Jump to content

Steve79 fleet - RX300


Steve79

Recommended Posts

The 9-5 has been carrying out its daily duties with aplomb but 15mpg around town is becoming slightly tiresome. I'm enjoying the big car experience again after selling the clio, which renders the 206 redundant and will be up for sale once the DVLA gets its act in gear and send me the V5/C. So the hunt was on for a suitable larger vehicle with enough space for shopping/tip run crap/everyday life items.

Now, facebook marketplace is not the normal place i would scour for obvious reasons but this popped up and i couldn't resist.

tVCCcPW.jpg

The ad had very little info apart from the fact it was a Saab 9-3 1.9 TiD. It was up for £500 which seemed reasonable enough so i went to see it.

No pics of the collection as it was parked in a very narrow space and pics would have been shite. Also no pez station pic due to complementary half tank still in there.

At home

LVo05Rx.jpg

hvzcyE3.jpg

Sh1U1S6.jpg

Not too bad right? 

Wait for it!!!!!

zoROoju.jpg

NyN7SM0.jpg

MdC5zlQ.jpg

mESAwzm.jpg

Shite paint

E4OEC5n.jpg

Interior isn't bad

ovBSFZD.jpg

5cADKLm.jpg

years of bum juice!

bKqfrZR.jpg

VxkZNCa.jpg

AnQBGKU.jpg

3JRZCxh.jpg

Ap4wstM.jpg 

0xwtBOu.jpg

Shite wind deflectors

Its a 2007 Saab 9-3 1.9 TiD 120bhp 6-speed Vector Sport Anniversary Edition (mouthful!). This edition was to celebrated Saab's 60th year anniverary. The models got different wheels, bodykit and interior trim. The boot floor handle was also metal instead of plastic and in the shape of an aeroplane.

I wasn't expecting a lot when i got there but was "mildly" surprised. It started well enough and drove ok, but there was definitely an intermittent chattering from the gearbox area which disappeared when the clutch was depressed. I also did an HPi check before i got there which i wouldn't normally do, but i had three checks left from a greenflag offer so i though why not?

Glad i did, its been written off twice! Once in 2018 as a CAT-S and again in April of this year as a CAT-N. 

The seller, who whilst a nice enough guy, had neglected to mention this or the chattering noise in the ad. I quizzed him on it and the response was that he wasn't aware of that. He's owned it since early 2019 so i said that i didn't mind that its had a few knocks, but at least volunteer the info rather than me having to have an awkward conversation with him. He looked a bit sheepish after that!

He asked if i still wanted the car, to which i replied that i did but in the light of the two CAT markers and clutch noise, i was going to be low-balling the living daylights out of him. Offer was made and declined, to which i asked him how many people on faceache had arranged to view and not shown up (including the person that was supposed to be viewing before me), his response was "a lot". The same offer, which@theshadow would be proud of was then accepted ? 

There are a few teething issues that need addressing.

The tailgate is fucking fucked mate and desperately needs replacing as well as the rear bumper and lamp cluster. Luckily there is a Saab breakers 5 mins from me and have the bits in stock. There's also a wheel bearing noise from the back, a rattling over bumps coming from the front o/s suspension and the paint on the back n/s panel is in desperate need of G3 cutting paste and a buffer.

The noise from the clutch is very intermittent and rarely happens. So am not going to worry about it.

I've also got a feeling that a owner in the past may have had it tuned as it seems very brisk for a 120bhp.

Overall though for the price i got it for i'm well pleased!

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rattling over bumps from the front will be drop links - cheap and easy to swap if you have an angle grinder! :-)

Rattle from clutch will be the Dual Mass Flywheel - very common on these

Spend little on it, run it til it explodes would be my plan!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

50 minutes ago, Saabnut said:

Rattling over bumps from the front will be drop links - cheap and easy to swap if you have an angle grinder! :-)

Rattle from clutch will be the Dual Mass Flywheel - very common on these

Spend little on it, run it til it explodes would be my plan!

That's kinda the plan. It's been fairly well looked after in the past and has the service book stamped up to 120k. 

There's also this warranty plan in the history file for when the car was sold in mid 2017 for £2995.

qWIRKlu.jpg

That's a whacking amount of depreciation for you

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Took the 9-3 out shopping earlier with MrsSteve79, she obviously hates it as its not a brand new car ? but she did comment how comfy the seats were!

I had a low coolant warning yesterday so i checked and it did need topping up. Mental note made to keep an eye on it.

Got home and left it 20mins and there was a small pool of water underneath. Checked the hoses and

TkzIbCD.jpg

Yep that'll be it ?

Judging by the amount of brown wet staining surrounding this area i'm guessing that its been leaking for a while. Note to future self - please go back in time and tell past self not to bend said damaged hose in direction of face when engine is running as you will get boiling hot coolant in your eye! 

I'd been In contact with the local saab breaker 5mins from my house to get a replacement tailgate, lamp cluster and rear bumper so i popped up there this afternoon.

First thing he did was ask me where i bought it from as it turns out it was his personal car originally and he sold it to the guy I bought it from - it's a small world!

Have managed to procure from them a good tailgate, rear bumper, lamp cluster and replacement hose for £150. They'll also fit the lot for £60 which i'll probably get them to do.

Central Locking is also non functional on n/s rear door so the panel will be coming off to investigate.

Weather depending, the seat fabrics will be getting the carpet washer treatment ask they are absolutely hanging, although not the 206 levels of hanging!

In other news, I'll be meeting up with @djoptix tomorrow to raid parts off of the 9-5 aero he's breaking so should get most bits I need to sort out little trim niggles etc.

I may possibly definitely may be viewing another car tomorrow. It's got a k20a3 engine. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

9 hours ago, Steve79 said:

Took the 9-3 out shopping earlier with MrsSteve79, she obviously hates it as its not a brand new car ? but she did comment how comfy the seats were!

I had a low coolant warning yesterday so i checked and it did need topping up. Mental note made to keep an eye on it.

Got home and left it 20mins and there was a small pool of water underneath. Checked the hoses and

TkzIbCD.jpg

Yep that'll be it ?

Judging by the amount of brown wet staining surrounding this area i'm guessing that its been leaking for a while. Note to future self - please go back in time and tell past self not to bend said damaged hose in direction of face when engine is running as you will get boiling hot coolant in your eye! 

I'd been In contact with the local saab breaker 5mins from my house to get a replacement tailgate, lamp cluster and rear bumper so i popped up there this afternoon.

First thing he did was ask me where i bought it from as it turns out it was his personal car originally and he sold it to the guy I bought it from - it's a small world!

Have managed to procure from them a good tailgate, rear bumper, lamp cluster and replacement hose for £150. They'll also fit the lot for £60 which i'll probably get them to do.

Central Locking is also non functional on n/s rear door so the panel will be coming off to investigate.

Weather depending, the seat fabrics will be getting the carpet washer treatment ask they are absolutely hanging, although not the 206 levels of hanging!

In other news, I'll be meeting up with @djoptix tomorrow to raid parts off of the 9-5 aero he's breaking so should get most bits I need to sort out little trim niggles etc.

I may possibly definitely may be viewing another car tomorrow. It's got a k20a3 engine. 

Agreed on the seats, they are tremendously comfortable in these. A bit of TLC and that'll be a nice place to be. You also have the newer, easy to replace stereo fascia unlike my 2006, can get a nice double din in there

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Its been a day of trials and tribulations!

Saab breaker says yeah, rad hose will be piss easy to change, just need a pair of molegrips for the hose clamps and torx bolts for the battery box. Ok says I, no problem, it'll take what, 20 mins tops!

YEAH RIGHT!

cZW617I.jpg

Thought it would be a good idea to crack the Pela knock off out to siphon the coolant out of the expansion tank and hose. 

Battery box torx bolts were stiffer than Pee Wee Herman in an adult theatre and were not coming out without a fight. First two gave up after wd40 and physical abuse but the rear bolt was not for moving.

3JJ4bx1.jpg

Cue childish tantrum number one. I'm not the most patient of people and like instant gratification. Not forthcoming, i got pissy and got the dremmel out! I cut out what surrounding plastic i could get to given the limited space and and ripped out the tray. Tried molegrips, heat, wd40, shouting, swearing but the bolt is stuck in there fast. Sod it.

That was the easy part! Saab twat at factory though it'd be well funny to put the hose clamps on upside down!!!! The stat housing one was easy but the rad end, could i get it off, could i fuck!

Got the dremmel out on it and tried cutting it, nope. Tried molegrips but access is soo tight that you can't get a good enough purchase on the clamp. In the end, i found a pair of bent nose pliers that were part of an extensive toolkit that i inherited from my grandad when he passed away. He was a aircraft fitter for BAC which then became British Aerospace and built spitfires and beaufighters during WW2.

Using these pliers i finally managed to yank of the offending clamp which seemed to have welded itself into the hose itself!

Vdblwr1.jpg

You can see there scratches on the rad where i was fighting to get it off. It doesn't help that there a big wiring loom which get right in the way as well, hindering access.

Finally got the hose removed and replaced and had an equally big fight getting the clamp back on which resulted in childish tantrum no.2. MANY MANY C-bombs were dropped and tools thrown at floor during this. Finally, i got the clamp back on and coolant refilled. 20min job? Try 3-hours!

Tomorrow's job is washing the ass juice out of the seats. NICE!

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Tickman said:

Anyone else not get pictures?

Screenshot_20200702-210130.thumb.png.9026e7239bc5fb54e118977ffc262b6e.png

Same with all the pictures in the thread, doesn't seem to be on any other thread.

I've been getting this intermittently on any and all threads for the last couple of weeks, not just you.

1 hour ago, Steve79 said:

Its been a day of trials and tribulations!

Saab breaker says yeah, rad hose will be piss easy to change, just need a pair of molegrips for the hose clamps and torx bolts for the battery box. Ok says I, no problem, it'll take what, 20 mins tops!

YEAH RIGHT!

 

Finally got the hose removed and replaced and had an equally big fight getting the clamp back on which resulted in childish tantrum no.2. MANY MANY C-bombs were dropped and tools thrown at floor during this. Finally, i got the clamp back on and coolant refilled. 20min job? Try 3-hours!

 

This is the sort of thing I do not miss about my C900.  I absolutely adored that car, but god I hated working on it sometimes.  I learned to always multiply my time estimates by at LEAST four.  The main issue with it seemed to be a combination of a 60s BMC like disregard for positioning things in the way of other things, but mainly the over-engineering.  Where a 10mm bolt just nipped up "tight enough" would have done just fine, instead they would use a 19mm one which had been tightened by Thor himself, and then would stick a bunch of bits of car in the way so there's absolutely no way to get decent leverage on the thing.

Changing the low radiator hose I recall taking me the best part of a day.  It's an easy job on a manual...Not so on the automatic!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It's like saab said how much can we physically stuff into the engine bay and can we make access as tight as possible, oh and by the way, make sure the loom gets in the way of absolutely everything!

It's just like the 9-5. Practically an engine out job just to do the alternator!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Tickman said:

Anyone else not get pictures?

Screenshot_20200702-210130.thumb.png.9026e7239bc5fb54e118977ffc262b6e.png

Same with all the pictures in the thread, doesn't seem to be on any other thread.

All the photos are hosted on imgur. Not sure why they aren't showing. They are larger file sizes though that may or may no be an issue.

I've tried viewing the post at my end and photo's load straight away but on missus old ipad4 they take around 5-10seconds to load.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It never ceased to amaze me how awkward a lot of jobs were in this engine bay given how much open space there is!  I wound up just climbing in and sitting on the engine for more than one job.

I mean...how can anything in here be awkward?

IMGP0133.thumb.JPG.a504e71de4c08909e597fc1222091e1f.JPG

IMGP0132.thumb.JPG.1fec273cffddff690511c7b0e29ecfc9.JPG

However it managed.

This is the absolute swine of a radiator hose by the way - access being at full arm stretch as well...zip from underneath as it sits right on top of the chassis rail.

SDC17734.thumb.JPG.82049ca5c77a77bb8f679d1cdbea9350.JPG

Getting *either* the radiator end or oil cooler end on is easy.  Getting both on however...yeah, time to invent new curses.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This is what put me right off my 9-5. If you've got hands the size of a toy doll's but as strong as a lorry wheel buzz gun, you're fine, anything less and you're struggling. I heard about the alternator job on these and it frightened the shite out of me. Also heard you need Herculean effort to get the caliper bolts off. I loved my 9-5, but it was just so bleedin hard to work on.

My current Merc W202 C200 is an entirely different ball game. The first time I opened the bonnet I was delighted to see everything so easily accessible. Alternator, water pump and so on is right there. No cambelt roulette either. Yes I know petrol Saabs have a chain as well.

I don't think I'd have another Saab for a good while. Great cars, but .......

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Now that its FINALLY decided to stop raining in Bristol, i decided to take advantage of the sunshine and set about removing a lifetimes worth of mcdonalds, dirt and fart particles from the interior.

As a reminder, before the interior was attacked with the Vax carpet washer.

Rear Seats

9djabqY.jpg

rFlPU5g.jpg

Front Seat

QUb1u1A.jpg

Here is the interior after a VERY thorough scrubbing. What came out was utter filth

Front Passenger seat

lqfSGTs.jpg

Rear Seats

Zux5QU9.jpg

tyl8kzv.jpg

Drivers Seat

lRJgNNK.jpg

I'm still not 100% happy with it but i no longer feel like i'm sat on someones filthy toilet!

Feeling flushed with success, decisions about the tailgate had to be made. It had taken a reasonable whack in the bottom left hand corner and had punctured the metal. It was also twisted on the lower edge and dented. I had previously arranged to get a replacement tailgate from the local saab breaker but i have to accept that the car is never going to look perfect.

This, coupled with the fact that using G3 on the poor paintwork on the N/S/R quarter panel made the square root of sod all difference, i decided to minimise any outlay on this. So using my child like bodywork skills i set about the damaged tailgate

Straight Molegrips for the win

hmVr55M.jpg

I managed to straighten out most of the kinks so it looks half presentable.

Next victim was the puncture in the metal.

We started with this

MdC5zlQ.jpg

Judicious usage of these

sI1TEPc.jpg

Brings us to this point

usmo8TS.jpg

A bit* better!

I'm going to get @rwd to weld it up just to get it watertight (cheers in advance Nick ?) and then chuck whatever gloss black aerosol i can find in the garage.

I'm still going to buy the rear bumper and lamp cluster as these rear do need doing.

After 4 hours of fettling all i needed to do way get the saab off of the drive to move things around. Turn key, CLICK CLICK CLICK. Battery is flat as a witches tit!

Note to self - Make sure all interior lights are switched off if you are going to leave the door open all day!

Halfords best* set to work

XiQUNZS.jpg

Saab had pissed itself!

uZbfxCb.jpg

That'll explain the constant low washer fluid warning then. Will have to take undertray off to get at this and then it'll get expoxy'd to death!

Tomorrow I'll be going to properly look at the 55-plate Civic Type - S that i sort of committed to buy before i got the 9-3. I had a cursory look over it last week if its pretty tidy aside from scuffing to the O/S/R wheelarch. If it checks out then it'll be up for sale PDQ as i am at max capacity for car storage. I'll chuck the pics in the for sale listing i have on here at the moment.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

It looks like the FIL has taken quite a shine to the 9-3 and it looks like it'll be going home with him on Sunday after he's dropped off his octavia which I've sold for him to a fellow Shitter.

Not quite sure how I feel about this. On one hand, it would have only been a temporary car and would have been sold at some point, but on the other I quite like it and would have like to put some miles on it.

I think I'm going to insure it for a few days and drive it around. I may then use the monies from the sale of it and the civic to buy a slightly nicer condition one.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Waiting for Civic bloke to get back to me so went looking at a this

http://www.autotrader.co.uk/classified/advert/202007131170049?atmobcid=soc3

It's a '98 9-5 2.3t SE with 70k. Thought it might be worth getting to nab a good rear door off for the Aero HOT and maybe some other bits.

Visually its fairly tidy and has been buffer owned for many years. It started up fine but there is a VERY loud knocking from around the PAS pump area. It's not the chains as its not rattling.

The interior is absolutely filthy and full of rubbish - NICE

Another delightful* encounter was the strong smell of piss coming from the seats! Only noticed this once I was sat in the drivers seat ?

Aircon blows cold but won't change direction so that'll be the direction arms busted.

The dealer wants £400 which personally would have paid if it didn't need the PAS pump and aircon fixing. He's already turned down a £250 offer from someone else but i don't reckon it's worth more than £350 tops.

I'd only be swapping the door and cup holder over and moving it on anyway.

Would anyone be interested in taking it off my hands if I did get it?

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 2 weeks later...

Update FINALLY!

With the daily round town MPG on the 9-5 becoming tiresome and expensive and that i'm being made redundant within the next few weeks, i needed a MOAR mpg vehicle for the man about town.

Bramz7 came up trumps yet again and dropped this fine steed to Bristol.

Its appeared on here a few times before with other members but this is where we currently stand after being given a half hearted valet yesterday.

KtLTeRl.jpg

jVfrib5.jpg

fii6WRS.jpg

C5iOVSR.jpg

Its scrubs up fairly well but its definitely a 20-footer.

7tOV4HR.jpg

Paintwork is "well used"

ghliF3e.jpg

G2LkjWW.jpg

I'm going to grind all of this back, then vactan and paint it.

mPiS2p9.jpg

The seats are very figure hugging, especially for the larger "post Covid" gentleman. 

Most of the interior is in quite good condition for a car with 200k on it, but there are a few issues. I'm not sure what happened with the head unit/fan control housing but its in about 4 pieces. i have managed to temporarily "repair" it.

R89LI7C.jpg

Its got the usual dash lcd fault where its displays fine in cooler weather but alost disappers completely in warmer weather. 

Its a bit sooty under the bonnet which i'm sure is a split in a boost pipe somewhere.

KXqranp.jpg

It drives fantastically and i get the feeling that there has been a little bit of tampering done either to the ECU or the pump timing as its MUCH faster than any PD-130 engined vehicle i've ever driven. It pulls strongly from around 1300rpm right through to 4500rpm and the handling is very sharp, akin to a Metro Gti from back in the day. The ride is very hard which apparently is common to the Sport model as the suspension is stiffer and runs on 17" alloys.  There may also be a broken spring as there is a twanging noise when coming off of full lock when parked. which i#ll need to get looked at.

There wasn't a radio in there when i got it. There's an aftermarket harness in there so it'll work with a regular (non concert) headunit, but i can't get any radio reception on FM or AM. I know that Audi used aerial amplifiers but i'm not clear how this works with a normal headunit. Any advice would be appreciated.

For reference, this is the harness that is currently fitted to it

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/4-Head-0129-01-Radio-Wiring-for-Aftermarket-Stereo-Audi-A3-Half-Amplified-96-05/401819446704

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Right, i'm going to make it clear from the offset that i'm absolutely not taking any responsibility for buying another car as its facebook marketplace's fault!

I was quite happy, sat on my arse minding my own business looking at ebay, gumtree, facebooketc and it jumped out at me!

eFzoDwe.jpg

FFS, and its 10mins from my house, double FFS, obviously i'm going to have to go and have a look at it!

Spoke to the owner who up until recently was a mega shitter, with no less than 23 saabs in his possession and various Commer SpaceVans. Unfortunately he is emigrating to France and the whole lot has been sold apart from this one. I arranged to meet him on his lunch break and view it.

Huzzah!

61tv5l7.jpg

gAftKZl.jpg

uqC22n9.jpg

Lqq0JlP.jpg

W00MHB2.jpg

Its a 1990 Saab 9000i 16v. Nothing too special right? Take a closer look!

ewvyFhy.jpg

zVGLHyd.jpg

evkQB1F.jpg

Its a 9000 BASE! Never had a radio fitted and keep fit windows all round. Also no rear wash wipe, not even a hole in the tailgate for one! I've never seen a base before and didn't know they even existed. 

According to my well used copy of Parkers PLUS+ Nov/Dec 1999 base 9000's were a thing and were just over £15k new which is £26681.12 in today's money.

YXTG8i1.jpg

Its had two previous keepers and had a new clutch and crankshaft oil seal in late 2017 when it was last on the road and has only done around 500 miles since it was fitted. Another plus is the history book is fully stamped up to 81k in 2016 all at Saab main stealer or Saab specialist.

Its not without its issues though. We started the car up to move it from the driveway up on the flat surface so i could have a poke around and it went a bit wrong!  The PO did mention it had a slight fuel leak, which it did only drip from the hardline in the middle of the floorpan. However, under a bit more strain it turned from a drip to me screaming OMFGITSPOURINGFUCKINGEVERYWHERE TURN IT OFF TURN IT OFF! Was actually hilarious as its pissing out from the front and middle now. The PO was mortified but i reassured him that many fucks were not given as i was going to replace them anyway. It just means that it'll need towing to @rwd now rather than being able to drive it.

It also needs a bloody good clean and decontamination as its full of dust and mold

WoBwg72.jpg

Headlining needs attention

MzrWyxh.jpg

Oh and the best bit

XK8HIXU.jpg

No Dic here folks, just a good old N/A B202  with dizzy cap and leads :)

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

8 hours ago, Steve79 said:

Not sure why. I've accessed the forum via three different laptops and two android phones and the pictures display fine.

What's happening when you try to view them? Are they showing as broken links?

Seems to take a while to load. But they do load eventually.

Love the 9000, when I passed my test my stepdad had a flat front 9000 turbo. Was such fun to switch from 2cv to one when I could justify it.

Well bought, looks great :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 1 month later...

I hadn't seen this SAAB somehow.  It looks excellent.  The original owner lives in the posh houses near the miner's hall in Durham, where the local MP rents an office.  I have a picture somewhere of the 205CJ in the "MP parking only" space.  I will have ridden past this car hundreds of times on my BMX growing up.

 

The Philip Wilk's garage in Witton Gilbert is where Paddy Mcaloon from Prefab Sprout used to kick about when it was his dad's garage.  Have I called dibs yet?

 

The pictures do load for me obviously, but they take frigging ages.  

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...