February 13, 2013

the inaugural test flight …..

Drove the car around North Seattle for about 1 hour or so today. Great handling and feel with the new shocks, springs and tires – A real improvement over the stock setup. The engine sounded great, shifting was good, brakes were better than ever. I did have a bit white smoke early on in the drive, but that cleared up in about 15 minutes. I was also burning 2 year old gas. I filled the tank with high test and that seemed to improve things quite a bit. It was a blast driving the car again after a 1.5 year rest. I took it easy, but it sure felt like she had not missed a beat since the valve job Troll Motors performed April before last.

I am hoping to be at the Swedish Car Show at the Triple X drive in in Issaquah on Sunday, February 17th.

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February 10, 2013

window channels and glass installed

The window channels I purchased from Restoration Specialities worked out perfectly. Fit very nicely and provide an excellent seal on the windows. The part number is AS1369.

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December 4, 2012

little by little

yes .. its still coming together. Maybe Christmas?

November 15, 2012

Getting the glass back in

One of the windshields I bought in Lewiston ID turned out to be about 1/8″ too thick. I believe it came from a 1971 99 which would have used a different gasket. We tried installing it first and it almost looked as if it could work, but gave up. The other windshield was from a 1978 which had some bubbles in the lamination. While the windshields appear to be identical, they’re not interchangeable.

November 3, 2012

door strikers zinc plated

The door strikers and the windshield wiper nut/washers were corroded quite a bit so I had them cleaned up and zinc plated.

September 15, 2012

tool kit clean up and paint

I had the tool kit (except for the jack) media blasted at Alternative Blasters back when the car was done. I had a mix of tools, but at least the large crow bar and jack crank are originals. There was quite a bit of rust/corrosion on them. I used the POR-20 I had left over from the manifolds to paint them. Its a fairly durable paint that loves anything rusty. I used Duplicolor light blue from Schucks/O’Reilly which looks pretty Swedish. Since the stow-away area has been bed lined, I’ll have to figure out how I want to store these. The tools and jack were never clamped down like you’d see in other cars, thought later models had a special box or case for the parts. Before and after.

September 8, 2012

upp och gå!

I finished up the basic wiring, replacing a few of the crimp on connectors and started up the motor. There was still water in the block, but I needed to add coolant for the radiator and heater. There is a bleed nipple near the heater valve which I ran a hose from to the coolant jug. I ran the car for about 30 minutes to let the thermostat open to cycle the water and force the air out. It took just over one jug of new coolant. The system was flushed April before last when the water pump was rebuilt. The new fan switch and the serviced fan worked great. I had installed a switch that operates at 92C and thermostat which operates at 88C. There are ones that operate at cooler temps, but after I had the header core rebuilt and removed the intake bellows ‘anti-freeze’ collar (which was 100% blocked anyway!) along with the flushed radiator, things should be running cooler. At idle temperature the fan would kick in for 25-30 seconds every couple of minutes, which seems very good.

I still need to get the EGR Proportional completely hooked up, but after that I can finish up with the engine and put the lights in place.

August 31, 2012

wheels repaired and powder coated

I had the wheels repaired for curb rash and had them powder coated. The new tires are Michelin Primacy 195s. It was fairly expensive to have this done, but at this point it seemed like the right thing to do. Pictures show before and after.

August 12, 2012

gifts from Sweden and progress

I’ve made a trade deal with another SAAB friend in Sweden and was able to get a few Old New Stock items. Today we installed the wheel arch trim which was tricky due to 3 of the wheel arches needing significant reshaping. The wheel arch splash area have all been sprayed with undercoating. The rear and hide-a-way trunk have also been sprayed.

The new locking gas cap / filler is hooked up, the blower box and wiper are in place, the EMS steering wheel is installed, the emergency brake housing is painted and the 1976 shifter knob is installed. For the blower box, I used two layers of 1/4″ foam rubber insulation on either side of the upper firewall. I recommend that anyone that goes this far with a tear down go ahead and replace all the foam rubber where needed. It was basically musty and dusty in this car.

August 4, 2012

Putting it back together

Got the blower box back in .. so much easier getting it in than taking it out. Again, the key to taking it out you’ll need to take it apart completely by removing the fan motor, cover and the heater core/valve assembly. When replacing it, I used 1/4″ rubber foam insulation on both. The hood is back on, the hatch is back on. Some of the rubber is back in place.

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