[Grey Ghost]

Howdy I saw this car when I first got my c900 and fell in love with it, never realised you live so close though! Im down in Fort Wayne and have taken trips up to South Bend for car Meets and such. Awesome to see your build coming along again. If you ever need any parts there are two junkyards about an hour from here that i drop in and get parts from now and then. Curious as to where all you drift at? ive got a 80 impala thats getting a 2j swap that i was thinking about bringing out to gridlife but dont know many other place to go sideways around the area. Good luck mate and look forward to seeing her back on the road again

 

[tuner4life]

Hi neighbor! There aren't too many Saab people in the Midwest. Glad to now know another!

An 80 Impala with a 2j? That sounds pretty sweet! I'm just getting ready to swap my Cressida over to a 2j also from the 1UZ. I can't wait! We have drifted all over the place. Gingerman in MI, Lucas Oil raceway, and Speedrome in Indianapolis, Kilkare Speedway in Ohio, even as far west at Gateway Motorsports park in St. Louis. 2 years ago we even drifted the oval track at Baer Field in Ft Wayne. I'm taking a break until I get the 2j swap done and a few other projects, but I'll definitely be at Gridlife this year! (Camping/partying, not driving).

Not that I want to derail this thread anymore than it already is, but any pics of the Impala?

 

[Grey Ghost]

Same to you mate! Although I have found that saabs seem to multiply rather easily... But Nice! I'm surprised your swapping to the jz from a uz, would think the v8 would be nicer for the drifting over a jz but then again ive never driven more than a completely stock 1uz in a bone stock Lexus. so no idea how its torque curve is boosted and such, are you doing a jdm unit or building a usdm motor? bet that will be fun when its done! and dang sounds like you have traveld a good deal for it, where you with the Midwest group that just shut down? But sweet will have to keep an eye out for the van then, will be my first year at the Michigan event but sounds like its pretty awesome!
I do have a bunch of photos but as it turns out my old phone no longer turns on so I scrounged around and found this one from 2 summers ago. At this point she had a v8 olds, craiger rims (with 315 street slicks in the back in factory tubs, was really impressed as it still will tuck the wheels) rear disk brake conversion and a bunch of neat things like I found an original 9c1 am/fm/Cassette radio. She was a lot of fun and cant wait to get her back on the road or atleast track

 

[tuner4life]

That's cool! I grep up in the back seat of a 1989 Caprice. Definitely the last of a bygone era of american cars. Makes me a little nostalgic lol.

The UZ is truly a great engine. I've got one in my 1997 LS400 daily driver too and I love it. The engine in the Cressida is a 200k+ unit that I threw some seals at and have been beating the crap out of for over 3 years now. Never even had the heads off. It just works. The problem is that is only makes about 250hp. I could turbo it, but it costs a ton to make any good power because nearly everything has to be custom made, whereas a 2JZ has nearly everything readily available and the knowledge base is huge. It's an obvious choice if I want to do anything competitive with the car before I retire lol. Yeah, I ran in the Midwest Drift Union. It's a shame they shut down, but imo some change in this region may not be a bad thing. They are still organizing some bash events under the Drift Indy title. I'm utilizing the break to build the car for whatever comes up later.

Do not dismay though. I've got a 1985 Celica GTS in storage that will probably get the UZ ince the Cressida is done with it See, It's not just Saabs that pile up.

Come say hi at Gridlife!

 

[turbojohnny]

So how is the progress coming on the c900?

 

[tuner4life]

Slow. I keep gathering odd parts here and there as I find them. I think I have a good body guy nailed down, but they all kind of work at their own pace. It needs quite a bit of rust repair, so it's hard to find someone willing to mess with it. I may do most of the structural stuff underneath on my own and just leave the sheet metal work to someone capable of not turning the whole body into bacon. Also looking at some areas that I may be able to add strength and rigidity while the welding is going on. Possibly beefing up the shock mounts all around, the panhard bar mount on the body could use some extra support, front inner fender structure and control arm mount area. I may plate the frame like some folks do to repair rust. Mine really isn't too bad, but I feel like it would benefit the chassis rigidity if I braced it up anyways. Idk.. I want a rotisserie.

 

[Grey Ghost]

Awesome! yeah seems like everyones owned driven or road tripped in an old b body at some point here in the states , As far as the uz motor goes that makes sense, they are an impressively smooth motor but from the little i know about them they are a pain to do performance stuff with unless you are used to fab work Good lcuk getting the swaps done btw Im curious how fast have you had a car up to with the shadow louvers? I just got a set for my daily saab and am wanting to try a standing mile this year in her, not worried about it but more curious if youve had it up past the 120-130 area.
Also whats your budget for rust work? I know of atleast two people who do great work, one just finished a concourse car, (some 60's Ferrari I cant remember which currently)

 

[tuner4life]

105mph is about the fastest I've ever had this car. It was a sustained run on an empty highway. Set the cruise and everything. No issues with anything except one of the parking light lenses between the grille and headlight blew out lol.

It was revving pretty high. I would want type 8 primaries before I tried to go much faster.

 

[Grey Ghost]

Fair enough yeah my daily is a 900i which has type 5 or 6's, cant remember which but ive had her up to 120 and she was holding pretty high in the revs but felt very stable, Saving up for the type 9's though so that shouldnt be as much of an issue after those are installed but it Sucks to hear about the parking light lense Ive heard those can be a pain to find! Although i find it rather funny having the cruise on at 105 xD suprised with all of saabs safety thinking there wasnt a limit on it

 

[tuner4life]

Just figured I would give this thread a quick bump as it got mentioned in my other project thread.
Yes, I still have it, yes, it's still disassembled, no, I've not given up on it in the slightest

It's taken a while to be able to get to it as well as find someone who I trust to do the welding that's needed. I have a good friend and fabricator who has agreed to tackle all of the metal-work, but he's got a family and other responsibilities so it will be a while before it gets done.

Here's a teaser of things to come though. I have patches for almost every rusty spot so that's nice.




I have decided on a paint color, I've decided on plans for the suspension, body mods, mechanical stuff, etc.. I've got it all built in my head, now it's just time to do all the hard work lol..

And I'll probably try to get my 1992 9k back on the road first as well..

 

[Saabeh]

Very nice. I am thinking of tackling some rust repair on a few projects myself, little worried I wont have the patience.