My new 9000 :)

6477 Views 30 Replies 14 Participants Last post by quattro, Apr 28, 2011

quattro

Discussion Starter · Aug 23, 2010 (Edited)

1997 9000 CSE anniversary edition
2.3l turbo
Scarab Green
Auto tranny
180K km (110K miles)

These are the crappy cell pics I took when I test drove the car last Sunday. Haven't taken any pics since but its already showing alot nicer

The good:
-Everything works and the car drives great
-Aero body kit
-Two tone anniversary seats w wood/leather steering
-Turbo pulls strong
-No leaks
-Body in great shape except for one fender

The bad:
-Rusted out driver side fender
-Needs new brakes all round
-Transmission takes its time shifting to 4th gear
-Car needs a really good detail

The thought of getting an auto Saab was a 'nice to have' idea since I now live in the city and my wife doesn't drive manual. Last weekend I left the house to check out this gem and ended up buying it the same day.

All in all, a great car. Already grabbed a clean, rust free replacement fender at the wrecker on Saturday for fifty bucks and will install and have it painted to match. Spent the remaining part of the weekend shampooing the carpet and cleaning the leather as well as fixing some issues w the rear lights that caused the pictogram to light uop . Driver's seat has some cracks on the base which I'm probably going to repair at some point but I'm quite happy with how the seats came back to life. The interior on these anniversary models really clean up nice. Surpisingly, for an anniversary edition, this car doesn't have a sunroof...I thought this was standard equipment but obviously not.

Anyway, will be replacing brakes/pads next weekend and changing all fluids, hoses, tensioner and idler pulley, thermostat, and serpentine belt.

With the help of Paul (paul92conv), the tranny issue should be sorted out with some replacement springs in the valve body, tightening the cable, and a full flush. Worse case if I need to do the governer seals, will do that also.

With my work schedule and the fact that I can only work on the car in my parents garage which is more than an hour drive away, it'll probably be more than a month before I'll have the car on the road. Will be posting more pics in this thread as I progress.

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BurnsSide42

· #2 · Aug 23, 2010

Nice find! I would think it should have Aniversary wheels and not Super Aero's - but close enough! Exposed lug vs. those. Car looks nice! I was going to say - the trans problem is usually just Valve Body parts... should be a "simple" fix in the car. Mine has a cold issue where if in "D" it will slip and rev out instead of hitting 4th - so I drive it in 3rd until warm and it's fine - has never gotten worse and I beat the piss out of that trans anytime I drive it. Clean Fluid and filter is the trick. You always want to manually shift it too when driving it sporty - seems to keep it working somehow

dan-the-kid

· #3 · Aug 23, 2010

BurnsSide42 said:
Nice find! I would think it should have Aniversary wheels and not Super Aero's - but close enough!

50th Anniversarys' did get the Super Aeros. It was the 1998 CSEs that got exposed lug Aeros.

quattro

Discussion Starter · #4 · Aug 23, 2010

But what about the sunroof? Any known anniversary models other than this that came without? Oh and I forgot to mention the best part - bought for $875!

BurnsSide42

· #5 · Aug 23, 2010

ohhh - gotcha! I didn't even realize you said 1997 - I just processed aniversary. lol Nice find anyway! Looks like it will turn out good in the end - any plans to swap it over to a 5 speed?

quattro

Discussion Starter · #6 · Aug 23, 2010

No plans for a 5 speed swap.

The point of getting this car was to have an automatic so my wife can drive it as well. The plan is to get the vehicle in tip top shape and drive it for a year or until I'm able to afford the SUV I promised her (that was just before I promised not to get any more Saabs, lol)

mcrowley

· #7 · Aug 23, 2010

Awesome car. Welcome back to the 9k club

quattro

Discussion Starter · #8 · Aug 24, 2010

Thx man, though I never actually left the club. Still have my 93 9000 which I'm not sure what I'll be doing with now.

132417SAAB

· #9 · Aug 24, 2010

Ive always loved those seats; nice catch

airsaab

· #10 · Aug 24, 2010

Nice find, great price. Car is looking good. Love thoses seats.
Maybe you could pick up a 97x for the SUV for your wife. SUV, and a Saab

quattro

Discussion Starter · #11 · Sep 4, 2010

Shots from last weekend. If I'm lucky, I get one afternoon a week to work on my 'to do' list, which is long...may be another month before I officially get the car on the road. Apart from changing all 4 rotors and pads, attacked the body and interior:

old fender:

Here's the junkyard find which will be resprayed. Still needs to be aligned perfectly.

Full cleaning of the seats.
1. Wash with soapy water and dry
2. Scrub lightly with Mr. Clean Magic Eraser
3. Lather on Leatherique conditioner
4. Clean with Leatherique cleaner
5. Dry again
6. Condition once more with Simoniz leather conditioner/cleaner

Apart from the cracks, the seats look like new. The lighter shade of the two tone seats went from a tan cream to a white cream color. Will probably fix the cracks and re-dye the seat bottoms as well.

Now looking forward to getting the car back from paint and changing hoses, fluids, and pulleys

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BurnsSide42

· #12 · Sep 4, 2010

Looking Good! Can't say I've seen a 9000 fender that bad before. They change out easy don't they

quattro

Discussion Starter · #13 · Sep 9, 2010

Got the car back from paint and now reinstalling the 'aero' bumper cover and wheel arch moulding.

questions:
1. The sides of the bumper cover have inserts that should slide into clips mounted along the fender. For the life of me, I can't get the clips to hook themselves into the bumper. I'm sliding the bumper into position while trying to keep the fender and bumper sides as close to each other as possible, hoping that the clips will catch..but its just too tight. Suggestions?

2. The aero fender moulding also has a series of clips with screws that mount onto the fender. However, the last mounting point on the moulding (closest to rocker panel) doesn't use a clip, but probably a flat square headed screw/bolt that's pressed directly into the moulding. Obviously, I lost the screw, but if anyone has a picture of the back of an aero moulding (I'm too lazy to remove the remaining ones on the car), it would help me determine how best to mount it.

thx

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Palla2442

· #14 · Sep 9, 2010

i cant remember exactly but i feel like i didn't slide mine into the clips, i think i just had it lined up and pushed it into them, but like i said i cant quite remember

quattro

Discussion Starter · #15 · Sep 9, 2010

seems like there's been different mounting hardware used over the years then.
i remember seeing an aero bumper cover not even use clips on the fender - similar to the wheel arch moulding, clips with bolts were mounted on the bumper which slid through holes in the fender and secured with nuts on the other side.

IceTea

· #16 · Sep 11, 2010

Looks good..... i like it!!!!!

quattro

Discussion Starter · #17 · Sep 12, 2010

Finally had some time today to mount the bumper.

I ended up doing away with the original clips on the fender and cut them off. Removing them revealed the fender holes which made the solution simpler. Had some leftover clips w screws from a junkyard wheel arch moulding and simply hooked them into the bumper sides and secured them on the other end of the fender with nuts. Looks perfect and flush now

Latest shots from today:

This is the best I could align the fender. Slightly narrow towards the edge of the hood but otherwise its all good:

Had the hood resprayed also:

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jimbosaab

· #18 · Sep 12, 2010

It looks awesome!
Except maybe for those MapleBuds plates

quattro

Discussion Starter · #19 · Sep 20, 2010 (Edited)

Ontario Make Belief plates!

Had a busy afternoon today. Changed the tensioner and idler pulley along with the serpentine belt. Don't wanna take any chances on used rotating plastic.

The highlight of this afternoon's work:

Before:

After:

Didn't have much sun left by the time it was over and so the flash doesn't flatter the steering wheel but believe me it looks a hundred times better than before.

As for the seats, I redyed both driver and passenger - its tricky with the two tones but turned out well. I'll be back at the car next weekend to put on a final coat after letting it cure.

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drewz airflow se

· #20 · Sep 20, 2010

Where did u get the dye?

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