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View Full Version : Steve's free '84 Turbo 4 door project


Steve Campbell
30-11-06, 01:54 AM
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b235/Vanagoon/saab/hoversaab.jpg


So here's the beast I dragged home a few weeks ago. Free to a good home, not running but a pretty solid shell. I just got it running again using a fuel pump from an '88 Volvo 740 (some finessing required...:) ) and have been busy grinding away the old brown sundamaged paint. The car came from new mexico via colorado and british columbia so there's not alot of rust but a lot of sun and weather damage. I've begun repairing the only badly rust damaged spot on the car which is the left front wheel well where the axle and tie rod come through and mud collects.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b235/Vanagoon/saab/welds2.jpg


The welds are ugly but strong. I'll top this off with some POR15 or other rust inhibitor.

Also, before I got the car it sat, neglected with a lien on it at the local saab dealer for a few years. During that time all four quarters got hit and pushed in, and then proceeded to rust, so i've got to fill in the missing metal and try to shape the wheel lips again using pictures as a reference... not easy! :ohttp://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b235/Vanagoon/saab/IM000385.jpg

The car also came fully equipped with an interior that looked like a raccoon shelter. Cracked dash, torn seat covers with busted *** supports and stained headliner. So i've sourced an uncracked dash and some lovely blue seats out of an 88 900 and now i'm on the hunt for blue door cards and trim pieces.
Oh, the engine's pretty clean too, and it idles like a champ. Can't drive the car yet, since it's missing some important underpinnings, but once I free up the front caliper sliders i'll take it for a test spin. And that'll be the first time i'll have driven a classic 900. :)
Anyway, more updates to come as I work my way through this project that is quickly winning me over. I used to be a volkswagen-only guy, but I really can't remember the last time I oogled a picture of a well done rabbit. These 900's have me sold!

philjohnhb
30-11-06, 08:48 AM
One heck of a project, ideal for those long dark Canadian winters. Good luck

woywitka
07-12-06, 11:03 AM
really glad to see your fixing this beast up, hats off to you! Your really comming along, keep plugging away at it. Good enough reason for me to travel the 7,000km some day to see it! Never been to "Atlantic Canada", hows the lobster?

RWElphinstone
07-12-06, 02:26 PM
One heck of a project, ideal for those long dark Canadian winters. Good luck

"Long, dark Canadian winters?" :lol: LOL - maybe way, way up in the North Country, but I don't know of many provinces that have this! (Of course, I guess I could ask you, "How's your weather? The rain stop this year, yet?")

The Project looks great so far - "free" is always a great price! Can't beat that!

Steve Campbell
09-12-06, 02:05 PM
Thanks for the positive feedback, folks! Sometimes (like this time) when you're this deep in a car and it seems like it'll never get back on it's wheels it's nice to hear things like that. As for the weather, it snowed a few days ago and is bitter cold this morning but it was warm enough to work on the car with the garage door up before that... and the lobster is fine. Still looks like a big ugly bug and I still won't touch it! :cheesy:

Steve Campbell
10-04-08, 03:20 AM
Here's a little update for all of you saabophiles like me who just can't get enough of looking at pictures of other people's half-baked projects.
Here's how the car looked in the fall of '06 when I dragged it home and started hacking...
http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b235/Vanagoon/saab/IM000374.jpg

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b235/Vanagoon/saab/IM000373.jpgWhen I got it home the car wasn't running and, after fixing a loose terminal in the fuse panel and experiencing a short-lived feeling of triumph, I discovered that the pump was stuck. In went a volvo pump that I had and the car started and ran... until all the crap coating the bottom of the tank found its way upstream and into EVERY SINGLE COMPONENT! I was just a little too eager and didn't think things through... So in the end the car has recieved a new pump, fuel dizzy and injectors and has had the tank and every line flushed out, good as new.

While that was going on some of the nasty bodywork was cleaned up and a protective coat of black Tremclad went on. Roller-style. The front fender lips had to be repaired as they had been smashed in and proceeded to rust away. I welded in bits of metal and tried to approximate the shape of a 900 wheelwell but i'm a nuts and bolts guy and bodywork is frigging hard! :cheesy: I have also had to fix the driveshaft tunnels. Boo.

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b235/Vanagoon/saab/SSPX0075.jpg

And now the car is running and on the road. It's had some front end parts and brakes as well ($new calipers$) and real bodywork is next. I'm a wrench at a Kia dealership so some of the work was done there. My shop foreman felt this was an appropriate parking spot, next to the bins...http://grassrootsmotorsports.com/board/img/smilies/tongue.png



http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b235/Vanagoon/saab/SSPX0171.jpg

And of course, the motivation. It runs alright and has an even 130psi on all cylinders at 180k miles. The tranny shifts pretty well too, with no grinding into any gears. Not too shabby for around a $700 investment as far as i'm concerned. I could have spent the money on pennywhistles and moon pies...:D

http://i20.photobucket.com/albums/b235/Vanagoon/saab/SSPX0176.jpg

900chango
10-04-08, 05:53 AM
Wow...it's been almost 2 years since your last post!:o

Glad to hear you are still working on it. Please keep us posted with any new pics and Good luck. :D