So I berkeleyed up. I though I could sneak the timing cover on after the head was torqued down. The bottom layer of the MLS head gasket did not want to play nice and I accidentally turned it into an accordion. I tried to pull it back out but I couldn't get it good enough to sleep at night even if the area that was messed up is just between the head and timing cover.
FCP Euro to the rescue. Their shipping estimates at checkout almost dissuaded me from ordering but I remembered that happened last time too and the wait really wasn't bad. But seriously the standard checkout 11:45pm CST on 4/12 said expected delivery by 4/22. In reality the parts shipped the next day from Atlanta and wound up in my driveway at 2:30pm today.
Cranked out the head pull, retiming and retorqued the head quick. Valve cover on and torqued. I am going to have to repaint this valve cover. It looks okay from a distance but I tried to rush the coats on this rustoleum metal cast paint last fall and it didn't cure properly. Too fast, too thick and too cold, oh well.
Houston we have lift off. Always a great feeling when a motor comes off the engine stand.
I modified the M-Pact Cobalt SS clutch to fit the 8mm dowels on the Saab flywheel. I center drilled the 6mm dowel holes with a christmas tree bit in the drill press and then a 9/32" drill bit followed by a 5/16" to undershoot the 8mm dowel. It came out a little under sized and was a perfect fit after I used an 8mm drill bit to ream the holes. I still need to check pressure plate to throw out bearing clearance but it got too late last night for that.
I didn't have a socket big enough to drive the axle seals into the trans so I spent 5 minutes in solidworks and let the printer run over night. Worked like a charm, a couple smacks with the deadblow and nex axle seals are installed.
Saab in their infinite Swedish wisdom didn't use pilot bushings or bearings so the clutch tool kinda sits in a void in the crankshaft and I had to eyeball the clutch disc concentric to the flywheel. My eyecrometer is pretty well calibrated but I struggled at first to get the trans on the engine. I was about ready to get the caliper out and 3d print a pilot bushing for the alignment tool but then I thought about how much Gumby would make fun of me for solving everything with CAD and 3D printers so I just muscled the trans onto engine.
Chinese exhaust manifold studs and walmart oil filter to top it off. I need to fill the upper engine mount with construction adhesive because it's blown out and I'm not paying $140 for a "cheap" knockoff replacement.
In reply to RacetruckRon :
Gumby will find another reason...
I've been feeling down about this car quite a bit lately. I had to sit in tonight to be reminded how comfy the seats are and why I wanted me of these cars in the first place.
The accessories are installed and the engine mounts have been mended in manners that the European mind cannot comprehend, polyurethane sealant. I dare not post that hack to the Saab forums, they cannot comprehend the over educated redneck with a materials engineering background.
I've been fiddling with little tasks on the Saab lately and coming across a bunch of little things I need to order and replace. I went to rebuild the cv shafts the other night because they have torn inner boots. I ordered new outer boots and have a surplus of OG 9-3 auto axles I was planning to steal the inner boots from but the OD of the axle stub is 10mm smaller on the 9-3 axles. I guess I'm waiting until Monday to get new inner boots.
Ok Saab put yourself back together now.
Ok why did I wait so long to do this? I rolled the drivetrain under the car on a hammer store car dolly and then lifted it up rather than trying to jack the entire subframe up. That was way easier than how I took the engine out last year and now I have so much more room to access the underside of the engine without the subframe in the way.
Starter, Alternator, gearbox/shifter, fuel system and half of the harness is already hooked up. I have 80% of the vacuum hoses present and in what I believe to be the correct routing. I found a few vacuum lines that were totally cracked that I hadn't seen two summers ago when I was first diagnosing this car. I'm hoping this goes smoothly and this thing runs better than ever with 4 good pistons, 4 good rods and a whole bunch of new vacuum lines.
So there is a 1999 Saab convertible around the corner from me, stated that is has a bad turbo. Run away or check it out? Looks to have been sitting for a year or so, a few hundred dollars makes it mine.
In reply to akylekoz :
They can be fun, quirky little cars. Turbo is easy to get to if it is blown. The vacuum lines are pretty complicated and can cause lots of turbo related issues if not hooked up right. I'd probably go look at it if I were you but I'm also a sucker for strange automotive garbage.
I got the turbo installed last night. The banjo fittings can be a real pain to get to once the radiator and subframe are in. So I replaced all of the crush washers and snugged everything down tight so I hopefully don't have to touch them again when the car is fully back together.
I also clipped some horrible old plastic wire sheathing which has turned into a hard cracked mess and replaced it with some nylon braided split loom in a few spots on the engine harness.
I'm looking for a couple little odds and ends that are missing in totes. Besides confirming the evap and breather lines are all routed correctly I have everything installed that isn't on the subframe or cooling stack. I had two connectors that sit to the drivers side of the intake manifold that I couldn't for the life of me figure out what the attach to and then it hit me that they are the O2 connectors. Once I figured that out it felt a whole lot less crazy.
I lathered the subframe up with degreaser and hit it with the hose tonight. Hopefully it dries overnight and then I plan to install the subframe tomorrow. Little bit by little bit this is started to look like a real car again.
Well E36 M3 this thing almost looks like a real car now. The subframe is installed (with new poly bushings) and torqued up, the steering is attached, front brake lines are reattached to the calipers, axles installed and front suspension is all tightened up.
I still have to install one AC line, the battery, the exhaust and one coolant line...
So the one coolant line I have left is the puke line to the overflow tank/reservoir. Sometime in the last year or so the radiator must have gotten knocked over in the garage and that plastic fitting broke off. I more than half tempted to JB weld in a brass fitting from home depot but a new radiator is $124 from FCP Euro with free shipping and the radiator probably would take 20 minutes to replace before it has any coolant in it. Hive thoughts??? I'm thinking about pulling the radiator and fans either way so I can get the AC system all connected up and pull a vacuum on it since the condensor is a little suspect but I'm not replacing it unless I have to.
Besides the radiator debacle I'm getting close to first fire up so I made a list.
If the $124 for the radiator doesn't hurt too bad, then do that. If you're worried about the efficacy of the hack fix, I've seen many SAABs running around with a fitting JB'd in the radiator because it's really easy to break off. So I know it can be done at least.
In reply to Mezzanine :
I'm between jobs right now so this is the plan for now.
That broken nipple looks like it goes to the tank which would be pressurized vs an overflow line which is not.
if it's just an overflow, not a huge deal.
In reply to jfryjfry :
It's definitely on the tank and pressurized. Looking closer at this radiator now that I have it pulled I think replacing it is the better route. I was mostly holding off on ordering it to make sure I didn't have to order some AC parts too but the AC system held vacuum overnight.
I'm crossing things off the list and writing down things I've already done to cross off the list to make it feel like I'm making lots of progress. I ordered some outer tie rods and a new radiator from Rockauto. I love FCPEuro but their order fulfillment and shipping is slow as all hell. I'm not waiting a week for you to ship a radiator that is one timezone away, aliexpress will ship me 3d printer parts from Shenzhen in 8 days step it up. I need to swing by Walmart to get some antifreeze and DOT4 brake fluid and then we'll be cooking with gas.
In reply to RacetruckRon :
Go now, my son, for I have nothing left to teach you.
My radiator and tie rods showed up today from Rockauto. I placed my order 12:14AM Monday morning and everything was on my doorstep by 11:30am today. The radiator came from Texas and the tie rods from somewhere in Ohio. Sure FCPEuro has a better return policy and actual customer service but I would be waiting another 4-5 days for the same exact parts to show up.
I snagged a few gallons of antifreeze, distilled water and two bottles of DOT4 from WallyWorld today. We got an increasingly pregnant Mrs. Racetruck some Chinese food for lunch and I slapped the new radiator in the Saab. It's been a fairly productive Wednesday afternoon, now to just nail this job interview later this afternoon so I can get Mrs. Racetruck some healthcare.
AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) said:
In reply to RacetruckRon :
Go now, my son, for I have nothing left to teach you.
This trick you taught me has forever change brake bleeds for me. Thanks Unkel Angry 
Brakes = bled, clutch = probably bled. I can't get anymore air out of the bleeder and the pedal feel is consistent other than the little bit of take up in the master cylinder linkage but holy crap is this clutch light! Maybe I'm jaded from the heavy clutch in the truck which feels like a non-assisted brake pedal but this clutch is super light. I confirmed the slave cylinder is moving the pressure plate through the inspection port. I guess I'll see how it is once we have start up and I can always have my wife help me bleed it then. This was all done last night while she was sleeping so I had to get creative...
Keep up the progress, love seeing it.
Looking forward to a first-fire video!! Also hoping your job interview went well, but ya know- car stuff first? Haha
