KARL's
SAAB 2
WHAT IS IT?
A two door saloon, m82 5sp.
WHEN I BOUGHT IT.
The autumn of 2001.
WHY I BOUGHT IT.
I didn't! I got it for free. Well, not entirely true. It belonged to my
friend Finn's grandmother. She wanted powersteering and automatic transmission.
(Cant say I blame her) I found one
very cheap such Saab 900. The car was locked in reverse and couldn't be
test driven. Anyway, I tightened the set-screw for the gear linkage and
handed her a fully functional m86 900i (GLE equipment) for which she paid
6000 NOK. Then she gave me her old 99.
This car will function as my daily runabout while my no 1 Saab is being
repaired... at the body shop. Some vandals have been doing Russian folk-dance
on my roof.
OWN(ED) ANY OTHER SAABS? Yup!
OWN ANY OTHER CARS? Nope.
STANDARD OR MODIFIED? It's bog standard. Almost...
WHAT'S BEEN DONE TO IT?
Before I got it the engine had blown, so the drivetrain had been swapped.
It came out of an m88 900i.
This swap was hastily performed, and a few shortcuts have been taken.
The V-belt pulleys have not been swapped! Exept on the alternator, of
course. Keeping the double-shave pulley is impossible, and the bracket
comes from the old 99 engine. But the crankshaft pulley is so close to
the bulkhead that if the engine-mounts flexes, the rotating pulley crashes
into the bulkhead. It makes the most insane grinding noise, when flooring
the throttle in a low gear on snow. Not to meantion the fact that the
drivetrain will have to be lifted out, to change the V-belt. Absolutely
no way of changing it with the engine in situ!
Some mods I've done:
- The taillights on these saloons are made by Hella. But it is Saab who
pays the bills, and this bill cannot have been large. See the
aluminium foil trick.

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