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Sonett basics
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Posted by spiv (more from spiv) on Sat, 18 Oct 2003 22:22:36 Share Post by Email
In Reply to: found a sonnett, Kevin, Fri, 17 Oct 2003 16:46:12
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It's Sonett with one N and two Ts -- supposedly a Swedish colloquial expression meaning 'so neat.' If the one you saw has pop-up headlights and a floor shifter, it's a Sonett III -- the last and most common model. If the headlights are fixed and it has a column shifter and a V4 engine (with a huge, ugly power bulge in the hood to clear it) it's a Sonett V4 -- mechanically similar underneath, a bit more Spartan in the interior, and easier to work on because the nose flips up like the one on a Spitfire. If it has fixed headlights, column shifter, and 3-cylinder two-stroke engine with triple sidedraft carbs, congratulations -- you've found a super-rare Sonett II (less than 300 made; nicest-handling of all three thanks to the lighter weight of the two-stroke engine.) But most likely you've discovered one of the V4 models.

How hard are they to work on? Easy, mostly -- construction is straightforward and the very basic feature set means there aren't a lot of complex accessories or mechanisms to get in the way.

Parts aren't nearly as easy to get as for, say, a mainstream British sports car, but they're out there, and there are a few dedicated marque specialists who can help you find most anything you'd need. A lot of chassis and mechanical parts are shared with the Saab 96 sedan, which was produced in much larger numbers, so these are easier to track down than the Sonett-specific bits such as trim, body hardware, glass, etc. The V4 engine was made by Ford of Germany and most of the electrics are mainstream Bosch and Lucas items, so these also have parallel sources of parts.

Maintenance is not difficult, but if the car has sat for a long time there will be lots of little things to chase down: bad electrical grounds and duff hydraulics, for example. Once you've gone all through the car it will be pretty reliable, although minor electrical glitches seem to be an unending fact of life for many of us Sonett owners.

On the drivetrain side, the engine is very durable except that the fiber balance-shaft gear tends to crap out somewhere in the 75,000-95,000-mile range, especially if previous owners have run with the fan belt too tight. There's no sure way to tell when it's going to go (although it's supposed to be a bad sign if you can wiggle the crank pulley) but once it does go, you'll know it: the engine will keep running, but the alternator and water pump will quit working and the car will stop running as soon as it overheats or the battery goes flat. Cars with 100K-plus mileage may have had the gear replaced already.

The transaxle is iffier than the engine. They're dependable enough if you use the right lubricant (Redline MTL is good; don't use thick oils!) and change it frequently. But since you don't know whether past owners kept up with this, the condition of the transaxle can be hard to guess. The freewheel mechanism is another trouble spot. (This mechanism lets the engine speed drop back to idle while the car continues to coast along at speed.) A lot of drivers didn't really understand the freewheel and abused it; if it breaks, the engine will run but won't drive the car, so by now many have been locked out as a precaution. Finding one with a working freewheel is a plus.

The biggest hazard with any Sonett is rust. The fiberglass body doesn't rust, of course, but it's very likely you'll find rusted areas in the floor, sills, trunk, etc. All this is fixable if you can weld, but a badly rusted car will need a lot of work. Rust around the spring perches is less common, but may not be realistically repairable.

If the price is right, your junkyard Sonett could be a fun project -- just make sure you know what you're getting into, and if you decide to take it on, make a plan and stick to it.

posted by 68.13.13...
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