April 26, 2013

finishing up – air dam, visors, EGR removal

Wow .. really finishing up? Yes! It is very close. The next few things I have to do are:

– install heater controls (I’m building a control from two broken units)
– install reverse lock out
– paint and install grille
– install wood for switch controls
– install all the dash bits.

On the air dam I used rubber well nuts for all the fittings except for the lower bracket. I also used well nuts to attach the head light bezels. Rubber well nuts are suggested by the shop manual. On the air dam it really makes sense, because you want it to be shock mounted rather than rigidly. The sun visors were cleaned and the arms/mounts were painted. For the EGR removal I had to replace the compression fittings with a cap. The threads are fairly standard for compression fittings. I used high temp RTV on the threads and it seems to be holding. If you want to do this, I highly recommend you use AEROKROIL on the outer thread only. You want to remove the compression fitting for the tubes, but do not remove the fitting to the manifold. It most cases those fittings will have threads that are fused to the manifold. The size of the caps are 5/16″. My friend Erik in Sverige sent me very early 1970s mud flaps. I like them quite a bit.

Here is what went on today..

April 24, 2013

Bye bye EGR proportional

There were several different ’emissions control’ systems implemented on the SAAB 99 engine starting in 1975. My car has one of the more reasonable designs which is called EGR proportional. Rather than using an air pump which can rob power, it uses a more passive ‘air pulse’ which recirculates exhaust back into the intake system.

I developed an exhaust leak and discovered that one of the pipes had cracked. I took it to Troll Motors and Nate made me feel confident that I should just remove it and cap off the fittings.

I’ll likely not remove all of the EGR proportional, but this piece has to go.

April 22, 2013

Swedish Car Show / Jazz Fest / Pancakes and lingonberries

At the Nordic Heritage Museum in Ballard there is a Jazz Festival every year and the Volvo club does a Swedish Car show. I had been talking with Dick Libby about showing the car here and then at the bigger event in June at the Swedish Cultural Centre for two years. No other SAABs were at the event, though Ingvar Carlson typically shows his cool 1960 93a. Lots of P1800, but I liked the 1953 444 best. Showing my support for bob hund with a örngott in the rear window.

April 19, 2013

bumper refurbishing

The bumpers were fairly dirty but I also discovered that they had been painted at some point. I cleaned them a few times using SuperClean and then followed up with lacquer thinner. This left the bumpers with a nice matte black look. The backing was media blasted by alternative blasters along with the car. I then had the brackets and fittings powder coated. Also took a picture of the instrument cluster in place and running.

April 17, 2013

seat headrest inserts and front bumper

The fabric headrests have been covered in the the faux leather vinyl. The front and rear bumpers were scrubbed and I discovered that they had been painted. I cleaned them with SuperClean and scrubbed them with a soft brush. That removed the paint and the rubber underneath was in very good shape. I’ll use a rubber conditioner and then I plan to install the steel bands after I clean those.

April 16, 2013

interior hatch, rear seats and door panels in

They’ve been fitted a few times, but now they’re in for good.

April 7, 2013

motor mounts replaced

At the nwsoc’s fix-it day, replaced the motor mounts with the help of 3 other people. two were easy, the driver’s side was the most difficult. The original mounts were worn out and the engine would wobble and torque when rev’ed. That resulted in some metallic rattling in the exhaust and elsewhere due to vibration at speeds above 50. With the new mounts, springs, shocks and tires the car really feels tight and sporty.

And some additional photos by squaab99t:

March 31, 2013

trunk panel fitting, carpets and roof

Trunk panels have been covered and fitted to the trunk area. Sound deadening has been applied to the front kick panels and the roof. A look at the original ‘solar orange’ carpets.

March 27, 2013

carpets cut, dash pad

The carpets have been cut and laid. They’re based on the earlier 1969 99 carpets rather than the newer style that the car originally had. The dash pad is wrapped at the front so it should not do that typical 99 wrinkle.

March 20, 2013

new door panels

The original door panels were in bad shape due to water damage and mold. New panels were made using the same type of material that was used for the seats and follow the same style though with a fabric accent. At first I thought about leaving the ashtrays out, but then decided I liked them. The dash pad is also being done but will be slightly different than the original to avoid the typical winkle nearly all 99s get.

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