outlets, (not cheap!) there's not a great deal that can be done to improve flow. I will take a die grinder and open and smooth them up a wee bit though whilst I have an opportune moment.

For me it's all good practice for the time when I build that D type Jaguar replica ?

[The Moog]

Well when you come to sell the Saab wave it vaguely near me.

[Uncle Jimmy]

1 hour ago, snagglepuss said:

Well when you come to sell the Saab wave it vaguely near me.

Just....buy one! They regularly crop up on ebay, tatty ones still go for about a grand.

[Uncle Jimmy]

Well, I took a look at the exhaust downpipes and the manifold today. First minor issue was that the mounting brackets are thinner on the new exhaust. 

I didn't want to use the old brackets as that would involve cutting and welding one as one is captive and the old ones are, I think, cast. Best to extend the threads a bit, 10mm so no dies to purchase.

[Uncle Jimmy]

Just about had enough time to profile the exhaust ports; I didn't take that much off. Extended them from 32mm to 35mm and rounded some of the hard edges off inside.

Cast iron so very easy to grind away. 

Even so, that's about 15% bigger. There isn't any point in going further than that, as the ports are no bigger further in and you'd certainly need to take the heads off for that and a flexible shaft grinder head would be needed.

[Uncle Jimmy]

Did a wee bit more yesterday, dismantled the front calipers. I weld a small bar across the fronts of the pistons and pull them out that way. 

The pistons are nickel plated and beyond use I think, so I've got some new ones coming and some repair kits. In the meantime the lot can sit in a bucket of vinegar to de-rust.

[Uncle Jimmy]

As rain stopped play most of this week, I was due to be working on various windows and other exterior joinery, I got to do some more to the Saab.

I gave the twin choke manifold a good clean, checked the surfaces were flat (ish) with a straight edge and bolted it on. 

Removing the rocker covers revealed a surprisingly clean pair of rockers and valve gear, which suggests that the 41k mls on the odometer may be correct. 

 

 

[Uncle Jimmy]

[Uncle Jimmy]

A new water pump has also been fitted so all that remains to do before the block is refitted into the bay is to set the valve clearances and replace the rocker covers.

[Uncle Jimmy]

Replaced the clutch as well, clutch alignment tool I had was fucking useless so in true shitter fashion a bit of timber was turned up to the right dimensions. 

[The Moog]

That's a brilliant solution..

[Uncle Jimmy]

....and relax, engine back in place after 2 years ???

[Uncle Jimmy]

Had another day off today so got to grips with the front panel. I'd imagined it was very good....actually a fair amount of stone chips and small rust patches to grind out and prep prior to painting.

The front panel is designed to take both the round US lamps as well as the oblong Euro spec lamps. 

[Uncle Jimmy]

Done a bit on the green un over Christmas,  including panel work and painting the front wings and replacing them. Today I replaced the front bumper, considering it was parts scavenged from four bumpers it fitted really well. The captive nuts that I'd welded into the front valance were spot on.  Next up is replacing the alternator and a few other electrical bits; then on to fitting the distributor, carburettor and hoping she's jetted about right. 

[N Dentressangle]

Afternoon's work and she's a runner? ?

[Uncle Jimmy]

...Yes,  so long as I've got a carb that's jetted about right.  Front calipers are refurbed and ready to go on, I have a new brake master cylinder, slave is new too.

  I should have enough bits n bobs to make up a new carb linkage- I do need a choke cable. Another think I need is a suitably sized airbox, maybe off a 99? I am going to site it near the ns headlamp with a flexi pipe up to the top of the carb. I do have a pancake filter but I don't like em and I suspect it would be getting very close to the bonnet.

[N Dentressangle]

22 hours ago, Nibblet said:

  I should have enough bits n bobs to make up a new carb linkage- I do need a choke cable. Another think I need is a suitably sized airbox, maybe off a 99? I am going to site it near the ns headlamp with a flexi pipe up to the top of the carb. I do have a pancake filter but I don't like em and I suspect it would be getting very close to the bonnet.

Trip to Bucklands with a tape measure, once that's possible?

The pancake filters gave carb icing problems with the Nikki on mine, and something remote would be better IMO

[Uncle Jimmy]

Yeah- they stink of fuel very often too; Trip to Bucklands would be excellent indeed! 

In the meantime I have found that virtually every aspect of the 5 Nikki carbs I have is wrong....The hole spacing on the bases, the fact that the 96 has a pusher rod operating the old carb, rather than something to pull on the Nikki linkages or pull a cable on the one I have which is set up for that...

However with my near genius level of bodgery these obstacles will be overcome.