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Hey guy,
you are in the same boat i was in a month ago. Owned my 83 900T for 14 years, alot of memories and a lot of paying a mechanic to fix it. in January the head gasket blew and i was trying to justify spending more on it considering the rust, age, poor performance, etc. The fact the car has the big OEM whale tail, fender flares and Airflow side panels made me think twice about wrecking it.
anyway, hooked up with a local Saab nut who suggested doing the repair myself, with his help as he'd done HG's twice before and knows the car well. I built lots of shelving and a big workbench in my garage to handle the work. so we pulled the head off it, took one day, very fun experience, lots of learning. Found a badly pitted head near the coolant ports, so i learned how not changing my antifreeze regularily contributes to alu-rot...
Pressure test was ok, however two intake valves were not seating, so that explains most of the poor performance i've been having for a number of years. I dont think my garage did a very good job on the head 5 years ago...
also found bolts missing, bolt holes stripped and not repaired, etc. so i got an idea of how much your typical garage cares about YOUR car... it's better to do it yourself , then you know the job got done right, or you can at least blame yourself...
then i decided to go further and pull the whole power pack out because i know the main's are wearing, which we got done in about another day of labour. pls note i had experienced help, but once you start, there is tons of experience on TSN and the DIY sites to help you.
these cars can be intimidating, but assuming you understand what the components do, it's very easy to take them off with confidence and strip the puppy down. just do your homework first, study the different systems (cooling, electrical, etc) and label wires, ends of hoses, etc as you take them off and document what you are doing.
Once you do one you will be an expert and not be scared by ANY THING!
I just took the PS rack out this AM and am cleaning the whole engine bay top and bottom, and will be doing some suspension and motor mount work before the newer motor and turbo goes back in. My dad rigged up an adapter plate to hold the motor on an engine stand, so let me know if you want info on that. I am seriously thinking of making this my hobby, if the first one turns out ok. I would much rather work on a Saab than some North American ergonomic torture chamber with no character and 8 million brothers and sisters on the road with it...
I'm at dwjay@telus.net if you need anything.
posted by 161.184.49...
_______________________________________
1988 900 TC
2000 Viggen
1997 900 TC
son has 2002 9-3 SET
Posts in this Thread:
- What prices do hear for Engine Rebuilds?, 87Saaber, Thu, 3 Apr 2003 22:30:25
- Re: consider doing it your self (fairly long, worth it), Saabu
, Sat, 5 Apr 2003 02:03:17 <-- Viewing This Message - Re: What prices do hear for Engine Rebuilds?, Dean, Fri, 4 Apr 2003 08:29:19
- Re: What prices do hear for Engine Rebuilds?, SWEDECAR
, Thu, 3 Apr 2003 23:39:56
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