1964-1974 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
Hi Matt,
Welcome to the VSaab fold. I have two Sonett III's as well, along with three 96's.
A couple of general things with the Sonett III's.
1. Rust, rust and more rust. While they do have a fiberglass body, the underbody is basically cut down pieces from the Saab 96's and they do rust. Common areas are the trunk, the floor, and the rockers. The latter provide significant structural stiffness. You'll want to take a good look and asses the situation.
2. The motor is nearly identical to the Saab 96/95 V4. It has stiffer valve springs for example. Weak link tends to be the balance shaft bearing. Grab the balance shaft pulley and try to move it side to side. It should be tight. If it has significant play, it's time for a new bearing which means the motor has to come out. The fuel system is probably the next thing to think about. The old carbs tend to be leaky and many replace them with a single barrel Weber (34ICH). Same with the fuel pumps- many replace with an electric pump.
3. The gearbox can be a weak link. Does the freewheel still work? They can be troublesome and many people lock them out. The biggest problem is the shaft nuts get loose and the ring and pinion can wear, creating noise and eventually, kerblooy- it blows up. One way to check this is to carefully observe the speedo under constant acceleration, and then take your foot off the gas. It the pinion shaft nut is loose, the speedo will drop by 3-5mph when you take your foot off the gas. That means pulling the drivetrain.
I could go on, but that's a start. Get a shop manual for the car- a 95/96 Haynes manual plus a Saab Sonett supplement. Both show up on that fleabay place. And ask questions! Many of us have had the cars for years and even decades and there's nothing we haven't seen or done.
eric in vermont
posted by 192.249.47...
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