Project I boughted a Saab

[Uncle Jimmy]

I'm a gonna cut out the middle bit of aluminium on the intermediate plate which allows for vacuum for rocker cover and brake booster and shift carb to one side, other side can be screwed down fine through intermediate plate and then the carb bolted to manifold past it with the addition of a couple of bits of pipe slipped over the studs. Piccies to follow when I'm less knackered.

[N Dentressangle]

Good stuff. Can't visualise what you mean yet, but I'm sure you're the bodger for the job! ?

The Nikki gives quite decent poke, if I remember. The original FoMoCo is really restrictive and generally shite.

[Uncle Jimmy]

A twin choke carb, set up right should* give about 15 horses more power, that and the Jetex exhaust I've fitted.  The FOMOCO carbs receive mixed results anyway, some have no issues at all with them, others say they're terrible, depends on whether they're a Monday or Friday carb, well it was the 70s. Some folks have used a twin choke carb with an adapter plate to narrow down to the single port manifold and reckon it works very well, problem with that is the adapter needs to either be used with the intermediate plate as well-that's 2 plates betwixt carb and manifold, height and distance between carb and manifold becomes a problem. Or you have to tap the manifold to allow for vacuum ports for the brake booster and rocker cover ventilation. 

The ultimate set up is using 2x side draught Webers, for which you need the octopus type manifold.... Approx 30,000 Swedish sovs new...

 

Did you find your 96 to be a drinker? Even with the wee FOMOCO they're fairly heavy on fuel. 

[Uncle Jimmy]

A long day today but got the green un going. I thought I'd set up the distributor correctly a few days ago but I'd set no1 cylinder at the beginning of the compression stroke, not at the end of it. That fooled me for a little while. My plan to use a bicycle cable betwixt original Saab linkage and the throttle mechanism of the carb was a fail-way too much friction in the cable, even after thoroughly oiling the sheath. 

The plan will now be to attach a plain cable from the throttle quadrant to a meccano wheel brazed onto the linkage spindle. If I drill half a dozen holes around the periphery that will give me lots of choices as to where to affix the pin on the cable's end. 

Anyhow I got some sparks despite the ancient leads and old ignition components. The plugs, when I pulled them looked virtually new, I do have replacement leads, rotor, cap etc which I'll fit later on. Tomorrow, if I feel energetic, I'll get a timing light and set her up a bit better. I'm just really relieved that the old Saab is alive again after four years or so of surgery.

If you're into fiddling with cars, especially really old ones that may have been long since abandoned or in very poor condition, its a very special moment when they come back to life after all the work you've put into them.  

[N Dentressangle]

Great stuff. Look forward to seeing / hearing it - the V4 makes such a great noise!

I used to get 35-36mpg from the FoMoCo on a run, so not too bad. More like 30 round town, I think. The tank is small by modern standards, so fuel economy isn't so noticeable.

Good use of the freewheel helps.

[Joey spud]

I love this car and what you are doing with it,i thought this thread was about a GM car so had been skimming past it.

These are great looking,quirky cars that i have always had a hankering to own but prices seemed to have took off and left me behind.

Then i saw this for sale for £500.

https://www.carandclassic.co.uk/car/C1212736

I so want this one but just can't at the present accomodate it let alone find time to get it back on the road.

 

 

[Uncle Jimmy]

That could be a bargain- equally it could be a massive undertaking; all depends on the level of rot around the base of the scuttle. Most times the top half survives very well although some of the late ones seem to rust much worse, at a guess the metallic paint was rubbish.

[Uncle Jimmy]

2 hours ago, N Dentressangle said:

Great stuff. Look forward to seeing / hearing it - the V4 makes such a great noise!

I used to get 35-36mpg from the FoMoCo on a run, so not too bad. More like 30 round town, I think. The tank is small by modern standards, so fuel economy isn't so noticeable.

Good use of the freewheel helps.

I'm almost suprised you can't hear it anyway...its....loud ?

[Joey spud]

4 hours ago, Nibblet said:

That could be a bargain- equally it could be a massive undertaking; all depends on the level of rot around the base of the scuttle. Most times the top half survives very well although some of the late ones seem to rust much worse, at a guess the metallic paint was rubbish.

Yeah i know you're probably right but these cars just look so damn cool.

My 900 was surprisingly grotty around all of its suspension mountings and inner arches.

A man can but dream .

[Uncle Jimmy]

They might be cool nowadays but when I was a child they were generally the preserve of the elderly, the cautious and conservative, much the same as Volvos. In the States both are seen as being mad UCAL scientist or beat poet fodder, so virtually the opposite. 

You were fairly odd if you drove a Saab, a step further might have been the silver Renault 10 one neighbour owned. The ultra limit of oddity was the Skoda MB1000 our neighbour had around c1975. It's comforting really that people were quite satisfied with such cars until the mid 1980s.

[KitKat]

1 hour ago, Joey spud said:

Yeah i know you're probably right but these cars just look so damn cool.

My 900 was surprisingly grotty around all of its suspension mountings and inner arches.

A man can but dream .

A 900 hatchback on Saab Ronals? Very nice!!  I know what you mean, these old Saabs seem to rot in such odd, hidden but nonetheless critical places..

[Uncle Jimmy]

Had a minor* scare when I noticed a red light still up, on the speedo. Thought t'was the oil pressure light still on....thankfully was a brake failure warning lamp. 

Checked the internals of the voltage regulator after a puff of smoke came out yesterday- could see nowt wrong other than a little soot around the relay points, so gave em a clean and plugged back into the alternator- charge fault lamp went out so appears to be charging now. 

Also wired up the fuel sender, that's working correctly. Temperature is reading very low, even after a 15 minute warm up, whether that's because I've got the wrong sender in or whether it's because I've got a fatter 3 core rad in now I don't know. I wasn't entirely convinced that the thermostat is opening fully neither, the top hose still seemed a bit soft and whilst hot, not too hot to touch. 

Starting is still an issue unless the choke is set just right and a little fuel poured into the carb venturi, that might improve when there's an air box and the opportunity to use the foot pedal judiciously.

[Uncle Jimmy]

[N Dentressangle]

That's ace. Well done.

If you haven't found it already, the brake warning light is switched on by a slide switch on the brake pedal which turns the light on when the pedal goes down too far. You can just push it back to re-set.

[Uncle Jimmy]

Must have knocked it or something when I was rummaging about in the footwell.

My plan to use a meccano wheel as part of the throttle linkage came go nought, darned things are pressed out of three pieces of brass and quickly fell apart, so used a wheel from a sash pulley instead. Then I had a lot of bother with the bit of bike cable I was using, far too stiff and heavy. 

The throttle linkage is very lightly sprung on these Nikki carbs, especially the primary, I guess that helps get a nice progressive pedal. So I used a guitar string instead...a top E to be precise, I've also added another throttle return spring to get the throttle to snap shut against the idle screw.

Piccy shows sash pulley, E string and nylon peg holding string in place.

You can see a shiny little screw at the bottom middle of the pic, that's the one that would normally tighten onto the cable, no chance in that position, so I threaded the guitar string the opposite direction. It's quite safe now as the guitar string is very light and if it breaks the engine will just idle.

[Uncle Jimmy]

You can just see the string at the end of the throttle linkage quadrant here, at the right hand base of the rotor cap.

Now I've added another spring I may be able to play B or even G.

[Uncle Jimmy]

Both manifold to exhaust pipe joints were smoking a bit so I tightened them up and solved that and I've a choke cable to affix, when it arrives.

Next I think I'm going to get the exhaust on, at least temporarily, it's deafeningly loud without it. 

[Tetleysmooth]

Anybody else fancy one of these?

http://www.uksaabs.co.uk/UKS/viewtopic.php?f=14&t=199688

 

 

 

[Uncle Jimmy]

OK, back onto the Saab again the last couple of days. The holes in the floor were worse than thought- funny that.

However, reserves of enthusiasm and a pair of scissor ramps brought in and work done.

As always fabrication was classy but weldage, especially in the upside down position a bit snotty.

[Uncle Jimmy]

A crusty hole becomes a squarish sort of bigger hole.

[Uncle Jimmy]

First patch,  welding especially crud on the bottom. Welding slightly better from topside.

[Uncle Jimmy]

These Saabs are strong, some of that floor is 1.2mm, 18 swage? They will take having large chunks ripped out without any sagging. Most 70s tin wouldn't allow for that, the Austin 1800 was a strong bugger and other Swedes.

 

[Alan Prost]

Looks a lovely old car and a great project... here are a couple of pics of my old one which was a deluxe model, the only upgrade seemed to be double chrome side strips ?

[Uncle Jimmy]

That's a nice old thing- never knew there was such a thing as a 'deluxe'.

Welding done- for now. Will get inside and tidy up the plug hole with a die grinder. I have lots of different bungs. The hole at the front of the sill will be pumped with cavity wax before it's plugged.

[Alan Prost]

I just loved my plane inspired mudflaps!

?

[Uncle Jimmy]

Ok, after a short hiatus I've been fiddling with Swede again. 

Welded up passenger side footwell. The hole was big, much bigger than it was supposed to be, nonetheless some high-end fabrication  happened, followed by some less expert welding and all was made good.

[Uncle Jimmy]

When plates are welded straight over the top of rusty holes it just accelerates the corrosion process- just say no folks. Get it done right. Condensation forms in the cracks and even if cavity wax or similar is used it struggles to get in there. Any type of lap joint is a bad idea really.  

I fixed up some reversing lamps. The silver paint came out quite well- I was more patient than usual.

[Uncle Jimmy]

Then I changed the old fuse box with a buggered lid for a new one. I took photos first- these new fangled smart phones are useful. 

When I'd also checked the wiring diagram in the book of jokes I went to start up.

Nowt happened. Well, the lights worked but not the fan so there was an issue in the starting circuit. Not the ignition barrel I hope- I dislike ignition barrels, they are sly bastards. Wiggling the loom where it runs through the bulkhead and swearing worked. The next pull of the choke and turn of the key and she started first time. 

I had changed the HT leads and cleaned and gapped the spark plugs so she ran much better. I also moved the distributor round a couple of teeth as the vacuum advance pot on it was snarled up against the brake servo pipe, so I had to reset the timing. 

She is still a little reluctant to idle at the 800 mark, I need to replace the points and cap really but I'm always reluctant to move away from that which I know is sound.

[Uncle Jimmy]

Another job was to replace the Lockheed brake master cylinder. I had bought an identical, brand new one for a fiver at an auto jumble. The thread for the cunifer line to attach is different.  There's a manky, non standard bit of hydraulic hose betwixt master and slave cylinders which needs replacing, for now the old cylinder went back on, eventually I'll replace with the new master and pipes. 

Today I fitted the Jetex exhaust, very well made they are too. I was going to fabricate one from stainless, I've done it before but I'm glad I didn't. It would have been major ballache where it runs through the rear nearside wheel arch.  Besides the Jetex is a known quantity.

 

[Uncle Jimmy]

Having tightened up the assorted exhaust clamps I started up the Saab. Very refined, not quite what I'd expected. Some do prefer a noisier exhaust, it can get wearing after a while though. I can't get over how smooth this little engine runs, there is very little movement on the mounts and it revs very freely.  Idle is down as 800rpm in the book, it's difficult to get it to sit at that without running too rich or stalling. The plugs were very oily when I cleaned and gapped them. 

The carb may be jetted too rich, then again I may need to change the points and set the dwell angle properly.  These Saabs were known to be thirsty, they may be an engine that just likes a drink, the Fiat twin cam is another.  Compare to my Datsun 120y, they will easily top 40mpg, even driven very hard, a '96 will struggle to get much more than 25. 

I will have to bite the bullet and change the points, maybe the distributor is worn, I noticed a little play in the spindle. 

Unlike many I do prefer points, when they are set right they are every bit as good as electronic ignition and are easy to diagnose faults with, I've found an awful lot of electronic systems to be less than reliable.