Saablivious

Well, I officially passed on my SAAB illness on to my son. Yesterday we added c900 #7 to the yard (summons should be on the way shortly). He picked up an '89 900T vert for $1100. He's been obsessing about buying one and this was in his price range. I told him to hold off and don't buy anything until I could go look at it with him, but you know kids these days. He bought and drove it home yesterday.

The good:
-No rust
-Recent paint job (although the hood is faded again-damn red paint)
-Recent top
-1200 watt Sony stereo

The bad:
-Heater core leaked on the DS carpet so the PO cut that section of carpet out when replacing the heater.
-Got lost under the dash when he replaced the heater core and installed radio and F'd up all the wiring. Instead of getting help, he got creative and just rewired a bunch of crap himself. There is a toggle switch on the floor console to turn the dash fan on. The directionals work but you have to toggle them in the turn position for the blinker to blink. You have to disconnect the window switch after putting the window up or it keeps running. (driver's window only-the passenger window is missing altogether).
-Bird's nest of custom wiring under the hood, melted fuse box. I don't even know where to start.
-Front lower seats have been replaced with vinyl (professionally done, but vinyl?)
-Back seat is toast.
-Rear trunk lock is missing
-Dash cracked
-Door cards recovered but look like a 5 year-old did the job.
-Screws/hardware missing everywhere. Took interior and under-hood things apart to do various "repairs" and just didn't bother putting it back together properly.

I know what you're thinking; "Ric, that isn't terrible, as long as you've got a good base and a good motor..."

Oh, on the motor... The valve cover has been installed using silicone sealant, no gasket--cardinal sin. The PCV check valve is MIA. Vacuum canister is bypassed entirely. The car is smoking, idling terribly in gear and spitting oil out the oil-fill tube. I ran a compression test 145, 120, 120, 60. Squirted a little oil in the cylinders and ran another test 150, 150, 150, 140--rings are shot--motors toast--rude awakening. We found a 90K motor for $250. My son will be getting his first taste of motor swapping.

I think that while the motor's out we'll be swapping the wiring harness over from the '89 parts car I have in the yard. Easier than trying to decipher the hodgepodge of creative wiring that the PO did--what a fucked-up kludge.

He had the opportunity to return the car, but figured for the total cost of repairs (mostly DIY) it was worth keeping. I'd have walked as soon as I saw the car. My guess is that halfway through the project he'll wish he just brought it back and got something else.

Unfortunately since he needs guidance through the process, that puts my projects on hold for awhile. At least we'll get to spend some quality (I hope) pop-son time wrenching on it.