New guy here....

[notchswede]

I am ridiculously excited to find this site. I just acquired a 78 99GL notchback. It is my first Saab and after owning it for only a week I can definitely say it won't be my last. I have owned many cars... datsun's, fiats, old bmw's... blah blah... This is by far my favorite. I hope to build it into a cool rally machine and basically just drive the pi$$ out of it. It has the stock engine with the stock k jetronic injection system, good suspension, has rust in the rear fenders (easy fix), floor pans are solid, very solid interior and it also came with the very sought after Ronal Minilites (probably my favorite part of the car) Anyway, I hope to learn alot here, contribute alot and have some fun. Oh yeah, and I am from Charlotte, NC soon to be NE Pennsylvania. I guess I should go update my profile...

[Crazyswede]

Welcome.

the Ronal 8 spokes are nice looking but not very strong...they tend to bend on rough roads. If you intend to do any rough road driving or rallying in the future you will want to get a hold of the Shelby 8 spokes or the minilites. There are still a lot of them out there.

Also, Sandblast Rally is February 5th and is in Cheraw South Carolina which is only a couple of hours south of you. You should come down and watch or Volunteer...good way to get some rally exposure.

[Jordan]

Are you sure they are Ronal Minilites and not real Minilites? Did someone change the axles?

Welcome

[Luke]

They have ronals for -> 87 too, thats what I have on my 86. The paint finish is much better, but much softer alloy for sure. Fine for a street car.

[Geoff]

Welcome. I have an '80 99 notchback with Ronal 8 spoke wheels. Lots of fun!

[Jordan]

They have ronals for -> 87 too, thats what I have on my 86. The paint finish is much better, but much softer alloy for sure. Fine for a street car.

I thought they did, but I thought that it was still a later 900 sort-of-thing and more probably the 99 would have a shelby or real minilite, but I just just asking.

[Crazyswede]

Jeff Powell's wheel guide:

http://jpowell.tripod.com/saab-wheels/#minilite

[notchswede]

I will definitely have to look into the SC rally. I will be haeding upper to northern MI where I got the car next weekend for the Sno drift rally.

Geoff- your car is a spit image of what I have... almost the same color but someone in the 80's painted it a deeper red. Once my body work is done I want to bring it back to the original color.

The wheels are indeed Ronal minilites. They are stamped. Ronal / Saab / Germany on the front. They do not seem very strong after looking at the today (had to take the rear off to repair the shock tower) I could see them being pretty flexy. I will probably eventually put them up for sale... Would help fund the engine stuff I want to do.... I also got two sets of soccer balls with the car so I may just end up running a set of those or buying an aftermarket set of minilites...

After doing the shock tower today, my next order of business is to do the passenger side inner track rod / tie rod. Those things are crazy hard to find... I may have tracked one down though. After that she is mechanically sound. Will be time to tackle the body rust.

[Rallyho]

sniff, sniff....Butterscotch....

[Geoff]

Geoff- your car is a spit image of what I have... almost the same color but someone in the 80's painted it a deeper red. Once my body work is done I want to bring it back to the original color.

Chamotte Beige is a pretty neat color. If you repaint yours and ever decide to sell, it looks like RallyHo might be interested!