Damn you, UKSaabs classifieds!! 99t buys another £350 Saab!!
Discussion
Indeed. Very few cars where any form of improvement can be justified from a purely financial perspective. Although I have achieved break-even in the past on classics, generally it is rare indeed to get back what you spend on humdrum stuff.
So if it can't be justified financially then one has to look for more esoteric motivation. Buying shiny new parts is always satisfying as is the feeling of a job done well. And if the car feels better as a result then that will be appreciated too.
I think the key thing to bear in mind is that I'm not running a £350 shed because I have to, but because I enjoy the character and foibles of an older car, and the satisfaction of keeping it reliable and making improvements.
It may well be a form of madness, but I like it!!
So if it can't be justified financially then one has to look for more esoteric motivation. Buying shiny new parts is always satisfying as is the feeling of a job done well. And if the car feels better as a result then that will be appreciated too.
I think the key thing to bear in mind is that I'm not running a £350 shed because I have to, but because I enjoy the character and foibles of an older car, and the satisfaction of keeping it reliable and making improvements.
It may well be a form of madness, but I like it!!
Horsetan said:
C70R said:
....you'd be mental to spend the money on a £350 car that could cr*p itself tomorrow.
If you don't intend to keep it long-term, that certainly makes sense.Then again, when has spending money "doing up" a car ever made sense?
C70R said:
If you're going to spend >£400 on suspension for a £350 car, why not buy an ~£800 car in the first place that is probably better all round?
Because as he's said, he finds it more interesting/fun. The same reason I'm bouncing around in an old Alfa instead of leasing a Skoda or something else for similar cost.C70R said:
If you're going to spend >£400 on suspension for a £350 car, why not buy an ~£800 car in the first place that is probably better all round?
I've looked at plenty of 9-5's over the years, this one was better in all the key areas than ones I'd seen at substantially more than ~£800 and indeed ~£1,800, which was one of the main reasons I bought it.Cost ≠ value
99t said:
I've looked at plenty of 9-5's over the years, this one was better in all the key areas than ones I'd seen at substantially more than ~£800 and indeed ~£1,800, which was one of the main reasons I bought it.
Cost ? value
This, absolutely, with bells on. Cost ? value
My weakness is Alfas. I was recently in the market for a diesel estate. The options ranged from about 3 grand for a 20V 156 with lowish mileage .... all the way down to £200 for a space shuttle mileage one with a dent in the roof. In the end I got a £380 one with reasonable mileage (137K), tired suspension and an iffy clutch. Engine was in rude health, bodywork was tidy. I’ve done the belts, remapped it, totally sorted the suspension (eibach coilovers, arbs etc), done the clutch and put an LSD in it. Now my £380 car is a lot better than the ones kicking around for £3000, I’ve spent less than that overall, and had a lot of fun.
I don’t shed because I have to (that should be obvious from the fact I have seven sheds, all taxed etc...), I just like shedding.
rxe said:
A dab of black paint on the tops of the LEDs should tone it down a bit - more redneck than resistors (which is the correct answer) but probably easier!
Back to the over-bright LED's and a bit of fettling at the weekend - I didn't want to start hacking stuff into the perfectly functional loom so went full redneck - well I do own an El Camino, what else would you expect? 
I found filtering the LED's directly tended to make the light a bit uneven so instead removed the front of the switches and tried various types of tape applied directly to the back of the symbol.
After a little trial and error, I settled on some carpet fixing tape as being close to the correct density, with decent results.
Before
After
Although one fan symbol looks a bit bright in the photo, it isn't really noticeable to the eye, certainly not to the casual glance anyway.
Suspension refresh commenced at the weekend, so the 9-5 is now SORN and tucked up in the barn and in good company!
Initial snag was the front discs were absolutely solid on the hubs. Increasingly violent hammering was having no effect other than starting to mark the inside face - despite being a little crusty around the edges, they are barely worn so I want to re-use them.
Instead, I tried a little trick I picked up in Internetland - reinsert the caliper carrier bolts without the carrier and use their full length to push the disc off.
Have to say this worked like a charm!
Struts came out easily next - they are OE spec and may be the originals, but are in remarkably good condition if so. Certainly they don't look sixteen years and 172k miles old. The powder coating is still on the springs and neither damper has any sign of leakage. Even the top mount rubbers look good and the bearings rotate smoothly.
Drop links were a bit tired as expected and will be replaced along with both bottom ball joints, although none were in terrible condition.
Will pull the lower arms next time and inspect the bushes closely but they don't look bad, at least whilst in-situ...
Initial snag was the front discs were absolutely solid on the hubs. Increasingly violent hammering was having no effect other than starting to mark the inside face - despite being a little crusty around the edges, they are barely worn so I want to re-use them.
Instead, I tried a little trick I picked up in Internetland - reinsert the caliper carrier bolts without the carrier and use their full length to push the disc off.
Have to say this worked like a charm!
Struts came out easily next - they are OE spec and may be the originals, but are in remarkably good condition if so. Certainly they don't look sixteen years and 172k miles old. The powder coating is still on the springs and neither damper has any sign of leakage. Even the top mount rubbers look good and the bearings rotate smoothly.
Drop links were a bit tired as expected and will be replaced along with both bottom ball joints, although none were in terrible condition.
Will pull the lower arms next time and inspect the bushes closely but they don't look bad, at least whilst in-situ...
It was all going so smoothly!
Of course, before removing the struts I should have loosened the pinch bolts for the balljoint to control arm since strut removal meant the upright was now flopping around attached only by the balljoint and driveshaft. The pinch bolts were very tight so the only option was to re-fit the struts temporarily!
Having done so, and left the pinch bolts to soak overnight, I had another try - very tight indeed...
Sigh!
Cue much swearing, brute force and tea breaks, combined with a breaker bar on the bolt head slowly gaining a little rotation and then a drift on the snapped off remains.
Removing both pinch bolts took much of the day, even though the offside nut did undo rather than snap the bolt, the bolt itself still wasn't for moving.
Finally though, both ball joints were free and the lower arms and stuts removed (again).
Candidate for the "Council" thread?
Inspected the control arm bushes, not bad at all really but the arms are really crusty, the ball joints are shot and a couple of bushes are just starting to show some signs of cracking so I will replace both arms complete and be done with it.
Split the track rod ends from the uprights, just to check for play, both still felt like new, rubbers not cracking so no need to replace at this stage.
The subframe bushes don't look bad at all from what I can see, need to have a bit of a lever and check for movement. Amazed just how rust-free the subframe is though.
Next job is to investigate the engine and gearbox mounts since I fully expect at least the torque rod bushes to be shot...
Of course, before removing the struts I should have loosened the pinch bolts for the balljoint to control arm since strut removal meant the upright was now flopping around attached only by the balljoint and driveshaft. The pinch bolts were very tight so the only option was to re-fit the struts temporarily!
Having done so, and left the pinch bolts to soak overnight, I had another try - very tight indeed...
Sigh!
Cue much swearing, brute force and tea breaks, combined with a breaker bar on the bolt head slowly gaining a little rotation and then a drift on the snapped off remains.
Removing both pinch bolts took much of the day, even though the offside nut did undo rather than snap the bolt, the bolt itself still wasn't for moving.
Finally though, both ball joints were free and the lower arms and stuts removed (again).
Candidate for the "Council" thread?
Inspected the control arm bushes, not bad at all really but the arms are really crusty, the ball joints are shot and a couple of bushes are just starting to show some signs of cracking so I will replace both arms complete and be done with it.
Split the track rod ends from the uprights, just to check for play, both still felt like new, rubbers not cracking so no need to replace at this stage.
The subframe bushes don't look bad at all from what I can see, need to have a bit of a lever and check for movement. Amazed just how rust-free the subframe is though.
Next job is to investigate the engine and gearbox mounts since I fully expect at least the torque rod bushes to be shot...
This is a great watch - watch from 1:52 for some great insights into the Saab / GM relationship 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9fw9nou_G8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9fw9nou_G8
Bit of a pause in progress recently due to a dodgy back and then a weekend away, but managed an hour or so this weekend.
Ground the lower drop link nuts off as they weren't for loosening by any less drastic means.
Removed the torque rod (gearbox mount / engine stabiliser) to find one bush to be a tad tired...
Duly ordered a replacement. Subframe bushes look ok as do the other engine mounts, so I don't think I need to touch any of them which is a relief!
Lower arms, balljoints and droplinks have already arrived so once the torque rod arrives I can reassemble the front end
Ground the lower drop link nuts off as they weren't for loosening by any less drastic means.
Removed the torque rod (gearbox mount / engine stabiliser) to find one bush to be a tad tired...
Duly ordered a replacement. Subframe bushes look ok as do the other engine mounts, so I don't think I need to touch any of them which is a relief!
Lower arms, balljoints and droplinks have already arrived so once the torque rod arrives I can reassemble the front end
This should have been back on the road by now, but isn't.
When I went to fit the new torque rod it was immediately obvious that the engine was sitting far too low for it to align properly. Jacking the engine slightly revealed a totally failed gearbox mount (which I had thought looked ok) so there was a delay until a new one could be obtained.
Compression of old vs new pretty obvious
Completely sheared rubber in old one.
Interestingly, the Febi replacement has a ground off part number on it which, from the tiniest amount of stamping still visable, would appear to be the proper Saab part number...
Mount was nice and easy to fit and the torque rod then bolted up correctly. Decided to put off re-fitting the suspension until my time off between Christmas and New Year.
Unfortunately, on our traditional Boxing Day family walk, I slipped (fractionally) on a piece of wet wood and jarred my back again, thus spending the remainder of my holiday pretty much immobile, recovering just sufficiently to return to work today!
Happy Bloody New Year!!!
When I went to fit the new torque rod it was immediately obvious that the engine was sitting far too low for it to align properly. Jacking the engine slightly revealed a totally failed gearbox mount (which I had thought looked ok) so there was a delay until a new one could be obtained.
Compression of old vs new pretty obvious
Completely sheared rubber in old one.
Interestingly, the Febi replacement has a ground off part number on it which, from the tiniest amount of stamping still visable, would appear to be the proper Saab part number...
Mount was nice and easy to fit and the torque rod then bolted up correctly. Decided to put off re-fitting the suspension until my time off between Christmas and New Year.
Unfortunately, on our traditional Boxing Day family walk, I slipped (fractionally) on a piece of wet wood and jarred my back again, thus spending the remainder of my holiday pretty much immobile, recovering just sufficiently to return to work today!
Happy Bloody New Year!!!
Cheers. I'm missing the relaxed waftyness the 9-5 to be honest.
Of the fleet, the 9-3 Aero 'vert is currently SORN'ed waiting for the worst of winter to pass; the Z4 is a little bit low for me to creak my back in and out of right now, and my usually trusty Skoda decided not to start the other day (possibly crank sensor I suspect) and although it started working again later the same day, I don't quite trust it for commuting until I've had a chance to diagnose properly.
This has left me with the Monaro as the only "in one piece", working and on the road car that I can currently drive! No great hardship mind, just so long as that one keeps on working!!
Of the fleet, the 9-3 Aero 'vert is currently SORN'ed waiting for the worst of winter to pass; the Z4 is a little bit low for me to creak my back in and out of right now, and my usually trusty Skoda decided not to start the other day (possibly crank sensor I suspect) and although it started working again later the same day, I don't quite trust it for commuting until I've had a chance to diagnose properly.
This has left me with the Monaro as the only "in one piece", working and on the road car that I can currently drive! No great hardship mind, just so long as that one keeps on working!!
If you're after something wafty, cheap and saab shaped, how about this:
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2...
https://rover.ebay.com/rover/0/0/0?mpre=https%3A%2...
Edited by Cambs_Stuart on Tuesday 2nd January 19:36
Not that many 9000's around any more, that could be a good buy if it isn't rusty. Fortunately miles away from me!
However my New Year resolution is not to buy any "bargain" cars this year.
The fact that people are asking silly money for absolute piles of dross these days is going to help my cause, but that's another thread altogether...
Anyway, I've got to the start of day three and have only been on Ebay Motors once so far this year!!
However my New Year resolution is not to buy any "bargain" cars this year.
The fact that people are asking silly money for absolute piles of dross these days is going to help my cause, but that's another thread altogether...
Anyway, I've got to the start of day three and have only been on Ebay Motors once so far this year!!
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