Project I boughted a Saab

[hairnet]

Exciting! Anglesey reg number for added win.

arent most pre 01 north wales reg EY

[eddyramrod]

They very well might be, but pre-74 the EY combination was designated to Anglesey.

[hairnet]

yeah but im not that old

[pompei]

Lovely lovely lovely

[Vantman]

The freewheel 'operation device' is located on the floor to the left of the clutch pedal, a little plastic T handle. How the fuck you're supposed to push it in, never mind pull it out whilst driving I can't imagine!

 

I used to pull the lever out with the toe of my shoe,it's an acquired art though. And don't forget that you have no engine braking in freewheel mode but it's surreal changing gear without using the clutch,except when starting or stopping of course.

[brownnova]

Excellent!! These are good looking little cars! Well bought, and I look forward to reading your updates!

[purplebargeken]

Approved!

[Rocket88]

These are fun..........................freewheel is a bit spooky 'til you get used to it. Column change is excellent

[alfetta]

Had a few in the family during the 70's 80's. I always liked them - managed to bag a free one in that 'interesting' verona green shade some years back that had sat in a garage for 20 years. Towed it home with a 1.0 pug 205 lol.

 

It didn't run and the bulkhead was pretty bad shape. Tinkered with it for a bit Gave up and sold it on for a few quid and went back to my 99's. Pretty sure it was scrapped after that.

 

[Uncle Jimmy]

Ohhhh I have always wanted one of these but never had the room/time/money

No more space left now, unless I drive the Ovlov to my house and leave it in the garage there, that garage is being used as a temporary builder's yard though...

I paid 200 under a bag of sand for the '96 so I reckon I did ok; especially considering the daft prices a similar beetle or mini would go for.

[Uncle Jimmy]

Did a bit more investigation work on the 96 this weekend. The fuel tank has been disconnected, I removed the rear seats too. The tank appears in remarkably good condition, nevertheless I think I'm going to seal the outside and probably the inside too, don't want to have to pull it again, at least for a while.

Saabs of any variety are an unknown to me, the whole of the bottom of the car is virtually flat, I imagine this was to improve aerodynamics and protect the running gear, engine and fuel system on Sweden's gravel roads; the 96 design is little different to the original Saab car of 1946, back then Sweden had very much less tarmac I guess.

[Uncle Jimmy]

The panel underneath the fuel tank is a rot spot on these Saabs so I was pleased to find it virtually rust free. Because the tank sits on the panel with only a small hole for draining the tank straps are short and very flimsy.

[Uncle Jimmy]

The join between rear offside wing and inner wing is not quite so great...

[Uncle Jimmy]

These Saabs are almost like homemades or kitcars, with their bolt on wings and simple furnishings, after all Saab was a tiny company, about 1/10 the size of Volvo cars.

The rear seat sits on a freaky dowel/plywood arrangement that I'm yet to understand. The back of the rear seat, which tilts forward had these brackets, not yet sure what they're for neither...

[Uncle Jimmy]

The driver got a heated seat, pretty fab in 1972.

The idea of cooking my nether regions on a homespun electric coil c1972 doesn't appeal that much.

[Skizzer]

Enjoying this a lot.

 

That plywood and broomstick arrangement is even more half-baked than the rear seat mountings of the XJ-S, which were thrown together by Valerie Singleton on Blue Peter.

[Uncle Jimmy]

The fuel feed, handbrake cables, and brake pipes all run inside the car. This is new to me, any other cars of this age similar?

Very busy next week but I hope to have the tank fixed up and fuel flow restored to the pump again soon. Then I can change the gearbox oil and have a crafty drive (on private driveway of course)

[hairnet]

mmmmmm

[Uncle Jimmy]

Enjoying this a lot.

That plywood and broomstick arrangement is even more half-baked than the rear seat mountings of the XJ-S, which were thrown together by Valerie Singleton on Blue Peter.

Homespun but I think it worked pretty well, especially considering the swedes aren't known for their diminutive size. I believe early V4s weighed about 1800lbs, the runouts in 1980 more like 2000lbs, still a lightweight.

[Royale80]

Friend bought one of these in the 80's. It was one of the last and had a plaque on the dash. The car was a purply colour and friend had it resprayed.

One night we all decided to go to Usk (this was before the new road was built-the old one was a very twisty and dangerous one). Anyway everyone set off-about 4 cars. Spencer the Saabs owner already had previous-he had smashed up a Mini and already had 6 points for trying to race an unmarked police Granada in a Mini 1000 automatic. He was a bit of a "boy racer". On the way to Usk he had overtaken us all- as we rounded a bend the Saab (it was unrecognisable)  was in the middle of the road. He had flipped it back to front and then rolled it. The only thing that stopped him going down a steep banking was hitting a Metro coming the other way. Four people came out of the Saab unscathed-if it had been a Mk 2 Escort they would have been dead. The only thing left in one piece was the battery.

 

Spencer blamed the Marie biscuit sized tyres-but when Spencers father asked the rest of us if Spencer was going fast - Ramsey gave the immortal line (still)- " He wasn't going that fast when he overtook me".

 

Spencer was still paying for the Saab a year later -on HP. He replaced with a beige Ital estate that turned out to be a "cut and shut".

 

Steve

[Asimo]

SaaB kept the pipes inside the car with 99. VW Beetles and type 3s all have the pipes and cables inside also.

[danthecapriman]

Excellent purchase, doesn't look half bad either rust wise. Looking forward to updates.

 

That Ford carb looks the same as the one my Capri had on it from new, it was a right pain in the arse and needed fettling regularly to make it work properly. I changed it for a Weber direct replacement kit which has been faultless.

[Uncle Jimmy]

Excellent purchase, doesn't look half bad either rust wise. Looking forward to updates.

That Ford carb looks the same as the one my Capri had on it from new, it was a right pain in the arse and needed fettling regularly to make it work properly. I changed it for a Weber direct replacement kit which has been faultless.

Yup, they're a FOMOCO carb sold by Autolite, opinion is rather divided on them; I think it depends on whether it was a Monday or Friday carb.

I intend to eventually replace the manifold with a competition one, with four stud attachment for Webers and the like, they are about but they don't come up often. In the meantime I have several Nikki twin choke carbs and adapters which I'm going to experiment with, I'll take some photos of them soon.

[Uncle Jimmy]

That's a 34IDF single choke then Dan?

[danthecapriman]

That's a 34IDF single choke then Dan?

That's the one.

 

I was probably being a bit unfair on the original Ford carb, it had lasted 30 odd years by the time I changed it for the Weber so it's probably old age and wear that made it unreliable. I'm pleased with the Weber though, for the price it's been a good carb and I've not had to touch it since fitting it.

Saying that I used a Transit with that same Ford carb (a newer version of it than the Capri one) and it was absolute crap. That got replaced by a Weber too, but I've kept both the old Ford carbs. No idea why as I'll probably never use them.

Could be worse I suppose, it could be a VV carb like my Transit has still, now that is a rubbish carb!

[Asimo]

Back in the day, if you couldn't afford Webers

 

the Fish carb. was the choice for the 96 v4

[forddeliveryboy]

These Saabs are almost like homemades or kitcars, with their bolt on wings and simple furnishings, after all Saab was a tiny company, about 1/10 the size of Volvo cars.

 

 

I'd say their engineers were just open-minded, enlightened(!) and better schooled in other areas of engineering, unlike many stuck-in-the-mud automotive engineers. What mattered was how well something worked, not what the general public thought when they uncovered something like a broomstick under their back seat.

 

Today Volvo is known for its trucks and marine diesels, Saab for its military systems and hardware - the US had to hire Saab subs for practice warfare since they don't have anything which comes close. The UK is using Saab radar as the EWS in the Falklands, it's supposed to be the very best in the world.

 

The team who designed the earlier Saabs appear to have taken a long look at Citroën (arguably the most successful and advanced European manufacturer at the time) and designed something which would work well in Sweden. Their ability to cover long distances at speed using little fuel, over all sorts of road conditions is tremendous. Note to self - must have one.

[Uncle Jimmy]

Reece-Fish carbs are GR8!! The set up on that 96 is awesome, not seen twin choke sidedraught Reece carbs, I was only aware of the downdraught single choke- called a Minnow? I think?

They had a kind of hollow spindle with multiple jets going directly into the venturi; a lot of old boys swear by em

[Uncle Jimmy]

Ah! Now I see, they're twin Weber 45s on the 96 non?

[dollywobbler]

How did I miss this thread? Fantastic stuff. Never new about the interior brake pipes. Mr Carlsson's influence perhaps? I know he used to induce a bit of negative camber in the rear axles of his race Saabs by filling them with people and hammering the car down a bouncy forest track. I imagine he had the influence to say "this will be better. Do this."