Stampie wrote: No no ... It's just a head gasket. Don't give up yet. BTW it wasn't a party unless there were picture taken. Just saying.
Yeah, it's just a head gasket, but the car needs a bunch of other stuff, too. Not an easy decision, to be sure.
It sure is solid, though. There's no rust worth talking about.
What other issues are there? I could understand if rust but anything mechanical can be fixed. Ture it may be a lot but berkeley it's a Classic 900 turbo.
A head gasket can't be too bad a job on a longitudinal-engined car.
the hardest part about the HG on a classic 900.. the two bolts that go -up- from the "front" chain cover into the "front" of the head.. they are sandwiched tight between the engine and the firewall.. that and the weight of the head.. it is a weighty thing.
I replaced the one on my 91 900s in the dead of winter in two days. One day off, one day on.
HG on a classic 900 is easy. It can definitely be done in one long wrenching session if you plan it right. When I did the head swap on mine to the 2.1 NA head, I didn't even remove the intake manifold.
To be honest, I'd consider a fly and drive for it if all it needs is a HG, and it's not rusty.
Adrian_Thompson wrote: Considering just selling it.
I know I shouldn't but I may be interested if you decide to sell.
EvanB wrote:Adrian_Thompson wrote: Considering just selling it.I know I shouldn't but I may be interested if you decide to sell.
If Evan decides to pass let me know.
Bidding war! 
I thought about throwing my hat in the ring but then thought that there's probably a lot of C900s between Florida and Michigan.
Adrian_Thompson wrote: The good news is it's running. We did one lap of the neighborhood. The bad news is it has a blown head gasket. Don't know what I'm going to do now. We put most of the Interior in. Considering just selling it. Big thanks to the guys who helped.
Well poop!
What led you to the HG?
I plan to replace mine as well- but in my little mind the job is preventive at this point.
Let me know if I can help in any way!
First off a massive thanks to Tom and Jeff (Gearheadotaku) and my neighbor Dan
OK guys, sorry for the delay. I really buggered up my back on Sunday. I previously had a stiff neck from sleeping on a coach for 23 hours coming back from NYC to here. Turns out I had two vertebra out in my neck, so I was holding myself in a bad position. With all the stuff I moved around (including the big window, thanks guys) I managed to put two more vertebra out in my lower back and twisted a rib too. I'm in agony and spent yesterday flat on my back except for having to go out several times.
So. How did we diagnose the head gasket? It started when we checked the oil. I still had a label on the steering wheel saying 'do not start, no oil' I was sure I'd filled it up but we checked. It was over full which made no sense. But we decided to proceed with the start anyway. IT ran fine and we drove around the block (2/3 mile). We then set about tightening up the exhaust then drain some of the oil. That's when we found the sump was full of chocolate milk.
We instantly thought HG but went about checking it out. Went and rented a cooling system pressure tester but none of the adapters would fit to pressurized expansion/cooling tank. So then I used the adapter from my compression tester and an airline fitting to pressurize each cylinder. We soon found that air was going straight between cyls 1 and 2, classic head gasket. The good news is that it's a classic head gasket leak and unlikely to be anything more serious.
I looked at the procedure for swapping the HG and found that Saabs use those external Torx bit head bolts. I don't have any sockets for those so we went ahead with putting the interior back together.
Despite my back I had to go out a few times yesterday, every time I pulled back on the drive I thought 'Damn, it looks cool, it's only a HG, I've got to fix it.' Then I got back and found people had expressed an interest in the car. I honestly don't know what to do. A head gasket isn't a big job. I mean it's not an MG Midget (45 min job between practice and Quali) or a Hillman IMP (Just over an hour because of limited space), but not impossible. But what else do I want to do to the car.
If people are really interested PM me and we'll talk. YOu can see the whole story prior to this weekend here. https://grassrootsmotorsports.com/forum/build-projects-and-project-cars/project-loki-1988-classic-saab-turbo/57193/page1/
We spent some time putting the Interior back together. So it looks a whole lot better.
Watch your video on the first page of this thread again. Listen to that turbo whistle. You won't be able to sell it after that.
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