[tuner4life]

Contrary to what people on the internet will tell you, you can use an older non-airbag wheel in a 1992 airbag car.

The column bushing was bad so the wheel had to come off anyways. I had asked on FB if I could use the much nicer wheel from my parts car and the general consensus was that you have to swap the whole upper column in order to make the horn and the turn signal cancel feature work. My horn hasn't worked anyways, so I was just worried about making the turn signal cancel work. That was solved with a simple zip-tie added to the tab on the steering wheel as seen in the picture below. I tried to figure out something with the horn ring, but eventually gave up. It's not that big of a deal to me.

Anyways. I'm super happy with the new wheel and that it's solidly mounted on the column now.




While I was cleaning up the shop, I had to stop for a minute and appreciate the unique lines on this car. There is nothing like it out there.

 

[ninehundredt]

Such a beautiful car! I wish there was a good way to recover the dash cracks so we wouldn't have to use covers. So you're able to pass inspection without a working horn?

 

[tuner4life]

Such a beautiful car! I wish there was a good way to recover the dash cracks so we wouldn't have to use covers. So you're able to pass inspection without a working horn?

Thank you! I wish there was a good solution for the dashes that didn't break the bank, but I don't mind the carpet covers in this car. It kind of fits.

As for the inspections.. lol.. I live in rural Indiana, we don't have anything in the way of inspections

 

[jimbosaab]

Contrary to what people on the internet will tell you, you can use an older non-airbag wheel in a 1992 airbag car.

The column bushing was bad so the wheel had to come off anyways. I had asked on FB if I could use the much nicer wheel from my parts car and the general consensus was that you have to swap the whole upper column in order to make the horn and the turn signal cancel feature work. My horn hasn't worked anyways, so I was just worried about making the turn signal cancel work. That was solved with a simple zip-tie added to the tab on the steering wheel as seen in the picture below. I tried to figure out something with the horn ring, but eventually gave up. It's not that big of a deal to me.

That's great. I've been planning to swap the upper column and wheel.

As for the inspections.. lol.. I live in rural Indiana, we don't have anything in the way of inspections

Hehe. Here is NS, we have bi-annual inspections (used to be annual). I've parked a few roadworthy cars over the years because of them.

 

[ninehundredt]

Hehe. Here is NS, we have bi-annual inspections (used to be annual). I've parked a few roadworthy cars over the years because of them.

That's ridiculous, and surprising considering how rural NS is. BTW how close is this Sonett to you:

Saab Sonett Classifieds

 

[tuner4life]

That's ridiculous, and surprising considering how rural NS is. BTW how close is this Sonett to you:

Saab Sonett Classifieds

That Sonett appears to be in Brooklyn New York which is a solid 12 hours or so from here.

 

[ninehundredt]

That Sonett appears to be in Brooklyn New York which is a solid 12 hours or so from here.

Sorry that question was meant for Jimbo since he's in Nova Scotia. I was talking about the Sonett in Annapolis Royal (the white one). When I saw that one in Brooklyn I was hastily trying to figure out how I could come up with $8k as quick as possible.

 

[jimbosaab]

Sorry that question was meant for Jimbo since he's in Nova Scotia. I was talking about the Sonett in Annapolis Royal (the white one). When I saw that one in Brooklyn I was hastily trying to figure out how I could come up with $8k as quick as possible.

Thread hijack
I've been watching the Kijiji ad for that white '73 for a couple months now. I'm about 3 hrs drive from Annapolis Royal.
I haven't contacted the owner yet, mainly because it's a lot of $$ to scrape up. Looks pretty mint, tho.

 

[ninehundredt]

Thread hijack
I've been watching the Kijiji ad for that white '73 for a couple months now. I'm about 3 hrs drive from Annapolis Royal.
I haven't contacted the owner yet, mainly because it's a lot of $$ to scrape up. Looks pretty mint, tho.

I spoke to him a few weeks ago. He's asking a lot, and the car is unfortunately not very original anymore. That color is non-stock, and the interior has been redone as well. Personally if I was going to buy a vintage SAAB, I would want it as close to original as possible. The blue car in Brooklyn is a better example.

 

[DrewGM]

Great tip for the steering wheel option! Nice car

 

[tuner4life]

Thanks everyone! There isn't much to update at this time. I'm making a little list of things that I'd like to work on and fix, but this thing has been driving great and I've been driving it almost daily. I love it! I can't believe that someone was ready to send this thing to the scrap yard



So still to do is:
-Purchase and install the rest of the A/C system and charge it.
-Replace some dash lights and inop dash buttons
-Figure out stiff steering column u-joint
-Add 3 gauge pod
-Install a stereo system
-Figure out how to add cruise control option
-minor cosmetics

 

[jimbosaab]

Thanks everyone! There isn't much to update at this time. I'm making a little list of things that I'd like to work on and fix, but this thing has been driving great and I've been driving it almost daily. I love it! I can't believe that someone was ready to send this thing to the scrap yard

So still to do is:
-Purchase and install the rest of the A/C system and charge it.
-Replace some dash lights and inop dash buttons
-Figure out stiff steering column u-joint
-Add 3 gauge pod
-Install a stereo system
-Figure out how to add cruise control option
-minor cosmetics

Great that it's working well for you. As it should, given all the work you put into it already.

• I've pulled 900 steering shafts before with stiff u-joints and one that had developed enough slop that it eventually started binding. Is the one in your parts car any good?
• Adding 900 cruise control?....I'm guessing adding the pieces will be easier than getting the not-so-reliable system to work...LOL.

 

[tuner4life]

Great that it's working well for you. As it should, given all the work you put into it already.

• I've pulled 900 steering shafts before with stiff u-joints and one that had developed enough slop that it eventually started binding. Is the one in your parts car any good?
• Adding 900 cruise control?....I'm guessing adding the pieces will be easier than getting the not-so-reliable system to work...LOL.

Thank you!

Tbh I haven't looked at the steering joint yet. I believe it's just stiff from lack of use and if I can somehow get some grease to it maybe I can free it up. It seems to be getting better the more i drive the car as well. There is one on the parts car, but it looks like an absolute nightmare to change with the engine in the car so I doubt I'll mess with it unless it gets worse.

As for the cruise control, this car never had the option, so unless I can fine a NOS add-on kit somewhere, it's either going to be a hodge-podge of used parts, or maybe I can make something aftermarket work.. Idk, it's more is a convenience on long trips than anything. I end up speeding too much without it lol

 

[tuner4life]

It's been a little bit since I updated this.. I've been driving this car several times per week and it's given me no real issues. I'm still improving little things here and there, but it runs and drives so well and has no leaks and burns no fluids. The only little annoyances that I've discovered include a small fuel leak from the pump seal when the tank is full, and also the driver's seat belt gets wet in big rain storms from somewhere inside of the quarter panel cavity..

Anyways, I love this thing and my brother who is a professional photog took some nice rollers the other day. I still can't believe how this car started and how far it's come.

 

[ninehundredt]

Beautiful car! Now its time to start a thread for Palmer's old car

 

[tuner4life]

Beautiful car! Now its time to start a thread for Palmer's old car

There is already a thread for that car floating around here somewhere.. Progress is happening with that one. Rust is being patched and it's going to live again, but it's going at a snail's pace and I'm going to wait until there is some visible progress to update it. Things are happening though

 

[jimbosaab]

It's been a little bit since I updated this.. I've been driving this car several times per week and it's given me no real issues. I'm still improving little things here and there, but it runs and drives so well and has no leaks and burns no fluids. The only little annoyances that I've discovered include a small fuel leak from the pump seal when the tank is full, and also the driver's seat belt gets wet in big rain storms from somewhere inside of the quarter panel cavity..

Anyways, I love this thing and my brother who is a professional photog took some nice rollers the other day. I still can't believe how this car started and how far it's come.

Lookin' great! Glad you're enjoying driving it.

The O-ring fuel pump seal seems to be fairly common. I had to do that on my Comm.Ed. IIRC, I made a tool out of a PVC pipe reducer and tried tightening the lock ring first. Then had to pull the pump and change the seal (looked like poor / dirty pump install made a bad seal). Broke one of the fuel line fittings in the process.

 

[ninehundredt]

I'm going to have to dig up that thread and follow it. I know what you mean about the progress moving at a snails pace. My SPG is the same story. My project thread has been dead for years now. I've been meaning to ask you if you use any type of cover when you store your vehicles. I've been looking around for a decent cover for the convertible because it's put away in the winter, but still manages to collect dust fairly heavily.

Edit: I found and reviewed that project thread. You definitely have your work cut out for you.

 

[tuner4life]

I'm going to have to dig up that thread and follow it. I know what you mean about the progress moving at a snails pace. My SPG is the same story. My project thread has been dead for years now. I've been meaning to ask you if you use any type of cover when you store your vehicles. I've been looking around for a decent cover for the convertible because it's put away in the winter, but still manages to collect dust fairly heavily.

Edit: I found and reviewed that project thread. You definitely have your work cut out for you.

It's definitely moving to the top of the list, but it's going to be a big project for sure. I have a bunch of fun plans for it.. I'm just excited to have this other C900 to enjoy in the meantime. Rebuilding this red car has helped me kind of refine my plans for the other car as well..

As for car covers, I just use the cheapest ones I can find when storing cars indoors. Just enough to keep the dust off of them. But lately I've found that it's easier to just roll them out and rinse them off every now and then than try to deal with the covers.. I don't cover cars if they are outside because the covers will chafe and scratch the paint in the wind.

 

[tuner4life]

And just like that it's put away for the winter. I am still amazed with how this car turned out and it has been rock solid all summer long. I put over 5k miles on it this summer and it never skipped a beat. It's such a happy eager little car even without a turbo.



That being said, there are a handful of things I want to address while it's off the road:
-Drop the fuel tank and figure out where the leak is when the tank is full (new pump seal didn't fix it)
-Install A/C system and get that working
-Go through the dash and replace lights, switches, etc that are inop or broken
-Install a stereo system
-Install aux gauges
-Install an alarm/keyless entry
-Address minor rain leaks
-Improve headlight situation (they suck)
-Figure out a way to add cruise control option this car never had
-etc.

And that's all until spring. I'll post updates as they happen, but it's off the road until the salt is gone.

Here are some pictures from recently: