[BuHuSPG]

fantastic looking build!

 

[YellowBird]

I agree, the door panels look great. I am curious about the material that was used on the lower portion of the panel.

 

[Fizik]

I agree, the door panels look great. I am curious about the material that was used on the lower portion of the panel.

It's a furniture fabric that's similar to alcantara.

I wonder what our old friend B202-nut would say about this build. I think its awesome, so he would hate it for some arbitrary reason.

I remember he made something terrible with his convertibles interior. That said, I might have to regret my following write-up....

When I dont have the mood to do the technical mods and repairs I play around with the interior. I've always been a fan of nice interiors. A cars inside has to be a nice place to be in.

So I experimented with some wood.
First got a wooden gear knob that was a bit tired.
Cleaned it up with sandpaper and coated with epoxy resin. It was a bit tricky, but I think I got it right.

The other thing that annoys me are the bubbles on the glove box. These are caused by the moulding marks on the plastic cover itself that the vinyl is glued on. And this really is an experiment since I'm not sure I like it until it's done and tried on.
But for the glove box to work aesthetically the instrument panel needs to be done too. I have some spare ones to try this on.
The aim is to make it as modest as possible. If stands out too much then it's failed. This could turn out like shit, so feel free or even please submit your views and opinions

This is the starting point. At the end of the summer I already got some gauges and relocated the radio.

Finding that good grain and tone is important first.

The box cover on the last image is not yet sealed. But I needed to test it how it handles the sun, heat and moisture. After few months it did not show any defects or cracks. Now I need to seal it. Which brings me to some options. Should it be a glossy finish, that brings out the wood grain a bit more or should it be matte finish that pretty much doesn't change the look from the last image. Also was wondering if a painted dark thin stripe would do any good (just like the original has it)

Opinions please
("This whole thing is shit! Find a perfect glove box and dash" is a welcome opinion too)

 

[YellowBird]

Thank you Fizik, I have collected several door panels and the bottom pocket is often the weak link. I have been wondering what would be a good work around.

I also have a box of tired wood knobs I need to restore. Would you give more details of your sanding and epoxy resin process --- came out looking very good!

 

[Fizik]

I also have a box of tired wood knobs I need to restore. Would you give more details of your sanding and epoxy resin process --- came out looking very good!

The process is simple. Carefully remove the old varnish by sanding without damaging the plate on top.
That done, use a pen or something similar to stick the knob on to it so you could hold it while coating the knob.

I used a medium thickness epoxy resin. Could use both low and high, just the lower viscosity will start to run more easily.

Make sure to stirr the epoxy and the catalyst very well or you will get a patchy finish.

Also you may want to use fast curing epoxy, so it would cure pretty fast for avoiding runs. I used 15min working time epoxy resin. I applied only one thick coat and did not coat the top plate. Very carefully with a thin brush I coated the edge of the plate first and then with a wider brush the rest of the knob.

Hope this helps

 

[YellowBird]

Fizik:

All of this information is very helpful to me. What grit sandpaper did you use?

 

[Fizik]

What grit sandpaper did you use?

I think it was 240. If you would use spray varnish for example, then I think you should use a finer grit. But with medium or high viscosity epoxy the coating will be thick enough so the grooves will be evened out easily. Important is to just remove the old coating and just a bit of wood to make it look brighter and new.

The last pic of the knob is made after curing. As you can see, it does not require polishing (unless you want it to look perfect from 5cm away). Compare it with some previous pic where you clearly can see the roughness of the wood.

So the short answear is: use 240 if you coat with epoxy. But again, stirr the resin and catalyst mix before application very well.

 

[YellowBird]

So the short answear is: use 240 if you coat with epoxy. But again, stirr the resin and catalyst mix before application very well.

Thanks for the tip. I'm going to try this on a few.

 

[Fizik]

On with the T5.

After milling the slots on to the flywheel I noticed that the bolt and pin holes overlap with the slots. This might cause an issue for the sensor though I'm not sure.

To prevent it I thought I'd buy slightly longer bolts, tighten to required spec, grind them down, numerate each one and mill the necessary bit that reaches into the slot.

Weird thing is that for example eeuroparts kit does not seem to address this issue. Clearly seen on the fourth picture when zoomed in.
SAAB Trionic 5 (T5) Conversion Flywheel Trigger Kit - 101K10038 - Free Shipping

Does anybody know, how wide of an area the sensor requires?

 

[YellowBird]

On with the T5.

After milling the slots on to the flywheel I noticed that the bolt and pin holes overlap with the slots. This might cause an issue for the sensor though I'm not sure.

Weird thing is that for example eeuroparts kit does not seem to address this issue.

Does anybody know, how wide of an area the sensor requires?

I would suggest you contact Mike @ MikeD Tuning, he is very knowledgeable and experienced with the T5 conversion. He did an excellent job with mine!!

 

[Saabeh]

I would suggest you contact Mike @ MikeD Tuning, he is very knowledgeable and experienced with the T5 conversion. He did an excellent job with mine!!

+100

He helped me T5 my toyota...

 

[squaab99t]

On with the T5.

After milling the slots on to the flywheel I noticed that the bolt and pin holes overlap with the slots. This might cause an issue for the sensor though I'm not sure.

To prevent it I thought I'd buy slightly longer bolts, tighten to required spec, grind them down, numerate each one and mill the necessary bit that reaches into the slot.

Weird thing is that for example eeuroparts kit does not seem to address this issue. Clearly seen on the fourth picture when zoomed in.
SAAB Trionic 5 (T5) Conversion Flywheel Trigger Kit - 101K10038 - Free Shipping

Does anybody know, how wide of an area the sensor requires?

Information on T5 install into a LH 2.2 1988 900t - Page 23 - SaabCentral Forums
post #447

Did you slot the flywheel yourself, or is this the eeuro kit?

 

[Fizik]

Information on T5 install into a LH 2.2 1988 900t - Page 23 - SaabCentral Forums
post #447

Did you slot the flywheel yourself, or is this the eeuro kit?

Thanks a lot. That post describes exactly the issue I'm trying to avoid.
The flywheel is not eeuro kit. Got it machined in a local shop

 

[squaab99t]

Thanks a lot. That post describes exactly the issue I'm trying to avoid.
The flywheel is not eeuro kit. Got it machined in a local shop

You are welcome. This stuff is not as easy as some elude it to be.
Curious on how you are dialing in the crank reference angle (117* btdc)? Can you expand on your test setup?

 

[Fizik]

Curious on how you are dialing in the crank reference angle (117* btdc)? Can you expand on your test setup?

In the center of the flywheel there is a sensor that measures the degrees.
When I rotate the flywheel 117 degrees clockwise, the one larger milled slot is in the correct place for the cps. I hope this was what you were asking.

 

[squaab99t]

In the center of the flywheel there is a sensor that measures the degrees.
When I rotate the flywheel 117 degrees clockwise, the one larger milled slot is in the correct place for the cps. I hope this was what you were asking.

So how do you know -2 tooth is in the correct place for the cps? Is the ECU listening for the leading or trailing edge of the sine wave the VR sensor produces? The -2 slot is 12 degrees.

 

[Fizik]

So how do you know -2 tooth is in the correct place for the cps?

When the engine is at TDC then the sensor has to be 20 slots before the big slot.
So I'm checking the flywheel against the drawing.
This is the drawing:

And this is the real flywheel itself:

Is the ECU listening for the leading or trailing edge of the sine wave the VR sensor produces? The -2 slot is 12 degrees.

This question I'm not sure I get correctly. Maybe you can explain further.

 

[squaab99t]

When the engine is at TDC then the sensor has to be 20 slots before the big slot.
So I'm checking the flywheel against the drawing.
This is the drawing:

And this is the real flywheel itself:

This question I'm not sure I get correctly. Maybe you can explain further.

When the engine is at TDC then the sensor has to be 20 slots before the big slot.
So I'm checking the flywheel against the drawing.
This is the drawing:

And this is the real flywheel itself:

This question I'm not sure I get correctly. Maybe you can explain further.

I hope you are progressing with your project.
I finally located the pictures that might help explain what its happening. These are pictures I took of my cps's output read via an old school oscilloscope.
First pix you can see the 60-2 pattern a full crank revolution with a bit extra on the front. Look at the middle pattern input 1.

Second pix is a zoom. You can see how the metallic metal and absence creates the sine wave from + to -. two basic shapes, the normal slot and -2 slot.

Now that we can see the sine wave and that is what the ECU sees it needs to be in the correct place relative to engine TDC. The question is, Is the ECU looking for the leading edge, trailing edge or somewhere in between. A real motorsports ecu you can dial in the crank ref angle via the software interface. With T5 ,you are stuck with what is hard coded in the firmware. This is because the sensor and the trigger are machined into place, and even with the tolerances the timing was set pretty conservative.
The alternative is to make the bracket that holds the sensor adjustable, to dial in the timing via the ecu software's reading and a ignition timing light. Down side of this is you need to make it adjustable but can't slip over time.

Note T5 uses inginiton timing to control idle, so you have to rev the engine and hold around 2500 to get out of the ignition idle map.
• View topic - Squaabworks CPS kit group buy number 3

 

[Fizik]

The question is, Is the ECU looking for the leading edge, trailing edge or somewhere in between

This is from a T5 Suite manual.
Upper is for t5.5 and lower for t5.2

 

[squaab99t]

This is from a T5 Suite manual.
Upper is for t5.5 and lower for t5.2

Very good that should get you in the ballpark. It may very well change when the trigger is moving versus a static.

Did you start with a 9000 flywheel core? I ask because if you used the original timing marks they are in different location compared to a c900. A simple check is to baseline tdc of piston 1 and verify the marks. If all is good go back and check your trailing (falling) edge on your cps.