Hello from Vancouver, BC

[JeffCullen]

Hi all!

My friend turbo stephan has gone on so much about the quality of information on this forum that I can resist joining no longer!

I have had Saabs since I started driving at 16, and I'm 27 now. I peaked at 5, but presently have 4, and no space to store or work on them for the moment... it's quite the predicament! My friend Tom and I have done everything from oil changes to drivetrain swaps (auto to manual) on C900s so we know our way around a bit... I'm really interested in everyone who's running more modern EFI on the C900s as while I don't crave huge power, I am mental about driving characteristics--on/off throttle transitions, idle stability, low emissions, that sort of thing. I know, I know, wrong car... but of course I love the look, character, feel, sound, smell, and utility of a C900 hatch.

My main squeeze is my rust-free '85 SPG. The car's in pretty good shape and quite well sorted, after an awful lot of work... it has to be kept fairly original thanks to its Collector plates.


I'm not really into huge power or racing--am more interested in seeing old C900s with good bodies running like new.

I have a fair amount of 9000 knowledge as well, particularly the dreaded ETS/TCS system as I've owend a '93 Aero since 2004.

Anyway, looking forward to hanging around--everyone here is clearly much smarter than me!

Cheers!
--jeff

[DrewP]

Hey Jeff, nice looking SPG!

My '85 SPG is pretty ratty, and my brother has daily'd a '93 9000 Aero since early '03 I think, so I can safely say you've got good taste!

[JeffCullen]

Thanks Drew! As you can tell, I prefer to own the most weird and wacky one-off transition year of whatever car it is that takes my fancy... I've been trying to logically update to later stuff as I go. Given the fact that my engine bay needs to appear essentially stock due to the Collector status, I'm been toying with the idea of converting it to LH2.4 as I quite prefer how that EFI feels to LH2.2.

One thing I have definitely sinned on in the eyes of the Insurance company is fitting a red box in the '86/up location where all the cool kids have it as I couldn't stand the feeling of inferiority at a meet when people asked me where my APC box was... I surgically extracted the 5 appropriate wires out of the harness that goes down the middle of the car and relocated them dropped through a nice tube of heat shrink to the Moderne Place. Very nice... I found even normal xx xx 599 APC boxes to cause the car to behave more interestingly than the original '85 unit.

[turbo stephan]

Hey Jeff,

I see you made it to here. Welcome aboard. I recommend the 16v B-motor thread. It takes a while to go through it but it's totally worth your time.

Changed the oil on mine again yesterday and the oil pressure behaves more normal now. In fact it was even better before the change yesterday evening. I'm driving the 900 to work today, let's see how it goes. Thanks again for coming over last weekend, it's always more fun to work with 2 people on a Saab

Stephan

[SwedeSport]

Nice looking car,

Are the SPG panels on that gray or black?

[JeffCullen]

Thanks SwedeSport! The panels are black. I'm not sure how many, but the first SPGs delivered in North America had black panels. Mine's 11/84 build. I've read the switch to grey was around 12/84, certainly by 1/85. I have the original invoice and can track the car's history back in time quite nicely... they certainly weren't altered.

Stephan--great to hear The Bitch is behaving herself! How's your idle situation? I've already read most of the 16-v B motor thread... absolutely STUNNING!!!

[turbo stephan]

Those black panels... Remember, I asked that same question as Swedesport on Sunday.

The Bitch is doing fine so far. I think I tamed her a bit Idle is a tad high but nothing a good clean up of idle control valve or throttle body couldn't fix.

[Geoff]

That's a real nice looking SPG!
I've seen one or two before that had the black panels. My dad and I both had '85 SPGs at one time. At least one was made in January '85 (the other might have been too, or later). Both had the grey panels.

[JeffCullen]

I have seen three other '85 SPGs in Vancouver. One, I know the owner, it has grey panels. Another, I've seen several times and is curiously altered and has black panels but who knows if they're original as the car's obviously had mondo bodywork. Both these two have appalling interiors. The Bridge of Weir leather on the earlier cars looks, feels, and smells nicer, but really falls apart as it ages... the later Elmo stuff just turns to cardboard and stays that way into perpetuity. Anyway... The fourth one I saw had black panels... I've only seen it once while someone else was driving, so I didn't get to check it out... it looked great from the oustside... mine's the only one with Collector plates, and in fact is the only 900 I know of with them in BC... I'd love to know of more! It's a neat program through our Monarchical insurance corporation--you promise you won't drive it for work, and that you won't alter it significantly from factory specs, and they give you roughly 75% off your yearly insurance.

There are just so few flat noses around in excellent condition, and so many '85s were put down due to the biodegradable wiring harness issues... the '85s are really a breed of their own, with the groovy head/cam setup and solid motor mounts. How they feel is a strange mix of 8VT and 16VT. I love it!

I would love to stealthily introduce more modern fuel injection and timing control to get a little more predictable oomph out of it and improve driving characteristics...