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Paul Olivers Build Thread, 04 Vector

31K views 179 replies 41 participants last post by  derekwilkinson 
#1 ·
Hello, after seeing Alexdrops and Xtopherr's build threads i figured i would start my own. I bought my car back in january so not alot has happened yet but i do plan to slowly make intersting changes, alot of them wont be typical off the shelf things.

Spec as standard:
Sat nav, 6 cd changer, 7 speaker system, leather interior, that kinda thing.

photos from when i got it:






Seems to be a well cared for car, with near perfect bodywork.

First thing i did was order new bulbs throughout. Bought an Hid kit, warning cancellors, chrome indicator bulbs throughout, blue led foglights, led sidelights and led interior bulbs.


I installed a sub, boston ba35s, sony 6x9s and infinity 6.5s. I also sound deadened my front doors.


I wanted Leds in my speaker grilles and door handles like on my old audi, so i installed those too:





I then decided i didnt like my blue fogs, so ditched them in favour of some yellow ones, i also fitted nice new numberplate surrounds:



I then fitted new filters all round and ditched the nasty pirellis in favour of some lovely vredestein sessantas.

Couple of days ago i fitted reverse sensors as my parents wanted some and offered to get me a set! So i now have hidden ones that work with an electromagnetic strip, they are really good! No ugly reverse sensors sticking out...no photos as well...theres nothing to take a photo of!

Plans:
*Fit an aero spoiler, or make my own as id quite like something slightly different
*Build a duplex system, i have 2 nice milltek tips ready for it as well as the boxes, just got to build a y splitter next and cut out my lower valance.
*M5 lip spoiler to go at the top of the rear window
*Lowering springs, think i will go with eibach.
*3 point subframe brace, home made.
*Strut brace, again home made.
*Leds in the rear door handles, and in some cubby holes
*Leds in the ceiling dome
*Blacked out headlights
*Colour code bump strips and door handles
*Respray the black wing mirror plates
*Spray the wheels a darker colour
*Get the RX8 2010 maps for my sat nav
*Vinyl wrap my roof either black or gunmetal
*Carbon wrap some interior parts, and perhaps my grille surrounds upfront too
*Tint indicators and rear lights

So yes, lots of little things, not after changing it performance wise much as its the crappy 2.2 tid engine and its not ever going to be anything good!
 
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#152 ·
Take off the door card, then remove the black plastic trim that sits above the door card (and directly behind the mirror). Once these are removed you will see 3 bolts to remove and your wing mirror will fall off :)
 
#155 ·
No, i have been meaning to but lack of time and enthusiasm has prevented me! When i do i shall fill you in
 
#157 ·
I have barely touched my car recently :( but I did give her a quick clean!





So much to do, so little enthusiasm and time!
 
#159 ·
Cheers dude!

My sub has been getting on my nerves recently, its pretty much stuck on the lowest setting as i really dont need that much bass and the fact it takes up half of my boot is really frustrating when carting stuff about so i have decided to drop down to a 10inch sub and build a fibreglass hosuing to accomodate it:



As you can see its a copy of the original boot lining, retaining the handle so that the sub can be removed to access the tail lights as well as looking a little bit more oem.





Ran out of resin annoyingly, got a few more layers to go! Notches cut out are where i hyadnt noticed large bubbles, so those areas will be redone. Fingers crossed it sounds alright and i will have most of my boot back :p Shame it couldnt sit a little more flush to the edge but it needs enough volume to work correctly.
 
#162 ·
My enclosure is finished, apart from needing to source some decent speaker wire. Bit of a shame that the carpet doesnt match nicely but not to worry!

Side by side with the original lining:









Turned out alright, subs a bit smoother/deeper sounding now i have some polyfill in there :)

Will get photos of it in there once i fit the new wire and tidy my boot up!
 
#164 ·
Thanks! Its comments like this that encourage me to do more things!

Update on the car...nothing has happened recently, apart from a meet and greet driver at the airport managed to ram my splitter into the ground, awaiting getting a full respray on the splitter and bumper!

I return to uni in a months time, so some interesting LED action should be happening :)
 
#168 ·
They are 6k HID bulbs, just a cheap 35w kit off ebay :) Last time i looked they were under £30 posted which is about how much 2 decent halogen bulbs will cost anyway!

I must say, that is probably the best color on our saabs.
Yup, this or white (Loochys being the best example i think!)
 
#169 ·
No news from the buggers who damaged my splitter....looks like i will have to respray it myself AGAIN! Not to worry

Not alot has happened recently to the car, i haven't been able to drive it much due to having a herniated disc in my back :(

Whilst crippled i did some easy stuff to my car ;ol; Made a new gear gaitor, did it to the exact dimensions of the original...but it looks bigger which is weird, but still it looks 100x neater than my old one! (my finger is on the gearknob as i had not bonded it back on at that point)





Also carbon wrapped the little black insert on the gearknob, small detail but i like it! Rear door handles have finally been wrapped too!



The silver insert with the gear pattern is next on the list to sort, its quite scuffed so will have a fresh coat of silver, and i am hoping to colour in the indented pattern part...it probably wont work but its worth a try!

Whilst my painkillers have been kicking in, i have been silly and lifted heavy stuff... i have been making a heavy duty engine crane and load leveller from recycled steel, awaiting some parts to arrive and to find some last bits of metal to finish it! Although not quite Saab related (yet...) i thought some may appreciate some fabrication

 
#171 ·
No, they all run off the standard amps. The amped 6x9s I added on the parcel shelf never sounded right (even after disconnecting the tweeter to make them into just woofers) so I just ditched them. Only my sub is amped currently.
 
#172 ·
It's been a while since I really touched my car, it's gotten pretty shabby and unloved looking :( it's time I did something about it! I'll update with my progress if anybodys interested

To start with the splitter was torn yet again and has worn through I several places from scraping, bumper had a few spiderwebs in the paint from pigeon impacts....



Spare old bumper that I never got round to finishing (fairly split in places), car looks pretty rad...



Prepped splitter with base coat



Prepped bumper with primer



Hoping to get them both sanded down again tomorrow ready for a proper top coat, then several coats of lacquer to make them super shiny.

Also need some vac solenoids as mine have died :( eurgh...
 
#174 ·
Paul, ur always painting something on your 9-3 :]
At least u know how to and can do all this stuff! Looking good! ;ol;
 
#175 ·
Been a while since I have been on here! The colour I had mixed for the bumper was mixed incorrectly unfortunately, so it looks like crap right now :( I let the car get dirty so it's less noticeable. Had some douchebag reverse into my drivers wing and leave a few dents, and another douche hit my rear bumper, so really the whole front end could do with a blow over (rear just needs the bump strip resprayed), I will see how money, time and love for the car goes...haha!

I just found some LED strips that I got off ebay a while back for a uni robot project but I didn't get round to using them. I linked one up to a 9v battery to see what they could look like on the car. I'm not totally convinced about them, I fear they may look a little too try hard like those fellas who zip tie a million to the front of thier cars and end up looking like they have rigged up christmas lights. These certainly look better than the strips with a million little leds but i'm not sure they work with my car...

Also please ignore the dieing pink headlight bulbs (new HID kit is in the post).







Thoughts?
 
#177 ·
Been a while since I have been on here! The colour I had mixed for the bumper was mixed incorrectly unfortunately, so it looks like crap right now :( I let the car get dirty so it's less noticeable. Had some douchebag reverse into my drivers wing and leave a few dents, and another douche hit my rear bumper, so really the whole front end could do with a blow over (rear just needs the bump strip resprayed), I will see how money, time and love for the car goes...haha!

I just found some LED strips that I got off ebay a while back for a uni robot project but I didn't get round to using them. I linked one up to a 9v battery to see what they could look like on the car. I'm not totally convinced about them, I fear they may look a little too try hard like those fellas who zip tie a million to the front of thier cars and end up looking like they have rigged up christmas lights. These certainly look better than the strips with a million little leds but i'm not sure they work with my car...

Also please ignore the dieing pink headlight bulbs (new HID kit is in the post).



Thoughts?
I think they are too small to look right. I'm really interested in trying to find a EL strip like the newer 9-3 used. I think it looks better than the individual LEDs (which is what I have now)
 
#178 ·
So after over 3 years of owning my Saab, the clutch has finally gone and therefore the car is now off the road ready to be broken for spares as its not financially viable to repair it anymore. I'll be sad to see it go but it's time is up

Thank you everybody for your positive comments about the car, this has been a very good forum with some great help and I hope I have left some useful how to guides for people to use :) If anybody in the UK wants any parts then PM me and i'll give you a price!
 
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