SCANDANAVIAN DELIGHT

Introducing our latest long-term project – a rather nice Saab 900 Turbo Convertible that ended up getting a bit hot under the collar

Y ou’d think that deciding on what to run as one of our future long-term projects would be easy but there are a few important factors that have to be taken into account first and unfortunately these tend to narrow the choice a bit. The main points we have to consider when sourcing a new project is that the car should be able to hold it’s own in modern traffic and be capable of being parked outside without deteriorating too much, factors that rule out a lot of very desirable classics.

Price obviously comes into the equation and a scan through the emerging classics for sale on that well known internet auction site threw up a couple of suitable candidates. Head and shoulders above the rest was this 1989 Saab 900 Turbo Convertible. Photographs can hide a multitude of bodywork sins, but we were assured this Saab’s jet-black bodywork was in good order. The description claimed how the car was only being sold because the Saab’s long-term owner was going to work overseas and didn’t really want to put his car into storage.

After arranging a viewing, a deal was struck following a test drive and Classics Monthly became the proud owner of a very nicely presented 180bhp 900 Turbo ragtop featuring a smart leather interior complete with fully working heated seats. The drive from the car’s previous home in Surrey to Kelsey Towers in Peterborough was thankfully trouble free, but the drive back home to Derbyshire threw up the first problems.

When it got dark, our Saab’s offside dipped beam turned out to be as dim as a church candle and the corresponding front indicator had stopped flashing. As the bulbs and fuses checked out okay, it was obviously down to a bad earth somewhere. So with the Saab’s forward hinged clamshell bonnet wide open, the problem was finally traced to a bunch of broken wires at a major earth point located on the front cross member beneath the radiator.

Although this looked a simple fix, someone had been there before and the bolt securing all the connectors to the cross member had been rounded off. Rather than making the situation worse, the car was booked into a Derby based Saab specialist, Volsaa Engineering (01332 291320), to repair the broken earth connections and while the car was up on the ramp we asked if they could give the car a professional appraisal.

As you can see from the To-do List, the worst problem they found was a couple of very small rust holes, one on the floor pan and another close to an anti-roll bar mount. These will be MoT failures, so will need to be attended to urgently and while the car’s up on the ramp, we’ll also have a new CV boot fitted and sort out a power steering leak.

With what we thought were all the wiring issues sorted out, the Saab took part in a World War One 100th year celebration rally to Ypres in Belgium but on the way to Hull to catch the ferry the 900’s temperature gauge started to slowly rise. After wiring up the sensor in the radiator so the electric fan would run continuously, we managed to complete the tour and nursed the Saab back to Blighty in one piece.

Unfortunately, the overheating issue became steadily worse over the next few weeks and culminated in a complex series of expensive repairs. So we’ll leave the details of our Belgium jaunt and what followed until next time but for now here’s a look at what’s been done to the Saab’s electrics before the car started to impersonate a kettle.