So apparently I'm going to have a Saab project

And so it begins. First thing was to start cleaning. As I said, this thing is dirty. New England in winter results in everything being covered in a vaguely grey haze of salty dirt, topped with small pebbles. Add to that some period spent accumulating various and sundry filth from, you know, people, and you begin to understand the level of uncleanliness. Not garbage, just dirt. I started with the interior.

The car as it sits:

The ride home on the studded Hakkas was not exactly quiet.

There's some bits of rust here and there to be sure, but the important spots are solid (save the one shock mount that needs to be welded up). It's rough, but I think it will clean up OK.

I thought this was a good sign.

The almost complete toolkit and original spare are nice touches. It also came with a spare spare, both with original Michelins still mounted.

To the interior. I vacuumed everything, then attacked the seats and the carpet with hand tool of the Bissell wet-dry carpet cleaner, filled with double-strength cleaner solution. The carpets had some pretty nasty spots, but the seats weren't really too bad for 30-year-old seats. After that it was some Vinylex on all the plastic surfaces, with a toothbrush being employed to dislodge stubborn dirt on occasion. I didn't aim for perfection, just noticeable improvement.

The upholstery is in remarkably good shape for three decades of being sat upon. I'm so glad I found a car with cloth seats. There are a couple of interior issues - the turn signal/high beam/cruise control stalk is completely floppy and needs to be rectified (I'm guessing replacement is the only option here), the dome light is flaky (I found a spare switch in the ash tray, which suggests the problem lies there), and everything that moves is stiff (a little white lithium grease on the door hinges and seat rails did wonders already). But all in all not too bad.

Tomorrow I will tackle the outside and the engine bay. I've already noted a few more things that definitely need attention - I'm sure there will be questions to follow.

Great job getting it cleaned up. Looks like a decent car to start with.  That spare takes me back a bit. Reminds me of the space saver from my old '83 928.

Man, looking at that interior has me thinking how long it's been since I've been in a 900. 

That dash looks remarkably un-cracked 

The dash is pretty good - there are a few small cracks, but no deformation, so it's nice and flat across the top.

The turn signals all go bad. You can open it, renotch a plastic detent piece, and go on your way for another decade or so. There's prolly pics on the web or use Google to search saabnet for details. 

The bad thing about an 89 is the seat belts, but those seats are actually from a 9000 that year and are, imo, better than the standard stuff: more comfortable, more adjustable and a more solid height adjustment mechanism. Yes, the cloth is remarkably durable. 

Another day of cleaning, this time the exterior and the engine bay. Washed the car and watched a river of filth slowly wend its way down the driveway. It was worse than I thought; the plus, I suppose, is that this color hides dirt fairly well. I also removed a couple of stickers, though there's still some residue that needs to be dealt with. The paint is pretty tired, and would certainly benefit from a good compounding. There are some scratches that I would want to fill before I did that, and I'm torn over the idea of taking the time to polish the paint on a car with visible rust perforation. I'll probably end up doing it eventually.

The engine bay was predictably awful, and there are still plenty of places with caked-on greasy muck that only a pressure washer is going to put a dent in. As I don't have a pressure washer, this dirt remains in the car. I did at least clean up some of the upper portions of the engine, as well as the ancillary bits along the fenders.

I then decided to do all the interior glass. For the life of me I cannot understand how people let glass get this dirty. I mean, it's generally understood that the glass is there to see through, right? This glass was monumentally filthy. The dirt had layers of dirt. In retrospect I'm not sure how I saw well enough to get home. But it's clean now.

I also gave the floor mats another blast, which I think may have chased out the last layer of embedded dirt, and did a pass on the Super Aero wheels that came with the car. They're not in terrible shape, but three of the covers have mismatched paint, and the wheels themselves could use refinishing. Not sure if I'm going to tackle this any time soon, as they have useable tires mounted, and the studded snows are coming off before I put this thing on the road again.

I had a little time left to work, so I pulled the steering column lower cover to figure out why my turn signal stalk was so floppy. When one of the retaining screws fell out I figured I had at least one of the causes nailed down. The hole was stripped, of course, so I threaded the screw back in with some Loctite, and put a little dab of RTV on the mating surface to take some strain off the screw. We'll see if it holds up.

Finally, one of the headlights was loose, so I pulled it out and discovered the adjusters were all cracked to bits. I took the remaining pieces and epoxied them, which hopefully will alleviate the need to find a replacement bucket.

Here it is at close of business today:

OK, first question. There are three motor mounts on this thing. The two side mounts resemble what are generally listed as hydraulic mounts, while the front one is a rubber sleeve with voids bonded in a steel cylinder (i.e., clearly not hydraulic). I can't find any clear listing of what sort of mounts this car is supposed to have, nor can I find a decent source for the front mount (which is the most clearly messed up).

Everything I've read suggests the front mounts wear out faster than the side mounts. For those with C900 experience, does this sound right? Should I be replacing all three, or can I get away with just the front? Is there a transmission mount somewhere as well, or is that what the front mount is doing? Eeuroparts lists a trans mount; is that actually the front motor mount (it looks similar)?

Try just the front mount first.   It takes all the torque load. I you still have shakies on acceleration look at the inner CVs and see if the have tight spots (probably not) but service them (clean & grease) and then go to the hydraulic mounts.

TurnerX19 said:

Try just the front mount first.   It takes all the torque load. I you still have shakies on acceleration look at the inner CVs and see if the have tight spots (probably not) but service them (clean & grease) and then go to the hydraulic mounts.

Will do. The shaking I was feeling on the drive home definitely seemed related to something rotating in an unbalanced way, which is what got me thinking inner CVs, but the front mount is done for, so it needs replacing regardless.

So time to discuss plans for this thing. Part of my inspiration for the project is the Gastropod initiative, though I will never make it to the Challenge; I work an academic calendar, and there's no way to get from NY to FL and back in the time available at that time of year. Still, I like the idea, so I set myself a maximum budget of $2000, exclusive of state fees.

Initially, after I get the car fully functional and safe, it will be an occasional driver, used for runs to home improvement stores and the town dump. Much as I love my small BMWs, they do not excel at these tasks. The huge cargo space is a real plus, and there's a nice (and extremely heavy) factory rubber mat in the trunk. The car also came with two roof racks - a Yakima with pipe insulation around the bars, and a Thule. I've got a set of Thule bike racks, which is very handy, and the padded Yakima will handle things that don't fit in the trunk. The only way keeping this car makes any sense in my current situation is to look at it like a Swedish delivery van that just happens to also be interesting and comfortable to drive - thankfully, I think it will fulfill this niche well.

I will give in to my desire for little unnecessary improvements, things like adding gauges and a functioning modern radio. While not strictly needed, I find my motivation to keep working on a car stays higher longer if I intersperse improvements like these with grinding out the heavier, more important jobs.

My attraction to old Saabs is in no small part due to their rally heritage, and the thought of using this car to rallyx or TSD has definitely been rolling around in my head. To that end, I foresee at least a pair of round driving lights on the bumper, and a set of mud flaps all around. A skid plate would be nice, though that's further down the list. That the car came with a spare set of wheels and snow tires makes the possibility of occasional rallyx without additional expense quite real.

Eventually, if I want to keep this thing I'll have to do something about the rust. I'd really rather not think that far in advance. For now, it's just get it on the road and do a few little things to make it interesting.

Congrats on the new (to you) ride!  Former 1983 8-valve Turbo owner here.  Try pausing for a nanosecond in neutral in between gears to clear up shifting issues.  The faster you try to shift it, the worse the problem will be.  Regarding motor mounts, open the hood, start the engine, set the brake, shift into fourth gear, and try engaging the clutch as if moving from a dead stop.  If the engine-trans combo tries to twist on its axis before bogging down, check your two side engine mounts.  If the motor pitches itself forward (towards the rad) or back (towards the firewall), that would be your front mount.

I was curious, so I went out and tried the test you described before it got too dark to see. I tried it several times, and I couldn't see any appreciable engine movement in any direction. I know the front mount is cracked, but at least by this measure the mounts aren't too bad yet. It's a low mileage car, which may help. I'm replacing the front mount in any case, just to be safe.

Many moons ago, a friends older brother had an early 60's Saab.  We went for a ride to get gas, and it fascinated me when he put a quart of oil in the gas tank.  I didn't realize they were 2 stroke.  I've been intrigued by them ever since.  Good luck with your project.

02Pilot said:

I was curious, so I went out and tried the test you described before it got too dark to see. I tried it several times, and I couldn't see any appreciable engine movement in any direction. I know the front mount is cracked, but at least by this measure the mounts aren't too bad yet. It's a low mileage car, which may help. I'm replacing the front mount in any case, just to be safe.

It usually requires pulling the radiator for access.  Once out, it's easy peasy.  Sometimes you can just unbolt the mounts and move the radiator up enough to get the engine mount out but you lose half the easy and all of the peasy.

Well, since the cooling system could probably do to be gone over and flushed, I don't think that removing the radiator will be an issue. I may replace all the hoses while I'm in there, as they're probably fairly old. Judging by what I've seen so far, most of the rubber bits could do with replacing. All in due time. I put in my first order with eEuroparts yesterday, so hopefully by the end of next week I'll have a pile of parts to play with.

Check out saabnet.com as well.  They have a forum specifically for C900s (yours) as well as N900s (not yours).  Lots of parts sources as well with a good knowledge base among the forum participants.  Pretty good group of folks there.  At least there was when I left.  Oops, that was 14 years ago.  Check 'em out anyway.

After a week's vacation, this afternoon was the first chance I had to do anything on the Saab. Boxes of parts had arrived in my absence, so at least I had something to work with. There wasn't a lot of time, so I limited myself to swapping the studded Hakkas for the cheap Chinese all-season tires on the Super Aero wheels (at least I think that's what they're called). I pulled out the big HF electric impact to blast off the lug bolts, as I suspected they'd be reluctant; they were, but nothing has yet stopped that impact wrench, and these didn't break the streak.

While the wheels were off I inspected the innards of the four corners. Pretty crusty in the corners of the sheet metal, and it's clear that a lot of bits haven't been apart since the car left Sweden 30 years ago, but the important areas seem OK with the exception of the blown RR upper shock mounting area (I already have a patch panel waiting to go in). I'll have to thoroughly check the ball joints and tie rod ends before I put it on the road, but nothing was flopping around too badly. The car had new front brakes (including calipers) four years ago, and these still look decent, though the rotors are pretty rusty due to lack of use. One rear brake looks crusty and clearly needs replacing; inexplicably, the other side has new pads and a new slotted, cross-drilled rotor. I'm planning to replace both sides.

The wheels swapped over, I decided I had time to replace some dodgy looking rubber hoses in the engine bay with the silicone line I got from eEuroparts, along with new grommets for the intake manifold vacuum fittings and the PCV fitting on the valve cover (all were very loose). I cut new lines, installed the new grommets, and stuck the lines on. Still need to replace the large diameter line from the PCV (forgot to order silicone for that one), but I put clamps on the ends to seal it up. Idle quality improved noticeably as a result of this, and idle speed dropped a couple hundred RPM, certainly the result of eliminating the unmetered air from all the leaks.

I then let the car idle up to temperature. I noticed that the electric fans did not come on when the temp rose well above the halfway mark on the gauge. The fans themselves work, as I kicked on the A/C and they both spun up instantly, so I'm guessing the temp switch may be bad. I've added it to the parts list. In spite of trying to stick to a $2000 budget by not replacing anything that doesn't explicitly need to be, I'm considering doing the cooling system hoses and thermostat while I'm in there.

Next up will be fluid changes all around, welding in the rear shock mount patch panel, and replacing the inner CV bearings and the front motor mount to try to eliminate the vibration under acceleration. I will probably intersperse a few fun little upgrades in between the serious work, just because, you know, fun.

Made some progress today, not all of it in intended directions. My plan was to rip out the cluster to try to diagnose and repair the inop odometer, and while I was in there do some little things like check all the bulbs and clean up the clear plastic over the cluster.

The cluster comes out fairly easily in these cars, but it requires removing the dash fascia, which means pulling all the switches and such, and popping off one of the speaker covers for access. As I was disassembling it all I realized this was the perfect time to install the new stereo system, since everything was apart anyway. And so began today's scope creep....

When I pulled the radio out (an aftermarket Kenwood cassette unit), I discovered the sins of a PO in the form of a nest of wire nuts.

I knew I'd have to do some rewiring, but this mess meant that I had to redo all the connections to the stereo. Oh, and investigate why the last PO disconnected the rear speakers, claiming they didn't work. In any case, I got everything apart and delved into the odo repair before I started on the stereo.

Taking apart the cluster to get at the odo required freeing the gear cluster, which meant pulling the face off the speedo, necessitating popping the fragile needle. Having been down this road before, I employed a favorite trick: using a blade fuse puller. The Saab even has a good one right in the fuse box, so I used it. The needle came off with little drama and no damage.

The cluster is typical 80s VDO, which means that the plastic gears losing their grip on the metal shafts was the first place to look. In short order I discovered that the blue gear driven off the worm gear had slipped to the end of the shaft and wasn't in solid contact. With a small screwdriver I nudged it back in a bit, then put a dab of JB Weld on the end to hold it in place. After that it was just reassembly.

Once I was done reassembling the cluster, I turned to the stereo wiring. I pulled the factory connectors, cleaned up the wires, and started splicing in the connector for the new stereo (one of those $10 Walmart Blaupunkts from the other thread; a thread that, for some reason, I cannot access beyond the first page). I used one of my new favorite things, heat shrink self-soldering butt connectors. A pro tech I know turned me on to them. You just slip the wires in and heat with a lighter. The tubing shrinks, and since it's clear, you can see the solder melt, so you know the joint is good. These (and my Knipex wiring tool) made the job much, much easier.

Once that end of the wiring was taken care of, I headed out to do the speakers; I bought a matching set of cheap Boss speakers in the factory sizes of 4" in the front and 4x10" in the back to minimize my work. The fronts were no problem, as the wiring was intact, so it was just plug-and-play. In the rear I found more wire nuts and ragged wires, along with the factory Saab speakers. I pulled those out (which was more annoying than it needed to be) and mounted the new ones. I then attached new ends and plugged them in.

With all the wiring done, I reinstalled the fascia and cluster, popped in the new head unit, and fired it up. Sound from all four corners, decent enough quality - I was pleased to discover that the powered antenna still worked as well. Tested the Bluetooth and it worked fine. When I turned the car on and checked the cluster lights I did discover that the dash lights for the climate control were still dead  in spite of having changed the bulbs, and I forgot to connect the rheostat for the dash lights; I managed to pop out a couple switches and hook up the two wires blind and with two fingers.

Finally, I adjusted the throttle cable. It had become quite slack after I adjusted the idle down following the ignition tune-up and sealing up the intake vacuum leaks, making it hard get started from a dead stop - it wanted half-throttle or more just to avoid stalling. Snugging up the cable via the plastic adjuster helped a lot.

That's it for today. It's dark and my back hurts from contorting myself.

Which dash lights for the climate controls were you able to change- the knobs or the push buttons?

While looking for replacement bulbs for the knobs I was informed that the whole knob assembly had to be replaced to get the lights to work.  Maybe I was given the wrong info on that.

I for one enjoy a good Saab story.

paranoid_android said:

Which dash lights for the climate controls were you able to change- the knobs or the push buttons?

While looking for replacement bulbs for the knobs I was informed that the whole knob assembly had to be replaced to get the lights to work.  Maybe I was given the wrong info on that.

Hmm, good question. I found three tiny bulb sockets in the area of the climate control knobs. One wired separately and two connected: I thought the former to be the seat belt warning light, and the latter two to be lights for the climate control, but perhaps I'm wrong on that. The four switches below light up, but I think they're lit internally. It's not a major issue, but if I have it apart again I'll look into it more closely.

In reply to 02Pilot :

You may well be right!  I haven’t been into the dash as far as you have.  Once I was told there wasn’t a replaceable lamp behind the knobs I moved on to something else.

Obligatory photo of radio working (it was too dark to get a decent shot when I finished last night).

So many more important jobs to tackle, but at least I feel like I've accomplished something on this car.

Progress, and then again, maybe not. I've already sketched out my new issue in the main forum (with associated questions), but for the sake of completeness here it is in a nutshell.

Yesterday I pulled the left side axle to replace the boots, grease, and the inner (tripod) bearing to address (hopefully) a vibration above 45-50mph on acceleration. This was a known condition when I bought the car, so I ordered parts straight away, as I knew it would have to be done. Yesterday's work went fine. Today I pulled the right side. Not so fine. There was no grease in the inner boot,  the tripod bearing was rusty and dry (and fell apart in my hand), and there's wear in the inner driveshaft, which is almost certainly the source of my vibration. Also, I discovered that the wheel bearing on the right side is toast. Joy.

So now I'm going to have to wait on a wheel bearing, as well as some other attendant parts, and try to track down a decent used inner driveshaft. Failing that, I can either try to swap them side to side (which I understand is possible but requires some fussy labor), or just slap it back together and hope for the best.

So I managed to find and purchase a good used inner driveshaft courtesy of a very helpful Saabnet user; it arrived yesterday, and my plan is to install it, along with new gaskets all around the transmission (there are three external gaskets, plus the driveshaft mounting plate seals) today. However, the car is outside and it rained overnight, so rather than lie on the wet driveway I'm going to wait a few hours. In the meantime I decided to clean up a few things, one being the battery cables. Both were covered in oily dirt, so I took a rag and some WD40 and started wiping away the layers of filth. Unfortunately, the positive cable yielded more than dirt:

I'm pretty sure that's not good. I measured and found a (hopefully) suitable replacement on Amazon, which should be here Tuesday.

The sky is brightening, so with any luck I'll still get the transmission work done today.