[first-saab]

Over time my 9-3 convertible turned into a bucket of squeaks and rattles that was driving me nuts. The final straw was when a passenger recently commented about it so I did what every proud owner should do and reached for the tools and a roll of duct tape and hockey tape. By the way both of these are non-toxic and acid free if you buy a decent brand.

So I pulled off the panels one by one and covered all the contact surfaces with either one of the two types of tape. The biggest noise generators so far were the a-pillar covers, the dash end caps and the trim around the rear view mirror and sun visors. Door panels, rear side panels and door sills made less of a difference. My guesstimate is that I reduced the unwanted noises by +-75% and with the hope of getting closer to 100% after completing the trim around the radio, vents and instrument cluster.

The key is to treat the plastic on plastic or plastic on metal contact surfaces with tape (where possible). I found the Canadian made Renfrew hockey tape to be of excellent quality and with very similar results than the factory tape SAAB used and at $ 4 per roll it’s a steal. Also cover the body slots where the metal clips fit with both types of tape and cut a single slot with a utility knife. This gives a nice tight fit for the metal clips and avoid metal on metal contact.

Silence is golden!!

 

[lurkydismal]

Nicely done with the Canadian hockey tape, Eh?

 

[archbid]

I took down my headliner and retaped a loose antenna connector that was driving me bananas.

 

[first-saab]

Update: I completed the job and the car now 95%+ percent rattle free. Perhaps now at the level what the Saab engineers had in mind before GM put their stamp on it.