[BobSaabit]

I'm putting a way-cool C900 valve cover on my T7. The later years are 100% compatible. Well, there's no screw knub for the turbo line anchor, but that's it.

I've had it kicking around waiting to be installed for a few years. It's not like I don't have more important things to do, but I'm tired of it hanging around waiting to be refreshed and installed. I'm posting here before because now I feel obligated to get it done!

Here's how it looks now:

 

[jvanabra]

Haha... all the c900 guys put 9-3 covers on their cars... those ribs are impossible to keep clean and looking nice. I did it too!

 

[jvanabra]

Oh! Be sure you get a later one... They all look the same, but the early ones use a totally different gasket. The later ones share a gasket with the 9-3 et al.

 

[BobSaabit]

I'll check that to be sure but I'm fairly sure that this is off a '92 or '93. At least I think I checked at the time... but days at the u-pull can get long and forgetful. I heard that the earlier ones don't have the oil splash tube do-hicky on the bottom side.

How does the plastic timing chain control piece on the bottom side/front come out? Will I be able to get a nearly new one out of my running cover and into the new without breaking it?

 

[AUSSIE900]

They come out pretty easy Bob , little metal tabs to manouvre it past , been awhile, but you can slide them past

 

[jvanabra]

Yeah, as long as it isn't dried out it should come out easy enough. Lift one end over the metal frame and slide it out.

If you want to go really bananas find a valve cover from an '86 9000... they square and don't slope sway like all the others!

 

[BobSaabit]

Thanks, boys. I thought there might be a special trick to getting them out.

If you want to go really bananas find a valve cover from an '86 9000... they square and don't slope sway like all the others!

Looks cool, but I don't think the early ones have the oil splash tube. At least, that was what I was lead to believe by m mentor on this.

 

[EdT]

I put a SAAB 2.3 valve cover on my T7. Good thing the motor is a B235.

 

[BobSaabit]

I put a SAAB 2.3 valve cover on my T7. Good thing the motor is a B235.

Not a bad move. Most of the 9-3's are the EcoPower covers... which many updated to "Power". I lways thought "Pow" might bee a better choice :- )

Grass is always greener on the other side when it comes to valve covers!

 

[BobSaabit]

Step 1 done... top side embossing sanded and step2... stripping the factory paint (which must have been powdercoat - it was difficult to remove). Next up, cleaning the backside of varnish, etc, then on to paint for the top.

 

[BobSaabit]

Well, took a while to get back to this project. Not a mechanical priority, so it lagged behind those. One interesting discovery: the C900 cover has little nubs in the gasket groove channel to hold the gasket in place for installation. It still needed a little help where the semi-circle knobs hang down, but otherwise it held the gasket for me.

Here's the before and after engine bay shots.

 

[jvanabra]

YELLOW!

 

[Jeremy R.]

What did you paint it with? Did you sand the paint off of the stripes and lettering when you were done? I painted my 900's stock valve cover with some black crinkle paint one summer, but it's flaking pretty badly and needs to be done again.

 

[jvanabra]

FWIW, when I did the one on the SPG (it's from a NG900) I stripped it with aircraft stripped and painted it with engine paint. It's not very impact resistant, but it's staying put. I really should have powdercoated it, or maybe anodized it!

 

[BobSaabit]

Yea, yellow. It decided to play off the other yellow components already there. I do design work and color schemes have to have two primaries and an accent. Decided the primaries were black and yellow with aluminum accept.

I did seriously consider a medium to dark blue cam cover and doing the DIC in yellow then adding a stripe in the "SAAB" area for a Swedish Flag - or just doing the DIC in blue for the Swedish colors without pattern, but then I'd have to paint more stuff to stay within the design rules (rules are rules!). So, in the end, I decided to simplify and just go yellow.

As for paints, I used engine enamel. I did this on my last cam cover and aside from some physical abuse it went years without issue. Stripped the (tough, difficult, time consuming!) factory powder coat, wire wheeled to a scratched but clean finish, primed (engine enamel primer), painted (multiple coats... one light sanding with 400 after a solid color was down via a few coats... wasn't going to perfection on this since the casting is rough anyway. I wasn't going to spend the time to make it better. Rustoleum brand paints "because they were there at the store"... no idea what I used last time . So far it's lasted two days without peeling!

Powdercoating always seems to be serious money whenever I ask, so skipped that idea. Plenty of other stuff to put my money into with this car and my endless tweaks.

 

[AUSSIE900]

Yea, yellow. It decided to play off the other yellow components already there. I do design work and color schemes have to have two primaries and an accent. Decided the primaries were black and yellow with aluminum accept.

I did seriously consider a medium to dark blue cam cover and doing the DIC in yellow then adding a stripe in the "SAAB" area for a Swedish Flag - or just doing the DIC in blue for the Swedish colors without pattern, but then I'd have to paint more stuff to stay within the design rules (rules are rules!). So, in the end, I decided to simplify and just go yellow.

As for paints, I used engine enamel. I did this on my last cam cover and aside from some physical abuse it went years without issue. Stripped the (tough, difficult, time consuming!) factory powder coat, wire wheeled to a scratched but clean finish, primed (engine enamel primer), painted (multiple coats... one light sanding with 400 after a solid color was down via a few coats... wasn't going to perfection on this since the casting is rough anyway. I wasn't going to spend the time to make it better. Rustoleum brand paints "because they were there at the store"... no idea what I used last time . So far it's lasted two days without peeling!

Powdercoating always seems to be serious money whenever I ask, so skipped that idea. Plenty of other stuff to put my money into with this car and my endless tweaks.

The Yellow works Bob , it looks great , very nice work , A job for my aero/spg whenever I drag it out of retirment and into a project . Also tempting as a more immediate spruce up on my Viggen ( albeit keeping the Viggen VC) But it would feel just so wrong in anything other than the Blue ...