The Louver Thread

[coreyeroc]

From the 86 SPG I bought, it came with a set of louvers - but, they had to be shipped to me because his son had taken them to a friends house to repaint them. I finally got them last week. When I finally pulled them out of the box, I was holding plastic in my hands, not aluminum... And so begins a louver mystery.

I havent ever seen these on any other Saab, and havent seen them offered elsewhere. Maybe Im just missing them someone online, but i havent found them anywhere. They came with the car when the pervious PO bought. He mentioned that he was in the military, and said he brought back a few parts from Europe. Im guessing, this is one of those 'parts'. Here are some pics.

the backside of the logo


the mounting holes, upper & lower, for the tabs that came in the mounting kit






And it ACTUALLY came with a manual & mounting kit!



the plastic tabs are attached with the glue it came with - but I'll prolly just use silicone. The tabs just have a protrustion (tiny boner) that fits up into the circular mounting ponits on the upper/lower sections. Even came with a new set of those little pieces too... neat!

It fits perfectly on the window though, matches right up. Im a little offended that they're plastic... I only saw them from a distance when I looked at the car the first time, so i didnt really think anything of it - they didnt really look any different. The kid said that he had spray panited them half primer color, and didnt finish the rest - but I dont see any paint, or primer anywhere. I think the kid was most likely just trying to keep them for his Z project. Kept trying to put off going to get them to ship to me, and kept telling me how they were in bad shape, etc, etc. Anyway - it looks like the orig. color - but I'll prolly re-paint them myself (any color suggestions? do i go black, or try to color code them Ed. Grey??

Here is an original set of classic metal louvers, for comparison. I'm torn between the looks of the two. However, the metal ones dont seem to fit near as well. The plastic ones had coverage all the way around the window, no gaps - these dont.. maybe they're not supposed to. Anyway, they look a tad bit off because I had to let them hang at the bottom, since they wouldnt stay put on their own. picshurs



under these circle points, there are pivotal 'plates' that slide under the weatherstripping, and can be adhered to the car. The plates are affixed to the louvers, not removeable. There are also some on the top part of the louver. here...




thi is teh part I dont like - they're sitting a little low anyway because they slid down the window - but anyway, I dont like how far they stick up at the bottom.


and the plastic set again, so you can pic compare..


Tell me what you think of the plastic louvers, and any info if you have it. Anyone have pics of these on a car elsewhere? Does anyone else have these? Oh hai, are they rare?

Let me know your opinions (because we all know just how opinionated TSL folks are*)

Louver Informational Thread.
Begin.

[coreyeroc]

found this little tidbit on SC -

"That's the SAAB/Thermoform louvre. Autoplas made another one, which seemed more popular in the UK, the Thermoform one in Europe and the metal Shadow louvre in the US. It's quite rare to see a plastic SAAB louvre in the US, I must say."

[Palmer]

Wow, two rare louvers.

I think the metal ones were an option for the airflow kit. I don't know them name off the top of my head, but they are far less common than the "shadow" louvers, with the "saab" cutout.



I like the plastic ones, I say paint and use those. I would probably go black.

[BurnsSide42]

Well either way you will need a whale tail to match - but I think the plastic ones actually do look a little cleaner/nicer. Plus no fears of rust, just fears of cracking plastic.

Are the plastic ones removable like the metal ones?

[coreyeroc]

yes, they're removeable - they just pop out with some direct force on those mounting holes. the tabs stay attached to the glass when the louver comes off

[Palmer]

Someone once said that painting a louvers body color would be like bleaching the mullet.


I tend to agree.

[coreyeroc]

mullet? well, it was made in 1986...

appropriate?

nah... black, it is. Other info on the plastic louvers - the guy said they came with this car when he bought it. Said that the PO before him used them on his '82 900, and had bought them new. So it appears that the louvers are quite old.

My question is - why arent parts like this remanufactured today? Im not sure how long the copyrights hold on parts like this, but in a lot of arenas, these designs would be public domain by now. So, why isnt anyone reissuing the cosmetic/mechanical parts now? Its a pretty well known fact across US & Europe that there is a large cult following for this model, so it just befuddles me that no one is making anything new for them.

[Talladega900]

there was actually another, pre- middle brake light, alumuminum louver. IIRC, it came in three pieces -- sides with the SAAB logo going up the edge, and the center louver part. I'll see if I can find a brochure with a pic...

[dasaabguy]

Originally Posted by Talladega900

there was actually another, pre- middle brake light, alumuminum louver. IIRC, it came in three pieces -- sides with the SAAB logo going up the edge, and the center louver part. I'll see if I can find a brochure with a pic...

i just got another set of these and they have the pre-middle brake light bend on the last louver fin and they dont have the "shadow" logo on the bottom left side.

The louvres i currently have on my c900 are identical with the exception of the brake light bend on the last fin and it does have the shadow logo.

I'll try to get some pics for comparison purposes

[coreyeroc]

please do - would love to have pics of all louvers for Saabs. different variations, and all.

[c900]

The metal ones were made by Roger Chastain and Associates but they haven't been produced for a long time now. From what I've been able to determine, there were versions for the 2 and 4 door sedan body shape and for the 3 and 5 door hatchback body shape, and also sub-variations with the bottom louvre formed to not block the centre brake light mounted behind the glass in the hatchback models.

The most common ones are called 'shadow' louvres because the side pieces that join the individual louvres together have the word 'SAAB' cut out in 'relief' or 'shadow' type lettering. There's a set on Ebay at the moment. There are some without the shadow lettering and I'm not sure if they were a Roger Chastain product but they look the same otherwise.

The prices for the metal ones in very good to excellent condition are really high even now almost 20 years after C900's stopped rolling out of Trollhattan but if it wasn't for the extreme cost to ship them to Ozzie land, I'd say they're a worthwhile investment if they come with all the mounting hardware. Not sure how they would cope with the Australian climate.

Craig.

[coreyeroc]

thanks for the info Craig. I have seen the 'Saab' Shadow louvers - but from what I hear, arent they quite a bit more rare than the standard metal louver (without Saab in the side of it)? I thought those with the name on the side were only made in the very early years, and there were less made. But I dont know - Im just going off of what another saab fanatic told me...

[SaabHat93]

I don't think the Shadow type are as rare as the plastic ones. The only sets I've seen in person in my area are the Shadow type. I think they look better than all the other types, but man are they a pain in the ass to put on and line up.

My shop had a few sets in the back and I picked up one for $100 with all mounting hardware in good condition.

[coreyeroc]

what sort of mounting harware did the shadow louvers come with?

[dasaabguy]

as for mounting hardware for the shadows there should be 2 hinges that run along the top which then bolt onto two thin metal mounting flaps (mounted with doublesided tape). They tuck underneath the upper window weatherstripping.

At the bottom there should be two thin metal mounting flaps with pins sticking up out of them that mount on the bottom corners of the rear window. These are a bit tricky to mount because you have to make sure that the holes on the louvre align perfectly with the pins so that you can lock them down.

i think the rarest piece is the "propping rod" which props the louvres up so you can clean the window. Neither of my louvres have this rod.

i actually made some lower mounting hardware because i was missing the bottom hardware. I then found the lower hardware in some of the bins i had and replaced them. The mounts I made were pretty dang close to the originals.....

[projectjava]

i was wondering if anyone could scan a copy of the instructions and email them to me?

thanks,
Ross

[turbomarlin]

where can you get a set of these?

[/QUOTE]

[coreyeroc]

Originally Posted by turbomarlin

where can you get a set of these?

[/QUOTE]

theyre hard to find, but craigslist has been a great outlet for me - try it.

[coreyeroc]

here ya go turbomarlin...

http://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/pts/1733721102.html

they're not too bad to be shipped as long as it stays in the US (usually around $22). Going to Canada, the shipping box size is limited - so it can be a fiasco.. Ask me how I know.

[amish_geek]

dun dun dun...