1985 SPG Rebuild Again

[MattWatson]

Hey All,

So I got a "nice" birthday/christmas present this year... I was pulling away from a light behind another car, and heard a nice lound bang. The car massively bucked, but I was a block away from home, so I limped it there.

Pulled the clutch hoping it was the issue, but no luck, so I guess I get to do a transmission swap. This is really annoying seeing as the one I had has only 40 000k on it or so, and I don't really hammer the car pretty much at all.

So now the saga begins. I have the engine almost out, I just have to remove the top ball joints and pull the axle shafts out of the car. I already have a rebuilt transmission lined up, so that should be fairly straight forward.

Since I am doing all of this I have a couple questions:

I need to swap to a larger inner tripod bearing since the rebuilt has the larger inner drivers, and mine has the smaller. Should I just buy the bearing and use my existing shafts, or get the whole assembly from EEuro? They are listed as 100% new units, but they are REALLY cheap, which makes me nervous.

Seeing all the work I have done to remove the knuckle already, I was contemplating swapping to the mid '86 front knuckles and then retaining the stock setup for now until I can replenish my budget and then take a look at willwoods (they seem to have a new set of dynalites with dust boots). I know I would need to change the hat of the caliper to the wider one, but is the hydraulic side the same? I JUST put in new rebuilts 6 months ago, so they are good. I would need to re-weld the hats to avoid the clunk, but that is not a huge problem.

For now the 99 is doing daily driver duties, which sucks given the amount of gravel on the roads right now and my luck at getting rocks in windshields.

Edit:

Thought I would put up some pictures, since this is *supposed* to be a build thread... and I might as well follow somewhat of the format. These photos are about 7 years old now, but not much has changed except a really dented hood from hail (to be fixed this spring... with a new hood)

1985 Saab SPG

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[Geoff]

I'd just convert your new transmission to the smaller drivers to accept the tripods that you already have. That's the cheapest way and you already know the parts are good.

It's funny that your car has the smaller drivers, I think I remember that both of my '85 SPGs had the larger ones.

[MattWatson]

I'd just convert your new transmission to the smaller drivers to accept the tripods that you already have. That's the cheapest way and you already know the parts are good.

It's funny that your car has the smaller drivers, I think I remember that both of my '85 SPGs had the larger ones.

Wouldn't I need to rest the pinion lash then though, or should that be fine?

Everything that I could find on the subject said that it had been changed mid '86, but who knows.

[SwedeSport]

In regard to the brakes, you will need to use the saddles that go with the 86-87 vented rotors.

The pads in the vented setup are technically different, but most places only sell the thinner pads which will fit both. Also since some time (and wear) has passed, it should not matter if you do have the thicker pad in it now.

You will have to set the backlash if you change the drivers out.

[MattWatson]

I got the engine out over the weekend, and started some heating system disassembly in the cabin since I broke the heater control valve while removing a hose at -25c.

I pulled the plugs to check the condition of them since #3 and #4 had a history of gumming up so bad once that the car would barely run. They had platinum plugs in at the time (I had one set that ran great, but that set was a dog), and after that adventure swapped them in for el chepo BCP7ES and they worked great. After checking them, #3 and #4 both still had buildup where #1 and #2 were fine.

I've had intermittent black smoke (so slight I can't see it, only someone driving behind me) on acceleration. I talked to a mechanic friend of mine that usually does my routine work, and he thinks it is likely rings. After doing lots of research online, most recommend the Swedish Dynamics bearing/ring pack. For those in the know, is it worth it to be 3x+ (I still have to get it to Canada after that) the price on the rings/bearings than say getting sets from eeuro?

I am also going to have to rebuild my turbo, seems like it has pretty excessive wear, and it likely is contributing to the smoke as well... just shouldn't be fouling plugs. I have a couple in the shop that had cracked exhaust housings, so I am going to check what condition they are in and possibly swap the center sections into my existing one.

I swear I will get some pictures up tonight... even though from reading this site over the last few years, most of this is just more of the same :)

[Geoff]

You will have to set the backlash if you change the drivers out.

You shouldn't need to reset it if you replace just the drivers and use the existing driver bearing housings and shim sets (?)

Does your car have the rare chrome grille? My dad's '85 SPG had that along with the E-code headlights (standard for you in Canada). Your car is the first I've seen like that, other than his.

[Luke]

You will have to set the backlash if you change the drivers out.

You shouldn't need to reset it if you replace just the drivers and use the existing driver bearing housings and shim sets (?)

Right, that's the correct way to swap drivers and no shim adjustments are needed. Also while you have everything apart you can swap the left and right drivers and get some more life out of them.

[SwedeSport]

I wasnt even thinking in those terms. I was assuming the whole assembly was changing.

If you are gonna swap the driver stubs, might be a good time to replace the bearings, seals, and the O-ring between the trans case and bearing housing too. They get pretty hard and brittle and are prone to cracking from even judicious handling.

[MattWatson]

You will have to set the backlash if you change the drivers out.

You shouldn't need to reset it if you replace just the drivers and use the existing driver bearing housings and shim sets (?)

Right, that's the correct way to swap drivers and no shim adjustments are needed. Also while you have everything apart you can swap the left and right drivers and get some more life out of them.

OK. Once I get a hold of the transmission this weekend I will decide if I want to just swap the inner tripods with new, or swap the drivers. I guess one is just time, the other is a few $ and much less time. (or I guess I could take my chances with 2nd hand tripods for free... I have 2 parts cars I could steal them from...)

Everything else on the transmission is 100% refurbished (with 0k on the rebuild) so I shouldn't need to do anything else as long as the seals havn't dried up in the year or so since he did the rebuild. I assume it is ok though.

[MattWatson]

Does your car have the rare chrome grille? My dad's '85 SPG had that along with the E-code headlights (standard for you in Canada). Your car is the first I've seen like that, other than his.

By Chrome, do you mean pot metal with chrome on top, or chrome plated plastic? I believe mine is just plastic, I will confirm tonight though.

[Geoff]

Chrome plated plastic. Standard equipment was painted plastic and the dealers sold the occasional chrome plated plastic one as an accessory. Chrome plated plastic was standard for '87+ cars in the US. Other markets continued to get painted grilles.

[MattWatson]

Chrome plated plastic. Standard equipment was painted plastic and the dealers sold the occasional chrome plated plastic one as an accessory. Chrome plated plastic was standard for '87+ cars in the US. Other markets continued to get painted grilles.

Huh, interesting. I should check my 86 parts car to see what it has... I believe it has the chrome plated plastic as well. Shows you how much I notice...

[SwedeSport]

If you have any that are in nice condition, you could sell them to us here in the states. There is a fair amount of people who would want one.

Might be a good business op for you,... rescue them from the yards and send em here.

[MattWatson]

Empy engine bay:

It's on the floor:

Working with plastic in -25 degree weather does this:

Nessesitating This :

One advantage of breaking the heater valve is that I found out why I wasn't getting heat to one of the vents in winter and massive heat in the summer... might be better if I reconnected that hose.

Tonight I am off to dig up my turbos that are sitting around to see what kind of shape they are in. I took one apart to see what it was like internally, so if I used it I would need to get a rebuild kit for it, so I don't know how much further ahead I would be.

[MattWatson]

Question: What is the allowable play in a compressor housing on a stock T3 turbo?

I took a look at what I have. The one I pulled from pick-n-pull a couple years ago looks like it was a very recent rebuild . All retaining clips for the housings still show full yellow plating beneath the dust... and other than being dirty *looks* pretty good. However, it has about the same compressor shaft play as the one I am using. It has zero endplay (as does the one I am using) and zero play of any kind on the turbine side (didn't check this on mine... the cast elbow is still on it). The shaft play is feelable, but if I pull it to one side and then spin the compressor, it doesn't contact anything.

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I am almost 100% sure the other one is junk. The turbine housing was cracked between the internal wastegate and the turbine outlet, so it wouldn't build boost before it was scrapped by a friend (I grabbed it for a couple misc bolts that were missing from the turbo above) and it looks bad enough on the turbine side that I wouldn't bother with it. It kind of looks like a mouse decided that they eat the end of the shaft, although the turbine fins themselves are perfectly fine...

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The others I have look 'normal'. Maybe they just did it in ballancing? By a mouse?

Does anyone have a shaft play measurement? I am going to get a dial indicator from the other shop tomorrow and see what they are exactly... but I am now leaning towards the turbo being OK for bearings... it just might need seals. Or I could take my chances with the new one.

Thoughts?