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Saabers,
I wonder how many of us..truly go the distance restoring vintage Saabs.
I have a 1971 of which I purchased in 2001. I drove the car for about two years.. of which I experienced radiator problems..crappy FOmoco carb problems..calipers, ...I placed on a Weber finaly in early 2003, then whilst driving to work one morning, the balance shaft announced ..its farewell.
I towed the car home, and used the 99 and continued. The red 96 sat for a year and a half.. When I finaly purchased the timing set, I decided since the engine is out, why not rebuild the V4?..hence the Saga..the learning curve...MSS, Jack Ashcraft,and the machine shop experience and over a 3,000 price tag.
After I assembled everything with a new clutch. the engine ran very poor...stumbling..overheating, alternator shot, etc. Called Ashcraft, and he said it will take a while to run smooth.. Changed the carb...ran a bit better...whilst trying to break the engine in.
Then the harsh judder began...when releasing the clutch. To make a long story short...end up replacing the transmission, and mounts.. ..now the radiator needs attention... The rotors are bit rusted from sitting, and the tires as well are dry rotted.
Now..what is the point of this story..you Saab nuts??
I have come to a conclusion....this "rolling restoration" is bull$%^&. Being that the car is old, parts break down at different times.
How can one truly enjoy a car where there are mixed worn parts with new??
Hence, I finaly came up with a solution!
My new outlook is to take apart the car complete, and replace or rebuild everything! Why wait for the part to go?
Aside from the cost, I feel maximum enjoyment can be obtained. Rolling restoration never seam to end..
There is a link I found on here of a 96 Restoration by Mile hi body shop.
http://www.milehibodyshop.com/projects/restoration.html
Now, that is a true restoration. One can drive a car like that, less any expectations of something breaking down in the immediate future..
The idea of waitng for something to break down..or waiting for a part to fail..trying to get the maximum life out of a part with the risk that the worn part will more than likely affect another part, makes little sense.
I'm curious to know opinions..
posted by 64.12.11...
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