1969-1984 [Subscribe to Daily Digest] |
[Main Saab Model 99 Bulletin Board | BBFAQ |
Prev by Date | Next by Date | Post Followup ]
Member Login / Signup - Members see fewer ads. - Latest Member Gallery Photos
Re: 78 99 Turbo w/cracked head (long) Posted by Gary Stottler [Email] (#1463) [Profile/Gallery] (more from Gary Stottler) on Mon, 12 Jul 2010 06:02:32 In Reply to: 78 99 Turbo w/cracked head, Brian McHugh, Sat, 10 Jul 2010 21:18:49 Members do not see ads below this line. - Help Keep This Site Online - Signup |
Brian,
First, a disclaimer - I am "Mr. Originality" so personally I advise against replacing it with a later engine. You quickly start to lose the qualities that make the 99 Turbo special. I drove mine 450 miles yesterday, what a blast! I've had it since 1985.
However, you have to have a certain amount of Zen and patience to figure the beast out and some cash doesn't hurt either. Feel free to drop me a line at stottleratfrontiernetdotnet and we chat about the car and a lot of specifics on the engine. I am pretty sure we can fine you a cylinder head - it is the same as the non-turbo head except the exhaust valves and you can swap those over (you probably don't want to go to all the trouble of pulling the head without doing a valve job anyway).
First question would be, "why did it crack in the first place?". Somebody commented that they all crack, but that's not true - either there's a cooling system problem or a corrosion problem caused by poor maintenance. You're going to change out the coolant when you pull the head, so that will fix the latter (we can talk about what coolant to use).
For the cooling system, you've got the pump, radiator, thermostat, fan switch, fans, and oil cooler. (while you're at it, the air preheater valve usually fails in the "hot" position as well). All those need to be in top shape and working properly no matter what engine you've got in there.
Good luck, feel free to drop me a line!
Gary Stottler
posted by 198.208.25...
_______________________________________ Gary Stottler
No Site Registration is Required to Post - Site Membership is optional (Member Features List), but helps to keep the site online
for all Saabers. If the site helps you, please consider helping the site by becoming a member.