And so it begins.....

[Q-SAAB]

Armed with the inspiration I've received from the wonderful folks at this site, I just started my mods as follows:

1) Clear (Smoke, that is) side indicators
2) full de-badge (roundels only left behind)
3) SAS Anti-sway bar - so far the car rides like it's on rails!
8)

Next week: Custom cat-back 2.5" Stainless exhaust and 3" cone-filter intake - and I'll report back with pictures then.

Upcoming - MBC (?), lowering kit (?), new, louder dump-valve, Guage pod - vacuum/boost and (debating) fuel-air,exhaust temp or oil pressure.

Thanks, gang,

CMR

[Saab4Life]

nice.. posts pics when done

[Tweek's Turbos]

Go Q-saab, its your birthday. Seriosly. My favorite mod has to be the 3inch downpipe.

[Saab4Life]

how did u go about debadging your saab? is it easy to take the '9-3' and 'SAAB' off? like use 'goo gone' or anything?


I might want to get one of those porsche turbo decals and put it on there once i'm done debadging or just leace it clean

[CleveSaab]

How much is #3?

[Q-SAAB]

Originally Posted by Saab4Life

how did u go about debadging your saab? is it easy to take the '9-3' and 'SAAB' off? like use 'goo gone' or anything?

I used a cheap "economy" plastic putty knife to pry of the badges (SAAB, 900SE and 2.0 Turbo) and scrape off as much gunk as possible - I probably should have used a blow dryer to soften it up so it would come off easier - then used Goof-Off to remove the remnants. The plastic knife is so soft that it didn't hurt the paint, not even a surface scratch, but the goof-off is when my heart sank into the pit of my stomach, because afterwards the places where I used it were visibly and obviously clouded-over, but then I washed it and waxed the area and it shines like new, so there was no damage to the paint or clearcoat. Mine is a '97, though, so there is a bit of fade and if you look closely you can see the ghost images, but you really have to look.

Originally Posted by Saab4Life

I might want to get one of those porsche turbo decals and put it on there once i'm done debadging or just leace it clean

I'm more of a "show 'em" kinda guy than a "tell 'em" kind, but hey, eat yer heart out! After all, my handle IS a reference to the famous Q-Ships of WWI and WWII fame, without the heavy, armaments, of course

Originally Posted by CleveSaab

How much is #3?

I bought it directly from SAS for $125 plus shipping. Installation took me about two hours start to finish, but mostly because I didn't have the right tools. You will need the following:

1) A metric socket set, wrenches, or (worst case) a crescent wrench to remove the old bar - bear in mind, some of your bolts may be rusted in place which leads to #2:

2) A hardware store to replace your socket wrench when you over-torque it and break the internals while fighting the rusted bolt - gotta put in a plug for Craftsman here, though - the socket wrench they replaced under warranty I purchased to work on my 1972 Open Manta - 20 years ago! - no questions asked!

3) WD-40 may come in handy for the afforementioned, but I didn't use it.

4) The instructions say to tighten to about 25 ft-lbs of torque - so you may have to beg, borrow or buy a torque wrench if you want to be precise.

5) The original nuts are welded onto a plate which makes them a single unit - which means that you don't have to hold the nut in place while turning the bolt - not so with the SASAB unit - the nuts are individual so you will have to hold them in place with one hand while tightening with the other - can be a P.I.T.A. which leads to the next point:

6) I used ramps to get my car in position - $15.00 @ autozone, but it doesn't come up too far and if your car is lowered, or if you're a bigger guy, like I am, you will have to squeeze to maneuver around.

7) The replacement nut/bolt set you receive with the kit is SAE, not metric, and you will be tourqing it enough that you can't just fudge it with a metric socket that's just "close enough". I used an SAE socket for the bolt and an open-end wrench to hold the nut in place.


Good luck!

CMR

[V6POWER]

Can't wait to see pics, I've also thought about gettin a SAS sway bar but wondered if there is a noticable difference.