I've just finished restoring a black 1980 2 door 99T. Unfortunately performance is well down on what I expected. I don't have previous experience to compare against though, as I never drove the car in anger after buying it because of a v. noisy timing chain. With the engine out I sorted the timing chain problem confirming timing marks on crank, cam and intermediate shafts were okay. After getting the car painted I reinstalled the engine replacing all fluids, filters, plugs, leads etc.
I'm now suspecting that the turbo itself is at fault which brings me to the point of this post - I can buy a remanufactured unit for about £300, but I've always been interested in the idea of transplanting the 16 valve turbo motor out of the 900 in to a 99 (I can source one for about £100 complete with 5 speed box).
Has anyone out there ever done this conversion themselves and what were the biggest issues e.g front engine mount, electronic injection, bulkhead clearance.
Any tips experiences you can share would be appreciated.

Cheers,
Raymer

If the 80 99T is original, please keep it that way. They are becoming very rare. Buy a regular 99 and drop the T16 engine in that, and keep the 99T as original as possible. Please.

Point taken Tom.
Any idea what the cause of my poor performance might be? Although I suspect the turbo to be at fault, the car seems very sluggish even for a non-turbo 2 litre injection car!
i.e. I'd expect a 900i (for example) to feel quicker than mine just now.
I'd heard that because of the compression ratio it would seem abnormally sluggish (as mine is) if the turbo was faulty. Would you agree? (ignition and injection systems appear to be okay).
Thanks,
Raymer

Attach a calibrated boost gauge temporarily to check boost level. If the boost reads something in the neighberhood of 0,65bar your turbo and wastegate should be OK. If not, check for any leaks in the turbo piping, exhaust manifold, vacuum pipes etc. And check that your wastegate isn't stuck open.

And yes, due to the 7,2:1 compression the car will feel a bit sluggish at first. But 99T is a blast to drive. In my opinion they are the best handling of OG saabs.

Oh yeah, forgot to mention that dropping in a 16v H-engine, the firewall has to be modified greatly.

You can buy rebuild kits for the turbochargers. Have a look at this thread http://www.saabcentral.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=2804.

You can also have the 'charger rebuilt, in which case it would be properly balanced. It's more expensive, but even the slightest imbalance becomes fatal when at 80,000rpm!

Sorry to be such a pain about the T16 conversion, but the 99T is such a classic saab and they are very rare. Really, it is easier to convert a H-engine 99 to T16 spec than ruin a original B-engine 99T with the T16 engine.

But it is your car, and you can do pretty much anything you please with it, but I hope you keep the 99T original and in running condition.