1978 EMS Freshen Up (Formerly Rally Build)

[MattWatson]

Ok well fine. haha :
)
I'm going to check out the wheel well and arch rust to see how bad it really is and see if it would be fairly easy to repair and blend in paint for that and the rust around the windshield. I will check today to see what classics rates are for insurance, because I don't really want to carry 3 saabs on insurance :)

And I was kind of prepared for this... I know of an 88 900 that might be a good candidate for a rally car? There aren’t too many 99s in this neck of the woods. Actually, my friend said they only sold 3 EMS cars… period, which I guess doesn’t help the cause of turning it into a rally car

I specifically bought this to be a rally car (and paid appropriately), so if I go down the restoration path with it, then I will need to pick up another car, I guess likely a 900.
Sigh.

[Jordan]

From my experience, rally cars last about ~4 years before they start really looking hammered. That is of course if the car DOESN'T get into a major mishap. A 900 shell (especially if it is going to be a hatch) would be a much easier shell to start with. Believe me, there is still plenty of work to do. They start out more serviceable, easier to find replacement parts/sheet metal and for now take less of an emotional toll when something does happen...

I'll confess a 99 is inherently cooler..but my guess is most spectators couldn't tell the difference. :)

[Luke]

I don't know, I but I bet theres some bubbling rust under all those fenders that would most easily be fixed with a nice set of rally flares from Dennis :)

But it does look like a pretty darn nice driver as is... and although I don't think theres anything morally wrong with turning it into a rally car, there may be some candidate that are better suited?

A 900 is a more sensible choice for sure, but they do lack some of the character of a 99, both in driving and in appearance.

If for no other reason, biggest plus of a 900 is being able to power steering without any mods. Power Steering (and a proper diff) is one of the best improvements you can make to a rally SAAB, they have a lot of weight on the front wheels and on long stages it makes it such a difference. SAAB actually did closed course testing on the works cars back in the day and discovered that Stig and Per were both consistently several seconds faster per kilometer with PS than without.

[MattWatson]

I don't know, I but I bet theres some bubbling rust under all those fenders that would most easily be fixed with a nice set of rally flares from Dennis :)

If he still is selling them, those are in the cards regardless of rally car vs non.

And yes, the rust inventory is:

Top and bottom of front windshield, top of passenger door, both door bottoms are rotted completely out, at least surface rust on all the wheel wells (how bad I don't know) (side note: I have 2 100% rust free 99 doors as well, they are just the wrong color, so I may repair these versus repaining. Have to see what the cost is)

It looks really good, because it has been repainted at some point ( I am pretty sure it was in a front end accident at some point, but it looks like the repairs were top notch. And obviously at some point it got a later 900 hatch.

Tonight I will do a full inventory and open it up for voting :) Hey, maybe this will replace my SPG as a daily driver I don't usually vote by committee, but no one is saying anything that I wasn't thinking :D

[Mezzanine]

Great looking 99 you’ve got there! I am looking forward to watching your progress. One piece of advice- stay away from the BP-10 pads. They’re made of Teflon. OK, maybe not Teflon, but they require way more braking effort than the Porterfields I run now. Trade off is that they don’t dust at all (which you shouldn’t care about being a rally car), and they are pretty easy on the rotors.

If you’re willing to have custom drilled rotor hats, you can make the conversion without using the vented hubs. I just measured it all up this weekend, but don’t have my notes in front of me at the moment. Measure the distance from the caliper mounting ears to the front of the hub itself. Then decide on the rotor thickness you want, and add HALF that thickness to the caliper’s mount offset (as defined in Wilwood’s specs for your caliper of choice). Subtract that value from the distance between your caliper mount and hub face and that will tell you the hat depth you need; be sure to err on the side of caution- better to add a thin arbor shim to the caliper mount than to be off the other direction. I know that the vented rotor hub would use something like a 1-1/8” hat for a 1.25” rotor, but that is just from memory, so don’t quote me. Find a set of undrilled hats in the offset you need and have them drilled up and then revel in the rotor options that are now at your fingertips.


Are you planning on leaving the brake booster in or are you going to manual brakes? I did manual and don’t have any regrets, and that is on a slightly heavier 900.

[V4_guy]

Very cool car! Count me in the drive it like it is camp.

You got some cool accessories and parts with it. You don't see many 99s in North America with the Euro headlights, I wonder how long it's been wearing those. I noticed it also has 900 lights on the hatch and the three piece spoiler.

[Mezzanine]

Oh, forgot one (really) important detail of the above process...finding rotors in the appropriate diameter. I am looking into caliper brackets to offset the rotor radially an extra inch so you can use a 12" rotor. 12" rotors would probably disqualify 15" rims.

[MattWatson]

Very cool car! Count me in the drive it like it is camp.

You got some cool accessories and parts with it. You don't see many 99s in North America with the Euro headlights, I wonder how long it's been wearing those. I noticed it also has 900 lights on the hatch and the three piece spoiler.

I think fairly recently. Looks like it had US spec when it was in the accident (based on the grille pieces I have...) and then the lights were replaced with EU spec.

I sourced the grille and light buckets after I bought it, since it didn't have anything but a gaping hole haha. It still isn't fitting 100% right, so I may have to tweak some things. For a road car it would be fine... so I may not tweek to much depending.

[Luke]

I am looking into caliper brackets to offset the rotor radially an extra inch so you can use a 12" rotor. 12" rotors would probably disqualify 15" rims.

Take a look at the rotor clearance to the lower ball joint on a stock vented setup and report back on the extra inch inboard

11.75" is a really common sized rotor, they can be turned down to ~11.25 and still clear most 15" wheels. That's in a .81 width of course.

[DrewP]

I think it's nicer than like the last 10 project car threads that have gone up here.

The interior looks awesome, very good buy.

No matter what you do with it it'll be really fun.

[Geoff]

Wow, that car does look pretty nice! I'd say drive it and find a 900 shell to rally. You don't see many '78 EMSes.

... Actually, my friend said they only sold 3 EMS cars… period, ...

Really? I'd like to see that figure documented. Your car makes the 3rd burgundy '78 EMS I've seen (well, yours is the first I haven't seen in person). There is a guy in the New England area who has a REAL nice one with around 60K miles on it (takes it to http://swedishcarday.com/), there was another nice one with 57K miles on it that some moron sent to a Massachusetts junkyard back in the fall of 1999 (when I found it there was a 900 on it's roof and I still thought about buying it and putting on a new roof). Crazyswede used to own a 99 rally car that was badged as a '78 EMS and another '78 EMS that RallyHo's brother had converted to a turbo. I think both of those cars were originally Anthricite.

[MattWatson]

Really? I'd like to see that figure documented. Your car makes the 3rd burgundy '78 EMS I've seen (well, yours is the first I haven't seen in person).

When I say that, I am speaking only from the Calgary dealership, so likely for most of Alberta seeing as Calgary is the money town

I think Vancover generally sold more, since I have seen several cars sell in BC over the years, and I immagine the east sold lots as well.

[Geoff]

Ah, that would make sense!

[SalemSaab]

beautiful 99 .. I agree, it is too nicely conditioned to sacrifice to rally-duty .. that is what has prevented me from offroading my notchback.
Sweet extras too! Quite the time-capsule.

[MattWatson]

beautiful 99 .. I agree, it is too nicely conditioned to sacrifice to rally-duty .. that is what has prevented me from offroading my notchback.
Sweet extras too! Quite the time-capsule.

I'll try to get some more pictures tonight. It has a header as well as minilites that wern't on when I took the pictures :)

Seems like most of the add ons were added. Guess thats what happens when it is the parts manager that buys the car!

Likely going to just touch up the cancer here and then do some cosmetics (headliner, underbody surface rust etc.) Paint two new doors I have. My friend is in Ireland apparently right now, so I don't know if he will trade his 900 parts car for some reno work so that I can use it as a rally car. If he will, it leaves me fairly short of time before winter sets in here and the no outside work time kicks in...