UKSaabs

Acquired in 2010, having met "him" & the real Erik at the SOS gathering at the IWM Duxford that January. Mildly tuned & modified by his previous owner (aka Mr Saab GB), I ran him for a few years before starting his rolling restoration - he's been on the road and used pretty much continuously - covering around 4K in the first year! When bought, he had the following mods to the original spec:
▪Mildly tuned engine (ported) with fixed-advance dizzie
▪Front disc brakes
▪Dot5 silicone brake fluid
▪Ribbed gearbox casing with 2T internals
▪Reuters seat trim blue vinyl/black cloth
▪New front & rear bumpers - genuine Saab NOS.
Since then, I've done a few things & spent a bit of cash along the way although it's mainly been time & effort from me, John Green & Tony of A&D Motors:
▪a complete set of Vredestein tyres, replacing a mixed bunch of Firestones & Michelins
▪refurbished front calipers, new rear cylinders & stainless handbrake levers plus new hoses all round
▪GAZ adjustable shocks all round, polybushed, plus all-new coil springs
▪new rubber suspension bushes all round
▪full Jetex 2" exhaust system
▪carb re-jetted with bigger venturi to match the Jetex
▪refurbished dynamo/water pump with electronic innards & solid state control box - expensive but effective - & new water pump seals
▪Aldon Igniter (1832) electronic ignition, from original coil (but have a new Bosch coil in reserve), with isolator switch fed from original ignition switch
Most recently, I've upgraded the rear light clusters from the original 2-lamp (indicators overriding brake lights with red lenses) to the later 3-lamp cluster with amber/red lenses by running a new cable from the brake light switch. Much more visible from behind!
Planned & imminent work/mods/upgrades:
▪fit rear fog & reversing lights - nice-looking stainless units on order - thanks to JG for the rev lt switch & bracket
▪upgrade headlamp circuitry by fitting 30A relays
▪fit a Jetex ILOK braided insert to reduce system vibration (which has killed the cotton-reels) & bigger cotton-reels
▪fit a Jetex "decibel insert" to reduce exhaust noise - currently fabulous but quite loud!!
▪re-fit the electric water pump in parallel with the existing circuit, to provide additional cooling when sitting in traffic. Had been fitted while the original dynamo was away for rebuild and a straight dynamo was fitted in its place
▪fit new front engine mounts, bought from the Swedish Saab Club
▪change the inner drive shaft oil seals & fit new rubber boots
▪fit new springs & rubber boots to the gearchange shaft
▪upgrade the braking system to dual-circuit - I think I now have all the parts required
▪try to get the seat covers refurbished or replaced
▪acquire or make a pair of headrests & fit them; need one new mounting plate. Cars were originally supplied by Saab with only a passenger headrest as they considered that the driver didn't need one!
Not a lot to do, then. Better get cracking .......

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David.
96 2T / c900S Aero Vert / 9-3 Aero TTiD SW.

Having completed the Jetex exhaust additions over the weekend, it was time to give him a good run yesterday. Exhaust system is fine - no leaks - and transmitted vibration - engine to body - seems to have disappeared. Unfortunately, I chose a very hot day & got stuck in very heavy traffic on the Dorchester bypass while heading for the local Shell station. He got a bit hot!!! Pulled into the shade on Poundbury to let him cool off for a while - the electric water pump & possibly an electric fan are really needed for heavy traffic conditions. Having then driven about 300 yards to a roundabout, all drive was lost - nothing in any gear, no strange unwanted noises, engine running but going nowhere. Managed to coast down to a side road and pulled over. Two really friendly guys helped to push him to a safer location & we checked over all that we could see. After about 5 minutes I thought I'd try again - everything back to normal - very strange indeed! Got home with no further issues. The loss of drive may have been the freewheel sticking in a no-drive position - it's never happened before - any thoughts on that will be welcomed.

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David.
96 2T / c900S Aero Vert / 9-3 Aero TTiD SW.

Sounds like the freewheel to me, but odd for it to be transient like that. Unless the clutch had overheated and wasn't releasing properly?

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S6 Avant 4.0 V8T 450bhp/550Nm
9-5 Aero 600Nm FB3
900 T16S track hack
96V4s

Clutch seemed ok, all gears could be selected normally but simply nothing going to the front wheels - strange indeed.
Today I shall be ......... looking out the electric water pump, hoses, clips and Y-pieces, as well as investigating electric fans. There's room to fit a slim one between the mechanical fan & the radiator. The engine & gearbox are coming out soon to renew the rubber mounts & driveshaft seals, so the new pump can be fitted at the same time.

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David.
96 2T / c900S Aero Vert / 9-3 Aero TTiD SW.

Well it can only be clutch or freewheel...

Check your gearbox oil. See if there is enough, and what it looks/smells like. Might be worth a freshen up.

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S6 Avant 4.0 V8T 450bhp/550Nm
9-5 Aero 600Nm FB3
900 T16S track hack
96V4s

Extremely jealous, keep up the good work

No more progress for a while - heavy rain forecast for the next few days & I don't have use of a garage here so he's been taken back to his barn storage nearby (but not close enough to be able to pop over to do the odd job or two). Investigating the use of a neighbour's garage for a few weeks - need to get him up on jacks to do the bigger jobs.

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David.
96 2T / c900S Aero Vert / 9-3 Aero TTiD SW.

Just negotiated the use of a large double garage a few doors up the road, so work will re-commence soon. Main jobs are renewal of front engine mounts, gearbox output shaft seals, drive shaft boots (maybe) & fitting the refurbished back axle. A couple of days' work then!!!
I will eventually get round to adding some photos .....

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David.
96 2T / c900S Aero Vert / 9-3 Aero TTiD SW.

Nice one, David

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S6 Avant 4.0 V8T 450bhp/550Nm
9-5 Aero 600Nm FB3
900 T16S track hack
96V4s

Well, five and a half days' working on him have been completed this last week, with a fair bit of success. The garage is big but has no power, so I had to rely on daylight & my rechargeable LED worklights & battery-powered tools. Not really a problem - I'd generally had enough by 6pm each day! Work achieved (single-handedly):
All 4 drive-shaft boots & offside output shaft seal replaced - without removing the front springs! - thanks to Steve (Malbrad) for getting parts to me in quick time. Gearbox drained & refilled with 100ml Ametech Metal-Tec10 additive plus normal SAE90 gear oil.
Correct (96) refurbished rear axle refitted; new brake cylinders plus the ss handbrake levers and new protective boots. SS brake hoses & a very good flush through with new Dot5 fluid.
Application of lots of Rustbusters 2-pack epoxy paint to rusty areas of the underbody around the rear axle. Still getting stuff out of my hair!
New front engine mounts fitted - exhaust system removed in toto for access & to fettle it for improved fit on the rubber cotton-reel supports.
Still more to do - jobs for next week - watch this space.

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David.
96 2T / c900S Aero Vert / 9-3 Aero TTiD SW.

Hard work on your own,six o clock is late enough .

That's a good effort, David!

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S6 Avant 4.0 V8T 450bhp/550Nm
9-5 Aero 600Nm FB3
900 T16S track hack
96V4s

Thanks - it's been slow work as I made a couple of "task-sequencing" errors - like not re-fitting both springs before securing the rear axle straps! - which slowed things down.
Today's little challenge is trying to work out why the dynamo appears not to be charging the battery. The ammeter sits at "zero" when the engine's running at normal revs & dips to minus lots when the headlights are on. Being a Bosch dynamo, the usual Lucas-style checks aren't appropriate so, on the advice of the guy who rebuilt it, I'm about to do a load check on it. It's also got a solid-state regulator, so that's also on the checklist. After that, I'm stumped, as I've checked all the wiring & switches.
Edit: don't know exactly what I did but all's now working as it should. Disconnected the D+ & DF wires from the dynamo & connected a 12V bulb across D+ & D- as advised by the dynamo repair guy. Ran it up to about 1000rpm but didn't see the lamp light as it should have done (maybe it's a dud!). Got a few volts reading on the digital voltmeter but not the 14V it should have read. Disconnected the test equipment, connected up the car wiring & started the engine - charging as normal! No idea how I "fixed" it but happy with the result!

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David.
96 2T / c900S Aero Vert / 9-3 Aero TTiD SW.

Well, I singularly failed to update this thread following another week's work at home before he was put back in storage! Good progress made on some "options" such as reversing & rear fog lights & a wiring tidy-up under the dashboard. Fun & games re switching the reversing light, as the NOS Saab switch I'd bought operates in the opposite way to that required - it's permanently on & switches off when the plunger is depressed - wierd! I found an old one in my come-in-handy store, cleaned it up & fitted it - it works correctly!
Also re-fitted the electric water pump to supplement the mechanical pump, which drives off the back of the dynamo. Re-plumbing was challenging, having to avoid any kinking of the hoses & sorting out a weakened hose that was flattening around the sump ; all-new hoses have cured that & improved water flow through the engine.
As there had been some misfiring at higher revs using the original coil - it's over 50 years old - I fitted the new Bosch coil I'd bought at the same time as the electronic ignition kit. Wired via the additional switch that also powers up the ignition kit, performance has improved & the tacho now works again. However, the charging circuit packed up again after about 20 mins' driving - to be investigated further. Could it be the new solid-state regulator?
I still haven't got round to upgrading the brakes to dual-circuit as that's going to be a big job to bend & install new piping to the rear axle. A more urgent job is to renew the fan-shaft bearings as there's a significant rattle there; I have a couple of spare shafts so that may be the solution. John Green can get new bearings so will chat with him; not a complicated task.The carb still exudes oil (from the fuel-oil mix) all over the intake manifold & I haven't managed to fix that - don't know where it's escaping.

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David.
96 2T / c900S Aero Vert / 9-3 Aero TTiD SW.

Discovered that the "reversing light" switch I'd bought is/was in fact a brake light switch (for a V4). Issue resolved as per my last post.
It'll soon be time to get Erik (and BRS the c900) out of storage for some spring cleaning, a tiny bit of welding in one of Erik's footwells - due to a niggly leak from the heater valve - and some fun. More checks needed on the charging circuit as it dropped suddenly to zero/negative volts during its last run. Was okay for several miles then zero. Could be the new-fangled solid state regulator - might put the old original Bosch one back to check it out. Unlikely to be the dynamo. Fall-back will be to upgrade to the later alternator installation. That wiĺl remove the current mechanical water pump so I may fit a second electric pump in parallel with the one already in the circuit as a back-up. Also planning to fit relays in the headlight circuits to reduce the significant voltage drop across the current circuit - via the ammeter to the light switch to the floor-mounted dipswitch, then to the fusebox & on to the headlamps.

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David.
96 2T / c900S Aero Vert / 9-3 Aero TTiD SW.

Following this with interest

Excellent work

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96 V4 1968
99 GL 1984
C900 16i Vert 1992
C900S LPT Vert 1993

"We are one, we are SAAB"