So apparently I'm going to have a Saab project

I've been itching for some sort of project car for a while, and after toying with the idea of buying a truck for the utility, I decided I really don't want to drive a truck. Despite a rather fraught relationship with a Saab 9-5 some years back, I've always liked the classic 900 and thoughts began to turn to them. Slim pickings in the Northeast as most of these have returned to the earth (there's a place around here with a whole field of them - 20+ cars - in varying states of decay), but I found what I think is a good one (not in the field), an 89 900S. Looked at it and put down a deposit with the owner today. Hopefully I'll be picking it up next weekend. It needs a few things, but the front suspension mounts are solid (left side original, right side repaired professionally) and for a 30 year old Northeast car there's very little rust generally.

More info on the car and my (not very ambitious) plans once I have it home. For the moment I'll tease it with one of the seller's Craigslist photos. More to come.

Nice. I’d still like to have a 900 turbo. Good luck with her. 

Oh nice ... SPG wheels. 

Stampie said:

Oh nice ... SPG wheels. 

And a set of sunbursts with studded Hakkas....

Very nice..it's truly a shame that this vehicle is no longer a choice  when considering new rides these days ......had a 1973 99 when I still lived in Ohio.....great winter car....Semperites (road tires) in 6 inch deep NE Ohio snow.....Not a problem.....great score enjoy!

Even better... Those are actually 16" 9000 wheels, from an early 90s Turbo or 1993 Aero. Effectively they are SPG wheels with an extra inch of diameter and a machined lip. Saabs best wheel of the era, IMO. 

Miss seeing these around regularly. 

thestig99 said:

Even better... Those are actually 16" 9000 wheels, from an early 90s Turbo or 1993 Aero. Effectively they are SPG wheels with an extra inch of diameter and a machined lip. Saabs best wheel of the era, IMO. 

Miss seeing these around regularly. 

Huh, I had no idea (my knowledge of Saabs is not deep). I certainly do like look the depth of the lip creates. The wheels are less than perfect - faded paint on the covers, little rough spots here and there - but then so is the whole car, so I'm not going to worry about it.

Congrats! There are quite a few of us C900 owners on this forum.

I've had (and abused) a few 900s with that same 16V 2.0/5 speed combo and liked every one of them. Track days, trips to Deal's Gap, and thousands of miles of daily driving and they've never disappointed.

Man that has a nice look to it. Congrats!

Another SAAB owner here. I let mine sit too much, but every time I drive it I'm reminded what an incredible car it is. It's soooo good at doing car things like moving people, hauling stuff, fitting in parking spaces, all while actually being fun to drive. A rare combo for sure.

I am not an owner, but had a lot of service time on them when they were new. The only weak spot is the transaxle, and only really for abusive drivers. It is very easy to work on. If this one is early enough to have the fuel pump suspended in the tank by the big rubber hose you should keep an eye on it, I did see a car once where the pump fell into the tank, and the car had a strong fuel smell inside, but it did drive into the shop. When you do the clutch, do the slave cylinder, it is 100% overlapping labor, and on a normally aspirated car it is less than an hours work. Fancy factory tool to compress the clutch during service can be accomplished with a one foot section of old fan belt. Enjoy it!

Nice find, congrats. Oddly enough there seem to be mostly two areas in the country that have a meaningful number of SAABs left - the Northeast and the PNW.

Thanks for the info and well-wishes. It's a pretty low mileage car by old Saab standards, so I'm hoping that will work in my favor. There are definitely some jobs that need doing (one of the rear shock mounts is rusted through, the front motor mount is done, and there are a few little oil leaks here and there), but nothing that can't be fairly easily addressed, and I've got records of recent work (exhaust, brakes, etc.) that will ease my workload. I just have to get it here then I can dig into it.

In reply to BoxheadTim :

That is because they were the only parts of the country to have a meaningful number of SAABs when they were new.

Nicely bought, and a worthwhile one to save!

It's home. No photos since it's dark at this point. We threw some new plugs and wires in it before we left, as it was missing and sputtering a bit when we inspected it last week; these seemed to cure that particular problem, which made the drive home a little easier. The return trip was around 125 miles, and during it I discovered a few things that will need attending - nothing surprising, but you definitely get a better idea of how things really are after a long drive. And it's filthy in a way that only a New England car in winter can be.

First thing is that there's a significant vibration through the body under acceleration from ~50mph up. PO indicated the inner CVs were on their way out, and this seems to confirm it. This is probably job #1, after a thorough cleaning.

Next up is the blown shock mount. It's rusted through completely, so I ordered a patch panel. The metal around the hole is good, so I'm planning to cut a smaller piece than the patch, drill a couple holes for plug welds, then weld it all up. That should give me four seams welds plus a few plugs, which should be enough to compensate for my rudimentary welding skills.

After these it's going to be time for suspension work, and the first thing is shocks. I'll inspect the ball joints, bushings, and such when I'm in there for the other jobs and deal with what needs doing. I'd like to rebush the control arms and various rear arms, but it sounds like a fairly involved job, so it will wait unless the situation is dire.

The motor has some little oil leaks, the vacuum lines look pretty beat, and there's some other general tidying to do. All the fluids will be changed as well, naturally.

Shifting was interesting. 1st through 4th were pretty good, relatively speaking, but 5th was a guessing game, and not an easy one. Not sure if this is motor mounts, shift linkage, or both. It will require investigation.

There's other little stuff - hatch struts are dead, interior lights don't work, etc. - but that's secondary at this point. EDIT: Oh yeah, the odometer is inop as well, so I'll have to dig into that.

I do have one part to track down. This car didn't come with factory fog lights, so I need to source a switch so I can hook up a set of round Hella driving lights. I refuse to own a Saab 900 and not have big round rally lights on it.

I'll get some photos up tomorrow.

Saab owner here too, but you already knew that ;-)

I had a hell of a time figuring out how to shift mine the first month I drove it.  It's hard to describe, but you will get it.  I found if I slowed down the process of clutch in, select gear, clutch out- it operates much smoother.

Can't wait to follow along- excellent purchase!

Noise in the chassis with acceleration is usually am engine mount on these cars. Bad inner CV will cause a heavy shake at lower speed. Also check that the exhaust is not touching the floor pan when the engine torques. front of power unit tries to rise on accel.. I have seen bonnet strikes with fully trashed mounts on a 99, which is nearly the same design.

I'm sure the shifting will get more intuitive, but as I said 1-4 isn't bad at all as long as you're deliberate. 5th is in a league of its own. Massive play out that side of the horizontal axis, way beyond where you need to go for the gate. Very hard to find, but it goes in easy when you do. My buddy following said he saw the reverse lights flicker a couple times when I was looking for 5th, which to me suggests the linkage is very, very loose.

TurnerX19 said:

Noise in the chassis with acceleration is usually am engine mount on these cars. Bad inner CV will cause a heavy shake at lower speed. Also check that the exhaust is not touching the floor pan when the engine torques. front of power unit tries to rise on accel.. I have seen bonnet strikes with fully trashed mounts on a 99, which is nearly the same design.

I don't doubt the mounts are done for. If you think the inner CVs will shake more at low speed, what would you think would be causing the shake under acceleration from ~50mph on up? Once I get in there I'll have a better idea of how things look and feel, but something's definitely shaking relative to vehicle speed under accel.

I remember driving a 900 Turbo when it was nearly new. I had a Civic Si at the time and I had a hell of a time shifting that Saab. I'd still love to own one though. I saw a nearly perfect looking dark green one through my office window the other day. It even had stock wheels. It occurred to me that I hadn't seen one in even reasonably nice condition in a long, long time.

Enjoy your new Saab.

I remember some years ago, someone on one of the Saab forums making shifter inserts for c900s with a pattern something like this...

Nice! These have always been a bucket list car for me. I’ve spent more time than I care to admit scouring craigslist for a 900 turbo

In reply to 02Pilot :

Engine mount problem will cause your shaking on acceleration. Fix them first before you chase your tail. Also be certain that the structure where the mount attaches is not rusted or cracked from the main chassis.

thestig99 said:

I remember some years ago, someone on one of the Saab forums making shifter inserts for c900s with a pattern something like this...

This is purely brilliant!

Hey i saw that car on craigslist. Glad someone here picked it up!