Picked up 02Pilot's 1989 Saab 900S a few weeks ago and finally got some time to walk through the car. .
Fortunately for me, a lot of work has been done on the car. It came with a couple of Bentley Manuals, two boxes of spare parts, and a notebook filled with chronological updates. Who said OCD is a problem?! It had some trouble starting so first things first was to identify if it as the starter or the ignition switch. Tried jumping the solenoid and the starter motor just spun. New Bosch starter being delivered this week, fingers crossed that's the issue
Dad just bought a '91 900S sedan and was drooling over the 16" Super Aero wheels, so we swapped with a set of 15" Aero2 from a 92' Turbo convertible. Still have the 15" Sunburst wheels if anyone needs a set.
Overall the car is clean and mechanically very sound, just a little crunchy and this build will be mostly body work and small 10 minute job updates.
Assessing the rust is fairly easy because there's a lot of it, thankfully none structural.
The front end is in the worst shape. Saab thought of some pretty amazing engineering and design features that were ahead of their time, but failed to recognize the metal fenders arch trim is a great place to trap dirt, water, salt, etc which rots from the inside out.
Bumper trim is off with metal work coming next. Bumpers will get a full repaint once wheel arches are complete. The Hella fogs will get repositioned under the bumper for final placement.
RBM Saab Parts was a good resource for lots of parts, including body panels. I was able to secure 4 steel arches for a decent price and two OEM steel inner fenders. The arch rebuild will resemble the SPG fender trim which is a the same color as the Bumper (example below) and can be welded, bolted, or glued to the fender. All in cost around $200 for the two front inners and 4 flares; shipping was the most expensive piece (parts warehouse is based outside Paris, France ).
While taking the bumpers off I also took the front grille off to clean and repaint. It had a couple of cracks and lots of bug carcasses, so a fresh facelift can't hurt.
Plastic backing is in good shape, just dirty. Chrome outer will end up with spray can brushed aluminum instead of the OEM mirror chrome finish.
So far a lot of fun to work on and can't wait to see how it turns out.
More to come