How much shite is too much shite? Chod in a Foreign Land - What a Happy Chod Gatherer I am

[LightBulbFun]

Jesus! those are the last sorts of things you want just after retiring!

11 minutes ago, Saabnut said:

Fortunately after a huge amount of work, DVSA capitulated and I am still an authorised tester, and last week I received a very grudging letter from WM Police saying all charges have been dropped, so time to return to normal!  

glad you managed to suitably kick ass! and things back to normal

 

how is the Carbodies FX4 Taxi Saab 93B doing? is it running driving or does it still have some more work to go? if you take it there a 3rd time surely you have to drive it there under its own power?  

[Inspector Morose]

5 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

how is the Carbodies FX4 Taxi Saab 93B doing? is it running driving or does it still have some more work to go? if you take it there a 3rd time surely you have to drive it there under its own power?  

Depends how many fish suppers he waives under my nose! 😁

[High Jetter]

I hope the shit-stirrer(s) will get their come-uppance in due course, glad you've been exonerated. 

[Saabnut]

19 minutes ago, LightBulbFun said:

Jesus! those are the last sorts of things you want just after retiring!

glad you managed to suitably kick ass! and things back to normal

 

how is the Carbodies FX4 Taxi Saab 93B doing? is it running driving or does it still have some more work to go? if you take it there a 3rd time surely you have to drive it there under its own power?  

93b is up and running, with working front side lights and indicators, along with a realigned bonett, all done at the show. Final remaining jobs are to get rear side/indicators at the same time, needs connections cleaning and new handbrake cables. Plan is to put some miles on it this year then drive it to Lemans next year.

[Zelandeth]

3 hours ago, Saabnut said:

93b is up and running, with working front side lights and indicators, along with a realigned bonett, all done at the show. Final remaining jobs are to get rear side/indicators at the same time, needs connections cleaning and new handbrake cables. Plan is to put some miles on it this year then drive it to Lemans next year.

If you need a break around J14 of the M1 give me a shout!  You're you're always welcome.  Know I'd not have enjoyed getting into the whole Saab thing anywhere near as much without your contributions.

Still bloody miss my last C900.

[cort1977]

Sorry to hear this Nick, very good news that both issues are now resolved.

Onwards and upwards.

[Floatylight]

Sorry to here this Nick, glad to hear things are on the up.

[Cookiesouwest]

As above. Sorry to hear of your troubles, but glad they are now resolved.

[Sunny Jim]

So with all that going on I guess the cherry picker never got sorted? Offer still stands to come and do the work using ladders and ropes for access.

Glad you've got through all the shit been through, wishing you all the best.

[Saabnut]

With mojo returning and some nice weather, time to start on some automotive projects. First a long time resident has departed for pastures new, to provide parts for several other P4s. Spares not required by the new owner could well be available here, let me know and I will ask.

Any qualms I had about breaking this one vanished when the NSF lower arm self detached and a game of "spot the chassis" was required. Quite a rare car being a 105, but 105s will be a bit rarer now.

[hairnet]

please turn air blue with 93b video ta

[Zelandeth]

1 hour ago, Saabnut said:

With mojo returning and some nice weather, time to start on some automotive projects. First a long time resident has departed for pastures new, to provide parts for several other P4s. Spares not required by the new owner could well be available here, let me know and I will ask.

Any qualms I had about breaking this one vanished when the NSF lower arm self detached and a game of "spot the chassis" was required. Quite a rare car being a 105, but 105s will be a bit rarer now.

The little metal ramps that lift the wipers off the scuttle are missing on mine.  

Think I'm missing the roller doodad on one of the wipers itself as well.

Hardly high priority things but stuff it would be nice to get reinstated at some point.

[Saabnut]

Back in 2018 at Shitefest 2018, @dollywobbler personally fitted a HubNut sticker to the back of my daily driver, a 2007 Saab 9-3 TiD SW. This, instantly increased both its street cred and indeed its value. A couple of months later, in November 2018, whilst in France, the rear brake pads went and the state of the discs showed an overhaul was due, so a careful drive home ensued and once home it was parked in the naughty corner until I got around to it. Fast forward 2.5 years and I decided to at least put it under cover in the open fronted barn as I was certain* to get on with it soon.

In November 25  the shenanigans with the DVSA meant I had more time than expected so I decided to have a look at the poor old thing and make a decision on fix or scrap. Adding a battery saw it turn over but not fire. Adding diesel had it running  When I went back to it the next day, it would again turn over but not fire. Adding more diesel had it running again, and I moved it out of the barn.I was then distracted, so the next day I went back to it and it again turned but not started. It was then I noticed the stained ground under where it was previously parked. The kubota came out to push it into the shed where it was put on the 2 post lift.

First thing was the fuel filter had mostly disappeared at one end, explaing the missing diesel, amazing it ran at all. A good look over the car whilst it was in the air revealed a LOT of surface rust, three broken springs, leaking rear shock absorbers, one leaking front strut, seized callipers NSF and OSR plus a broken rear shock absorder mount and tired flexi pipes, but no actual rot. 

A great deal of ebay searching, as well as soul searching  and I found I could buy 4 x discs, 4 x calipers, 2 x rear shock absorbers, 2 x rear shock absorber mounts, 4 flexi hoses, 2 seta of brake pads, 2 x front struts and 4 x springs for considerably less than £600. Decision made and parts ordered. All arrived quickly, mostly from europe, and amazingly all the parts were correct. Many, many hours were spent with a wire brush etc, but eventually it was done and the new parts fitted and brakes bled.

With that done, a test run and check around was completed and off for MOT it went which it passed, but on the way home the rear tail light cluster (LEDs and circuit boards) on the offside failed and then the alternator joined it. A light unit was removed from my spares car and a recon alternator purchased. The alternator was a bit dearer than a new Chinesium one, but is a sod to get to and I only wanted to do it once. Today I taxed it and it made its first run proper in nearly 8 years and covered about 100 miles. I bought the car in 2011 for £5k when it was 4 years old and had 89k miles. It is now considerably older like me  and it currently has 148k miles on it. I think it can stay a bit longer!

[hairnet]

madness to everyone else 

normal for nick

 

[beko1987]

I bet all that's transformed it, nice work!

[GingerNuttz]

Got the volvo nearly ready to paint. 

Gonna shoot primer on the boot, wings and bonnet since I have them off to repair little bits. 

Shell is welded and I'll update the thread with pics soon. 

It should be painted in the next 6 weeks, got some bits on the doors to fix before I shoot primer on the shell. 

 

 

 

[Saabnut]

Fantastic work as usual, thank you

[GingerNuttz]

On 15/04/2026 at 20:11, Saabnut said:

Fantastic work as usual, thank you

I'll not be that long till I'm finished.

I've found a bit of rot on the front valance that I'm gonna sort tomorrow and the headlight panel needs a bit at the bottom so I'll knock that out and post some pics end of this week.

 

 

 

[Saabnut]

A long overdue update as a lot has been happening and a few changes have occurred. Back in April, as I had not been to my place in France for a while, I fired up the AS supplied 9-5 and headed down. 

Weather was good and as Drive It Day occurred, I took out the '66 Spitfire with my friend in his fake Frogeye (actually a 1500 MG Midget) and we went for a run stopping in a village for coffee.

The three weeks soon passed and I had to head back home as the MOT station was now under new ownership and I was required. It has been a bit intermittent on the MOT front as I booked lots of trips when I thought I would not be working. When I return mid August I have said I will work full time for a while to build up the business.

After a couple of weeks, it was time to head down to Newby Hall near Ripon for the Tractorfest show which is really just an excuse to meet up with friends and drink beer. As Ripon is about 310 miles away, I had to decide on the ideal transport. So, it was the Sherpa towing the Saab 93b, both of which were entered in the show

At the show, the Cider tent of doom was once again in attendance so we spent a fair bit of time sampling his wares. This may not have been the most sensible thing to do, as walking around the show between tent visits, my friend spotted a Renault for sale. Being a rare model and my friend never having owned one of these, an offer was made and a deal was done. This is the Renault, from 1953, that he bought.

After a great weekend, it was back home with the outfit on Monday. Monday evening I spotted a wanted advert on the Saab Owners Club facebook page where someone was looking for a Saab 99 bodyshell to make a competition car. As I have one in the corner of my shed which has been there for 10 years and is occupying space I could do with having back, so I made contact. Sending pictures was difficult as it had been stored before I installed my ramp and of course having horizontal surfaces it had become a shelf!

On Tuesday morning it was back into the Saab 9-5 and back down to Birmingham for a family funeral on the Wednesday. After the funeral it was carry on down to Crawley to my brothers, and at 0345 Thursday morning it was into his Cerbera and off to the ferry for the Lemans 24hr race.

More great weather, food and wine plus a friend down there asked me for advice on rebuilding the engine on his 1963 Fiat 1500 convertible so I am now investigating machine shops and parts suppliers.

Back to the UK on Monday and a drive home on the Tuesday where the Saab clocked up 218k miles, but I found an LPG seller in Birmingham where LPG was 75p a litre! Wednesday was back to work MOT testing, through to Friday. More conversations with the potential Saab 99 purchaser followed and a deal has been done so this weekend I had to extract it from its slumber. First was to remove everything from in and on it

This is a bare shell with front wheels and steering rack losely fitted so moving it is not easy and manoevering it around my ramp posed a bit of a problem. A bit of lateral thinking provided a solution

This worked well, and also worked to load it onto the trailer where it will sit until next weekend when I will drop it off at Blyton Race Circuit near Doncaster on my way back to France. The new owner will complete the journey to his house in Canterbury and will store my trailer until I return from France mid August. The future for this car is quite exciting with what was a motorsport superstar in the 70s and 80s involved, but I will say more on that once the deal is concluded.

With that completed, I utilised the Komatsu to load the ShiteLK onto my other trailer ready to deliver it later in the week when my second set of tie down straps arrive

This week I am back to work MOT testing and a friend called tonight asking me if I can check over her Saab ready for the Saabfest near Stoke at the beginning of August, so have agreed to go and have a look Tuesday evening. Sunday I deliver the 99 and early hours on Monday I am booked on a ferry to head to France for the Lemans Classic. I will be staying over there until the Marcon Classic (7/8 ish August) before returning home on the 11th. Looking forward to a rest!

[hairnet]

zomg

[big_al_granvia]

i am trying to think what rally legends from the 70's/80's are still alive, swedish perhaps or finnish

[Saabnut]

8 hours ago, big_al_granvia said:

i am trying to think what rally legends from the 70's/80's are still alive, swedish perhaps or finnish

Wrong discipline! Think British but Rallycross.

[Vantman]

22 minutes ago, Saabnut said:

Wrong discipline! Think British but Rallycross.

Will Gollop?

[big_al_granvia]

is he very involved at lydden hill circuit, irish sounding name 

[Tickman]

A lot going on there.

13 hours ago, Saabnut said:

a friend down there asked me for advice on rebuilding the engine on his 1963 Fiat 1500 convertible so I am now investigating machine shops and parts suppliers.

I was expecting this to read 'so I am now the owner of a 1063 Fiat 1500 convertible'

 

[Supernaut]

I'm convinced Nick is actually one of these aquatic species that dies if they stop moving.

[Saabnut]

3 hours ago, Vantman said:

Will Gollop?

In one! More details will follow sometime soon

[Saabnut]

One left the fleet today, returned to @Supernaut so it has a chance of living again.

[brownnova]

On 21/06/2026 at 20:17, Saabnut said:

Saabfest near Stoke

I really should open the Saab magazine as if you hadn’t mentioned it I would have missed that this was on!

Doable in a day for me. Best fix one of the Saabs ready. 

[Saabnut]

My friends Saab needed a new battery but then fired up first try and went on to pass its mot the next day so already for Saabfest.  
 

I left home at 0445 this morning and by 1130 was drinking tea at Blyton. The new owner is the nephew of Will Gollop and is a talented driver in his own right. He currently drives a Clio Turbo 2litre and is leading the rallycross championship. They are going to build this

into a replica of the one Will started out with, hopefully having it ready for the legends event next year. Updates have been promised and will post them here. 
 

This is young Ted Sheperd leading his heat on the way to winning the days race. 
 

(Writing this on the ferry to Dunkirk)