In reply to XLR99:
The 85 sedan my friend has would be a good donor car for you. It is a 5 speed turbo but has been sitting for awhile from a blown headgasket. I think he was asking for $300 or so. If you are interested I could get more details. It's right near the middle of Columbus.
Room mate had one of these in college and let me borrow it. Was a ton of fun, with the turbo spooled it sounded like a fire truck
In reply to docwyte:
The turbo does sound great when it spools up. Hopefully I will get to drive it more soon.
I am delighted it's running again. In some ways I feel bad that I got pissed off after finding the head gasket was blown and punting, but at the same time that allowed me to get the Boxster which I have at least done 5k miles with this year. What was the engine like once you pulled the head? Does it all look good in there, I see no reason why not. How does the engine and trans feel now in use?
So what's the plan? DD? Autocoross? Rallycross? $2017 challenge (if so you have a ton of budget left for power and handling mods. Budget enduro racing? I loved this build if so and I may have some old e-mails I swapped with the guy talking about suspension and BBQ recipes if you want :)
The engine looked to be in good shape when I pulled it apart. I haven't driven it enough to get a good feel for the engine and trans since I need to get it registered.
Initial plan is for DD. It will probably see some rallycross as well.
Minor update. I decided it was about time to get the Saab titled and registered so I set out to do it yesterday. The engine bogs and cuts out around 3k rpm so I was driving gently to the BMV. When leaving it got stuck in reverse. I was eventually able to get it out but could only get 3rd gear and 1st occasionally. I guess it is time to rebuild the shifter and do some more diagnosis on the running issue.
Glad it's running, pity about the issues. Before you go too far on the trans there is a procedure for setting up the shift linkage, It's out there on the forums and also I think in the Bentley Manual I gave you with it. Try that first.
Adrian_Thompson wrote: Glad it's running, pity about the issues. Before you go too far on the trans there is a procedure for setting up the shift linkage, It's out there on the forums and also I think in the Bentley Manual I gave you with it. Try that first.
I'll have to check that out. I figured the rubber shift coupler would be a good place to start. I am working on organizing the garage so I can get it in and get some work done.
I actually worked on the Saab a bit the past couple days. I know, I am surprised too.
I was having issues with the shift linkage when I parked it in the garage. I bought the shift rod bushings as they were disintegrated and laying in the bottom of the shift housing. I finally put them on yesterday and finished it today.
And I have the same issue, although it is a little better.
The shifter moves fine forward and back but the rod does not want to pivot to select 1-2 or 5-R. 3 and 4 are fine. The ball on the end of the shifter seems too small for the mating part inside the housing, maybe I am missing another piece?
It is out of the garage at least.
Does anyone want a Saab 900 project? 
I've heard of this problem before, but the fix is escaping me right now. Something with a selector arm maybe? Off to the googles...
I wasn't able to find much info in a quick google search. I'll double check the stud length under the ball to see if that makes a difference.
Go to Saab Rally. The guys on there can answer questions you haven't even thought of. Hope it gets sorted.
Saab Rally has been broken for awhile, the site won't even load anymore 
.
I think some of the guys from there are on the Saab facebook group so I can try there.
I found saabcentral's forum's to be pretty helpful, and just now found a thread that seems to describe your problem. For some reason, forum wont let me email like to thread, but here is link to the forum: 900C Forum
New shift selector has it shifting perfectly (aside from the crunch into second). The shift selector had been modified with a piece added to the end, presumably to mask the bad bushings. I bought another one before I found a spare in the parts box.
I set the timing and noticed a hose leaking on the iacv which explains the rough idle. Unfortunately it disintegrated when I took it off and it is different sizes on each end so I need to order a new one. Still need to find why it is cutting out under load.
Progress!
I fixed the air leaks and double checked the timing and it was running well in the driveway. I set off on a test drive expecting it to fall on its face under load but it didn't.
I still need to hook up a boost gauge to see if it is making full boost but it pulls HARD!
Nice! Glad you decided to keep it!
I drove it to work today. It ran well. It is making 10psi of boost but after a couple seconds it drops immediately to 5psi.
Some more (minor) progress. When I drove it to work last the battery was completely dead by the end of the day. I knew it had a drain but didn't know it was that bad. I put the multimeter on it and it was drawing 1.5-6 amps with the key off. After pulling every fuse and relay it still had the drain then I thought to pull the switch that was jumpering the fuel pump relay. That was it and now it is only drawing .07-8 amps with the key off.
I put one of the spare fuel pump relays in and it fired up, I only let it run for a few minutes but from the PPO it would die randomly due to bad contacts in the relay terminal. I have some Stabilant 22 to try on it. If that doesn't work I will wire in the new relay terminals and block I have and hopefully that cures it.
I also started mocking up the Corbeau seats from the Subaru I sold a while back. The Subaru seat brackets look to be fairly easy to modify to fit the Saab so that should improve the interior a bit.
I also scored two sets of Merkur (4x108) wheels on craigslist for $50.
One set like this:
And one set like this:
I will probably put snow tires on the stock Saab wheels and summer tires on the mesh Merkur wheels (I also have another set of the mesh with all seasons on my XR4Ti.
Nice love the big flat spokes.
Moving cars around and ended up with a Swedish lineup.
I found a 92 900 in a junkyard and got some gray interior pieces from it. I finished the seat bracket for the passenger seat, now I just need to modify the driver seat bracket and the interior will be mostly complete.
I also put the rear purple seat in instead of the tan leather and installed the 3 point seat belts.
The original tan door panels.
Purple seat installed in the back along with gray panels and manual belts to replace the motorized originals.
Passenger Corbeau seat mounted.
Door panels finished.
The new door cards are sweet. Srsly.
In reply to conesare2seconds:
The headliner and rear shelf are also the same plaid, they were done by Adrian. It looks much better with the gray instead of tan.
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