UKSaabs

Hello guys, thanks to everyone for the comments and congrats to redders on number 2 daughter arriving ! Well done mate.

It does look better in the pictures than it really is, there is the odd dent and scrape and also marks under the laquer where the side strips had been, but on the whole it is nearly 30 years old , by the way Gavin yours looks pretty good mate, i would be very pleased if it were mine!

With regards to the exhaust being painted, the tail pipe was genuine and it did come painted so i just fitted it as it was, i did paint the centre section with high temp stuff so i will see how that goes.

Just one thing i noticed was the exhaust does have quite a rasp with it even though it is standard! I can understand how loud a non standard one is like some of you guys have!

i dont think i'm going to be able to make the national in it unfortunately, there's a few bits to finish and i haven't taxed it yet( hopefully 1st august) Are many of you guys going?
It would be nice to have a 99 meet up somewhere though, hmm maybe something we can organise.... Cheers guys

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Silver 99 GLTurbo

Congratulations Chris.

Did that other parcel arrive ok

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When you think you know it all, it's a sure sign you don't.

I would be up for that sometime in August

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When you think you know it all, it's a sure sign you don't.

Cheers Mal and Yes it did arrive, Thank you!

Good at least it turned up, hopefully in one piece. Royal Mail cannot be relied on to be as careful as the 'Stork'

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When you think you know it all, it's a sure sign you don't.

Its been a fairly busy time on the 99 since i got it on the road, as Birdie told me ' get used to fixing it! ' Its seems i fix one problem and that leads me onto the next.

I tell you what though fellas it certainly worth it! The 99 is the most fun ive had in a car for years! Im pretty new to the Saab scene compared to you guys, ok i had a couple of 99's when i was in my teens one being a 99t and i had really fond memories of them.....

But you know that thing when you try out something from years ago that you thought was great and now its like this is really quite bad...... I did think the 99 might be like that and after a nearly 3 year rebuild i would't like the end result and be gutted ?

Thankfully its turned out better than i could even have imagined
Since ive had it on the road i fitted new 'lesjofer' springs which lowered it 30mm and i can tell you the handling is now 'amazing', there isnt a hint of understeer not like these modern safe cars with 'built in understeer' you know the one's Jools.

Finally got it performing well, basically just fuelled it up by dropping the 'control pressure' and it flies! The starter motor packed in so had to sort that, but at the moment( touch wood) its an absolute hoot. The whole car really does perform well , brakes are brilliant, who needs vented discs! Ok the ride is a bit 'jiggely' at slow speeds over the rough but its not unpleasant.

Just going for a 'flog' in it to a pub in the evening for a pint and sitting outside is what its all about, ive completely forgot about all those winter nights on my back in the garage!

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Silver 99 GLTurbo

Awesome, really glad to see you've bonded with the car Darryl. Its suprising really that Saab themselves did design the 99 to be "safe" and understeering, but I think the reality is that the double wishbone suspension hooks the nose into the turns so effectively that even the nose heavy weight distribution doesn't make it understeer that much. I've certainly had more oversteer than understeer in my 99, you really have to be doing something daft to make the front end plough.

Its nice to see your enjoying the handling as well, these car's handle far better than they have any right to, given that they were supposed to be an "ordinary family car". I know there plenty on here are perfectly happy to treat theirs nicely and just cruise along, but for me there is such a joy in driving the sure-footed Saab enthusiastically that to not push on a little bit every once in a while seems to be missing the point.

I think the thing Saab always got right with pretty much all their cars was the package as a whole, the 99s performance feels exactly as it should for the capabilities of the chassis, and the gear ratios nicely match the performance of the engine. I've always felt that these Saabs were "just the right amount of fast". Fun to rev / boost and shift gears with nice handling, but without having to go silly speeds to get your driving thrills from it...

Your car's looking great by the way, makes you realise what a shame it was that they never made the 99 Turbo in silver in the first place...

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'84 Saab 99 8vT (project)
Stub-nosed c900i 'vert

I can only echo Theo's comments, I have had loads of 99's over the years sold them on but always end up going back to them.

I think its because they are a car that can be driven rather than ridden.

They are just as much fun without a turbo as Theo has already stated, but the standard 99T I used to have is still my alltime favorite

And yes silver 99's do look good

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When you think you know it all, it's a sure sign you don't.

looks amazing mate. really sits well on them minilites, well done

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Project Babs T5 C900 T16 underway.

Hi Theo, thanks for your comments always appreciated from a 99 'vet' such as yourself!
I could'nt agree more with regard to just how much fun you can have in a 99t and not be going stupid speeds. I happen to work as a technician at a popular german car franchise and get to drive some amazing cars but i wouldn't swop one of them for my 99 for fun factor. I think manufactures are missing the point somewhere?

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Silver 99 GLTurbo

buty of a car looks rely cool nice to see a silver one

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i got my mind right boss. lmao
I support single mothers .
i never forget :)

Enjoyed reading this, nice job done - the 99 is so highly underestimated, undeservedly so.

Still pine for my old 99, 9 years on.

That car looks fantastic and all that hard work has certainly paid off. Well done. Now go and enjoy it!

Note to self: Make sure you read the Projects section regularly.

Hi fellas, thanks very much everyone for your comments, hi David thankyou mate a pleasure to hear from you and i hope your beautiful 99 turbo is running ok now.Hi Welshwizard i know where you are coming from with regard to missing your old 99, i cannot tell you enough how much fun they are, you know what you have to do!

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Silver 99 GLTurbo

Aint nothing in the world as fine
as piloting a 99

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'84 Saab 99 8vT (project)
Stub-nosed c900i 'vert

Well seen as how its been 8 months or so since my last post i thought i'd better do a bit of an update fellas!

The 99 has been in hybernation for a while, mainly while all that grits been about and i had a few jobs to do.

First on the list was to strip out the flywheel and get it skimmed as i was still getting clutch slip. There was a considerable 'groove' in it and the plate would not 'bed' in.

All being well it should cure it,i put in a complete new clutch assembly as well.

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Silver 99 GLTurbo

One of my next jobs is to fit an intercooler from a 900t, i'm still pondering on how to fit it as there really isn't a lot of room.

It does look like you have to cut away some of the bodywork to allow it to sit low enough.
So not sure how to tackle it yet, any of you fellas fitted one?

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Silver 99 GLTurbo

I wouldn't say it is worth butchering your 99's bodywork to fit that intercooler, although it is nice that it is a genuine Saab component, its not really going to do a lot of good in that location as it will get almost no air too it.

The common solution for the 99 seems to be to use a charge cooler (PWR or Abott both do kits), with the charge cooler radiator mounting behind the grill in the air damn on the opposite side from the oil cooler. If you wanted to do it "period style" you could get a water injection spray kit. Birdie used the inter cooler from a Merc A class mounted in front of the rad on his 99, but it meant fitting the round headlights and ditching the inner two to clear the pipes. Failing that you could cut out the centre part of the from air dam (where the number plate would mounted, and stick an intercooler behind that, although you will need to make a couple of holes for the pipes to pass up through the bodywork.

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'84 Saab 99 8vT (project)
Stub-nosed c900i 'vert

Think I'm right in saying the black 99T 3dr that was featured on Top Gear and belongs to Sonett2 has a C900 intercooler fitted. It has an extra grill cut into the front panel below the left headlight to get a bit of air in.
Sure I've seen a pic on here somewhere but can't find it at the moment.
So it can be done but I don't think you'll get it to drop in without a few mods.
Don't think the Abbott chargecooler quite fits without some mods.

I had this chargecooler set up on my 99 which just fits into the gap between the chassis rails. You might need to shift the air filter housing and metering unit back a bit though.

Yep, Chris' 99 has a C900 IC.

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S6 Avant 4.0 V8T 450bhp/550Nm
9-5 Aero ~600Nm FB3
Sonett III
96V4s