Date: Sat, 23 Nov 2002 03:07:38 +0100 From: Robert Brown <rjbnopsamripnetvvv.se> Subject: Re: What fuel for a classic 900 in UK
Grunff wrote: > Robert Brown wrote: > > > Yes, quite right they all have steel inserts, but in some markets, these > > were not sufficiently hardened to deal with unleaded, until 1984 (see > > my earlier posting). /Robert > > I'm not claiming no know this for a fact, but it just doesn't seem to > make sense to me. > > Given that all the engines were made in the same factory, can you > imagine a scenario where halfway through a production run someone shouts > "ok boys, get the softer inserts out, this batch is for the UK market"? Not a problem. Different runs could be set up to give engines for different markets. No problem with that? Or do you think that the UK 8v Type H engine was/is the same as the all other versions? Not so. Different markets, different engine specs. Just take the compression ratios for the non-turbo variant: UK (and the rest of Europe I think) 9,5 : 1 USA 9,25 : 1 Canada 9,5 : 1 If you go back even earlier to the Type B engine of 1979, you get, for non-turbo: UK (Europe too?) 9,20 : 1 North America, with catalyst 8,7 : 1 North America, no catalyst 9,25 : 1 (this was not the era of standardised components, shared platforms and all that economies-of-scale thinking) So if there are those kinds of difference depending on market, why not a different spec valve seat, if Saab saw fit? > I sure can't, and would've thought that the cost of making and fitting > two types of inserts, and thereby creating two different engines for no > good reason, would significantly outweigh any possible savings. What > would be the reason for making and fitting the softer inserts? For different engine variants, see previous comments. Softer valve seats were the norm. The *North American* spec engines were the ones requiring "special" valve seats, since they had to comply with U.S. emission control laws. They got the hardened valve seats, a catalytic converter, and some other stuff, including a different compression ratio. In 1984, though, all Saabs were being fitted with valve seats permitting full-time use of unleaded fuel. Don't know what happened to the compression ratios after that, though. The first Saab 900's, fitted with a catalytic converter on the Swedish market, appeared first in 1988. Believe it or not. > > > As I said, I don't know this for a fact, just reasoning it through, and > open to actual information. > > -- > Grunff Now you've got your actual information ;-) Yes it does seem strange not to use the hardened valve seats on all 8v models. Maybe Saab had a whole truckload of the non-hardened seats that they could palm off on the European market and finally exhausted their supply in 1984. Who knows? But if you ask a Saab dealer, or a petrol station attendant in this country what fuel to put in a 1981/82/83 900, they'll hand you a little bottle of lead substitute (we finally got rid of leaded fuel about 3 years back). Well, at least they'll do this if they're over 40 years old ;-) Regards, Robert Gothenburg
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
