White 74 LE

[Sam]

Is it possible to rent a media blaster? The plan is to try to get the engine running and the holes patched. Then send a completely naked shell out for paint. How much am I looking at for blasting & paint, $2000+?

What 900 harness do i want to look for? Does it need to be out of an N/A 900?

I just ordered a sweet new oldstock antenna for it!
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... OTORS:1123

one less hole to fill

[Crazyswede]

Media blasting is a messy process. Even if you can rent a blaster and you buy the media it ends up going everywhere. This is one job that is just so much easier to have someone else do it who has a blasting area setup.

Fitting a 900 harness will not be a direct fit but it can be done. If you run the LH injection then it will be easier. A turbo or non turbo harness should work. I don't remember if any of the C900's used a crank position sensor or not.

The other Alternative is to install a Painless or other aftermarket harness. Luke can fill you in on these as he has more hands on experience with there pro's and cons.

[Jordan]

If you're going with LH then go with a decent 900 harness....that way you won't have to splice in connectors and everything will be there. Later 900s (not sure if it was all EZK?) had a crank pulley mounted shutter wheel. Downside is finding one in decent shape (shouldn't be too hard) just don't get one from an '85/'86.

It it were me, I'd at least pull the head of that motor and see what it looks like If it was never run, maybe oil never got circulated though it and it might have some internal issues, especially with the open intake/distributor. Change the oil and see what it looks like.

Blasting the car is also going to reveal more metal issues so you will likely need to do repair work after it is blasted, then have it re-primed.

[Luke]

Media blasting is a messy process. Even if you can rent a blaster and you buy the media it ends up going everywhere. This is one job that is just so much easier to have someone else do it who has a blasting area setup.

The plastic media is also really expensive, the blasting shops reclaim the media and cost is greatly reduced by recycling it.

[Crazyswede]

If you're going with LH then go with a decent 900 harness....that way you won't have to splice in connectors and everything will be there. Later 900s (not sure if it was all EZK?) had a crank pulley mounted shutter wheel. Downside is finding one in decent shape (shouldn't be too hard) just don't get one from an '85/'86.

It it were me, I'd at least pull the head of that motor and see what it looks like If it was never run, maybe oil never got circulated though it and it might have some internal issues, especially with the open intake/distributor. Change the oil and see what it looks like.

Blasting the car is also going to reveal more metal issues so you will likely need to do repair work after it is blasted, then have it re-primed.

Ok, I think i remember: The non turbo cars had EZK ignition and LH 2.2 up to a certain year and then they still had EZK but they went to LH 2.4 which I believe used a crank position sensor. All of the turbo's used the simpler ignition module and I don't think the turbo's used the crank position sensor. either way the Crank Position Sensor (CPS) cars are going to be around 88 and later.

[Hans]

If you're going with LH then go with a decent 900 harness....that way you won't have to splice in connectors and everything will be there. Later 900s (not sure if it was all EZK?) had a crank pulley mounted shutter wheel. Downside is finding one in decent shape (shouldn't be too hard) just don't get one from an '85/'86.

Ok, I think i remember: The non turbo cars had EZK ignition and LH 2.2 up to a certain year and then they still had EZK but they went to LH 2.4 which I believe used a crank position sensor. All of the turbo's used the simpler ignition module and I don't think the turbo's used the crank position sensor. either way the Crank Position Sensor (CPS) cars are going to be around 88 and later.

Yes, for 16V non-turbos:
86-87 -- LH2.2[1] -- Hall sensor in distributor
88-90 -- LH2.4 -- CPS[2]
91-93 -- LH2.4.2 -- CPS[2], [3]

Non-turbo ignition modules rely on EZK to control dwell; Turbo modules take care of it on their own. No CPS on any c900Ts.

You could install a Turbo harness, but the EZK is nice to have, and much better at controlling timing than the Turbo ignition stuff. That said, EZK must have a knock sensor to work, so you'd need to figure that out unless you're installing an H motor (block is already drilled).

--------------------

[1] I wouldn't go with LH2.2 because the air mass meters aren't as durable as LH2.4+, and you have to set the idle (done automatically by LH2.4+). Not sure if it'd matter here, but LH2.4+ does a better job w/emissions, too.

[2] You can run non-turbo LH2.4/LH2.4.2 with a distributor-mounted Hall sensor, as the signals are the same between dist. and CPS. Install a Turbo distributor but don't connect the vacuum line to the capsule. You must leave the capsule on, though, or the Hall sensor will not be correctly positioned. Base timing is no longer automatically set, either.

[3] LH2.4.2 had a throttle potentiometer, not a switch like LH2.2/2.4. The LH2.4.2 throttles are different to accommodate the switch. Going with LH2.4.2 is handy if you think you might do something like Megasquirt in the future, though it's just the throttle, really, that gives you a small head start.

[Sam]

Did some more cleanup last night. Tucked away inside the front fender was none other than the d-jet ecu connector with about 3 feet of cable left on it. I think my best bet is to splice it onto a 900 harness. Can someone tell me where the stock location is for the computer? I'm guessing its not inside the fender where water could splash all over it.

We started to run a leakdown test as well using the air compressor. We took the cover off the clutch-flywheel assembly and used a prybar to spin the flywheel. The engine is definitely turning over but we were having trouble finding the compression stroke. A few times we thought we had found it, as it was harder to turn from the pressure but our numbers did not look good. I will run the test again, turning the flywheel in smaller increments to make sure. Stupid question - but facing the car looking at the headlights, which way does the engine turn?

Lastly, I pulled the crappy aftermarket stereo out to start identifying all of the non crucial wiring. I noticed that there are no stock mounting points for speaker. What radio would this car have had from the factory? Is it so old that the speaker would have been inside the headunit? I searched online for pictures of 99 interiors and couldn't find a single early 70's model with a stereo in it.

[paulh]

Did some more cleanup last night. Tucked away inside the front fender was none other than the d-jet ecu connector with about 3 feet of cable left on it. I think my best bet is to splice it onto a 900 harness. Can someone tell me where the stock location is for the computer? I'm guessing its not inside the fender where water could splash all over it.

Those pictures you have there are quite frightening, you're missing a lot. Here's a pic of my car's engine bay, you can see the D-Jet "ECU", it sits on the backside of the drivers side fender.




Looks like you're also missing your MAP sensor,the silver cylindrical thing on the front of the fender in the pic. That wiring is gonna be a big headache. If you need a wiring harness, I have the old one from my car, but I did take a it apart a bit and used a couple of the leads for my megasquirt install. Unless you're going for a show car though, I'd avoid D-Jet, its one of those systems that works pretty good when it works, but when it goes wrong...look out. Megasquirt is probably a good option at this point, its actually not that hard to do on the D-Jet cars. Check out this thread, it might help you a bit with locations of things http://saablink.net/forum/showthread.ph ... squirt+ems

Lastly, I pulled the crappy aftermarket stereo out to start identifying all of the non crucial wiring. I noticed that there are no stock mounting points for speaker. What radio would this car have had from the factory? Is it so old that the speaker would have been inside the headunit? I searched online for pictures of 99 interiors and couldn't find a single early 70's model with a stereo in it.

The early cars didnt come from the factory with a stereo as best I can tell. The early cars usually had them in the center of the fake plastic wood strip in the dash (by all the switches) and the later ones had a variety of different aftermarket radio boxes hanging off the lower parts of the dash. None of these seem to work well, and theyre all made out of really shitty plastic.

Paul

[Geoff]

Stupid question - but facing the car looking at the headlights, which way does the engine turn?

This is the way I remember it:
If you hold on to the bolt at the firewall end of the crankshaft (with a socket/breaker bar) and turn the engine over the bolt will unscrew. So it turns clockwise when viewed from the cabin, counterclockwise when viewed from the front.

Lastly, I pulled the crappy aftermarket stereo out to start identifying all of the non crucial wiring. I noticed that there are no stock mounting points for speaker. What radio would this car have had from the factory? Is it so old that the speaker would have been inside the headunit? I searched online for pictures of 99 interiors and couldn't find a single early 70's model with a stereo in it.

99s (and even early 900s) didn't come with factory stereos, they were dealer installed. There is a cutout for a single speaker in the center of the top of the dash (probably hidden by the dash pad). I don't think you want to use it though

[Sam]

Hey guys, sorry to beat a dead horse hear but I want to get my parts right. Will 1988 3dr 900 hatchback doors fit the 2dr 74 notch?

[Jordan]

Now you're just getting lazy...

I think in '74 they changed the unibody to be the same used in later 99s and 900s which you can swap the rear axle/suspension set up from any 900. I believe track is slightly wider, but it doesn't really cause any issues. 900 Shocks are needed along with the 900 wheels as the hub on early 99 wheels are a little narrower (it's possible for them to be opened up as the bolt pattern is identical).

900 doors from a 3-door will fit your 99.

Do a search in the 99 section on saabnet, most of the basic stuff has been answered there.

[DeLorean]

Not to be a negative nelly, but that car does not look repairable. I have junked cars that were in significantly better shape than that. When you can't point to one thing that's right with a car, it's hard to have a starting point... From the looks of it, if you actually did a full tear down, and got that car media blasted and all the rust removed, you'd not have much left...

I would say however that there are at least some good parts there so if you found a better one you'd have some chance of getting some bits or bobs you'll probably end up needing from your parts car.

[Luke]

Not to be a negative nelly, but that car does not look repairable. I have junked cars that were in significantly better shape than that.

The really rusty pic was a car I had that was the same color combo, Sam's car dosent look nearly as bad, just some typical spots in the trunk, no big deal.

[Sam]

Someone close to my shop is selling an 88 Turbo for $200 negotiable. Does anyone want the shell when i'm done with it?

http://hudsonvalley.craigslist.org/pts/1489596307.html

[Geoff]

With our without the leaves?