Re: Drunkie's Saab Story 2.0 - Reboot
Whelp, I put on a new trunk lid I got for cheap because my old one was rusting out....horribly. That badge isn't as clean as I would want it, but I did something stupid with it so it will stay until the car has the rest of the body rust taken care of and the back half of the car is repainted which will be right around this time next year.
I've been doing little things through the summer, just some cleaning and repairs. At the start of the summer I found the leaking A/C line and replaced it and recharged the A/C...which revealed another problem. I soon found out that the car decided that it liked to have all the condensation water dump inside of the car which is great fun! The A/C drain lines were clogged, so I cleaned them out and dried out the car. Everything was good up until about 3-4 weeks ago when my wife and I took a trip to NJ and my Coolant Bypass Valve ruptured and I developed a major vacuum leak. So I repaired those about 2 weeks ago and the car has never been better, that vacuum leak must have been there a while. I also put in my new Recirculation valve and did some replacing of the vacuum lines to silicone. I must have some serious sediment in the bottom of my gas tank because when I let the gas tank get real low, the car doesn't like WOT pulls....so that maybe on my list come next spring, which is to clean out the gas tank.
So...in 2 weeks a bunch of parts will be going in: (all parts are OEM unless I mention otherwise...because they have to be...I've learned the hard way, non-oem parts are rejected by this car)
-OEM Clutch (good to 350-400hp)
-Pressure plate, slave cylinder, and machined flywheel
-Rear main seal
-06+ TD04 Turbo (06+ had a modified inlet which then got a bigger inlet pipe, good for a nice 10hp bump alone)
-All new turbo lines for coolant and oil
-ETS Intercooler (nice little upgrade)
-3" Brew city boost downpipe
-3.5 Brew city boost FPR
-Silicone piping for the intercooling
-Coolant flush, thermostat replaced and new Mercedes purple coolant put in
-New Alternator
-New Starter
-New inner and outer tie rods
-Poly Subframe bushings
-Poly torque arm mounts for the trans
-All new rubber oem motor mounts
-New o2 sensors
-New oil pressure sensor
-All new pcv system
-SAS bigger sway bar upgrade with upgraded Moog Sway links
I think that is all of it and I'll be Stage 3 at that point (300hp/340ftlbs)....look at it this way....the only things I haven't done in the engine bay is small (Steering rack, Steering pump, Water pump, and probably some small thing I'm forgetting)
Now before the next big Saab meet in Carlisle the car should have the following done:
-Cleaned up engine bay and final dressings in place
-Fix the front bumper lower grille (don't ask)
-CTS Calipers for a Bigger Brake kit with Slotted rotors and Akebono pads
-Under chassis bracing (Tie bars and subframe connectors)
-Front strut tower brace
-Dash face will vinyl overlayed with 3M brushed steel
-Clarion NX404
-Sound deaden the entire interior (I need to tear the dash completely apart anyways and I need to replace the drivers seat bracket...why not)
-Replace passenger window because when the window roller broke it scratched the glass...deep and then have it retinted
-Replace rear door speakers for more highs
-Custom embroider the headrests with new aero logo
-door sills laid with new aero logo
-convert to dual exhaust
-new LCA's with OEM bushings and balljoints
I'll be gathering the parts over winter and hit it early in the spring. The later half of the summer, I will have the dog leg areas (common rust spot), cut out and rewelded with new and the back half of the car repainted; I plan to have the front half of the car repainted some other time down the line. While I am at it, I plan to roll the fenders and add some spacers just for a little more offset and I will be replacing the wheels 2 at a time with the same ones because they are in really bad shape, the previous owners never washed the wheels and they got pitted and the clear coat is peeling now. So by this time next year...it should all of this done.
Now....for the very distant future, the car is at 140,000 miles now. At 200,000 miles I will need to be concerned with the timing chain and head gasket. SOOOOO....at around that mileage I plan to do those pieces...but also I will be doing and upgrading the rod and main bearings because they also should be done...so then the only thing not touched will be the steering rack and steering pump LOL.
Okay so here are some pictures of random stuff.
