Saab C900 Build of Awesomeness (Or Not)

My favorite thing about GRM: find a random pic of an obscure engine/trans that weren't even designed to fit together, and within an hour, someone is able to give you specific info about that build. Just amazing!!

Jerry - thank you for the advice! Only engines I've pulled have been Hondas and Dodge FWD, and the last one I can remember was probably before 2000.

Pat, thanks for the heads-up - I scoped it out, and it's the next generation like bgkast's ex-tweaker car .

VWguyBruce wrote: Cool car! Keep at it, you're progress keeps me motivated on my build. Funny, my son was the same way with wind up windows. Up and down, up and down....

Thanks Bruce!!! Hopefully something more exciting than cleaning up grease, ATF and coolant will happen soon.

For perspective though, as a lifelong rust belt dweller who grew up with rust in my eyes, my last picture of the inner fender with clean bare 25 year old metal almost brought tears to my eyes

that engine/trans configuration makes my head hurt. it also makes me love the saab we bought even more, since it's just a badge engineered saab and has a plain old LS engine.

patgizz wrote: that engine/trans configuration makes my head hurt. it also makes me love the saab we bought even more, since it's just a badge engineered saab and has a plain old LS engine.

My dad, who is an engineer, actually refused to buy C900's back in the day due to the drivetrain. In the early /mid 80s the car fit everything he needed/wanted for a DD, but he called the drivetrain 'cludgy'. (He also refused to buy cars with AC until around 1987 because "I'm not working on that stuff")

I'm sure he's pretty disappointed that I have one of these taking up garage space with a dead trans now :-) . Fortunately he hasn't been on GRM in a few years, so he doesn't know that he'll be helping me do the T5 conversion down the road.

I'm still working on finding a donor car and/or trans/flywheel, etc to do a 5spd conversion. A few leads, some exciting but not promising, some less exciting but more likely to result in actual usable parts. As a side project, I'll be needing to rehab and re-register my trailer to carry parts, engine hoist, etc. around.
While I figure that part out, I decided to work on a few more interior things. The odometer is not working, which is a fairly common Saab issue, maybe a VDO speedo issue in general? Using info on saabrally (Thanks for making me part of the club, Adrian!) and twinsaabs.com, I dived into the dash today.

I was actually planning on doing the odometer repair over the winter, but I had visions of every plastic item in there shattering, plus I have an advanced degree in procrastination. Just ask my wife. I was supposed to be trimming hedges today.

So, I dumped my torx driver set onto the passenger seat, and started de-torx'ing things. The dash fascia has four long (like 8" long) torx bolts that hold the fascia on; that run vertically on either side of the instrument cluster.

I pulled the speaker grilles on the dash top, removed the stereo (which seems to be dead anyway), all the HVAC control buttons. The bolts on the back of the steering wheel holding the airbag in place were stripped, so I figured I'd try to pull the fascia off with the wheel still on. It took some careful maneuvering, but I was able to get the fascia off in one piece: <img src="" />

The C900 uses vacuum servos to actuate the HVAC distribution flaps, probably designed that way so Pat has a seizure in case the drivetrain layout hasn't pushed him over the edge yet . You can see the vacuum distribution block to the right of the steering wheel. <img src="" />

Next, four torx screws hold the instruments in. There are also 3 wiring connectors, including one large connector on each side of the cluster. Getting these off was an even bigger cluster. Each harness plugs into a black connector, which surrounds a 'foil' like a flexible circuit board. In this pic, you can see the connector just to the left of my hand holding the foil. The connectors are somewhat hard to disconnect from the harness after 25 years of baking in Texas sun. The right side one cracked; should be no big deal to epoxy back together. <img src="" />

Eventually I had the cluster on the workbench: <img src="" />

And disassembled to get to the speedo:

<img src="" />

That's enough for today; I'll dive into the odometer tomorrow. I also need to troubleshoot the medusa's head of vacuum lines, because the dash center vents aren't putting out any air.

This week I endured the horror of driving with my son on the highway to go check out a couple of parts cars. Nearly hit a Ferrari of some sort on the way home . I had less stress teaching kids to fly than this one to drive.

The guy has an 87 3door and an 85 4door, both 5 speeds. He's a retired USAF A&P mechanic who used to work on C-47s (also collects M1 Garands and Triumph motorcycles-my son wants him has his grandfather). To get the 87 home I'll need a truck and trailer, so it will be awhile until I can coordinate something with this month's work schedule.

In other news, I think I've repaired the odometer. The 90+ apparently have a high tech odo with a plastic frame, which is not easily DIY'ed like the earlier ones. The frame is held together by a pressed on brass hub from the speedo return spring.
Hint: before removing the speedo needle, pop it over the stop, so that you can identify where the baseline is:<img src="" />

The gold gear to the right of the '1' has a crack in it allowing it to spin freely. Also the purple (why?) gear on the left of the cluster has a crack and was slipping on the shaft. <img src="" />

Since I was unable to pull the return spring off, I figured I'd try to add superglue to the gears. The purple gear on the left side was easily accessible. For the right side, I ended up drilling two access holes thru the frame, one from the right side: <img src="" /> , and one vertically from the face of the odometer: <img src="" />

Using liquid superglue, I was able to glue the gears back onto the shaft. No clue how long it will last, but it was free.

I'll sell this running and driving '94 convertible for $1200. You wouldn't need anything special to get it home, even.

Manual paired to a healthy 2.1. Shifts great. 155k miles.

Hell, I'll even replace that tail light.

In reply to Powar:

You are an evil man. Is that an open offer?

In reply to Rusted_Busted_Spit:

+1, how about you post stuff like that when I don't have money from selling cars?

Rusted_Busted_Spit wrote: In reply to Powar: You are an evil man. Is that an open offer?

It is if I don't have to do anything else to the car. I have to go transfer the title tomorrow, but we've been using it and it seems to drive really nicely. We just don't need it. I'll request a speed title so that it's ready to go ASAP.

Have you seen this yet? http://columbus.craigslist.org/cto/5077547937.html

It has been up awhile, he might be negotiable on the price.

In reply to EvanB:

I have not been looking but I have not had a vert for a while.

How far away is the 87?

That vert looks great and appears to be a far better car than mine! Sadly, out of budget at the moment. The blue one also looks like a fairly solid car, once you get rid of those ridiculous chrome wheel arches. That embassy blue looked great when they were new!

I actually had intel on a running, driving car for $200, but the guy won't answer the phone. Bummer, because it had potential for a pseudo-epic drive home if was real. (Nothing as good as driving your $50 car cross country with an 8 year old, but still better reading than scraping 25 years of grease out of an engine bay). Just in case, I may take a box of tuneup parts on vacation with me.

Pat, the 87 is in Atwater, near Ravenna.
One big issue is that I have a 9 day vacation this month, and I'm on call 19 of the remaining days . August will be better though.

well, i have truck and trailer, and equally little free time. if i can assist let me know. on call sucks, my wife is on call 24/7.

Brief update to re-motivate myself a bit. I managed to mess my back up again last month, so virtually everything in life has been on hold. Getting back to baseline now, so it's time to get back to things. I got a bunch of parts yesterday, including a pair of E Code headlights (score!!), corner lights, luggage cover, dash fascia that still has the outer vinyl on it, and a 9-5 Wagon full of other stuff. He basically kept finding things until the car was full.

The sad part was that he had recently scrapped a couple of engines and trans because he figured no one would want them. I admit I've done it before as well, only to kick myself later.