'73 Notchback Road Racer

[99Super]

I think my yellow 73 EMS must be in there as well.
Mirrors and stripes for mine were dealer added...

john

[DrewP]

I bought a whole bunch of stuff from Tom Bier, who lives down in San Diego and used to campaign a yellow notchback99 in a few series' in the U.S. and Canada, will post photos when I get a chance to see what all I ended up getting!

Highlights are rebuilt 16v N/A motor, '86 5-speed gearbox, and a set of Panasport 8-spokes that are 4x114, build date cast into the back of January 1981....

Gonna pull all my myriad hoarded hub and a-arm assemblies apart this week and start getting calipers rebuilt and new wheel bearings wheel bearings in, paint a bunch of stuff and start getting it on the car.

Also have another surprise for donor parts, and will throw some photos up when I get to that project.

Hope everyone had a productive weekend.

[Scott]

Panasports? I'm jealous.

I got the hood on my car today, and... that was about it.

Looking forward to more updates.

[Crazyswede]

I bought a whole bunch of stuff from Tom Bier, who lives down in San Diego and used to campaign a yellow notchback99 in a few series' in the U.S. and Canada, will post photos when I get a chance to see what all I ended up getting!

Highlights are rebuilt 16v N/A motor, '86 5-speed gearbox, and a set of Panasport 8-spokes that are 4x114, build date cast into the back of January 1981....

Gonna pull all my myriad hoarded hub and a-arm assemblies apart this week and start getting calipers rebuilt and new wheel bearings wheel bearings in, paint a bunch of stuff and start getting it on the car.

Also have another surprise for donor parts, and will throw some photos up when I get to that project.

Hope everyone had a productive weekend.

Tom Bier's old car is the one Geoff has been running around in for the last 10 years

[Geoff]

And Tom's old B engine 16v head casting is the one that Luke is working on

[DrewP]

When I picked everything up from Tom I drove my '85 900 down expecting to come back with an engine, trans, radiator, and a set of wheels.

What I actually ended up doing was filling the car with boxes of stuff Tom had purchased for his next build, which was going to be a Production 2wd N/A 900 that never met completion, and he had a lot of things spec'd out already and purchased that were sitting in his workshop.








The wheels don't actually say Panasport on them, I've been looking through photos of the vintage ones and it looks like the Panasport logo was a decal, and these have been painted at least once and are straight. They have tapered seat steel inserts where the lug nuts sit like Panasports have, but if anyone has a vintage set I can compare with let me know, and I will take some more detailed photos and measurements.








Tom rebuilt this N/A engine with all stock components for the car he was building - he remembered it coming from a 1986 (pre-face lift ) 900 notchback, that came with this 16v engine in it, which should not have been a U.S. market car - it's a 2.0L 16v head, and the only thing he modified was a 3-angle valve grind, everything else it totally stock SAAB internals.

Engine was rebuilt around 2001 or so and has sat wrapped up in plastic since then, as has the gearbox.












Paul Vail (Absolute SAAB Service, in Encinitas, CA) rebuilt 5-speed gearbox, it's a 456-06







2 sets of diffs & stubs, the open diff ring and planet gear teeth are in gorgeous shape









One of the diffs came loaded with a Phantom Grip from before the Phantom Grip company existed, this was maybe one of the experimental ones, Tom couldn't quite remember who it came from. No markings on it, and the steel cup bearings that the output sun gears normally ride in have been replaced with sort of 'roughly-the-right-shape' squares of bronze sheet.

Very weird. He said it stopped locking up on him on a stage up in NY or something in like '99 and stopped running it after that.

I have NO idea how to get it out of the diff safely since this one doesn't have the bores to slide the locking pins into like the new ones have to put it into position.












Heheheheh.... Ass Tranny Parts.....







Borg Warner waffle oil cooler, aluminum tubing for in-cabin fuel lines, butt load of Earl's fittings:









Set of solid AL engine mounts to replace the later C900 16V mounts:










Hood pins, braided fuel & oil line for engine compartment, feeder pump, AMM & LH2.2 ECM, AN aluminum wrenches & hose slicing tools:








I thought these were super cool, brake bleed nipples with check valves in them:







Pre-engineered sets of fitting blocks for oil pressure & temp senders, fuel rail & pump distribution, Earl's banjo adapters & hose ends, tow hook, stainless Swagelok bulkhead fittings for in-cabin fuel hardline with AN-6 on one end and 3/8" compression on the other along with inside hex nuts:











And.... the military flight case full of spares that got thrown into the chase cars.

Belts, hoses, used balljoints, BIG zip ties, set of engine and trans gaskets, speedo & throttle cables, coils, starter, wheel spacers, spring seats, filter & filter wrench, CV boots, steering rack boot.












Asbestos diff cover gasket:










And last but not least, my heart skipped a beat:









But alas.....


.....Lug nuts.....

[Luke]

Wow, nice haul Drew!

Why wouldnt the '86 16V have been a US spec car? I've seen lots and lots of them at least on the east coast...

I bet the diff is a Jack Baxter unit, he used to advertise and sell those in mid 90's in the back of nines. He raced SAABs in the atlanta area and made a few parts as well.

[DrewP]

I was always under the impression that the N/A cars were all 8-valvers until '88 in the US market, I see lots of '86 and '87 900 and 900S cars here that are 8-valve H motors, and that's what I seemed to remember reading in the model line specs in the Bentley manual?

Were the 900S's '86 and after 16v, and the base 900's 8v until '88?

The red shell I was trying to unload is an '87 base model, and it came with a CIS H engine.


Good to know about the diff, thanks.


I felt bad taking all his stuff, be he was happy to see it off on it's way to get used!

We had a nice lunch at the Karl Strauss Brewhouse with my brother, Tom is a super nice guy, I'm sure we will stay in touch, maybe I'll get him out of the cobwebs when my car is running....

[Luke]

[quote="DrewP]





[/quote]


Whats up with the Jackson Pollock water pump pulley? Thats pretty sweet!

[Luke]

[quote="DrewP]




[/quote]


Whats up with the Jackson Pollock water pump pulley? Thats pretty sweet!

[Hans]

Holy cr@p -- sweet haul!!

Yes, the Jackson Pollock pulley is very nice.

Re: 900 vs. 900S -- my understanding is that, in the U.S., 86+ S models all got 16V engines. IIRC, '89 was the first year that all models -- including bases -- got 16V.

[Rallyho]

Nice parts gram Drew. Tom used to be an east coast guy...ran with some of the local Saab loonies back in the day...before my time. He's spread his Saab stuff around this board quite liberally. The 900 is sitting on shocks/springs from his stash. Funny storry, he brought them back to the east coast on a trip...as checked luggage...ohhh, back in 2002ish...friggn' boxes had "OPENED BY TSA" stickers alllll over them.

Now get that car finished and start beatn' on it.

Mike

[hutch]

Re: 900 vs. 900S -- my understanding is that, in the U.S., 86+ S models all got 16V engines. IIRC, '89 was the first year that all models -- including bases -- got 16V.

Pretty sure that is correct, and that you could only get Notchback's as an 'S' as they were supposed to be upscale models for the US market which is strange because I don't think I've ever seen one with leather or many options beyond power windows. My cousin's 85 notch is an 8-valve with no sway bars and my 86 is a 16 valve with sways. Who knows though, Saab did some wacky stuff back then.

Sweet score on all the parts Drew, my first reaction when seeing that pulley picture was that someone tried to change a belt or something with the engine running but then realized the pulley was yellow so it must have been painted on purpose.

[DrewP]

When I flew back from MN at Christmas I had a complete TCS/ETS setup for a 9000 in my suitcase (computer, throttle body, pedal pot, bunch of vac. lines), along with maple cutting board, knives, bunch of wedding present stuff....


My suitcase had sooooo many TSA stickers on it.....


I thought the pulley was bitchin' too, but realize now that I totally forgot to ask that story when we were out to lunch!

Will be a good reminder at least to keep clear of the spinny bits.

[Geoff]

That diff is a Jack Baxter unit. Tom actually told me it was when I bought his 99 rally car from him in 1999. But it didn't come with the car because he had removed it because it wasn't working right and he was going to look into fixing it for his 900. I don't think it's actually related to the Phantom Grip company, just another use of an exisiting design (look into some American "posi" rear diffs). I remember the cost of those Jack Baxter diffs being $800.

The heat sticker on the head made me chuckle, my 99 came with one on it when I bought it. It also came with a military box in it for spare parts, a mini version of the one you have.

Yup, my '86 900S notchback is a 16v.

That's a nice collection of AN fittings!

Great score, now lets year your car roar!