Saab 9-3 Aero convertible

[Andy665]

After the Celica sold within 30 minutes of being advertised I needed a replacement.

As I will be collecting a company car in 3-4 months my OH declared a convertible would be a safe bet, buy in winter, sell in late spring etc etc

Considered a few

Mk2 MX5 - concered about the corrosion issues

MG TF - would have seriously considered a 160 but not easy to find

Mk3 MR2 - not sold on looks and totally impractical -could see no real advantage over a TF 160

Volvo C70 - would have to have been a T5 manual but rare as hens teeth

BMW E46 - too common and budget would not have got me a nice 330Ci

Ended up with the favourite being a car I have considered before but never actually owned - Saab 9-3. Prices are all over the place and I had a few "must haves". Aero spec and manual - that reduced the choice massively, cream or black leather and ideally pre-facelift as I preferred the earlier front end

Ended up buying the one below - 1 owner, pretty much full history, 3 months warranty, perhaps needs £100 spending on it (gear lever gaiter, mats, couple of bits of interior trim). Pretty much brand new Pirellis all round, recent brakes, only thing not working is the "up" stereo volume on the steering wheel

Just needs a damn good clean - leather is very dirty, roof needs a through clean - nothing that a bit of time will not easily put right

I was suspicious of the car - I was in Germany so had to buy on the pictures - it seemed too cheap but I think i just managed to get very lucky with the right car at the wrong time of year in a very rural location

[Andy665]

FELIX_5 said:

Always been a fan of your threads, and what you do to your cars. Will watch this with interest.......

Thank you - very kind

As it appears mechanically very good it will be simply a case of replacing the little bits cosmetically that detract - sadly I'm OCD so the slightest thing frustrates / irritates me, drive it for a few months and move it on in the summer - will make someone a nice summer car when I'm finished with it - I get satisfaction at improving my cars and sell them when they are as I want them - I enjoy the journey more than the finished article

[Andy665]

griffin dai said:

Welcome to the club

Here's mine but the v6 and saloon, once you sort a few little niggles out they are a decent car tbh. I can't see me changing mine for a while.
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

For your leather seats, try below, he sells the leather dye kits to match the Saab seats (really good) also worth adding some gliptone..

http://www.stevelewissaab.com/leather-dye-for-saab...

I'm not sure how these are on the motorway with the roof down but my old 9-3 (previous shape) buffeted pretty badly at any speeds over say 50/60mph, you can get wind deflectors for these which everyone raves about, new prices are pretty steep but can be had for a lot less 2nd hand.

And you've got heated seats!!!!!!!!!! I'd kill for bum warmers in this weather!! Crappy stereo aside that's the only gripe with mine.

Well worth a joining UKSaabs for more info and contact Saabnoob for a cheeky remap, should take it from 210 to around 250bhp then

I like Gliptone but generally use LTT or Furniture Clinic stuff for leather nowadays but will definitely look at the link for some dye, tiny bit on rear seat needs recolouring.

The seat heaters are superb as you'd expect from a Swedish car, setting 3 is far too hot for me, setting 1 gives a nice warm glow. Having had Westfield Sevens etc the buffeting is not a problem for me but will be keeping my eyes out for a secondhand wind deflector to placate the OH

Had a good look around the car yesterday and apart from a few minor stonechips (easily sorted) its an incredibly tidy car, drew up a list of things that will be getting done

1. Roof clean - did this yesterday and the green mildew it extracted was shocking - needs a repeat to get it properly clean then it will be sealed

2. Gear lever gaiter worn - new one already ordered

3. Mirror base plates showing slight signs of bubbling - will be taken off, treated and repainted

4. Instrument binnacle surround - needs replacing due to what looks like glue residue burning the top surface - replacement already ordered

5. Boot struts weak - replacements ordered

6. Exterior plastics faded - these will be renovated

7. Leather - needs good clean

8. Steering wheel audio control needs replacing as volume "up" not working

9. Full machine polish - my Flex will soon sort that out

Not much of a list and far less than I could reasonably expect considering the price paid

Edited by Andy665 on Monday 25th January 10:09

[Andy665]

Rangeroverover said:

out of interest..how much was it??

£2200

[Andy665]

More progress today - early start before work, lunchtime and after work

Roof cleaned again with Renovo - will need another going over but noticeably better than before

Indicator bulbs to chrome eliminating the fried egg effect

Clayed in prep for the weekends machine polish

Interior plastics cleaned and dressed

Leather cleaned and conditioned

Glass cleaned

Exterior plastics cleaned and dressed

Starting to feel like "my" car now

[Andy665]

CTO said:

Hi Andy,

I've dropped you an email. Let me know if it doesn't come through. Can't always trust the PH hamsters to be on the wheel

CTO

Not received anything

[Andy665]

Needless to say it has not stopped raining since collecting it but doing a few 200 mile round trips to MK this week its very refined, very comfortable and is doing 34mpg which I'm pretty happy with

Few clunks from the suspension so I think it will be getting treated to a new set of drop links as a first step

[Andy665]

griffin dai said:

Just get the Meyle HD droplinks mate, they tend to eat the standard ones.

Thanks for the tip - any suggestions as to whether I should replace anything else whilst I'm at it or should it be one thing at a time - I suspect a lot of the clonks are coming from the drop links

[Andy665]

coopedup said:

Out of interest how do you rate Renovo soft top cleaner? I have tried various products from Halfords on my BMW with not very good results.
Lovely looking car BTW, used to love my old 900 convertible

All the Renovo products I recommend very highly, also very good in terms of cleaners is the 303 Aerospace cleaner and the Auto Finesse Rag Top Cleaner

The roof on the 9-3 has clearly never been cleaned in its 11 years so will need another couple of cleans but is massively better than it was before

[Andy665]

Quick wash today and will crack on with some quick wins tomorrow. plan is to fit:

New boot struts

New alloy wheel centre caps and wheelnut covers

New leather gear lever gaiter

Replacement instrument binnacle surround

Started to order the parts for suspension refresh too - new drop links all round and front and rear top mounts, still to order are the springs, Bilsteins and wishbone bushes

[Andy665]

Job this weekend was to tackle the leather - not the worst I had seen but after 120k it needed some TLC

Bought the leather colourant kit from Furniture Clinic - used these before but the quality of the spray gun supplied this time is much better at delivering good results, either that or I'm just getting better at it

Step 1 is to remove the top layer by soaking cotton wool balls in the leather prep, wrapping a scouring pad and rubbing away at the leather until the colour starts to dhow on the pad - daunting at first but for a decent end result its essential you do not skimp on this stage

Step 2 is a full wipe down with alcohol cleaner and leave to dry out thoroughly

Step 3 sponge in a base layer of colourant and allow to dry - usually 15 mins is enough

Step 4 is applying the colourant via the spray gun - many thin layers (I use 3 or 4) is the secret here, also to swap propellant cans as soon as they start to get cold, I keep mine in a bowl of warm water and rotzte them every 2-3 minutes. Also beneficial is using paint filters (available from Furniture Clinic and watering down the colourant by approx 15-20% - massively reduces the chances of splatter and nozzle clogging

Step 5 - after getting a decent "tacky" finish you then apply the top coat, effectively sealing in the colour

Step 6 is the final top coat giving the end finish - I went for semi-matt based purely on personal preference

Leave for at least 24 hours before using the leather and restoration is complete

Very good value for money at just over £60 for the full kit which is ample to do front and rear seats of a normal car - bit of time and patience is all that is required

Some before and afters for you

Before







After

Edited by Andy665 on Sunday 7th February 12:16

[Andy665]

Suspension refresh project is go, ordered this morning

Front strut mounts and bearings
Front wishbone - complete with bushes and new ballpoint actually work out cheaper than just new bushes
Updated front droplinks
Front antiroll bar bushes

Rear antiroll bar bushes
Rear strut mounts

Just need springs and the Bilsteins and should drive pretty tightly again

[Andy665]

griffin dai said:

Sorry budd missed your post.

I'd just replace/upgrade to Polly as and when, it's pretty expensive to do the lot in one go (unless you can DIY....I can't)

My labour costs were huge for the suspension work alone....big job!!!

I've gone for mainly powerflex black bar a couple in purple which went available in black at the time but these will be swapped out again when it goes back in to finish the rear off, engine mounts are in yellow powerflex but red are meant to be a little softer so seem better on the 4 pot. Also have the Maptun strut brace, 3 point subframe brace & Quaife fitted. Can't really say if the braces did much on their own but everything's tied in together nicely now, 100% recommend a wheel alignment after everything's done though, best £60 I've spent.

http://www.powerflex.co.uk/black-series/products/9...

Also swapped these while the car was in bits:

Top Mounts and Bearings for the Front & Rear Legs/Dampers
Left and Right Lower Control Arm & Ball Joint
Rear Track Rod Arm/Toe In Cross Stay

Droplinks I had here but they're probably a bit overkill
http://rndmotorsport.co.uk/epages/950003929.sf/en_...

Cheers, going for everything you have mentioned but sticking with standard bushes, as the car is not going to be a long term keeper can't justify Powerflex, hoping the Eibachs and Bilsteins will bring about a decent improvement over stock, as its a convertible I don't want to introduce too much rigidity

[Andy665]

A productive afternoon with the Flex saw the rear wings, bootlid and rear bumper fully corrected

Very badly swirled but came up good with Scholl Concepts S20 followed by Poorboys Black Hole

Will complete front end next weekend (hopefully) and get some nice layers of wax on it

Did the job properly so rear lights and trim strips were removed and the space behind fully cleaned out

For a car bought as a cheap runaround its getting under my skin, coming up very nicely and I may well end up keeping it for a year or so