In reply to Aaron_King :
I'll keep that in mind, thanks. Right now I'm still trying to figure out if I managed to bag a good 'un or if my usual inverse Midas touch struck again. If it's a good 'un I'll have a look at a road trip or a GRM relay as you don't seem to be that far away.
Well, an update.
Obviously I wasn't able to wrench on the car myself with me only being able to use one arm properly and not being supposed to lift stuff. So I threw it at the local shop who wasn't overly thrilled but still OK to work on it. They checked it over, replaced all the fluids and put new rotors and pads on the back, which fixed the really spongy breaks just like Reddit said it would. Otherwise it got a clean bill of health.
On the first local trip afterwards, it turned on the check engine light (yep, engine was still there) and started leaking coolant. CEL turned out to be a MAF, which looked like it had been replaced before. I'm pretty sure they don't come from the factory with someone's name written on it in junkyard proof pen. I sourced a new OEM MAF (only $100 at eSaabparts), hopefully that'll fix the CEL.
Coolant leak was diagnosed as a leak from the thermostat, they fixed that and of course there is a second leak from the waterpump. Surprise. Let's hope that this will address at least most of the issues for now.
First video of the car - I'm still basking in the warm light of the CEL, and decided to do something about it. For the first round I put together a quick intro video and my first attempts at diagnosing something.
I would get a steering rack brace for it, I did it to mine and it helped a grate deal with how the car drove. It can also stop the bolts from ripping out of the firewall. Another easy "upgrade" is to use a section of 3 in thin wall PVC to replace the airbox snorkel. On a T7 car it probably won't give any performance advantage but the car will sound much better. Something else I remember from mine, I was getting what felt like a wheel out of balance even after getting them balanced. It turned out to be crud not letting the wheel seat fully on the hub, once I figured that out I always wire wheeled the mounting surface every time I swapped wheels.
In reply to Aaron_King :
I eventually will, if I get around to sorting out all of the other issues this car has.
Speaking of parts, if anybody on here has a line on a driver's side outer tail light, please PM me. It looks like i may have found the source of a small leak into the trunk, and it's the light itself that's damaged. Nothing on the Bay of E, and of course tail lights are NLA.
In reply to BoxheadTim :
Check ebay again, or broaden your ebay search terms. Ebay has been very good to me for my 9-5.
Will this one work? Ebay
In reply to RacetruckRon :
Thanks, I somehow must've missed that during my parts searches. Bought, should be an improvement of the broken one I currently have.
Since I haven't seen them mentioned yet here's a callout for Taliaferro Imports in Springfield MO. Super nice people. I personally know Nick Taliaferro (the son) he is kind of a savant that loves Saabs. https://www.genuinesaab.com If their site doesn't have what you are looking for call them. I have heard of them sourcing things NOS from Trollhättan. Granted that was years ago but if it can be gotten they can find it or make it with their CNC machines. Hope this helps you in your journey, I mean your Saab story.
In reply to gunner (Forum Supporter) :
I have put their 3 in downpipes on two of my SAABs among many other things, 100% they are a great shop and bunch of people.
I've come across Taliaferro and am probably going to order some parts from sooner or later. Not planning to do much or any tuning to this car as I don't think I want to find out where the limits of the transmission are. It is after all slushbox-equipped.
I used to autocross with Nick. One time he brought a Sonnet to the autocross and after one of the runs the distributor crumbled to dust! 30 minutes later him and his mechanics had hacked something together and the Sonnet finished the rest of the runs. A great bunch of people.
In reply to Sonic :
Thanks for the reminder, I keep forgetting to check car-part.com. The light from eBay arrived yesterday and it's in really nice shape. Now all I have to do is find the time to fit it.
In reply to BoxheadTim :
I would get one of these fairly soon, these cars have a reputation of cracking the firewall where the rack is bolted to it:
In reply to Aaron_King :
Thanks for the link - I'm aware of that, but right now my priority is really to just get the thing working properly. Before spending additional money on parts that may turn out to be an unnecessary expense.
Finally managed to put the second video together. I guess it's progress, I'm just not sure in which direction:
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