Project Saab 900 Turbo Convertible
Now the chassis welding has been completed, our Saab 900 continues to rack up the miles regardless of the weather.
Last month we showed how a small 50p coin sized patch of corrosion close to one of the Saab’s front chassis legs turned into a major repair once the right-hand lower wishbone had been removed. It’s always a heart stopping moment when you get a phone call from the garage saying: “you’d better come and see your car on the ramp and advice us on how to proceed”.
And that’s exactly what had happened after our Saab was dropped off at Forge Garage to allow proprietor Tony Blake to check on how far the rust had spread up inside the car’s inner wing. The good news was that the corrosion wasn’t that bad, even though the 50p sized hole had now grown somewhat after the surrounding area had been poked and prodded about.
However, the bad news was that the front suspension on that side of the car would have to be removed to make a proper repair, due the hole being directly above the lower wishbone mountings. In
last month’s episode we showed the full extent of the corrosion and how Tony managed to cut all the rotten metal out before fabricating a series of patches to repair the damage. This month we show how the repair was finally welded up and finished off prior to the Saab’s suspension being reassembled.
EVERY DAY DRIVER
Even though the roads around where I live continue to be heavily salted after a brief covering of snow, we tend to use our
classics here at Kelsey Towers throughout the winter when they should really be tucked up and kept dry until the better spring weather arrives. The lead photograph shows our work stained Saab after one of its many trips down the A1 from home in the Peak District to the magazine’s Peterborough office before a visit to the local hand car wash.
Needless to say, the Saab received a darned good clean, with particular care being taken to clean out the salt laden wheel arches and along sills with a high-pressure washer. I’d also taken advantage of a small patch of winter sun and lowered the Saab’s hood during a brief spell of winter sunshine and for the life of me can never understand why some folk pay extra to get behind the wheel of a convertible and never seem to lower the hood – even in the middle of summer!
SERVICE TIME
Since it was discovered that it was only a faulty thermostat causing the Saab to get hot under the collar, the car has been
running very nicely thank you. And as the last couple of thousand miles have been trouble free – apart from the aforementioned corrosion issue – it seemed a good idea to book the Saab in for a well- earned service.
As we’d already checked the condition of the front pads when the welding work was being done and found them to be only about 60 per cent worn (the rears were about the same) that would be one less job for the service. The Saab’s MoT isn’t due until June, so we’ll leave installing a new set of pads for another couple of thousand miles and maybe replace all the discs too.
This meant that the all the service would have to concentrate would be an oil and filter change, fitting a set of new plugs and a general safety check. We were keen to find out the source of an irritating oil leak that was coating the gearbox casing and were relieved to find that this was traced to a leak from a poorly fitted screw- on oil filter.
One thing that we haven’t got round to sorting out yet is investigating why the Saab’s central locking isn’t working. Thanks to a ‘phone call from a Saab Owners’ Club member, we now know that the central locking on these cars only operates from the driver’s door and the boot lid locks by turning the key halfway.
Useful information, but we’ll leave further investigation in this department until the weather gets a bit warmer, as the door card will have to come off and it’s too cold for exertions like that at the moment. Here’s what we’ve been up to with our Saab since last time: