Saab 9-3 DadWagon.
Discussion
Hello fellow Pistonheads,
Well having put this off for ages I think its about time that I created a project thread for my 9-3. Having discussed with the kind people on the forum I decided that I would purchase the 2.8t over the 2.0t, I hadn't had a petrol turbo and I certainly hadn’t had a 6 cylinder yet, being 22 the insurance had always been extortionate. However, a few quotes later and the decision was made.
The car at the dealers -
After checking it over and finding nothing immediately at fault I managed to obtain the car with 6 months tax, unfortunately I couldn’t wangle the full £475 for the year. Driving the car home I realised that at lower revs it was suffering with a misfire, not ideal and considering the economy I was rather worried I would have to travel back to Colchester in order to have the fault diagnosed.
Thankfully, and in very good will they paid for spark plugs which I fitted myself (breaking brittle plastic pipes at the same time). This cured the issue and I could enjoy the car.
This later ended up being a coil on cylinder 5(The most awkward to get to) so this was also changed.
The car then performed admirably on its journey back to where I live in South Wales, it impressed me greatly with the overtaking ability I had missed with the Focus. Especially helpful on the lanes when nipping past slow moving traffic can cut a journey time in half! It was also introduced to my track car, the 306 Rallye.
A few months then passed as I was away galavanting abroad, obtaining a tan etc. Although in this time, and with many hours of boredom, and an internet connection... Well we all know where this is going. I purchased a few things for the Saab. I found, as many other people have, that this engine and setup runs incredibly hot underneath the bonnet. The turbocharger is very high in the bay, this combined with the catalytic converter being immediately after the turbo and still very much in the may means that heat becomes trapped. As before mentioned, this made things brittle. This had resulted in a cracked coolant tank and perished hoses among other things. A picture of the standard bay is below.
As you can see, things are tight!
My aim therefore was to mitigate heat inside the engine bay, this being to increase the durability of the various components within and also to hopefully lower charge temperatures and increase efficiency of the engine. My plans were the following.
-Decatted downpipe / Heatwrapped, removing the Cat which stores a lot of heat, and hopefully reducing restriction to help turbo spool.
-Turbo blanket, again, keeping heat inside the exhaust system, hopefully transferring more energy to the turbine.
-New coolant tank with heat reflective tape, to replace the cracked tank and the tape in order to hopefully reflect the radiant heat from the exhaust and prevent the tank from cracking again.
-Larger inter cooler, easily explained, larger forward mounted intercooler from an Evo 8 in order to lower charge temperatures in preparation for remapping.
-Cone filter with heat proofed custom air box, I will openly admit here that this is purely for noise as the car is very muted as standard.
I will allow the pictures below to document the fitting of before mentioned parts :-
“Development” and production of the air box and a picture of the new coolant tank.
[img]http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv195/Atterz11/Mobile%20Uploads/image-3ef4b37b14d0d0feb0d8c549e2cd278c36e134b6b4336ea23e0bf2d8c1d0cdc0-V.jpg[img]
Installation of the intercooler.
Installation of the downpipe.
I also took the time to clean up and paint the diffuser section as it had badly faded.
And here is the engine bay after fitting of all parts, along with a few arty shots. (Note I have also painted the turbo heat shield with VHT paint.)
After performing this I installed the map that had been sent to me by John Williams of JZW tuning, of whom is based in the USA and is responsibly for many high powered Saabs, Opels, BMWs etc. This is technically classed as the Stage 3+ map and is fairly brutal, the torque is amazing, as is the torque steer. But considering it is FWD it puts the power down very well. 60-100 Is timed at 5.3 Seconds. So quite swift.
Below is the dyno graph from his website, for those interested.
I shall stop talking now and just post the pictures, I have painted the callipers gold, carbon wrapped the interior, installed interior LEDs and finally attached my Pistonheads smiley
.
Cleaning with peanut butter, yes it really does seem to work!
The final one being my car at the Pendragon meet on Saturday morning, sat next to something a fair bit more expensive!
If you made it this far, thank you for looking!
James.
Well having put this off for ages I think its about time that I created a project thread for my 9-3. Having discussed with the kind people on the forum I decided that I would purchase the 2.8t over the 2.0t, I hadn't had a petrol turbo and I certainly hadn’t had a 6 cylinder yet, being 22 the insurance had always been extortionate. However, a few quotes later and the decision was made.
The car at the dealers -
After checking it over and finding nothing immediately at fault I managed to obtain the car with 6 months tax, unfortunately I couldn’t wangle the full £475 for the year. Driving the car home I realised that at lower revs it was suffering with a misfire, not ideal and considering the economy I was rather worried I would have to travel back to Colchester in order to have the fault diagnosed.
Thankfully, and in very good will they paid for spark plugs which I fitted myself (breaking brittle plastic pipes at the same time). This cured the issue and I could enjoy the car.
This later ended up being a coil on cylinder 5(The most awkward to get to) so this was also changed.
The car then performed admirably on its journey back to where I live in South Wales, it impressed me greatly with the overtaking ability I had missed with the Focus. Especially helpful on the lanes when nipping past slow moving traffic can cut a journey time in half! It was also introduced to my track car, the 306 Rallye.
A few months then passed as I was away galavanting abroad, obtaining a tan etc. Although in this time, and with many hours of boredom, and an internet connection... Well we all know where this is going. I purchased a few things for the Saab. I found, as many other people have, that this engine and setup runs incredibly hot underneath the bonnet. The turbocharger is very high in the bay, this combined with the catalytic converter being immediately after the turbo and still very much in the may means that heat becomes trapped. As before mentioned, this made things brittle. This had resulted in a cracked coolant tank and perished hoses among other things. A picture of the standard bay is below.
As you can see, things are tight!
My aim therefore was to mitigate heat inside the engine bay, this being to increase the durability of the various components within and also to hopefully lower charge temperatures and increase efficiency of the engine. My plans were the following.
-Decatted downpipe / Heatwrapped, removing the Cat which stores a lot of heat, and hopefully reducing restriction to help turbo spool.
-Turbo blanket, again, keeping heat inside the exhaust system, hopefully transferring more energy to the turbine.
-New coolant tank with heat reflective tape, to replace the cracked tank and the tape in order to hopefully reflect the radiant heat from the exhaust and prevent the tank from cracking again.
-Larger inter cooler, easily explained, larger forward mounted intercooler from an Evo 8 in order to lower charge temperatures in preparation for remapping.
-Cone filter with heat proofed custom air box, I will openly admit here that this is purely for noise as the car is very muted as standard.
I will allow the pictures below to document the fitting of before mentioned parts :-
“Development” and production of the air box and a picture of the new coolant tank.
[img]http://i683.photobucket.com/albums/vv195/Atterz11/Mobile%20Uploads/image-3ef4b37b14d0d0feb0d8c549e2cd278c36e134b6b4336ea23e0bf2d8c1d0cdc0-V.jpg[img]
Installation of the intercooler.
Installation of the downpipe.
I also took the time to clean up and paint the diffuser section as it had badly faded.
And here is the engine bay after fitting of all parts, along with a few arty shots. (Note I have also painted the turbo heat shield with VHT paint.)
After performing this I installed the map that had been sent to me by John Williams of JZW tuning, of whom is based in the USA and is responsibly for many high powered Saabs, Opels, BMWs etc. This is technically classed as the Stage 3+ map and is fairly brutal, the torque is amazing, as is the torque steer. But considering it is FWD it puts the power down very well. 60-100 Is timed at 5.3 Seconds. So quite swift.
Below is the dyno graph from his website, for those interested.
I shall stop talking now and just post the pictures, I have painted the callipers gold, carbon wrapped the interior, installed interior LEDs and finally attached my Pistonheads smiley
.Cleaning with peanut butter, yes it really does seem to work!
The final one being my car at the Pendragon meet on Saturday morning, sat next to something a fair bit more expensive!
If you made it this far, thank you for looking!
James.
Edited by Atterz on Monday 5th May 21:19
Didn't realise you've done so much with it mate! How's the clutch holding up? Mine slipped as soon as the stage 1 map went on....my advice...don't floor it from 60 in 4th or 5th! Go up from 3rd and it'll last a little bit longer
So you've got everything fitted (minus clutch/new DMF) for the stage 3+ map?
I need to decide what I'm doing with mine, got boxes & boxes of kit to fit but can't get motivated
Cheers guys, i feel that i have thought outside the box on this one. Its a comfortable cruiser, practical, not by any means completely "uncool" in any circles and actually rather pokey! I have always been a fan of Saabs as my dad has had many, not progression really and much more interesting that my 2l TDCI Focus could ever be!
Yes Griff i have certainly been busy, just followed all the recommendations on the forum to be honest! I've already realised that to mate, dont try and apply the power too early in any of the higher gears. First time it happens was when i was 5 up overtaking in 6th, didn't really think about it and it just slipped. Its since happened once in 4th so now i treat it like a naturally aspirated petrol.
Im hoping something transpires with this twin plate clutch from Spec that our friends in America are attempting to sort. Im not sure 100% what map is on there at the moment, i believe it has been catered for the intercooler and downpipe but also takes into account the fact i'm on a standard clutch/dual mass. With regards to yours mate, do it! Every time i drive it i have a huge smile on my face, the way it gains speed is just awesome and nobody expects it!
So anyway a few more pictures, today me and my friend Jay (it was mostly him to be fair!) detailed the car.
Began with a citrus pre-wash, two bucket wash, clay bar(removed a lot of contaminants!), polished with Menzerna and then finished with Bilt hamber auto balm. I am extremely pleased with how everything has came up especially the headlights/badges which all seem to fade on older, neglected Saabs!
Anyway, here goes :-
Before.
During.
After
And then when i got home, well it rained so here is the obligatory "bead" shots!
Cheers all.
Yes Griff i have certainly been busy, just followed all the recommendations on the forum to be honest! I've already realised that to mate, dont try and apply the power too early in any of the higher gears. First time it happens was when i was 5 up overtaking in 6th, didn't really think about it and it just slipped. Its since happened once in 4th so now i treat it like a naturally aspirated petrol.
Im hoping something transpires with this twin plate clutch from Spec that our friends in America are attempting to sort. Im not sure 100% what map is on there at the moment, i believe it has been catered for the intercooler and downpipe but also takes into account the fact i'm on a standard clutch/dual mass. With regards to yours mate, do it! Every time i drive it i have a huge smile on my face, the way it gains speed is just awesome and nobody expects it!
So anyway a few more pictures, today me and my friend Jay (it was mostly him to be fair!) detailed the car.
Began with a citrus pre-wash, two bucket wash, clay bar(removed a lot of contaminants!), polished with Menzerna and then finished with Bilt hamber auto balm. I am extremely pleased with how everything has came up especially the headlights/badges which all seem to fade on older, neglected Saabs!
Anyway, here goes :-
Before.
During.
After
And then when i got home, well it rained so here is the obligatory "bead" shots!
Cheers all.
Cheers Shadow .
Here is a further few shots of some beading and also some interior shots! Also a shot just to show that i'm still youthful and haven't turned into a complete Grandad. If you want any more let me know!
Beading shots.
Interior including carbon wrapping done by myself, a lot to cover up scuff interior trim.
.
.Here is a further few shots of some beading and also some interior shots! Also a shot just to show that i'm still youthful and haven't turned into a complete Grandad
. If you want any more let me know!Beading shots
.Interior including carbon wrapping done by myself, a lot to cover up scuff interior trim.
.
Cheers mate! I love it to be fair!
Quick youtube video on my NoPro, still need to find the correct settings etc as the quality has completely dropped off and the sound was, well just wind noise so i put music over the top. Hope it gives a vague idea of how it goes. Going to try a different case and camera location later.
Video.
Quick youtube video on my NoPro, still need to find the correct settings etc as the quality has completely dropped off and the sound was, well just wind noise so i put music over the top. Hope it gives a vague idea of how it goes. Going to try a different case and camera location later.
Video.
I had my Aero from 09-12 and reading through your thread I was starting to miss it. Then I saw your pic with the calipers off and I thought "Nope, thank f
k I don't have it anymore" 
sticking calipers were my car's weak spot. The amount of hours I spent working on them in the freezing cold with blood-soaked hands makes me shudder even now.
I did love it though; had plenty of go for a young loon like me. My dad has it now; using it as a daily hack. It's seen better days but is still going strong (now on 170k!)
k I don't have it anymore" sticking calipers were my car's weak spot. The amount of hours I spent working on them in the freezing cold with blood-soaked hands makes me shudder even now. I did love it though; had plenty of go for a young loon like me. My dad has it now; using it as a daily hack. It's seen better days but is still going strong (now on 170k!)
Cheers guys, trying to do something a little different and put a youthful spin on a car that im attempting to make into quite a sleeper. That along with the practicality of an estate for carrying passengers, mountain bikes, all of my kit in etc etc. Trying to think outside the box and use it as a showcase of the skills etc i have picked up over the years modifying various cars etc.
The callipers havent caused me any issues yet, but now you have said that i shall keep an eye out. It flew through the roller brake test. To be fair though ill be on the look out for some callipers with a few more pistons in due course to help anchor her up!
Anyway, a quick update, managed to get hold of some JDM inspired Swedish flag symbol that means beginner driver or some such, so i stuck it the boot.
Whilst i was there i thought the boot badge looked rather nice to...
I then got stuck into my next idea for the project, i shall leave the rest of the pictures until it is completed, and also below is the badge i'm getting recreated in vinyl for the engine cover.
And finally for today, thats her in for testing time...
Well it passed with a couple of minor advisories which will get rectified when i return to her at the end of the year, was rather touch and go with the emissions at one point. With the pre-cat removed i was worrying a little bit! But eventually dropped into range.
Thank you for looking.
The callipers havent caused me any issues yet, but now you have said that i shall keep an eye out. It flew through the roller brake test. To be fair though ill be on the look out for some callipers with a few more pistons in due course to help anchor her up!
Anyway, a quick update, managed to get hold of some JDM inspired Swedish flag symbol that means beginner driver or some such, so i stuck it the boot.
Whilst i was there i thought the boot badge looked rather nice to...
I then got stuck into my next idea for the project, i shall leave the rest of the pictures until it is completed, and also below is the badge i'm getting recreated in vinyl for the engine cover.
And finally for today, thats her in for testing time...
Well it passed with a couple of minor advisories which will get rectified when i return to her at the end of the year, was rather touch and go with the emissions at one point. With the pre-cat removed i was worrying a little bit! But eventually dropped into range.
Thank you for looking.
Time for another quick update, possibly the last proper update until Christmas i will be shortly departing for a bit of a holiday!
Well, this engine cover is first and its something that i have had in mind for a long time. I seen it done on a supercharged Techno Violet M3 and it was something i wanted to try myself. The Blue is Royal Blue (Polestar) so very fitting with the Swedish theme. Hope you like it as much as i.
Well, another BMW inspired idea was stolen. This time in the form of contacting Jack from Royal Steering wheels. I wanted a Hirsch wheel, unfortunately as anyone who knows Saabs may know, Hirsch is a bit expensive. So, thinking outside the box and getting exactly what i wanted i contacted Jack and well, here it is... Again, i hope you like it as much as i do.
Cheers for looking chaps!
Well, this engine cover is first and its something that i have had in mind for a long time. I seen it done on a supercharged Techno Violet M3 and it was something i wanted to try myself. The Blue is Royal Blue (Polestar) so very fitting with the Swedish theme. Hope you like it as much as i.
Well, another BMW inspired idea was stolen. This time in the form of contacting Jack from Royal Steering wheels. I wanted a Hirsch wheel, unfortunately as anyone who knows Saabs may know, Hirsch is a bit expensive. So, thinking outside the box and getting exactly what i wanted i contacted Jack and well, here it is... Again, i hope you like it as much as i do.
Cheers for looking chaps!
griffin dai said:
Looking good mate
Are you doing anything with the audio side (you've probably noticed how fking pants it is by now) 
Err...there really isn't much you can do with the audio system. If memory servers the inter connectivity prohibits the use of aftermarket stereos. Are you doing anything with the audio side (you've probably noticed how f
king pants it is by now) Speaker upgrades are possible in that era of Saab, but thats about it. You can also add a Parrot bluetooth kit.
I liked the OP's steering wheel upgrade apart from the yellow centre marker. I really like the idea of painted engine cover. Personally, I would have painted it body coloured. I've just bought a C-Max and a compressor and I'm tempted to have a go at painting the engine cover just for fun
I owned a Saab 9-3 for two years and it wasn't the most reliable car in the world (EGR, wipers, alternator, intercooler, thermostat, drop links, steering arms), but I quite liked it. I thought it was a good looking car and it was practical and very comfy over distance. I sold mine to a local family with 170k on the clock and I think it would happily see 200k with out any issues (mainly because I had fixed most of the common ones!)
The downside of that era of Saab is the Vectra underpinnings. They were out of date with 9-3SS and and even more out of date when they launched the facelift model, which I think is one of the best looking saloons of its era. Amazing looking front end. Good looking in estate form too
bakerstreet said:
Err...there really isn't much you can do with the audio system. If memory servers the inter connectivity prohibits the use of aftermarket stereos.
You sure about that ? http://uksaabs.co.uk/UKS/viewtopic.php?f=35&t=...
Shadow R1 said:
Woohoo...famous Yeah it can be done but not easy. You basically have to bypass the fibre optics and run an I dependant system along side the Saab one, just remove the CD player, bypass the fibre optics here to retain the loop to keep the system functioning. Then for a new single din head unit, power it up and just run it as a normal system. Loads of pics & info in my UKS thread (probably other ways to do it but that's what I've done)
Or.....just fit better 3.5" dash mids, try find some decent 2ohm 6.5" door woofers and 6x9's in the rear shelf.....
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