Saab 900 Turbo
The arrival of the Saab’s refurbished distributor causes office chaos
1989 SAAB 900 TURBO T16
I tore into the package that had arrived in the CCW office, rabidly ripping off layer after layer of plastic, cardboard and bubblewrap until I reached the glorious contents, yelping with joy. I raised its magnificence aloft for all to marvel at. On the neighbouring
Yours magazine desk, there was a brief astonished pause in the writing of articles on flannelette nighties and why macaroons aren’t as good as they were in 1953. Your Horse‘ s riding crop test faltered long enough for Nick Larkin to make good his escape. And there were scenes of miniature carnage over on
Model Rail, as the 11.15am Tea Trolley to Lift Entrance derailed following the momentary distraction.
Only my CCW colleagues truly understood. Because what I was holding in my hands was a freshly refurbished and frankly glittering Bosch 0237507008 JHU4 distributor. And it was beautiful. Truly beautiful.
My Saab 900 Turbo has been very poorly for about six months – its various ailments have already chronicled here. I’m gradually sorting through them, but the dodgy distributor’s damaged wiring was a major handicap to its revival. New ones are unavailable and even parts are scarce, so I turned to the very enthusiastic and knowledgeable Dragon Saab group on Facebook for advice. The two recommendations that surfaced were Stephen Lewis Saab (stevelewissaab.com) and Bill Jones at SAABits (saabits.com). Both were extremely helpful and happy to provide advice. In the end, I sent the dizzy to Stephen for a complete refurbishment. But I’m sure I’ll need plenty from SAABits in the future.
The battered and grimy unit was away for just over two weeks. When it came back, it looked almost too nice to put back in a nasty, dirty car engine bay. Nevertheless, it has now been gently ferried by Volvo to Ellingworth’s Garage in Peterborough, where it will be fitted and the Saab’s timing properly set up. Will it work as well as it looks?
Watch this space.