[skwon]

I fished out a few more goodies from the parts car today.

These cool B-pillars with mesh pockets!

fun fact: They took out this reinforcements on the 2004 models. Cost cut by GM probably.

Much better

And the homelink mirror!

Before:

During: I tapped into the sunroof motor harness for the ground and switched power (red/blue) wire. Just connecting these gave most of the functions. I think I'm missing the function where the auto-dim stops when in reverse but I can live without it.

After:

Video summary:

 

[bob3000]

So the accountant talked the lawyer into telling the engineer about the pillar re-enforcement delete and the Swedish engineer says..."it's okay, I'm not planning on buying one of your cars for my family anyway".

 

[skwon]

Made some small progress on the Sharktooth today. Having a 4 year old and a 1 year old, I don't find much time to work on it but...you eat an elaphant one bite at a time, am I right? haha...

In addition to the hot staples on the back side, I filled in the cracks between the upper grill and the rest of the bumper with this product. This stuff just works, cures to a solid but flexible bond.

Still got a lot of sanding to do. But after I wrap up with the sanding, I am moving onto plastic body filler.

Also bought an orbital sander from wish.com. Believe it or not it's actually pretty good. Even if it lasts for just this job, I think it's worth the $20 bucks.

 

[skwon]

Recently got a tune from Saabtunerscott. I told him I have a stock 9-5 Arc and he gave actually gave me the stage 2 tune since the Arcs have the same engine and turbo as the Aeros (except for a few things). This is the numbers that the ECU calls for. 282hp and 316 lb. tq. (430 nm).

Super easy to install. After sending him the VIN and Immobilizer code, he sent me the stage 2 ECU (no need to send your ECU) via mail. Then all I needed to do was swap the ECU!
Location of the ECU:

After putting in the ECU, I actually realized that I had a boost leak (there wasn't much difference with the new ECU in the car so I knew something was wrong).
Sure enough, I had a bad check valve at the 1 location below.

I made the update to the system so that it is the same as the face-lift 9-5s by eliminating the red hose in the above picture. This is a common thing to do for those of us still on the old system.
Doing this, you only need 1 check valve. I replaced the plastic one at the 2 location with this aluminum one, and also replaced the lines.

Much better!

The tune completely woke up the car and it now spins tires on 2nd gear during a roll which has never occured before. Time for new tires soon!


Video summaries:

 

[skwon]

Today I put on the Aero 17s from the parts car. A buddy who works at a used tire shop hooked me up with some almost new Continental tires.

 

[Finesse58]

That seems pretty aggressive for completely stock hardware (Aero or arc has hardware is the same, as you said). Be careful with EGTs and internal temps.

 

[skwon]

I finally had some time to finish up the Sharktooth bumper!!

I started by JBWelding all the cracked portions

Then onto some plastic body filler

3 coats of primer

There were some spots left to fill in so I used this:

Then onto 3 layers of base coat.

It didn't come out all that great since I didn't have a proper paint gun, but I wasn't expecting perfection so I pushed on lol

Before:

After:

This was my first time doing body work and it was very difficult so I have a new appreciation for body shop technicians. It looks pretty decent from 10 feet but leaves a lot to be desired up close.
But I will wear it proudly since it was my own work from start to finish!


Video summary:

 

[sirbow2]

That looks great!. The difference in expertise required to look good at 10ft and up close is immense. Having a proper paint booth is one of the major other factors though.

 

[skwon]

That looks great!. The difference in expertise required to look good at 10ft and up close is immense. Having a proper paint booth is one of the major other factors though.

Thanks! Yea it's all in the pain-staking little details, and definitely experience! It was a fun learning project with not much at stake since I started with a pretty pathetic junk sharktooth. I will continue to search for used sharktooths locally haha

 

[Sandro]

The front and rear lip are very hard to come by these days. Make sure you create a mold for those so you can make replacements out of fiberglass. I did that with my 9-5 after I lost my second front bumper lip. Went to homesteephoe and bought a cans of the expanding foam and some wood. I built a box out of wood, lined the inside of it with aluminum foil then I laid a layer of tape over it. I did the same to the side of the lip that was going to be in contact with the foam and then sprayed the foam in the box. I didn't put much because I didn't want too many problems trying to separate the lip and the foam. It works but the funny thing is, since I made the mold and my first lip out of fiberglass, I never needed to replace the lip haha. I gave the fiberglass one to one of my friends coworkers but then he got rid of the car because the auto transmission was giving him issues.

 

[skwon]

It has already been 1 year since I bought this car, so I made a short video montage of everything I have done so far. Hope you enjoy

 

[skwon]

Happy new year everyone! Wishing you all many blessings for 2023.

Missing front grills because I'm working on restoring them

Sneak peak:

 

[bob3000]

Happy New Year to you as well, what product is the grill honeycomb you are using.

Looking forward to the video, I wrapped my chrome "surrounds" with carbon fiber film it turned out okay but the tight inside corners are starting to lift.

 

[skwon]

Happy New Year to you as well, what product is the grill honeycomb you are using.

Looking forward to the video, I wrapped my chrome "surrounds" with carbon fiber film it turned out okay but the tight inside corners are starting to lift.

Yea, I was thinking of wrap too but having wrapped a few things in the past, I didn't trust my skills. On the other hand, I went with multiple coats of primer and paint, then clear coat but I know that eventually it will start chipping from the road debris...there is no right method I suppose. Even factory paint and professional wrap will start chipping given enough time haha...Anyways, This is a tough one! Hoping to post a video on it before the end of the month haha

I got the honeycomb grill from ebay. Made of ABS - 47''x16'' Universal ABS Car Racing Honeycomb Mesh Grill Spoiler Bumper Vent US | eBay

 

[skwon]

small but subtle update to the aging interior: LED bulbs!

Aliexpress has an all-in-one package that comes with all of these bulbs. I like these packages because theres no need to look up individual bulb sizes.

The package had every interior bulbs needed.

Still had 8 bulbs left after swapping out everything!

Big difference!

If you're interested - https://www.aliexpress.us/item/3256...!sea!US!2443425260&curPageLogUid=s8DUpNu0kq90


Video summary:

 

[Germaniac]

I had also upgraded the interior lights with LED as I simply wanted to be able to see something when it's dark. 😁
I'm thinking about replacing that reading light in the roof console with another USB outlet but this won't happen until spring.

 

[shaggy]

Close to literally being a “night and day difference”!

 

[sirbow2]

Cool. Bought some as well.

 

[skwon]

I had also upgraded the interior lights with LED as I simply wanted to be able to see something when it's dark. 😁
I'm thinking about replacing that reading light in the roof console with another USB outlet but this won't happen until spring.

USB on the roof light? Can't say I've heard of that but definitely sounds cool! Keep us updated in the spring!

 

[skwon]

I love this thing...