86 notchback in the Rose City

[spgftw]

Agreed, this velour fabric is great. I've been trying to find a home for these seats for a couple years now. They almost went into my tan car but the colors clashed. Finally found the right spot. :)

[SalemSaab]

Sweet, glad you picked that one up, it was just begging to be saved.
You're forming quite the 900 collection :)
Next time I'm up in the big city I'll have to swing by.

[spgftw]

Yeah, stop by any time. I just realized this notch looks quite similar to your 99. Now I just need some inca rims. :)

[hutch]

Great buy!

I should have a spare rear parcel shelf in the coming weeks/months once I get around to swapping in my spare one that was redone. I'll shoot you a PM when I do if you are interested in it, you can have it for free but shipping might be a bit to get it to the west coast as its probably pretty fragile.

[spgftw]

Great offer hutch! If it's the same as a 4 door I can source one pretty easily, but if not I'll take you up on that offer.

Only some minor progress today- swapped out the ignition cylinder from my parts car, so the key matches the doors. The trunk is still a mismatch, but 3 out of 4 is better. Also ordered some of that Jegs rubber adhesive so I can attempt a repair. I also adjusted the e brake cables so they actually do something. One wasn't even hooked up to the lever. :)

[squaab99t]

Great offer hutch! If it's the same as a 4 door I can source one pretty easily, but if not I'll take you up on that offer.

Only some minor progress today- swapped out the ignition cylinder from my parts car, so the key matches the doors. The trunk is still a mismatch, but 3 out of 4 is better. Also ordered some of that Jegs rubber adhesive so I can attempt a repair. I also adjusted the e brake cables so they actually do something. One wasn't even hooked up to the lever. :)

Should be the same as a 4 door. The shelf needs to be removed anyways if you are installing the headliner via the trunk. It would be a good time to recover it too.
Be sure to clean the rubber prior to bonding. Acetone and clean rag should get rid of any oil and dirt.

[V4_guy]

Awesome score, notchbacks are special cars. My wife had an '86 in that color combo (except it was an automatic) that we sold to Geoff after it was totaled by a drunk driver. He rebuilt it and daily drove it for years after.

I daily drove an '85 for 8 years that I sold to Crazyswede a couple of years ago. I am almost certain that the parcel shelf on a notchback is different than a 4-door, having owned a couple of each.

[spgftw]

Progress is slow, but here's a couple more updates. I figured out why my central locking was toasted. It looks like this car has some of the bad 85 wiring. Most wires look fine, but this section was totally rotted out. I can't believe the power window was somehow working.



So, this section was replaced along with a newer working locking ECU. Back in business.

[spgftw]

Next up, I turned to TOP PRIORITY items and installed a stereo. I built these speaker pods a while back and had them on the shelf. The sound is just about right now- plenty of midbass, and sound stage center forward. There's more in the trunk but that's under wraps.

[spgftw]

So, more progress. This car came with type 6 primaries, not too bad with the older ratio box but still a bit off. So I dropped in some type 7s and now it's just right. Took me about 3 hours to sort it out. I looked at the 5th gear spacer while I was in there, and it spins easily. I've heard this indicates pinion wear, but the box is still fairly quiet. I guess I'll just keep listening for now.

[SalemSaab]

Hey Paul, need another one?

$600 for a clean 16V 3-door 900 seems like a good deal, if only to part out.

[spgftw]

I need another Saab like I need a hole in my head.
Thanks for the tip though...

[squaab99t]

I need another Saab like I need a hole in my head.

That is exactly what my dad would always tell me...

300k, she might be a little played out?

[spgftw]

300k, bad transmission, gotta pass. Plus I always try to avoid the ABS/airbag package. Less is more for me....

[spgftw]

Here's a couple of "before" pics. The cracked dashboard and chipped, leaking windshield are getting replaced.



And, I'm attempting a headliner repair. I dislike fiberglass etc but no choice left....