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Jan 19, 2011 11:16:01 GMT
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these are awesome! tho not a fan of the fogs. sans fogs I think would look nicest. That looks in great condition though really like it, wil look great siting just a little lower on those springs the auxillary spot lamps are very handy as it seems old saabs = old slow car to a lot of other road users (re idiots pulling out). don't realise that these car shift . well, mini update is that i didn't get to do any work on the saab over xmas (too cold), and also mainly because the new radiator i ordered before xmas went AWOL with the courier and only got delivered last week. also, am exploring an option involving these:- more pics later this week Matt
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Jan 19, 2011 11:40:30 GMT
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Oooh this is really nice, v.jealous, would love a 99 Turbo.
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DutyFreeSaviour
Europe
Back For More heartbreak and disappointment.....
Posts: 2,944
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Jan 19, 2011 14:19:17 GMT
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Excellent motor - love these things. Timewarp you've got hold of too - keeping want mode in check - just John
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Back from the dead..... kind of
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Jan 20, 2011 12:04:01 GMT
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Ok, an update. I've always hankered after some split rims but never managed to buy any. Besides looking really good, I like that they offer a "technical" aspect to that component. Don't get me wrong, the Inca turbine style wheels that come as standard on 99 turbos are probably one of coolest factory fit wheel ever...i love the look of them, but every other 99 turbo runs on them. So, adding a technical wheel like a spit rim to the Saab 99 seemed a logic move as these cars are so well engineered and a lot of practical consideration went to the design and construction. Searching for saab 99's with different wheel options showed up a gap. After keeping my eyes peeled for a few months I spotted these, which I picked up on Monday:- They are Rays Engineering "Payton Place Queen" (haven't a clue what that means) alloys 6.5x15" 3 piece split rims with nearly new 205/60/15 Khumho tyres, in the same 4x114 stud pattern as the saab (4x114 is also early civic, prelude and integras). These Queens appears to completely original, made in 1990 (tyres new though). The mainstream saab community seem to poo-poo non-saab wheels. if you wanna go different , you fit Ronal minilites. I like them but been there, done that etc etc. more to follow...
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Jan 20, 2011 14:24:15 GMT
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Jan 20, 2011 14:39:16 GMT
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Getting the wheels to fit is the tricky part. You can see from the pic below that the saab hub has a massive 71mm centre. With a massive stroke of luck the vendor said the centre of the rims was 71mm, so the deal was confirmed. Couldn’t believe it really..... However, on closer inspection, the centre bore is indeed 71mm but there is a raised lip about 4-5mm in so i can get the wheel centred only 4-5mm on to the hub But....because the offset of these rims +37 and i need to get it nearer to +27, a spacer is going to be needed (approx 10-13mm at a guess)– see position of tyre near the spring – its close. This is roughly where the wheel will end up with a spacer. I just need to measure up. I managed to get the wheel on and bolted up but will need to get some 60degree open ended acorn style nuts as the current ones have a sleeve for saab alloys. so, thats where i am. need to measure up, get some spacers and new nuts and have another go.
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bit of an update. the odometer stopped working, so stripped it out. found a cracked cog and in the process broke the speedo spring, so have ordered another 2nd hand unit. this week, i've managed to find some time after work now the evening are getting lighter to overhaul the coolling system. got a new 99 rad from Adrad back in December. backflushed the system which spat out curse word loads of rusty water (despite the PO having flushed the system last summer?). fitted a new top hose and jubilee clips and also fitted a new 12" Spal spec elec fan as the original saab fan was a) very heavy and b) quite noisy (like a harrier jump jet taking off) new on the left, old on the right nearly in: in! the haynes manual was useless so figured it all out as I went. ended up popping the grill off and headlamp units out which haynes didn't mention. made the job so much easier as was only 16 self tappers and 2 multi plugs! all the metalwork was ok but the self tappersd quite rusty so have ordered off ebay a mixed bag of stainless self tappers. more pics later when I do that. I also bought a new genuine saab thermostat as the aftermarket ones don't seem to behave right. the PO fitted a new aftermarket one last year and the temp gauge constantly swung about as the stat snapped open and closed. before fitting the new stat, I tried the old mini trick of drilling a couple of 2mm holes around the edge of the stat. allowing a tiny bit of circulation for an engine that runs hot anyway (modern fuel), is in a engine bay that traps heat and I suspect has a small coolant capacity too, should help. FYI the rad is about the same size as a metro turbo rad so IMO undersized. test drive yesterday showed the temp gauge bang on Normal and hardly moved on a fast B road journey to/from work (50 miles). I could detect the needle moving ever so slightly as it open and closed. in traffic the needle went to 2/3 then dropped to N as the stat fully opened and closed (no fan needed either. Much better coollant control - less extreme and more even.
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Apr 15, 2011 13:42:19 GMT
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Hello. I can help you a lot with these cars. My day job is fixing BMW MINI's. But my workshop also regularly fills up with Saabs. I have two in the workshop at the moment. One is a 99t - 1981 off the road since around 1992 and I am trying to restore it without too much effort or disassembly... that's not going too well... but here is where I'm up to: Mine is a two door, more beautiful in my opinion I have the inca alloys but all the tyres were floor shaped from where it had been sitting for so many years. Everything seems to work on my car which is good. That means I just need to finish my work on the body and then I can drive it. I'm going to upgrade to the later hubs so I can have a rear handbrake and ATE front callipers. That means the hubs change to the Ford bolt pattern of 4x108 - the later hubs are much lighter as well. I also own this beast: It's a 1972 chassis with a T16 engine fitted. The T16 engine has also been upgraded to run modern boost levels so as you can imagine, with the stripped out interior etc... it shifts. I hold my hands up here... this photo was taken just after I finished doing a quick refurb on a set of standard Saab alloys. They are a 'marmite' wheel no doubt... i.e. you either LOVE or HATE. As this is a track car I have been looking for a long time for the right set of Compomotive MO alloys but having the Ford fitment means all the people selling them are taking them off RS turbos or Cosworths and seem to believe that they are worth so much money that I've not been able to find the right deal yet. Will keep looking. As for the stereo. Mine had a smaller under dash console. I was told this was a non-standard feature and that a turbo should have the long console like yours. My stereo didn't even have a cassette deck and the radio (same as you) was only capable of picking up medium or longwave. The stereo had a single speaker which is under the radio. I have space for door speakers but they aren't fitted. Like you, I have decided to remove the centre console. I currently have a 900 centre console stored in the boot of the car but I don't think I'm going to use that either. Halfords do an 'under-dash' DIN chassis which you can screw to the bottom of the dashboard. This is what I'm going to get. I don't care if the dashboard gets screw holes on the bottom of it. Would bother me if they were on the top though! The faulty speedo is a common problem. My 99t16 is still using the standard 99 radiator and it has a lot of trouble keeping cool. I have managed to mostly fix all the issues with the setup including a mod to the radiator which involves moving the entrance on the left side of the radiator down lower... sounds silly, but seemed to make a nice difference. The engine conversion was done by someone else originally and the guy had used a bad mixture of 99 and 900 plumbing and the only time the engine would stay cool was if the car was actually moving above 30mph. Now it takes about 1/2 an hour in standstill traffic for the engine to start overheating. I'm going to fit the 900 radiator some day. I've broken around 3 engines by allowing them to overheat. Usually didn't have any choice. Here is the modded radiator. I don't think this would work with the original engine though. The older b-series engine has a different kind of cooling system. Also, I added vents to the bonnet. They made a massive difference. You will find that new radiator will start to go rusty along the bottom very quickly. Mine certainly did. I guess whatever these radiator refub people paint onto them ain't that good at resisting the high temps. The mesh wheels you have are actually pretty similar to an original Saab design. Made by Ronal I think. Available in 15 or 16 inch sizes. Not split-rims but otherwise very similar. I have just done a headlining for a customer of mine. This is a 900 but the problem is the same for both cars and the roof is one part which is identical between both models. Basically, if it's Saab 99 or Saab 900 then I've been there, seen it, done it.... will do it for other people who want it done. Email: emmett@bromleyminis.co.uk
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I have a set of those 3 spoke alloys in 4x114 (front handbrake) as winter alloys. nice interior on the red turbo, need a better drivers seat base cover. can't understand why saab put the rad outlet at the top. cool water is always at the bottom. I would have moved it lower but didn't fancy chopped a brand new £150 rad . other option was to fit a secondary slim rad behind the main one plumbed in parallel - think fiat cinquecento sporting rad rads fit - 21mm thick, both outlets on the same side, about 53cm long, 24cm tall
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Apr 23, 2011 14:31:20 GMT
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Fitted a seat-base repair kit to the drives seat since then. Now nice and flat like it should be!
The method sometimes used for the radiator is to get it double-cored or thicker cored. Has to be done by a professional radiator repair/refurbishment company like Express Radiators (near where I am) Then it will hold more water and works better as a result.
The 900 does not have the same overheating problem. So I based my fixes on that. Especially since I have the 900 engine installed.
There were one or two of the early Saabs produced without any cooling system at all. The engines were low powered and worked really well in the Swedish winters. When they wanted to race the same cars in rallys they found the fact that it didn't have a cooling system meant the engine would overheat a bit. In the end they realised that engine cooling systems were necessary and got it sorted.
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update: The saab has been off the road for the last 4weeks due to a starting fault. it started off with intermittant ignition/starting where the motor refused to churn over. this happened after i'd fitted a new rad which involved an intense block flush (thermostat is directly above the starter motor so loads of water everywhere). I spent the best part of 3 weeks faffing on and off checking the ignition switch, relays etc then got to the point where I thought it was the startermotor. The best part of 5 hours over 2 evenings last week saw me on the verge of tears getting the starter off, as its buried underneath the exhaust manifold, but also involves getting the clutch cover off which involves removing turbo pipes, oil pipes, battery and battery tray. Throw in some almost seized cap head bolts and impossible to get to nuts and 50% of the job being done by touch/feel, had me a mental and physical wreck in the gutter outside the house. Having called a few places (including GSF and EuroCarparts and Parts for saabs!) and failed miserably to get a replacement starter (starter is unique to 99's), I took the motor to place in Coventry called SAC (on the web) who specialise in alternator and starter rebuilds. £84 got me a rebuilt motor (24hr turnround and 12month guarantee) - they said the motor bushes had gone, a bearing has collapsed and the solenoid internals had completely burnt out. Last night I wired up the starter to the car and it fired up on the ignition switch. very happy. Now just have to spend another 4 hrs refitting it. Checked the igntion switch with a known good 2nd hand one and gave it all a good regreasing with white grease. now back together and vvvverry smoooooth gear change.... FYI the saab will be up for sale at the end of the summer as the swmbo find its difficult to drive (no PAS). Matt
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Jun 12, 2011 13:27:56 GMT
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its alive! ;D
going to work in it tomorrow................
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Jun 16, 2011 12:59:58 GMT
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got to work...been in it 3 times this week, totalling 160 miles. was so excited, i took it for an MoT which it passed after failing on a non-working rear number plate light..easy fix(poor earth).
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B-Frog
Part of things
Posts: 14
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Jun 20, 2011 10:45:00 GMT
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roof down only !
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Jun 20, 2011 14:44:47 GMT
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the yellow one on the right is a ginetta. the other 2 I can't remember - and I read the blurb about them too. they are Pipers - just came to me ;D
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Jun 24, 2011 10:17:08 GMT
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Still for sale BTW. Update - speedo now fixed - new cog sourced and fixed in place. mileage is 56600miles (done about 200 miles since MoT last week) also, my mum and dad have decided to go down to just one car as they have now both retired. So my mum has given her 99 toyota yaris in my missus! for free! Have decide to keep the saab up for sale as i've kinda decided in my head its going. Does mean however that i can get another car without PAS ;D I'd be interested in anything:- - pre 1973 (taxfree)
- no bigger than the saab or say cortina mk2
- must be a 2+2 /decent back seat
- non black interior - eg pale blue pale green, red, tan, mustard etc
- must have MoT
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Just got my spare rocker cover back from powdercoating - has been done in wrinkle heatproof black. Looks the badgers Also have a new rocker gasket too. will try to get it fitted this week. pics to follow......
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Thought I'd take the saab to work today as its nice and sunny. Driving along, the back end felt a bit "bouncy". Got to work and had a quick nose underneath: Drivers side rear damper is departing south. Looks like the rod has snapped in the damper. I gave it a waggle and tid was loose but didn't want to fall out. Funny that I've already swapped out the passenger side damper and hadn't got round to doing the driver side one yet. Not bad going as the damper is 32 years old (but only 56000 miles). Handily its an easy fix and a new Gabriel shocker is "in stock" Matt
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Heres the pics from when i replaced the snapped damper. with the wheel off all looks ok but on closed inspection the damper rod has clean snapped through about 1 inch up from the bush resorted to a nut splitter to get the top twin nuts off. top pin was on its last legs but not surprising consider it was 32 years old. the damper was working fine (original factory fit Bilstein sports damper) Anyway, after getting the old damper off, it was a quick job to fit the new Gabriel unit Hopefully, it might be sold this weekend as i've got a guy pretty interested and is coming over on saturday. Matt
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