John-saab's Restoration of Saab

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Every brake item except the 4 brake drums, were replaced with genuine new old stock...the only item I couldn't find was the master cyinder so this is the only job in the whole restoration that I shipped out...Past Parts in Bury St Edmunds re-sleeved the master cylinder with stainless steel. I made new brake pipes and fitted new genuine Lockheed flexi hoses, wheel cylinders and brake shoes that had been part of the parts deal.

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sawmill grill

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The interior was complete but very very dirty and there was a large hole in the back rest on the drivers seat...I took the covers off the seats and cleaned them in the bath at home. I spent many evenings at home darning the hole with wool that I had found in a craft shop...again a big learning curve that had great results. I chose to swap the back rest covers over so that the damaged area gets less use. A lot of the cotton stitching had rotted so, again by hand I spent many nights re-sewing the seams. The car didn't come with any floor covering but I found that I could buy a ribbed rubber that was almost exactly like the original floor covering. I made paper templates and then made new flooring...again I am pleased with the result. The door cards and roof vinyl only needed cleaning.
Most of the bodywork chrome was re-usable but the front bumper was in very poor condition and the rear was missing. I was helping the owner of the garage clear the workshop and under a pile of scrap metal several bumper parts were found...most usable and there was enough to make up a full set of bumpers. The rear boot handle was shot so eBay turned up a good handle in the USA. The enamel on the bonnet badge was damaged and again eBay turned up a good item...It wasn't cheap but I think it makes the car look so much better.
Next the engine and gearbox...the 2 stroke engine is very prone to seizing due to lack of oil in storage but I was very lucky in that the last time the engine was used it was decided that it should be filled with grease and engine preservative...and it worked. I stripped and cleaned the engine and it was in great condition..just needing a thorough clean. I found the paint code for the high temperature paint and had some made up...£65 inc P&P for 1 litre. The gearbox was cleaned,checked without dismantling it and re-painted after new seals were fitted.
With the engine and gearbox back in the car it was time to look at the electrics and fuel system...the electrics were perfect except the horns that had corroded beyond use..New horns were found. I had trouble finding new HT leads...the coil lead is a metre long...so I bought the lead by the metre and made my own. New plugs, points, rotor arm and distributor cap were fitted. I turned my attention to the fuel system and this seems to be the reason the car was parked up. The SU fuel pump was completely burnt out so I stripped 3 old units, bought a new fitting kit and made a good unit. The Zenith carburettor looked good so I cleaned it. The fuel tank was removed and was found to have about 1/2 lb of sediment & rust in it. I spent days cleaning the tank...and the more I cleaned the more sediment I found. After 3 attempts the tank was clean and dry...the fuel lines were blown clean and every thing was reconnected.
The wiring system was totally untouched and apart from a few corroded connections everything appeared to be re-usable. The headlights needed replacing as the reflective backing had corroded and the 2 front indicators/ side markers were badly corroded too, the metal had flaked, new backings were found on eBay and when they arrived they were the wrong items. The original markers have 2 terminals to accomodate the indicators...the ones that arrived only had one terminal..so I drilled the old bulb holders out of the corroded housing and brazed them into the new units.

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A new Nissan Battery was bought and the exhaust that still had its stickers on was refitted.

THE START UP.

When the time came to start the car I was very nervous and had a friend stand by with afire extinguisher...just in case. The car has its 2 stroke oil mixed in the tank...you pour the oil in and then a measured amount of fuel to suit. I turned the key and the engine turned but wouldn't start...I double and triple checked the electrics and then the fuel system...no fuel delivery...I stripped, cleaned everything and still nothing...so after much hair pulling it was decided that 10 litres in the tank wasn't enough to reach the pick up in the fuel tank...another 5 litres in the tank and the key was turned...put,put,put,ding,ding,ding and she flew into life...for 20 seconds and stalled. The fuel line was blocked again so out come the tank and when re-fitted the car started first time...yehaa! I took the car for several short drives around the block and spent a few days fiddling to get things right.
While all of this was going on I was trying to get the car re-registered with DVLA..no easy task with a car that never made it onto the computor. I had the old buff log book, the last tax disc and the last MOT certificate and even then it took 5 months to get the car re-registered...mainly due to me being given the wrong information by DVLA and then having to prove that the car was the car I was claiming it to be.
With the old registration confirmed and insurance agreed it was off to the MOT station and the cars first proper journey in over 30 years. I drove in and less than an hr later I was driving home with the biggest ever smile and a pass.

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temporary photo sharing

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[johnnie900]

absolutely fabulous! have to love Camilla.

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Hi 'johnnie900' A very warm welcome to the site. C900 or NG900? Great cars. I had a 900GLx and 900i Ruby and just loved them. The 900i got morning sickness quite a bit but boy, did she shift.
Would love to hear of your Saabing exploits and pics would be an added bonus too if poss.

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Jun 28, 2020 23:46:40 GMT johnnie900 said:

absolutely fabulous! have to love Camilla.

Thanks johnnie900...I must confess that I have a soft spot for the old Saabs and I feel proud to have bought Johns Camilla. The blog was done over 10 years ago and I think John found her around 14 years ago...quite a long time. Camilla has a few small chuncks out of the paintwork which will be repaired as soon as I've got the spare cash. Over the years since I bought her I have had an ongoing interesting time keeping her on the road which I will try and blog soon.

Keep well and ...Thanks for registering and for your kind comment.

[johnnie900]

C 900 T16S 1989 owned for 23 years, but that is a very old username because of it! we have lots of them, 67 96 v4, 71 95 v4, 9-5 aeros x 2 9-5 tid wagons
9-3 v6 2.8 aero wagon, will have to sell a few to finance a c900 T16 convertible barn find, the older cars seem to stay with us for some reason! how do you attach pics? v4's first!..

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Hi again 'johnnie900' ... Nice gathering of Swedens finest...Well done that man

Regarding photo's ...I use a free hosting site called postimage.org ...(You don't have to register or sign-in if you prefer not to) I personally did and I havent had any problems.

Go to site - select Choose images (a small screen shows files on your computor)

Select where your photo is stored

Select the actual photo you want then select  open  (The photo is now being downloaded to post image site)

When the download is complete you will see a list of options...

I right click on Hotlink for forums'  and in the pop-up box click on 'Copy'

Go to this forum (popular classics) and in your write up -  right click  and select Paste

Job Done

Best of luck and look forward to seeing pics of your Saab gang.