Saab 900 Notchback Rally Car
Posted: Tue Jun 25, 2013 8:30 pm
I bought a Saab 4 speed rally gearbox last winter and it came attached to a Saab 900 Notchback rally car. The car was never run but was a reshell of a previous notchback that had been retired for one reason or another. The shell has been stripped and reinforced and it did have a cage and a running but not tuned drive line in it.
After resting at a friends place near Seattle for several months I finally got it shipped to Luke's house down in PA. After we ran STPR we decided to run Rally West Virginia which takes place about 7 weeks after STPR. Somewhere in discussion about which car to run the decision was made to prep this 900. We only have to do EVERYTHING to the car to prep it so 6 weeks would probably be plenty of time
June 20th I went down and spent all of Friday cutting the old cage out of the car. I pulled the doors off as well as the rear side windows and the windshield. Luke and I went to the junkyard on Saturday and picked up a T5 harness, injectors, DI pack, and sensors, as well as a pair of dark grey doors with interior panels, glass, and mechanical winders. The doors that came with the car were significantly lighter as they were fitted with lexan, had no tracks or window mechanisms, and had a bunch of the inner sheet metal cut from them. However I prefer to have the glass windows that can be wound up and down. Its nice to be able to roll the windows down at checkpoints and transits and it helps the car feel less claustrophobic. The interior door panels also offer a little more protection and the pockets can be handy.
The tubing for the cage was ordered (about 110 feet) and we will be running the 1.75" diam x .095 wall for the main cage structure with the remaining in 1.5". We are not mounting the main hoop as far back as the previous cage but it will still be behind the B pillar. In order to mount the driver's seat in the proper position for my height we need to set the seat and cage back a bit. We will run the appropriate spacers on the wheel and use the existing pedals for now.
Due to time constraints we will likely run the brake master setup that is in the car which is using a booster and an additional vacuum reservoir. I plan to eliminate the bter and go to a dual master setup. I may cut out a piece of the firewall and make an area similar to the 99 to mount the masters in but still have them in the engine bay. In some cases the 900 is great because it has a lot more room for stuff in the engine bay and between the engine and the firewall. However some of the 99 design is very handy with the top shelf of the firewall being great for mounting things.
The car is still using the stock gas tank and will continue to do so for the forseable future. We are changing the fuel lines out with PTFE hose encased in woven SS which is very long lasting compared to the equivalent rubber. As a side bonus there should be no issues with ethanol. I got the stuff from Summit Racing and it was on sale. A 20' roll for about $60. I will post a complete list of parts and prices in a bit.
Seats: The OMP's that came with the car are in ok shape and just needed a good cleaning. Unfortunately they have no FIA sticker so they are not NASA legal though they could be used for Rally America. For now they will end up in a play or street car. I am looking for my own seat and will be trying a few over the coming weeks.
Suspension: The A arms are reinforced and it appears the bilsteins have been rally valved. The suspension mounts look good but the springs look like they are still stock. I ordered some Moog springs to try out but we found a website in Sweden or Finland that offers the S&R equivalent ones.
Skid plate: I am having a 24"x36" piece of 6061 1/4" thick aluminum rolled into shape which will be attached to the car with a frame that is probably Rev 10 of Luke's skid plate frame design. We have looked at some other setups that use very nice setups making it easier to put the thing on and take it off.
New parts.
I am going to have a Chromoly reinforcement piece made up to replace the stock stamped Aluminum piece that spans the bottom of the 900. When we get it done and tested it will be available through the 9 sport performance parts area. The finished piece will be stronger and offer better clearance to the bottom of the transmission.
Coolant tank
Dash
More to come...pictures and time lapse video.
After resting at a friends place near Seattle for several months I finally got it shipped to Luke's house down in PA. After we ran STPR we decided to run Rally West Virginia which takes place about 7 weeks after STPR. Somewhere in discussion about which car to run the decision was made to prep this 900. We only have to do EVERYTHING to the car to prep it so 6 weeks would probably be plenty of time
June 20th I went down and spent all of Friday cutting the old cage out of the car. I pulled the doors off as well as the rear side windows and the windshield. Luke and I went to the junkyard on Saturday and picked up a T5 harness, injectors, DI pack, and sensors, as well as a pair of dark grey doors with interior panels, glass, and mechanical winders. The doors that came with the car were significantly lighter as they were fitted with lexan, had no tracks or window mechanisms, and had a bunch of the inner sheet metal cut from them. However I prefer to have the glass windows that can be wound up and down. Its nice to be able to roll the windows down at checkpoints and transits and it helps the car feel less claustrophobic. The interior door panels also offer a little more protection and the pockets can be handy.
The tubing for the cage was ordered (about 110 feet) and we will be running the 1.75" diam x .095 wall for the main cage structure with the remaining in 1.5". We are not mounting the main hoop as far back as the previous cage but it will still be behind the B pillar. In order to mount the driver's seat in the proper position for my height we need to set the seat and cage back a bit. We will run the appropriate spacers on the wheel and use the existing pedals for now.
Due to time constraints we will likely run the brake master setup that is in the car which is using a booster and an additional vacuum reservoir. I plan to eliminate the bter and go to a dual master setup. I may cut out a piece of the firewall and make an area similar to the 99 to mount the masters in but still have them in the engine bay. In some cases the 900 is great because it has a lot more room for stuff in the engine bay and between the engine and the firewall. However some of the 99 design is very handy with the top shelf of the firewall being great for mounting things.
The car is still using the stock gas tank and will continue to do so for the forseable future. We are changing the fuel lines out with PTFE hose encased in woven SS which is very long lasting compared to the equivalent rubber. As a side bonus there should be no issues with ethanol. I got the stuff from Summit Racing and it was on sale. A 20' roll for about $60. I will post a complete list of parts and prices in a bit.
Seats: The OMP's that came with the car are in ok shape and just needed a good cleaning. Unfortunately they have no FIA sticker so they are not NASA legal though they could be used for Rally America. For now they will end up in a play or street car. I am looking for my own seat and will be trying a few over the coming weeks.
Suspension: The A arms are reinforced and it appears the bilsteins have been rally valved. The suspension mounts look good but the springs look like they are still stock. I ordered some Moog springs to try out but we found a website in Sweden or Finland that offers the S&R equivalent ones.
Skid plate: I am having a 24"x36" piece of 6061 1/4" thick aluminum rolled into shape which will be attached to the car with a frame that is probably Rev 10 of Luke's skid plate frame design. We have looked at some other setups that use very nice setups making it easier to put the thing on and take it off.
New parts.
I am going to have a Chromoly reinforcement piece made up to replace the stock stamped Aluminum piece that spans the bottom of the 900. When we get it done and tested it will be available through the 9 sport performance parts area. The finished piece will be stronger and offer better clearance to the bottom of the transmission.
Coolant tank
Dash
More to come...pictures and time lapse video.