My 'Shed' Saab 900 Carlsson
Discussion
Just thought I would try and drum up some enthusiasm for it as it's currently sitting on the drive on axles stands awaiting refurbished wheels / brakes, new ball joints, new track rod ends and various suspension bushes.
Bought this for 900 pounds as a non runner in around March time. These cars were quite sort after in their day and were fairly rare with only 600 black Carlssons being made between 1990 and 1992. These days good examples regularly fetch 6 or 7 thousand and it was originally bought with the intent of making a bit of money on it but I have kind of fallen in love with it and it's my daily driver now.
I'll copy the story so far across from UKSaabs to fill you all in on how it came to this point..
Bought this for 900 pounds as a non runner in around March time. These cars were quite sort after in their day and were fairly rare with only 600 black Carlssons being made between 1990 and 1992. These days good examples regularly fetch 6 or 7 thousand and it was originally bought with the intent of making a bit of money on it but I have kind of fallen in love with it and it's my daily driver now.
I'll copy the story so far across from UKSaabs to fill you all in on how it came to this point..
Thought I would start this thread as I purchased a 900 Carlsson in a rather sorry state on saturday which is my first Saab. I am however no stranger to the marque having grown up in a family with a terrible case of Saabitis having owned several 96s, 99s, 900s, A Sonett III and even a 9-3 over the years. We still have the Sonett III which I helped put back on the road and did quite a lot of work on but it looks like this one may be even more of a challenge.
It has been left standing for 2 years after a coming together of a kerb and the front bumper which did not end so favourably for the car. Consequently a lot of things have degraded over time and left the car which I will probably name "Sven" in a very sorry looking state indeed. I don't have many pictures at the moment and I am travelling to pick the car up on a trailer on Thursday so will post some more up then when the full extent of what I have let myself in for dawns on me. I am determined to save it though and not let it end up as a breaker. The one major plus is the car seems relatively solid all over apart from a couple of areas that need attention and has full service history and thousands spent on the mechanicals. I am hoping a bit of TLC and a damn good clean will put it well on its way to tearing up the open road again.
Here are a few pictures which are pretty terrible but as I said I will take some better ones when I have access to the car:
The main problems that spring to mind at the moment other than the usual cleaning are:
Problem selecting 5th reverse, have been advised this is just a threaded pin that needs adjusting in the bottom of the selector rod
Headlining needs replacing (Surprise Surprise)
Sort drivers door rust (door bottom is still solid we think surprisingly)
Drivers front wheel arch needs welding from where front bumper has dropped and allowed water to rot the inner lining
Drivers/Passenger door mechanisms need repairing
Full service and soaking bores in oil before attempting to start engine (turn over by hand and on the starter first)
Iron out a few electrical gremlins (could be fun that one)
tidy up bonnet mechanism (surface rust)
Source a replacement chrome grille/ rear decor panel as they are damaged (could get pricey)
Wheels off and check over brakes/suspension.
New rad possibly
No concrete plans as of yet but I would just like to get it back into its former glory and then maybe a FMIC and a 3" JT system, some bilsteins and remove the front ARB and source a leather interior and I imagine that would keep me happy for a fair while!
It has been left standing for 2 years after a coming together of a kerb and the front bumper which did not end so favourably for the car. Consequently a lot of things have degraded over time and left the car which I will probably name "Sven" in a very sorry looking state indeed. I don't have many pictures at the moment and I am travelling to pick the car up on a trailer on Thursday so will post some more up then when the full extent of what I have let myself in for dawns on me. I am determined to save it though and not let it end up as a breaker. The one major plus is the car seems relatively solid all over apart from a couple of areas that need attention and has full service history and thousands spent on the mechanicals. I am hoping a bit of TLC and a damn good clean will put it well on its way to tearing up the open road again.
Here are a few pictures which are pretty terrible but as I said I will take some better ones when I have access to the car:
The main problems that spring to mind at the moment other than the usual cleaning are:
Problem selecting 5th reverse, have been advised this is just a threaded pin that needs adjusting in the bottom of the selector rod
Headlining needs replacing (Surprise Surprise)
Sort drivers door rust (door bottom is still solid we think surprisingly)
Drivers front wheel arch needs welding from where front bumper has dropped and allowed water to rot the inner lining
Drivers/Passenger door mechanisms need repairing
Full service and soaking bores in oil before attempting to start engine (turn over by hand and on the starter first)
Iron out a few electrical gremlins (could be fun that one)
tidy up bonnet mechanism (surface rust)
Source a replacement chrome grille/ rear decor panel as they are damaged (could get pricey)
Wheels off and check over brakes/suspension.
New rad possibly
No concrete plans as of yet but I would just like to get it back into its former glory and then maybe a FMIC and a 3" JT system, some bilsteins and remove the front ARB and source a leather interior and I imagine that would keep me happy for a fair while!
Wow what an exhausting few days!
Picked the car up yesterday, weather was okay until 20 minutes before we arrived when the heavens opened and didn't stop till we made it back the 130 odd miles on the trailer with the car. The whole day was in jeopardy when we turned up to pick up the trailer I had booked for hire to find it didn't have a winch because it had been taken off to be repaired. Not a good start. There was no way a car that had not moved in two years was going to be pushed up onto a trailer and I thought it was going to be a wasted trip but some quick thinking from my dad saw us depart to pick up the car plus one "turf winch" and 20m of 3/4" thick steel cable.
When we arrived we had to find a way to rig up the turf winch to the trailer and then had to jack through the 15 or so metres of unnecessary cable before the car even moved an inch. Not fun I can tell you but at least that's my exercise done for the year. After removing various bits of trailer that the winch shackle fouled on its way up (the car didnt have a towing eye so tied some ratchet straps round the lower wishbones as a quick bodge) the car finally was dragged kicking and screaming onto the trailer after having fought us for over an hour in the pouring rain . Maybe it didn't want to leave.
That left us with this:
Got home still soaking wet but happy with my purchase (so far) wondering what surprises the next day would bring. Put some oil down the bores to soak for tomorrow through the spark plug holes as the engine had not turned in over 2 years. On taking off the plug lead cover I was greeted with an immaculate head underneath with clean new plug leads and plugs. A good sign for things to come perhaps.
Which brings me to today. First job, source a new battery. The battery on the car was virtually brand new before it was laid up but 2 years left standing had left it with 0.5V open circuit across the terminals. The battery tester wouldnt even recognise it as a battery, Oh dear. I had read that sourcing a battery for a T16S was nigh on impossible as the standard 900 battery shoves the heatshield right up against the turbo elbow and I didn't want the engine clanging into it as it rocked about under the immense torque of the engine that hadnt run in 2 years. Every motor factor catalogue we tried listed the standard 900 battery dimensions for the T16S and I was beginning to give up hope but a final visit to Warwick Batteries in, well, Warwick surprisingly saw us strike gold. The man who served us saw us approaching with the Saab battery and instantly knew of the problem we were talking about, without even taking any measurements he walked into the back and came out with the correct sized battery fully charged with a 3 year warranty after about 20 seconds. Fantastic service. If any of you T16S owners are having a similar struggle to find the correct battery then I suggest you pay them a visit.
Then the usual change of filters and fluids (and ending up minus one sump plug - severly mangled trying to get it off) and the car up on axle stands to have a check over revealed a surprisingly solid car underneath, better than my '98 Rover anyway! The front right wheel arch after a good prodding is quite badly corroded where it meets the wing but as far as we have found so far this is the only rot on the car that needs patching! Result.
First I turned the engine over by hand, then on the starter to build some oil pressure, then plugs back in and leads on and the moment of truth had arrived...
..
.....
In true Saab fashion, started up on the first turn of the key. Apart from a HUGE cloud of white spoke from all the oil in the cylinders and a noisy hydraulic tappet which quietened down after idling for 5-10 minutes it ran sweet as a nut. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Still have brakes, Still have clutch. Managed to find all the gears although the linkage needs some adjustment as 5th is a pain to find, almost as if it is not gated.
There are a few niggly problems however. The rad is weeping down the passenger side and the temperature gauge appears to be broken but other than that much not to complain about mechanically or electrically.
Next Job was to give the car a thorough clean. I didn't really have time to clay, polish and wax the car but this will get done as soon as I can spare a weekend! The paint is pretty badly swirled but surprisingly few dents dings and scrapes for a car of this age.
Here he is post wash talking to our other Swede, the Sonett III:
In the final pic you can see where the bumper is held on with copious amounts of gaffer tape. A job that will have to be tackled sooner rather than later.
There are a lot of niggly jobs on this car to do but so far I haven't uncovered anything too serious and I am chuffed to bits. The 900 burble on tick over is fantastic if you ask me!
Picked the car up yesterday, weather was okay until 20 minutes before we arrived when the heavens opened and didn't stop till we made it back the 130 odd miles on the trailer with the car. The whole day was in jeopardy when we turned up to pick up the trailer I had booked for hire to find it didn't have a winch because it had been taken off to be repaired. Not a good start. There was no way a car that had not moved in two years was going to be pushed up onto a trailer and I thought it was going to be a wasted trip but some quick thinking from my dad saw us depart to pick up the car plus one "turf winch" and 20m of 3/4" thick steel cable.
When we arrived we had to find a way to rig up the turf winch to the trailer and then had to jack through the 15 or so metres of unnecessary cable before the car even moved an inch. Not fun I can tell you but at least that's my exercise done for the year. After removing various bits of trailer that the winch shackle fouled on its way up (the car didnt have a towing eye so tied some ratchet straps round the lower wishbones as a quick bodge) the car finally was dragged kicking and screaming onto the trailer after having fought us for over an hour in the pouring rain . Maybe it didn't want to leave.
That left us with this:
Got home still soaking wet but happy with my purchase (so far) wondering what surprises the next day would bring. Put some oil down the bores to soak for tomorrow through the spark plug holes as the engine had not turned in over 2 years. On taking off the plug lead cover I was greeted with an immaculate head underneath with clean new plug leads and plugs. A good sign for things to come perhaps.
Which brings me to today. First job, source a new battery. The battery on the car was virtually brand new before it was laid up but 2 years left standing had left it with 0.5V open circuit across the terminals. The battery tester wouldnt even recognise it as a battery, Oh dear. I had read that sourcing a battery for a T16S was nigh on impossible as the standard 900 battery shoves the heatshield right up against the turbo elbow and I didn't want the engine clanging into it as it rocked about under the immense torque of the engine that hadnt run in 2 years. Every motor factor catalogue we tried listed the standard 900 battery dimensions for the T16S and I was beginning to give up hope but a final visit to Warwick Batteries in, well, Warwick surprisingly saw us strike gold. The man who served us saw us approaching with the Saab battery and instantly knew of the problem we were talking about, without even taking any measurements he walked into the back and came out with the correct sized battery fully charged with a 3 year warranty after about 20 seconds. Fantastic service. If any of you T16S owners are having a similar struggle to find the correct battery then I suggest you pay them a visit.
Then the usual change of filters and fluids (and ending up minus one sump plug - severly mangled trying to get it off) and the car up on axle stands to have a check over revealed a surprisingly solid car underneath, better than my '98 Rover anyway! The front right wheel arch after a good prodding is quite badly corroded where it meets the wing but as far as we have found so far this is the only rot on the car that needs patching! Result.
First I turned the engine over by hand, then on the starter to build some oil pressure, then plugs back in and leads on and the moment of truth had arrived...
..
.....
In true Saab fashion, started up on the first turn of the key. Apart from a HUGE cloud of white spoke from all the oil in the cylinders and a noisy hydraulic tappet which quietened down after idling for 5-10 minutes it ran sweet as a nut. :mrgreen: :mrgreen:
Still have brakes, Still have clutch. Managed to find all the gears although the linkage needs some adjustment as 5th is a pain to find, almost as if it is not gated.
There are a few niggly problems however. The rad is weeping down the passenger side and the temperature gauge appears to be broken but other than that much not to complain about mechanically or electrically.
Next Job was to give the car a thorough clean. I didn't really have time to clay, polish and wax the car but this will get done as soon as I can spare a weekend! The paint is pretty badly swirled but surprisingly few dents dings and scrapes for a car of this age.
Here he is post wash talking to our other Swede, the Sonett III:
In the final pic you can see where the bumper is held on with copious amounts of gaffer tape. A job that will have to be tackled sooner rather than later.
There are a lot of niggly jobs on this car to do but so far I haven't uncovered anything too serious and I am chuffed to bits. The 900 burble on tick over is fantastic if you ask me!
So, major progress update! We are onnn the roadd again!
Only needed the handbrake reconnecting on the passenger side to get through the MOT! (Don't know how I didnt spot it! D'oh!)
On running the engine on my drive it became apparent the radiator was shot so that was replaced and whilst having a good dig around the car found a few more slightly dodgy areas of rust.
I am not in a position to weld the car right now as I am supposed to be writing a dissertation (eek!) and the rot isn't structual so I made the decision to kill it, paint it, and forget about it until summer comes along when I have time to effect a proper repair.
Effected a repair to the bumper by gluing up the crack with a hot glue gun from the inside and spent hours and hours removing duct tape and residue that was baked on by the sun, not a nice job! it turns out that the mounting points on the bumper are fine it is just that the bolt was missing so nipped into the garage and found one straight away and it was straight back on although not fitting quite as well as I had hoped due to the offside inner arch mounting bolt holes having err...rusted away!
Managed to fix the 5th gear change just by adjusting the length of the pin on the bottom of the shifter rod to 22mm.
A temperature sender from a spare 96 inlet manifold looked remarkably similar to the item found in the thermostat housing so I swapped them out and now have a working temperature gauge, although it took a while to realize it with the new rad keeping things super cool!
Had a little bit of an incident experimenting with boost along a straight in 3rd gear as we kept experiencing overboosting then fuel cut but I think this was due to a slightly sticky waste gate actuator as this has all but dissapeared now. I hope the policeman waiting at the end of the straight was too busy munching and appreciative of the fact that my third gear pull over the bridge was in the interest of scientific experiment otherwise I am awaiting a NIP to drop through the doormat :bag: , I knew this car would end up with me losing my licence but didn't think it would be before I even got an MOT on it!
So off to the MOT and had a nervous coffee down the road whilst the test was carried out, I have never been so scared about an MOT before as alot of aspects of the car were a complete unknown to me. I need not be afraid however as the car passed with no advisories in true saab style! :mrgreen:
Then began wrangling with insurance companies and the like before I could drive the lovely thing up to Sheffield so I could carry on with my life and actually do some work....This however went straight out the window when the prospect of the A57 Snakes pass entered my mind as a proper shakedown for the car and before I knew it I had been to glossop and back "just because" and watched the fuel gauge creep towards empty as though money was pouring out my wallet. I have to say the way the car rides over sweeping A/B roads is fantastic and feels really planted on the road which is great and the whoosh in 3rd gear is a phenomenal experience. Some pictures of this super day out are located below!
Tomorrow I have a day off lectures and if the weather holds good then the car will be getting a full polish and wax to try and bring some of the shine back, I clayed the car before which made a big difference but ran out of time before I could get some polish down so hopefully a proper wash will bring it back to a nice shine. I can't believe how hard it is to keep black cars clean argh
Been shopping for the car recently and ordered some bits that I needed/wanted. Its quite frightening how quickly it all adds up but considering the car owes me very little money compared to its value at the moment I thought I should maybe splash out a little bit seeing as how it was kind to me.
PICTURES!
A late finish before battle with the MOT man at dawn...well 11:30 actually.
Snow topped Snakes Pass
Only needed the handbrake reconnecting on the passenger side to get through the MOT! (Don't know how I didnt spot it! D'oh!)
On running the engine on my drive it became apparent the radiator was shot so that was replaced and whilst having a good dig around the car found a few more slightly dodgy areas of rust.
I am not in a position to weld the car right now as I am supposed to be writing a dissertation (eek!) and the rot isn't structual so I made the decision to kill it, paint it, and forget about it until summer comes along when I have time to effect a proper repair.
Effected a repair to the bumper by gluing up the crack with a hot glue gun from the inside and spent hours and hours removing duct tape and residue that was baked on by the sun, not a nice job! it turns out that the mounting points on the bumper are fine it is just that the bolt was missing so nipped into the garage and found one straight away and it was straight back on although not fitting quite as well as I had hoped due to the offside inner arch mounting bolt holes having err...rusted away!
Managed to fix the 5th gear change just by adjusting the length of the pin on the bottom of the shifter rod to 22mm.
A temperature sender from a spare 96 inlet manifold looked remarkably similar to the item found in the thermostat housing so I swapped them out and now have a working temperature gauge, although it took a while to realize it with the new rad keeping things super cool!
Had a little bit of an incident experimenting with boost along a straight in 3rd gear as we kept experiencing overboosting then fuel cut but I think this was due to a slightly sticky waste gate actuator as this has all but dissapeared now. I hope the policeman waiting at the end of the straight was too busy munching and appreciative of the fact that my third gear pull over the bridge was in the interest of scientific experiment otherwise I am awaiting a NIP to drop through the doormat :bag: , I knew this car would end up with me losing my licence but didn't think it would be before I even got an MOT on it!
So off to the MOT and had a nervous coffee down the road whilst the test was carried out, I have never been so scared about an MOT before as alot of aspects of the car were a complete unknown to me. I need not be afraid however as the car passed with no advisories in true saab style! :mrgreen:
Then began wrangling with insurance companies and the like before I could drive the lovely thing up to Sheffield so I could carry on with my life and actually do some work....This however went straight out the window when the prospect of the A57 Snakes pass entered my mind as a proper shakedown for the car and before I knew it I had been to glossop and back "just because" and watched the fuel gauge creep towards empty as though money was pouring out my wallet. I have to say the way the car rides over sweeping A/B roads is fantastic and feels really planted on the road which is great and the whoosh in 3rd gear is a phenomenal experience. Some pictures of this super day out are located below!
Tomorrow I have a day off lectures and if the weather holds good then the car will be getting a full polish and wax to try and bring some of the shine back, I clayed the car before which made a big difference but ran out of time before I could get some polish down so hopefully a proper wash will bring it back to a nice shine. I can't believe how hard it is to keep black cars clean argh
Been shopping for the car recently and ordered some bits that I needed/wanted. Its quite frightening how quickly it all adds up but considering the car owes me very little money compared to its value at the moment I thought I should maybe splash out a little bit seeing as how it was kind to me.
PICTURES!
A late finish before battle with the MOT man at dawn...well 11:30 actually.
Snow topped Snakes Pass
H141RUJ said:
Welcome to the world of heartache, elation and damnation....
I note you are looking for a rear decor panel....this may be a bigger challenge than you thought. According to the DVLA there are only 2 manuals presently 'on the road' and 5 declared SORN. There's only 1 auto...
So don't expect Saab - even the 'museum' to have much on the shelf to support you.
Getting as rare as the 9000 2.3 CD Carlsson I have two - one fully refurbished and the only factory blue one made which is in process and a red 5 door.
Have you got somewhere to get your wheels refurbed? I've just had 2 sets redone at Pristine Alloys in Milton Keynes - the UK experts and they will do it right. Another 2 sets as spares to go... Gunmetal insert, polished (diamond turned) edge, take out the kinks and buckles which these three spokes are pigs for. The orginal wheels on that motor were actually 15" with a 195/60 VR tyre. You should be running a 205/50 ZR or W rated 16 - no matter how tempted, do not put a 55 profile tyre on. Try Avon ZV5 - I've been driving these motors for 20 years now and have had several Carlsson's in my collection and the Avon's are without a doubt the very best match. Pristine are the recognised experts in their field and they charge a really fair price.
There's not a job I haven't done on one of these 900's - I've stripped and refurbed several - including, lately, a 1985 900T 16S on a B plate with knacked rear inner arches. No longer available from Saab, replacements had to be hand made.
Getting back to the rear decor panel - Ebay. I spent 4 years looking across just about every Saab Dealer on the planet looking for a decor panel for the 9000. The panel had been discontinued more than 10 years ago. Finally got one through a contact, through a contact with an international Saab Owners Club. Try the UK Saab owners club - they may have one or two with a member somewhere....
However, you may find a decent used one in a breaker, but you are on a treasure hunt now!
Note of caution - don't wind up the boost pressure too much - you've felt the effects of fuel cut-off already when the boost dumps and your head cracks off the windscreen. Too much loud pedal in third will result in a new gearbox demand within a few thousand miles. While you are under the car, drop the gearbox oil and change it regularly - it's cheap insurance and you'll probably find what's in there already has some metal filings floating around.
Make sure the APC valve has been cleaned out with a bit of electrical cleaner and make sure all the vacuum hose is in first class condition - spend 20 quid and replace it all - even the slightest loss of vacuum and they drive 'off colour'. Change the spark plug leads - they degrade when standing and do the dizzy cap and rotor arm for a tenner or so at the same time.
Put a new fuel filter on - don't miss that one.
Once you have got used to how this one is settling, drop me a note and I can point you in the direction of how to fettle the APC unit to give you a little more poke without causing significant downside (like whacking up the wastegate control arm does)
If you want to get the best out of the motor - run it on V Power and DON'T DISCONNECT THE KNOCK SENSOR! The turbo boost is electronically controlled using feedback from the knock sensor to reduce detonation.
I'm taking my refurbed black CD Carlsson on a European road trip starting this Friday, leaving Aberdeen, heading to France, Holland, Switzerland and Germany. I'll post a photo of the motors at some point, but I'm not at home until Thursday. I'm dropping past on my way south to show Erik Carlsson himself, how the refurb has gone. He was kind enough to sign me a new signature to scan onto the car after the paintwork was redone. Note that the decal kit is now discontinued (unsurprisingly) so take care of it!
Oh, and by the way - the correct interior for your car and they can still be found, is either Dover Grey or Charcoal leather with the suede inserts on the thigh and shoulder bolsters.
Good luck! You've bought a big smile factor and I agree, the shape still looks 'right'. Wait until the next snow comes - with a set of 195/65/15 winter tyres on it, you'll feel as if you are driving on dry tarmac!
Best regards.
Thanks for all this, good reading!I note you are looking for a rear decor panel....this may be a bigger challenge than you thought. According to the DVLA there are only 2 manuals presently 'on the road' and 5 declared SORN. There's only 1 auto...
So don't expect Saab - even the 'museum' to have much on the shelf to support you.
Getting as rare as the 9000 2.3 CD Carlsson I have two - one fully refurbished and the only factory blue one made which is in process and a red 5 door.
Have you got somewhere to get your wheels refurbed? I've just had 2 sets redone at Pristine Alloys in Milton Keynes - the UK experts and they will do it right. Another 2 sets as spares to go... Gunmetal insert, polished (diamond turned) edge, take out the kinks and buckles which these three spokes are pigs for. The orginal wheels on that motor were actually 15" with a 195/60 VR tyre. You should be running a 205/50 ZR or W rated 16 - no matter how tempted, do not put a 55 profile tyre on. Try Avon ZV5 - I've been driving these motors for 20 years now and have had several Carlsson's in my collection and the Avon's are without a doubt the very best match. Pristine are the recognised experts in their field and they charge a really fair price.
There's not a job I haven't done on one of these 900's - I've stripped and refurbed several - including, lately, a 1985 900T 16S on a B plate with knacked rear inner arches. No longer available from Saab, replacements had to be hand made.
Getting back to the rear decor panel - Ebay. I spent 4 years looking across just about every Saab Dealer on the planet looking for a decor panel for the 9000. The panel had been discontinued more than 10 years ago. Finally got one through a contact, through a contact with an international Saab Owners Club. Try the UK Saab owners club - they may have one or two with a member somewhere....
However, you may find a decent used one in a breaker, but you are on a treasure hunt now!
Note of caution - don't wind up the boost pressure too much - you've felt the effects of fuel cut-off already when the boost dumps and your head cracks off the windscreen. Too much loud pedal in third will result in a new gearbox demand within a few thousand miles. While you are under the car, drop the gearbox oil and change it regularly - it's cheap insurance and you'll probably find what's in there already has some metal filings floating around.
Make sure the APC valve has been cleaned out with a bit of electrical cleaner and make sure all the vacuum hose is in first class condition - spend 20 quid and replace it all - even the slightest loss of vacuum and they drive 'off colour'. Change the spark plug leads - they degrade when standing and do the dizzy cap and rotor arm for a tenner or so at the same time.
Put a new fuel filter on - don't miss that one.
Once you have got used to how this one is settling, drop me a note and I can point you in the direction of how to fettle the APC unit to give you a little more poke without causing significant downside (like whacking up the wastegate control arm does)
If you want to get the best out of the motor - run it on V Power and DON'T DISCONNECT THE KNOCK SENSOR! The turbo boost is electronically controlled using feedback from the knock sensor to reduce detonation.
I'm taking my refurbed black CD Carlsson on a European road trip starting this Friday, leaving Aberdeen, heading to France, Holland, Switzerland and Germany. I'll post a photo of the motors at some point, but I'm not at home until Thursday. I'm dropping past on my way south to show Erik Carlsson himself, how the refurb has gone. He was kind enough to sign me a new signature to scan onto the car after the paintwork was redone. Note that the decal kit is now discontinued (unsurprisingly) so take care of it!
Oh, and by the way - the correct interior for your car and they can still be found, is either Dover Grey or Charcoal leather with the suede inserts on the thigh and shoulder bolsters.
Good luck! You've bought a big smile factor and I agree, the shape still looks 'right'. Wait until the next snow comes - with a set of 195/65/15 winter tyres on it, you'll feel as if you are driving on dry tarmac!
Best regards.
I have managed to source a rear decor panel through someone on UKSaabs for a not too astronomical sum but I found the broken pieces and managed to effect a fairly decent repair so its all glued back together currently.
I think the reason lists so few left on howmanyleft is because of how the log books were written by the dealers and not all logbooks feature 'Carlsson' in the vehicle name section, some are just listed as T16S' although they are genuine items... I know of 2 other manuals on the road in the same model year and black at least and I am sure there are a few more. Having said that, yes they are getting rather thin on the ground yes and I can't imagine there to be many more than 30 or so left in the UK.
The wheel had been refurbished just 3 years ago, about 6 months before it got laid up but unfortunately water crept under the laquer on the rim where they were standing and has lifted it and turned the polished lip milky. The wheel centres are perfect still though. I am just getting the rims polished by PureKlas in coventry who have done them before and going on their previous work there wont be any problems here.. I currently have Yokohama 205/45 tyres on which aren't a bad match for the original rolling radius but I will try the Avons next.
I have fairly good advice to go on on tuning these as I have been in touch with Craig Bell who owns an immaculate black 900 carlsson which was featured in Saab Driver not too long ago. I've have enjoyed learning about how the APC works and have gained quite a bit of respect for how sophisticated these cars are so I am not going to rip it all off and stick a manual boost controller on there like some people do. I already have the red box APC I have seen the mods to make it adjustable to higher boost so I will probably do this towards the tail end of the summer coupled with a 3 bar FPR and hopefully a FMIC if I can squeeze one in there without doing any cutting as the current intercooler is more of a heat sink than anything else as it sees no airflow whatsoever behind the left headlight. I'm only really aiming for 230-240bhp at the moment so don't need to go too silly.
I never floor it in 1st or 2nd as these are most common to go first so I am told and I am not much of a traffic light grand prix man anyway. The gear oil is being changed later this week and I will invest in a stiffened diff inspection plate from Jamsaab in a few months aswell when I am earning.
The interior believe it or not was actually original as leather interiors were actually an option on the 91 cars (which was normally always specified by Carlsson buyers..) Having said that I am trying down to track a black leather interior and I may have found one in Scotland.
If you know where I can get hold of a set of 15" steel wheels let me know... I have heard all about these cars on decent winter tyres in the snow and I cannot wait to be whizzing about past everyone spinning away come a bit of snow. This video never fails to amaze me - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUxKdF7BjNE
I am tremendously jealous of your road trip and some friends and I are planning something similar later in the year. I have met Erik a few times now but it was before I bought the car, my dad used to Rally 96's so is a huge fan, and as I said I've effectively been brought up on saabs. I desperately would like him to sign the sunvisor of the vehicle (on a transparent self adhesive film..) but I have no idea which shows he is attending if any this year and would feel so guilty asking as he isn't exactly getting any younger...
Anyway,
Thanks a lot for your advice and I look forward to seeing some pictures of the CD's
295 ps is pretty impressive, were you running trionic or anything? I'm not looking for those power levels but you right in what you say that it's the torque rise rate that lunches the boxes. My car is a '91 so I am told it should have one of the stronger boxes... Do you have any info on box numbers etc so I could check. There s a set of type 8 primaries up for sale.. What's the difference is it just the transfer ratio between engine and box?
You are of course right and the car is a 1990, not 91. I got my years mixed up as I used to own a G reg mini that was built in 89 but registered in early 90.
Anyway, I am awaiting a gasket for the diff inspection plate which will come off when it arrives and I'll do the gear oil and have a poke around what comes out but the box feels pretty tight at the moment and i can't afford a full rebuild yet so I'll have to tie balloons to my right foot to look after it for a bit
You are right that the 3rd gear surge is more than addictive and I have scalped a fair few more modern cars with relative ease if the revs happen to lay in my favour.
In other news. Had the back axle off this week and I am rebutting the ones that need doing, dampers and springs are in excellent nick but torque arm and panhard rod bushes were shot to bits. I'll put pictures up tomorrow.
Wheels came back from being refurbed and look lovely so I need to get some decent sealant on them, again pics tomorrow.
Hopefully I'll get the few little bits of welding done before august, do the headlining and refresh the engine bay and then there's not too much left to sort out.
I'll be at a few shows this summer so keep your eyes peeled for me!
Anyway, I am awaiting a gasket for the diff inspection plate which will come off when it arrives and I'll do the gear oil and have a poke around what comes out but the box feels pretty tight at the moment and i can't afford a full rebuild yet so I'll have to tie balloons to my right foot to look after it for a bit
You are right that the 3rd gear surge is more than addictive and I have scalped a fair few more modern cars with relative ease if the revs happen to lay in my favour.
In other news. Had the back axle off this week and I am rebutting the ones that need doing, dampers and springs are in excellent nick but torque arm and panhard rod bushes were shot to bits. I'll put pictures up tomorrow.
Wheels came back from being refurbed and look lovely so I need to get some decent sealant on them, again pics tomorrow.
Hopefully I'll get the few little bits of welding done before august, do the headlining and refresh the engine bay and then there's not too much left to sort out.
I'll be at a few shows this summer so keep your eyes peeled for me!
Made some fairly decent progress over the the past week with the car off the road but have been a bit rubbish with the camera for "during" pictures due to having fairlyyy mucky hands.
Jobs done:
-3" JT Exhaust refitted
-All 4 ball joints changed on upper and lower wishbones.
-New trackrod ends due to split rubber
-Back axle and links off and hammerited
-New panhard rod and torque link bushes (other bushes did not need replacing)
-Replaced brake fluid and bled system
-Calipers painted red (Ok a bit halfords but I thought they would look nice with the refurbed wheels and they do)
-Full inspection and all rust killed and painted as a temporary fix before I can buy a decent welder
-Camcover removed and painted as it was very shabby and had to fix a slight oil leak down onto the exhaust manifold
-New gearbox oil and cured leak from diffential housing
-Wheels polished, cleaned and sealed
-Damn good clean
Jobs still to be done this summer:
Front bumper respray
Fix headlining properly
Remove instrument cluster and fix dodgey connections on backlighting ribbon and investigate odometer failure.
Welding
Naughty tweaks (play around with "go go juice" ideas on UKSaabs forum, APC Mods, Proper downpipe,FMIC, Injectors, FPR) - these may or may not happen but I am not looking for big power with this car just a 30-40hp gain which should be easily acheivable on a modest budget.
By far the worst job was the bottom balljoints on the front wishbones, For a car that has been such a pleasure to work on this was the first job that reminded me how important it is to design for easy maintenence. A proper balljoint seperator will not fit in the available gap between the thread and the hub and unless you have access to saab tool 80293829230329 you are up a foul smelling creek without a paddle. I had to use one of those wedge shaped splitters and it took hours and hours of belting away at it from either side, jumping up and down on long spanners before the tapers finall gave way.
The back axle all came apart fairly nicely but reinserting some of the new bushes without a proper press required almost all of my paitence but we got there in the end.
If I am honest I can't feel a drastic difference in how the car drives at all, the ride remains very harsh and clonky but it has given me the peace of mind that I have a few more thousands of miles to churn up before I need to worry about suspension and steering issues.
Anyone care to comment on whether new HT leads / plugs is worth doing? Am I likekly to plough another few hundred into the car and not feel any improvement haha! The car is not missing or anything like that but the ones currently fitted look a bit tired and I am wondering whether their degradation could be sapping some power, the car does not feel flat or anything but like to keep things ship shape.
Anyways, enough of my incessant babble - it's good to be driving again!
TO THE PICTURES!
manky corroded wheels
Shiny happy wheels!
Ahh my suspension is on fire!.. Mum is less than impressed with the state of the lawn
grotty back axle
shiny back axle
yes I missed several bits, but I won't tell anyone if you don't
yucky grot in rear wheel arch
scabby cam cover
painted but not finished, I need to take off the paint on the raised sections and polish them up again when it has gone properly hard after a few heat cycles.
JT refittted
Some pictures after I cleaned and resealed it - Only been polished once with SRP since I got it, not looking too shabby!
I'll do some engine bay and interior shots soon after I've given them a good clean! Really happy with the way the car looks, sounds and goes now.. I think the old girls a keeper - but there is still work to be done!
Jobs done:
-3" JT Exhaust refitted
-All 4 ball joints changed on upper and lower wishbones.
-New trackrod ends due to split rubber
-Back axle and links off and hammerited
-New panhard rod and torque link bushes (other bushes did not need replacing)
-Replaced brake fluid and bled system
-Calipers painted red (Ok a bit halfords but I thought they would look nice with the refurbed wheels and they do)
-Full inspection and all rust killed and painted as a temporary fix before I can buy a decent welder
-Camcover removed and painted as it was very shabby and had to fix a slight oil leak down onto the exhaust manifold
-New gearbox oil and cured leak from diffential housing
-Wheels polished, cleaned and sealed
-Damn good clean
Jobs still to be done this summer:
Front bumper respray
Fix headlining properly
Remove instrument cluster and fix dodgey connections on backlighting ribbon and investigate odometer failure.
Welding
Naughty tweaks (play around with "go go juice" ideas on UKSaabs forum, APC Mods, Proper downpipe,FMIC, Injectors, FPR) - these may or may not happen but I am not looking for big power with this car just a 30-40hp gain which should be easily acheivable on a modest budget.
By far the worst job was the bottom balljoints on the front wishbones, For a car that has been such a pleasure to work on this was the first job that reminded me how important it is to design for easy maintenence. A proper balljoint seperator will not fit in the available gap between the thread and the hub and unless you have access to saab tool 80293829230329 you are up a foul smelling creek without a paddle. I had to use one of those wedge shaped splitters and it took hours and hours of belting away at it from either side, jumping up and down on long spanners before the tapers finall gave way.
The back axle all came apart fairly nicely but reinserting some of the new bushes without a proper press required almost all of my paitence but we got there in the end.
If I am honest I can't feel a drastic difference in how the car drives at all, the ride remains very harsh and clonky but it has given me the peace of mind that I have a few more thousands of miles to churn up before I need to worry about suspension and steering issues.
Anyone care to comment on whether new HT leads / plugs is worth doing? Am I likekly to plough another few hundred into the car and not feel any improvement haha! The car is not missing or anything like that but the ones currently fitted look a bit tired and I am wondering whether their degradation could be sapping some power, the car does not feel flat or anything but like to keep things ship shape.
Anyways, enough of my incessant babble - it's good to be driving again!
TO THE PICTURES!
manky corroded wheels
Shiny happy wheels!
Ahh my suspension is on fire!.. Mum is less than impressed with the state of the lawn
grotty back axle
shiny back axle
yes I missed several bits, but I won't tell anyone if you don't
yucky grot in rear wheel arch
scabby cam cover
painted but not finished, I need to take off the paint on the raised sections and polish them up again when it has gone properly hard after a few heat cycles.
JT refittted
Some pictures after I cleaned and resealed it - Only been polished once with SRP since I got it, not looking too shabby!
I'll do some engine bay and interior shots soon after I've given them a good clean! Really happy with the way the car looks, sounds and goes now.. I think the old girls a keeper - but there is still work to be done!
Further reinforcing my reputation as jack of all trades master of none, I decided to turn my hand to the flickering dash illumination bulbs last night that have annoyed me since I got the car.
The bulbs both work so I know they are good but I imagined the ribbon to be knackered behind them leading them to only work when they felt like it rather than, at night, when i felt like it. :wall:
ark:
I am tempted to set up some sort of night panel mode for this car in saab style, with only the speedo being illuminated, but essentially I couldn't be bothered last night so thought I would leave that to another day.. This will probably be done by wiring a focussed LED into the dash rheostat that either backlights or subtly illuminates the speedo from below centre. I.e. when I turn the other the green lights down, the single LED will illuminate (probably in red so I feel like a fighter pilot) the speedo.
Sidetrack aside, the issue I had was my bulbs were totally fused into the gauges so even attacking them with pliers through the LH speaker grille would not help. I also have an issue with the odometer not working in the car ( I am recording estimated mileage so I can be honest if I come to sell the car..) which I would like to fix. I thought sod it, what else is there to do on a friday night, and ripped the whole dash out.
Came to bits surprisingly easily once you know how but I wasn't convinced it was ever going to go back together :bag:
I didn't get any photos of the issues with the bulbs but they were quite simply buggered. The copper pads which transferred power from ribbon to bulb holder were shredded and the bulb holes in the clocks were all melted and distorted presumably from bulbs overheating the plastic :? no dashboard fire please mr car.
Using my dual purpose soldering iron / bulb aperture reshaping tool quickly had things in shape again so i should now be able to remove/replace bulbs without ripping the whole dash out and I have not seen a hint of flickering..yet :roll:
I then set about pulling the clocks to pieces to investigate the odometer failure, only gaff here was taking the speedo needle off without first marking which angle it had to go back on at. Obviously I should put it back on at 0mph as I am quite certain my kitchen is fairly stationary, but due to the preload on the angular spring which returns the dial to 0 and presumably dampens the needles motion, I was concerned that after the needle has been removed the spindle would have moved further round. Anyway I put it back on roughly right and I will check the accuracy with my GPS later.
What took most time in this process was stopping myself making car noises and pushing the needle round at ridiculous speeds from 60-120 whilst making a series of authentic saab burbles, turbine whistles and BOV noises. I should have recorded it and put them on youtube - 850BHP Saab 900 3rd and 4th gear pull, 60-120 4.3seconds.
On pulling the speedo apart as much as I dared it became apparent that the ring gear that meshes with the green wormgear out of the speedo drive appeared to be stripped but I had no idea how to get at it without breaking anything so I gave up on that avenue and put it all back together.
After much faffing the dash went back together and although it was very dark and I was tired, I was kept enthused by the constant warming green glow of german efficiency from the VDO gauges. It looks very dim in the pictures but unless I have developed exceptional night vision it is much brighter than it used to be.
The bulbs both work so I know they are good but I imagined the ribbon to be knackered behind them leading them to only work when they felt like it rather than, at night, when i felt like it. :wall:
ark: I am tempted to set up some sort of night panel mode for this car in saab style, with only the speedo being illuminated, but essentially I couldn't be bothered last night so thought I would leave that to another day.. This will probably be done by wiring a focussed LED into the dash rheostat that either backlights or subtly illuminates the speedo from below centre. I.e. when I turn the other the green lights down, the single LED will illuminate (probably in red so I feel like a fighter pilot) the speedo.
Sidetrack aside, the issue I had was my bulbs were totally fused into the gauges so even attacking them with pliers through the LH speaker grille would not help. I also have an issue with the odometer not working in the car ( I am recording estimated mileage so I can be honest if I come to sell the car..) which I would like to fix. I thought sod it, what else is there to do on a friday night, and ripped the whole dash out.
Came to bits surprisingly easily once you know how but I wasn't convinced it was ever going to go back together :bag:
I didn't get any photos of the issues with the bulbs but they were quite simply buggered. The copper pads which transferred power from ribbon to bulb holder were shredded and the bulb holes in the clocks were all melted and distorted presumably from bulbs overheating the plastic :? no dashboard fire please mr car.
Using my dual purpose soldering iron / bulb aperture reshaping tool quickly had things in shape again so i should now be able to remove/replace bulbs without ripping the whole dash out and I have not seen a hint of flickering..yet :roll:
I then set about pulling the clocks to pieces to investigate the odometer failure, only gaff here was taking the speedo needle off without first marking which angle it had to go back on at. Obviously I should put it back on at 0mph as I am quite certain my kitchen is fairly stationary, but due to the preload on the angular spring which returns the dial to 0 and presumably dampens the needles motion, I was concerned that after the needle has been removed the spindle would have moved further round. Anyway I put it back on roughly right and I will check the accuracy with my GPS later.
What took most time in this process was stopping myself making car noises and pushing the needle round at ridiculous speeds from 60-120 whilst making a series of authentic saab burbles, turbine whistles and BOV noises. I should have recorded it and put them on youtube - 850BHP Saab 900 3rd and 4th gear pull, 60-120 4.3seconds.
On pulling the speedo apart as much as I dared it became apparent that the ring gear that meshes with the green wormgear out of the speedo drive appeared to be stripped but I had no idea how to get at it without breaking anything so I gave up on that avenue and put it all back together.
After much faffing the dash went back together and although it was very dark and I was tired, I was kept enthused by the constant warming green glow of german efficiency from the VDO gauges. It looks very dim in the pictures but unless I have developed exceptional night vision it is much brighter than it used to be.
So just a couple of small updates...
Bought some steel wheels + hubcaps off another user on here for a good price to put on for the winter so my nice new summer wheel's don't get ruined in the salt and grime. The tyres are actually all legal with a fair amount of tread on and being somewhat narrower than the Yoko's I have on will probably help the car alot getting traction in the snow/slush - if I find I am still struggling I won't hesitate to put a full set of winter boots on it though - anyone have any comments on this, i know c900's are great in winter conditions but is it necessary to get winter M+S tyres?
Gave them a bit of a clean up and a lick of paint - pictures:
think they will look quite nice on the car actually - should I tiewrap the hubcaps to the steels? they feel like a secure fit and arent cheapo aftermarket ones but the amount you see by the roadside makes you think!
Also painted the rocker cover and gave the engine bay a bit of a freshen up - although you wouldn't really know it from the pictures! More work to come in this department I think. Removed the bonnet lining as it was catching on the rocker cover and now the dumpvalve makes a much more satisfying noise and I can hear the turbo spool up alot more, both very important of course. :twisted:
Played taxi's the other day and took the car down to heathrow and back to drop my parents off. Dad drove at a constant 0.80 Leptons the whole way down and I drove back applying skills gained from my recently acquired aerospace engineering degree at a constant 65mph, using a very friendly national express coach driver to punch a hole through the air for me to see what fuel economy I could get out of the thing. There was a huge traffic jam on the way back that scuppered me for 30 mins or so but managed to not keep the engine running for most of this as there was a nice hill to help me out. Managed to average 37 MPG over the whole trip there and back so dead chuffed really considering the best I was hoping for was 30.
A couple of pictures of the 'fleet' as the tomcat is probably going to a new home soon
Next plans are front bumper + Carlsson arches respray, Welding to drivers door, offside front wheel arch and radiator cross member. Gonna pay someone to do all this as I'll only cock it up and have to stare at it the whole time.
Bought some steel wheels + hubcaps off another user on here for a good price to put on for the winter so my nice new summer wheel's don't get ruined in the salt and grime. The tyres are actually all legal with a fair amount of tread on and being somewhat narrower than the Yoko's I have on will probably help the car alot getting traction in the snow/slush - if I find I am still struggling I won't hesitate to put a full set of winter boots on it though - anyone have any comments on this, i know c900's are great in winter conditions but is it necessary to get winter M+S tyres?
Gave them a bit of a clean up and a lick of paint - pictures:
think they will look quite nice on the car actually - should I tiewrap the hubcaps to the steels? they feel like a secure fit and arent cheapo aftermarket ones but the amount you see by the roadside makes you think!
Also painted the rocker cover and gave the engine bay a bit of a freshen up - although you wouldn't really know it from the pictures! More work to come in this department I think. Removed the bonnet lining as it was catching on the rocker cover and now the dumpvalve makes a much more satisfying noise and I can hear the turbo spool up alot more, both very important of course. :twisted:
Played taxi's the other day and took the car down to heathrow and back to drop my parents off. Dad drove at a constant 0.80 Leptons the whole way down and I drove back applying skills gained from my recently acquired aerospace engineering degree at a constant 65mph, using a very friendly national express coach driver to punch a hole through the air for me to see what fuel economy I could get out of the thing. There was a huge traffic jam on the way back that scuppered me for 30 mins or so but managed to not keep the engine running for most of this as there was a nice hill to help me out
. Managed to average 37 MPG over the whole trip there and back so dead chuffed really considering the best I was hoping for was 30.A couple of pictures of the 'fleet' as the tomcat is probably going to a new home soon
Next plans are front bumper + Carlsson arches respray, Welding to drivers door, offside front wheel arch and radiator cross member. Gonna pay someone to do all this as I'll only cock it up and have to stare at it the whole time.
oceankestrel said:
Great car and great to see your spending the time to do it up. 
Just don't make the same mistake i did,(boring story time)I've had lots of 900c but had to wait to find a carlsson, finally got the car of my dreams in black. sorted out all the usual problems, headlining etc then went made and took it to abbott racing and had the works done. The car came back astonishing, power and handling to shame much newer cars. the only problem was the attention the car got and not just the good stuff.I was having to get wing mirrors every month, came back from holiday and some kind person had hit the front corner wripping the skirt off. (parked on road)some very friendly gentleman opened his door into mine and was kind to explain that it was my fault for having a car that kills the planet and cute puppies
but the final straw was parking up at a classic car show and going back to my car to find someone tying his shoe up on my bumper? (the last three happened in the same week)So i went and sold the car and got a focus st. What a mistake! The classic 900 is a great car and the carlsson body kit just adds to it. You have a great car and are doing a great job in doing it up. Just don't give up and sell out like I did. Sorry for going on but I understand the pleasure on thrill of owning a true classic as you do. i would buy mine back today if it was for sale
Ohh man that's a horrible story - I've had a few 'alternative' types have digs at me at uni and stuff but when you actually drill into them on the numbers of keeping a classic on the road vs. buying a prius with it's horrible overall life cycle emissions they normally shut up pretty sharpish as I find they have an inabliity to form opinions of their own and don't look into these things for themselves.Just don't make the same mistake i did,(boring story time)I've had lots of 900c but had to wait to find a carlsson, finally got the car of my dreams in black. sorted out all the usual problems, headlining etc then went made and took it to abbott racing and had the works done. The car came back astonishing, power and handling to shame much newer cars. the only problem was the attention the car got and not just the good stuff.I was having to get wing mirrors every month, came back from holiday and some kind person had hit the front corner wripping the skirt off. (parked on road)some very friendly gentleman opened his door into mine and was kind to explain that it was my fault for having a car that kills the planet and cute puppies
but the final straw was parking up at a classic car show and going back to my car to find someone tying his shoe up on my bumper? (the last three happened in the same week)So i went and sold the car and got a focus st. What a mistake! The classic 900 is a great car and the carlsson body kit just adds to it. You have a great car and are doing a great job in doing it up. Just don't give up and sell out like I did. Sorry for going on but I understand the pleasure on thrill of owning a true classic as you do. i would buy mine back today if it was for saleI did actually find someone had gobbed on the passenger window the other day but I think that's more down to the noise it makes with the 3" JT in the mornings going to work, rather than anything more politically motivated. ( I had planned to cycle to work but my bike got stolen on the day I moved here
) I still regret selling the classic mini that was my first car that I had just how I wanted but sold, purely because I couldn't justify doing the motorway miles in what was essentially a brand new car. Keep your eyes peeled and you never know the exact same one may come up again at a decent price. I wish you the best of luck with it because I know exactly how it can feel. I've made the mistake once and I won't let go so easily this time.
H141RUJ said:
A favour young man, if you would.....
Any chance you would be able to get me some photos of the Carlsson pin-striping on the wing, the door and the rear quarter panel, please - at the highest resolution you can?
I'm doing a project with a friend at the moment and we don't have the complete red striping and we're rebuilding them, but we need high res photo's to do it. You have snippets on the photo's you have posted, but tantalisingly - not quite enough. It's been a while since I has a 900 Carlsson, and haven't got the photo's I require.
Would you be willing to assist? I can send you my direct email if you would be willing to nuke them to me on the wire....
Cheers.
Did you get my pictures in the end mate. Not sure I ever heard back from you? I've spent the past 2 months in a house without internet so been pretty shocking in keeping in touch with people sorry.Any chance you would be able to get me some photos of the Carlsson pin-striping on the wing, the door and the rear quarter panel, please - at the highest resolution you can?
I'm doing a project with a friend at the moment and we don't have the complete red striping and we're rebuilding them, but we need high res photo's to do it. You have snippets on the photo's you have posted, but tantalisingly - not quite enough. It's been a while since I has a 900 Carlsson, and haven't got the photo's I require.
Would you be willing to assist? I can send you my direct email if you would be willing to nuke them to me on the wire....
Cheers.
Wow been a long time since I have updated this thread- unfortunately not a huge amount has happened but I will share with you what I have done.
So the rust you see on the previous posts had progressed over the time I had been using the car and after doing some work on the front end I spotted something rather disconserting - 10 minutes prodding later and I had made serious inroads into the driveshaft tunnels on both sides which were a bit err crusty shall we say
. So about 6 Months ago I decided to tackle the front end welding ( I say I, I got Martin @ Jamsaab to do me a cheap and cheerful job as I couldn't afford the "Rolls-Royce" treatment and just want a solid car underneath where people can't see it.)After the car came back from welding I had got the itch so decided to refresh the whole front end/engine bay a bit.
The rust on the front panel + battery tray was pretty bad as well and it was uneconomical to repair so I bought a new one and gave it the POR15 Treatment. Quite a good design actually in that pretty much the whole front end which gets peppered by stones and salt of the car is simply bolt in so it was a doddle to replace.
Out with the old
In with the new(ish)
I also treated and painted with POR15 all the areas I could get to whilst the front end was off the car
Caterham acts as a suitable work bench to treat some of the rust in the bonnet
Here are some of the snaps of the welding on the driveshaft tunnels + inner wing, dont have any before pictures unfortunately but I'm pretty satisfied that it's all solid now! I'm not really sure what was holding the lower wishbone on before:S
Martin also saved the drivers door bottom but I don't think I have any pictures of this as I was in a rush to get the car back together. Some snaps of the face going back on:
All better!
I then decided that as an update to the front I'd paint the chrome grille that was getting pretty manky. Just jet black as I'm not a heathen! I'm not too sure on it but it's still on the car, looks more modern but there was nothing wrong with the chrome before, I will probably go back to chrome if I find a decent second hand one.
So just got the car back from Station Motorsport in Market Harborough who did some fantastic work for my Dad's sonett fabbing up a sports exhaust + big bore downpipes for it. Jonathan is a top guy trying to make his way in the business, I've no personal affiliation but I can't recommend them enough as he has been really helpful!
I've had the rear arches and boot floor corners welded up which were pretty far gone inside after I made the big mistake of exploring with Mr.Screwdriver, this also meant that the back bumper (which is a bit like a giant parachute under the car) was really only held on by a strong sense of will power - these are quite rare so I was lucky not to loose it!
Here are some pictures of the rot:
Main areas are the bumper mounting self tapping bolts and retaining brackets, which Saab seem to have sort of uncharacteristically bodged on the Carlsson which leads to this corrosion conundrum. Saab trim fixings are normally pretty well thought out for corrosion resistance with a sort of Rawl plug type plastic fitting which stops the galvanic cell being set up with two dissimilar metals in contact. As the body kit was an afterthought in the late 80's unfortunately this is not the case.
This one shows it through to the boot floor.
This top fixing bracket just came away in my hands - was at this point I took the descision to go in for some weldotherapy.
Wheel arch lip has started to go, luckily this will be covered up by an arch extension on the Carlsson to the repair does not have to be cosmetically perfect.
So before it went off to Station motorsport I gave the boot floor a quick going over with rust killer as an interim measure until I get round to cleaning it out and painting it properly:
I got these pictures from Jonathan showing the amount he felt he needed to cut away to get something decent to weld to, pretty extensive and it was rotten alarmingly close to one of the suspension brackets
Then when I turned up today to put it back together, new metal in, seam sealed and painted. Job jobbed.
Saab Crumble anyone? I've heard it's good with Ikea Meatballs.
Repair:
Then spent the day putting the fuel tank back in, refitting all the interior trim and drilling holes in the new metal
. After making up some new brackets (the old one was pretty well gone) the rear bumper was refitted. All the metal has been repainted where holes have been drilled and covered in cavity wax to prevent any baremetal being exposed.
Whilst the car was up on ramp we adjusted the exhaust mouting and copperslipped /vaselined as much as we could get our hands on. Win.
I'll post some pics up of how it looks now tomorrow - the car is currently absolutely filthy and so I am going to give it a good going over tomorrow to protect it for winter as best I can - didnt want to pressure wash it yet as some of the sealant/ cavity wax takes a while to go off properly.
I've had the rear arches and boot floor corners welded up which were pretty far gone inside after I made the big mistake of exploring with Mr.Screwdriver, this also meant that the back bumper (which is a bit like a giant parachute under the car) was really only held on by a strong sense of will power - these are quite rare so I was lucky not to loose it!
Here are some pictures of the rot:
Main areas are the bumper mounting self tapping bolts and retaining brackets, which Saab seem to have sort of uncharacteristically bodged on the Carlsson which leads to this corrosion conundrum. Saab trim fixings are normally pretty well thought out for corrosion resistance with a sort of Rawl plug type plastic fitting which stops the galvanic cell being set up with two dissimilar metals in contact. As the body kit was an afterthought in the late 80's unfortunately this is not the case.
This one shows it through to the boot floor.
This top fixing bracket just came away in my hands - was at this point I took the descision to go in for some weldotherapy.
Wheel arch lip has started to go, luckily this will be covered up by an arch extension on the Carlsson to the repair does not have to be cosmetically perfect.
So before it went off to Station motorsport I gave the boot floor a quick going over with rust killer as an interim measure until I get round to cleaning it out and painting it properly:
I got these pictures from Jonathan showing the amount he felt he needed to cut away to get something decent to weld to, pretty extensive and it was rotten alarmingly close to one of the suspension brackets
Then when I turned up today to put it back together, new metal in, seam sealed and painted. Job jobbed.
Saab Crumble anyone? I've heard it's good with Ikea Meatballs.
Repair:
Then spent the day putting the fuel tank back in, refitting all the interior trim and drilling holes in the new metal
. After making up some new brackets (the old one was pretty well gone) the rear bumper was refitted. All the metal has been repainted where holes have been drilled and covered in cavity wax to prevent any baremetal being exposed.Whilst the car was up on ramp we adjusted the exhaust mouting and copperslipped /vaselined as much as we could get our hands on. Win.
I'll post some pics up of how it looks now tomorrow - the car is currently absolutely filthy and so I am going to give it a good going over tomorrow to protect it for winter as best I can - didnt want to pressure wash it yet as some of the sealant/ cavity wax takes a while to go off properly.
oceankestrel said:
Great car and great to see your spending the time to do it up.
Just don't make the same mistake i did,(boring story time)I've had lots of 900c but had to wait to find a carlsson, finally got the car of my dreams in black. sorted out all the usual problems, headlining etc then went made and took it to abbott racing and had the works done. The car came back astonishing, power and handling to shame much newer cars. the only problem was the attention the car got and not just the good stuff.I was having to get wing mirrors every month, came back from holiday and some kind person had hit the front corner wripping the skirt off. (parked on road)some very friendly gentleman opened his door into mine and was kind to explain that it was my fault for having a car that kills the planet and cute puppies but the final straw was parking up at a classic car show and going back to my car to find someone tying his shoe up on my bumper? (the last three happened in the same week)So i went and sold the car and got a focus st. What a mistake! The classic 900 is a great car and the carlsson body kit just adds to it. You have a great car and are doing a great job in doing it up. Just don't give up and sell out like I did. Sorry for going on but I understand the pleasure on thrill of owning a true classic as you do. i would buy mine back today if it was for sale
Just to touch on what you've said here after owning the car coming on for 2 years now. It does seem to attract a huge amount of attention and you are quite right it's not all the good kind. I get stopped ALOT when filling up in petrol stations (I have go to petrol stations quite alot for some reason Just don't make the same mistake i did,(boring story time)I've had lots of 900c but had to wait to find a carlsson, finally got the car of my dreams in black. sorted out all the usual problems, headlining etc then went made and took it to abbott racing and had the works done. The car came back astonishing, power and handling to shame much newer cars. the only problem was the attention the car got and not just the good stuff.I was having to get wing mirrors every month, came back from holiday and some kind person had hit the front corner wripping the skirt off. (parked on road)some very friendly gentleman opened his door into mine and was kind to explain that it was my fault for having a car that kills the planet and cute puppies
but the final straw was parking up at a classic car show and going back to my car to find someone tying his shoe up on my bumper? (the last three happened in the same week)So i went and sold the car and got a focus st. What a mistake! The classic 900 is a great car and the carlsson body kit just adds to it. You have a great car and are doing a great job in doing it up. Just don't give up and sell out like I did. Sorry for going on but I understand the pleasure on thrill of owning a true classic as you do. i would buy mine back today if it was for sale
) by usually older blokes who go "oooh you don't see many of them about these days - cracking stuff gromit" and that's great. It's good to be reminded that you have something different and special as when you use one of these as a daily driver it's very easy to forget it's anything out of the ordinary as it just soliders on without a grumble.The other not so great stuff, I live on a road the kids (read little scummy scrotes) use to walk to school and hang around in a bit passing through drinking at night. It's not a rough area per se but there have been a couple of break ins recently and I do worry about the car parked out on the street. As quite often I've heard kids talking as they wander past along the lines of "ooh look dats a turbo innit bet dats well rapid shall we nick it man bet we could outrun da feds blud.." so far it's just been idle chit chat and they wander on by but I do worry that one day I'll wake up and it won't be there
. Probably not too much to worry about as I'm not sure they could manage to drag their knuckles up to the steering wheel to drive the thing.So far though I've had:
Drivers window phlegmed/spat on
two aerials snapped off (not good at 30 quid a pop)
wheelie bin tipped over against the car and contents on the bonnet
I'm sure this will bring cries of "move then idiot!" but I am renting with other housemates and actually quite like the house, these events have been pretty few and far between thankfully so I'll put up with it until now.
So as I mentioned previously the car came back from Jonathans absolutely filthy as is the norm when being parked near a bodyshop so I gave it a good going over to try and protect the paint as possible from what winter has to throw at it.
Here is a picture showing the brackets Jonathan made up to hold the bumper on in the new metal in the wheel arches:
Car back from bodyshop:
Onto the washing, so I jetwashed as much of the loose mud off as I could up in around the arches, and then foamed the car and rinsed before moving onto buckets:
Looking better:
The wheel lips have taken an absolute hammering from the salt as they are not laquered - I find as soon as you get a slight chip, water gets under the laquer and corrodes beneath it anyway and the whole layer turns milky and peels away. They were meant to be "sealed" but I think the heat of the brake dust eats through the sealant very quickly and it doesnt last long. 10 minutes with brasso brought them back a bit though so when I put my steelies on it's going to be a fun evening saving them.
Then onto clay, quick going over with SRP and then 2 coats of wax and J'ai Fini - definitely the shiniest car on the road during winter :P! Eagle eyed amongst you will notice I have finally refitted my Carlsson arch extensions - not to confident they will stay on though!
Hopefully that's all from me for a little while - I might be heading up to Pickering on Friday to catch some of the RAC classic in support of the Saab Historic Rally Team that are doing there bit up there. I'll post some pics if I do go.
Here is a picture showing the brackets Jonathan made up to hold the bumper on in the new metal in the wheel arches:
Car back from bodyshop:
Onto the washing, so I jetwashed as much of the loose mud off as I could up in around the arches, and then foamed the car and rinsed before moving onto buckets:
Looking better:
The wheel lips have taken an absolute hammering from the salt as they are not laquered - I find as soon as you get a slight chip, water gets under the laquer and corrodes beneath it anyway and the whole layer turns milky and peels away. They were meant to be "sealed" but I think the heat of the brake dust eats through the sealant very quickly and it doesnt last long. 10 minutes with brasso brought them back a bit though so when I put my steelies on it's going to be a fun evening saving them.
Then onto clay, quick going over with SRP and then 2 coats of wax and J'ai Fini - definitely the shiniest car on the road during winter :P! Eagle eyed amongst you will notice I have finally refitted my Carlsson arch extensions - not to confident they will stay on though!
Hopefully that's all from me for a little while - I might be heading up to Pickering on Friday to catch some of the RAC classic in support of the Saab Historic Rally Team that are doing there bit up there. I'll post some pics if I do go.
So had a chance to get some niggling jobs done on the car this week.
-Sunroof is finally back in properly with the new clip installed! Thanks Alwyn if you are reading this.
-Investigated and hopefully cured boot leak.
-New front pads
-New flexible rear brake hoses
-Repolished and sealed my 9000 Carlsson alloys ready for another summer's service
-Wire brushed, de greased and painted boot floor inside as it was looking pretty grotty
Shiny Wheels
H298XYJ - as endorsed by Erik himself
:argh:
8)
-Sunroof is finally back in properly with the new clip installed! Thanks Alwyn if you are reading this.
-Investigated and hopefully cured boot leak.
-New front pads
-New flexible rear brake hoses
-Repolished and sealed my 9000 Carlsson alloys ready for another summer's service
-Wire brushed, de greased and painted boot floor inside as it was looking pretty grotty
Shiny Wheels
H298XYJ - as endorsed by Erik himself
:argh:
8)
NiceCupOfTea said:
Nice work, boot floor does tend to go
Where was the leak in the boot? I need to chase down some leaks in mine. I think water was getting in somewhere which made the rear arches rot from the inside out. Also I'm getting leaks in the driver's footwell - either door seals or windscreen I think...
have a look at this NCoT:Where was the leak in the boot? I need to chase down some leaks in mine. I think water was getting in somewhere which made the rear arches rot from the inside out. Also I'm getting leaks in the driver's footwell - either door seals or windscreen I think...
http://www.uksaabs.eu/UKS/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=...
My fuel filler neck was cracked when it was replaced after welding from overtightenting of the torx screws. I've put some silicone sealant around it and hope that will help as apparently that is an ingress point. also discovered a small split in the tailgate seal which ive taped up and also adjusted the tailgate. Will see if that gets it...
NiceCupOfTea said:
I started that thread! Still haven't had a chance to look at the car Driving holiday in N Wales last August - car cover on every night and also while we went up Snowdon in the public car park (got some funny looks!); ECU in a poly bag with paper towels wedged above it, and some dodgy misfires... Gassing Station | Readers' Cars | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff