THE WORKSHOP MANUALS

When servicing, or repairing a Saab, it is essential that you have some sort of workshop manual. Recommended books are HAYNES, BENTLEY, or an original SAAB manual. Available at bookshops or Saab dealers.

As with my previous/other cars, I bought a book for the Saab. The HAYNES 0765. SAAB 90, 99 & 900. 79 to 93. Compared to older Haynes books, they've changed the layout. It was different. And, countrary to older Haynes books, this one left me all but impressed. Several vital chapters have the following text: "Bla bla, due to the complexity of the thinging, bla bla bla, it's best left to the dealer, bla bla". Who do they think they're fooling?? The simple reason we buy these books, is that we want to do it ourselves and NOT hand the car over to the dealer for an expensive repair, which we are quite capable of doing ourselves, thank you very much!. Lots of things can be mended without the book, but if I want to dismantle a gearbox, a bloody exploded-view drawing and a pointer to awkward dismantling procedures COULD COME IN HANDY !!!
And in the "interior" chapter, they claim that removing the HEADLINING is "a tedious operation not to be undertaken lightly, so its best left to the dealer". What???! Have they gone completely off the rails? I did it alone, before I read the book, so I didn't find out how difficult it was until after I had read it.

To their information, we mechanics (proffesionals and amateurs) already know that a lot of the jobs on a car are "a tedious operation, not to be undertaken lightly". We dont take it lightly, we take our time and do the job properly. Unlike some of the authorized dealers, where the mechanics are on a stopwatch.

Then I found out that there was another version of the Haynes book.
The HAYNES 765. SAAB 99 & 900. 79 to 83. This one had a layout I could recognize from other, older Haynes books. And it was much better, with a lot more illustrations! You may find one at the used marked.

Oh, and I buy my books from Carl at bookshop. The list of books he can't provide, is easily written down at the back of a postal stamp.

Translating a Haynes Car Repair Manual

Haynes: Rotate anticlockwise
Translation: Clamp with molegrips, then beat repeatedly with hammer.

H: This is a snug fit.
T: You will skin your knuckles.

H: This is a tight fit.
T: Not a hope in hell mate.

H: Pry.
T: Hammer a screwdriver into.

H: Retain tiny spring.
T: "-Jeez, what was that nearly had my eye out?"

H: Compress.
T: Squeeze with all your might, jump up and down on, swear at, throw at garage wall, then search in the dark corner for a while muttering "bugger" repeatedly under your breath.

H: Inspect.
T: Squint at really hard and pretend you know what you are looking at, then declare in a knowing voice to your wife: "-Yep, as I thought, it's going to need a new one!"

H: Get an assistant.
T: Prepare to humiliate yourself in front of a friend.

H: Refitting is the reverse sequence to removal.
T: ... but you swear in different places.

H: Prise away locating pegs.
T: Snap off.

H: Index.
T: List of all the things in the book bar the one you want to do.