Green '79 900 EMS

[SwedeSport]

I like the mesh grille look, but I agree that the stock grill is the way to go.

That grille doesnt have enough meat in it if you cut out all the ribs.

[RadioFlyer]

If I were going to do it, I was thinking black mesh in behind the slots. Just to make it so you can't see the radiator as easily.

[DrewP]

I was finally at the shop during the daylight, so I pulled the EMS out to get some photos in the light.

I tried to get as many of the first-year-only things as I could, they're really what makes this car so unique.



The color is in fact acasiagrön metallic (Acacia Green), looks quite nice except for the roof and the hatch lid where it's got some sun damage.







Awesome stripe that hooks around on the hood, then goes all the way back up the C-pillar:








B20 with a 4-speed - with TONS of extra space behind the crank pulley. There's probably 4" from the pulley to the firewall. Also has the outer fender reinforcing brackets that I think were '79 only. All they do is make it difficult to get to the air horns and the charcoal canister....








I absolutely love the early cluster, with the (!) exclamation point lamps that come on with the other warning lights. The odometer finally stopped working about 3 years ago, it hasn't gone much more than the indicated 320k though. Gonna have to fix that.







I got the '79 only grille from Marty Adams (he posts as Moonracer on the forums) who owns the Meyer Saab and Iowa City Saab dealerships in Iowa. He's still into the 2-smokes in a big way and has lots of cool vintage stuff still laying around. Mother-in-law has bought all of her Saabs from the Adams Family (haha), 2 from Marty's dad and 2 from Marty.







Front corner lamps with little plastic stripe in the middle, and thin stripe bumpers:





Sweet chrome door handles and lock cylinder trim.






Rear vents with chrome stripe running through the center.





99 combi style rear tail lamps with 99 hatch that's missing the inner lights. Also has fixed antenna on the right side instead of the left. 99 hatch release and lock cylinder too.









To the interior, there's 99 EMS seats and sliders, solid plastic door panels without the cloth insert panels, 99 styled electrical outside mirrors, early style door lock pulls, Saab IQ test seat belts, ratcheting rear lap belts, odd hood release handle, and thick wool pile carpets.



























And of course the enormous rear headrests, which were apparently part of an options package.







Treasures from beneath the rear seat. Sunglasses, a frisbee, a quarter, a hipster band I've never hear of, and a 'Daddy's Girl' keychain.

Yessssss.....









Then there's the trunk, with it's odd plastic well liners that went through 1982 or 1983, with speaker cutouts and such.








Cool decal behind the spare tire telling you to use the (provided) tapered seat lug nuts with the spare steel wheel.

Piss poor translation from Swedish too!







My car also sits about as low as my '85 that has Konis and B&G springs. Came to find the green car has already been fitted with front and rear anti-roll bars and Bilsteins, and sport springs from somewhere.









Lastly the cool ID plates! Built in August, 1978!

[gmreider]

Drew, Thats a REALLY NICE CAR. I've owned a few of these early cars, but had forgotten some of the neat details. I really like the hood release lever and I forgot all about the bracing pieces in the front fenders. Were they pop riveted in?

[DrewP]

.... I forgot all about the bracing pieces in the front fenders. Were they pop riveted in?

Yes, they are. I imagine all they'll actually do in the event of munching the front corner is damage the inner fender worse.

They do look cool though, some speed-hole action under the hood.

[Crazyswede]

.... I forgot all about the bracing pieces in the front fenders. Were they pop riveted in?

Yes, they are. I imagine all they'll actually do in the event of munching the front corner is damage the inner fender worse.

They do look cool though, some speed-hole action under the hood.

swedish cupholders

[SalemSaab]

Lastly the cool ID plates! Built in August, 1978!

Hey, we have fraternal twins!

Very interesting to see the similarities + differences between the two models.

[RadioFlyer]

WICKED AWESOME!!!! I love it. I've never seen those "swedish cupholders" in the front fender wells. Might have to search some out for my '80. I love the yellow seat back lever covers and such too. Plus the tons of extra space in the engine bay, the vertical spare tire, and of course the GIANT rear seat headrests! Mine has those too, but I didn't know they were an accessory - I thought people just lost them if they weren't there. I love your instrument cluster too. My odo kept skipping, so I fixed it a few times before finally replacing it with another one (see RadioFlyer build thread).

Also interesting that yours has upgraded suspension. I put in sway bars from an '85 SPG on mine, but had to drill the holes myself for the front. That sucked. Original shocks and springs are still awesome and with the sway bar, the thing takes corners almost as well as my '90 SPG! Now you just need a cool accessory center console with aux gauges and a turbo!

[SwedeSport]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM4kqL13jGM

[Geoff]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM4kqL13jGM

I figured out where those guys got their mad skilz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0IGepU7ICc

[SwedeSport]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cM4kqL13jGM

I figured out where those guys got their mad skilz
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q0IGepU7ICc

Lol, I think that old bag is the same "Rappin Granny" that used to do appearances on the Howard Stern Show.

When I saw the pic of "some hipster band I never heard of" The name rang a bell, so I went on the hunt and sure enough...

They were on the scene in the early 90's... Drew was probably just taking off the training wheels on his 2 wheeler at that time... so it's completely understandable that he did not recognize the band. There is also the fact that the home recorded CD is to him, what the 8 track was to my generation.

I hope you at least threw it into a cd player and gave it half a chance...

[DrewP]

Drove it finally!







It runs great. Knocks some under hard accel, but I just topped up the tank with fresh fuel and a bottle of Techron and I won't start messing with it too much until I give the fuel system a chance to free itself up after sitting for so long.

Sadly no CD player in the Sony deck that's in the car Jason, I had high hopes after listening to some totally rad Digable Planets.

[Jordan]

Nice VT tags

I think I actually like the stock lights better... don't get me wrong, I love ecodes on flat noses...but for some reason I like the 79 surrounds with a good e-code insert instead on that car...

[RadioFlyer]

I love that color. Sweet ride! Also love the look of a classic 900 parked in a lot full of modern, stupid looking plastic cars. It just looks so much classier. Like one person in that whole parking lot just GETS IT.

[Geoff]

It's funny how small it looks next to the Mazda 3 and Suzuki Aerio - both not considered large cars.

You must be in the sunny part of VT.