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Re: Turbo Conversion
Posted by David Prantl (more from David Prantl) on Sun, 3 Mar 2002 18:06:05
In Reply to: , Kok Chen, Sat, 17 Dec 1988 12:00:00 

>  Not sure if 88's had motorized belts on the 900S, and I  believe 89 on up 
>had air bags.

Either 900S or 900T (or both) models in '87, '88 and '89 are likely to have 
the passive belts.  A truly annoying and thoroughly ineffective attempt by 
idiot US regulators at passive safety.

Base-model 900 cars always had the standard seatbelts, and incidentally, so 
did all 9000 models.  The passive belt madness ended in 1989, because all 
SAABs sold in the USA in 1990 were fitted with a driver's airbag.

My suggestion would be to continue to look for a turbo.

>  The c900 models looked the same from '87 to 1993,

One important running change:  In '88, the C900 got proper brakes !

>  the engines are basically the same, so a 16V engine can be  turbo'd.

I would disagree with this statement.  While the basic engine block, 
crankshaft, connecting rods and cylinder head are identical, the pistons are 
not (turbo engines had lower compression pistons), and neither are the 
camshafts.  The non-turbo high-compression pistons are the main reason why a 
non-turbo engine can't really be 'turboed', at least not the same way a 
stock SAAB turbo engine is from the factory.

>  The distributors are unique (our 900S has no vacuum adv.
>  unit--the turbos did)

That's because the non-turbo 16V (B202I) used the EZK ignition system, while 
the turbo 16V (B202L) used the older less sophisticated Hall-Effect ignition 
system.  This becomes an issue when fitting a turbo engine into an 
originally non-turbo car.

>  Also, the turbo clutch/PP are heavier duty,

Yes, but not significantly so.  Turbo and non-turbo clutch assemblies are 
pretty much interchangeable, and both should be adequate for all but the 
hardest turbo driving.

>  along with at 'least' the output drivers on the transaxle.

The bigger axle drivers were a running change to all C900 cars, turbo or 
non-turbo.  More importantly, 16V C900 transmissions came with different 
primary transfer ratios for turbos and non-turbos (for longer or shorter 
overall gearing), and there was a running change in the final drive 
ring/pinion ration for all C900 transmissions at one point in time.

It has already been brought up that genuine 2-door C900 cars were never 
imported (and possibly never assembled) with turbo engines.  If you insist 
on having only 2 doors on your USA C900, there seems to be officially only 
one option:

1986 900S 2-door:  Old brakes, old-style bumpers and headlights, 16V 
non-turbo engine, probably standard seatbelts.

I cannot find any reference to 2-door models being imported in 1987.  Then 
again, there's no official reference to '86 convertibles either, and it's a 
fact that a small number of those were imported and sold here.

The easiest way to convert this car to a turbo is to buy a complete turbo 
drivetrain from a junkyard.  This would be the engine with all the original 
pieces still attached, attached to the transmission.  The car's wiring 
harness would have to be modified for the turbo ignition system, and for the 
APC boost control system.  You'll find several other bits and pieces from a 
turbo car, for example, the fuel system computer, boost control (APC) 
computer and solenoid, the exhaust pipes and catalytic converter, skinny 
radiator fan, battery positioning bracket and heat-shield, etc..  The 
cheapest way might be to obtain a complete (wrecked or rusted-out) turbo car 
to scavenge all the parts from.  Lastly, the most desireable C900 5-speed 
transmissions are from model-year 1991 onwards.

David.
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