'80 99 With T16V - Sven Block!

[swmeatball]

So got the block bored out, just left it and the pistons at the machine shop, presumably they did it correctly...One thing I noticed is they put a bit of a chamfer at the top, kinda eats into the sealing surface a little, probably not a big deal, guessing the flat itself is about .050" . I'll post a picture of that and a little pitted spot that is inside the sealing ring area that I noticed while prepping it for paint, might be smart to put some JB weld in it or something.

Painted it nice n white, used an etching primer after hot tank and wire brush, didn't kill myself over making it perfect, I could probably care less and it looks a million times better, although I made an effort to ensure the stuff under the timing cover and flywheel plate isn't about to flake off and end up in the sump.

Next up is the timing cover mod, my buddy is going to TIG a piece of aluminum in there, Im sure the epoxy would hold fine, just sounds not quite right to me though. Also going to clean up the head I've got and see if its good to go, looks fine i.e. no bent valves but I'll at least check it for flatness.

EDIT: I want to use some ARP studs instead of the disposable head bolts, anyone have a part number?

Another edit: Ok found the link for the genuine Saab studs
http://www.genuinesaab.com/catalog/prod ... 1e44a1c7e5

In the same thread Luke says he's reused the bolts plenty of times so reckon I'll give it a miss for now, plus I don't really need to spend another $120, although installing a head with the studs vs. bolts seems like it could be less of a hassle.

[Jordan]

Since you have to tilt the head on to get the timing guide in the opening , I think studs might be more of a pain..but the stock head bolts hold up fine in my experience. If you decide on the studs later, I can probably get you a better price.

[swmeatball]

Good point, thinking about it now tilting the head down onto the guide certainly makes the most sense, and I've got a couple of sets of the bolts already.

[swmeatball]

I drew a template to cut some material to fill in the hole at the timing cover, careful-er forum reading would've likely clued me into the fact that I need not one but two bits, a second piece cantilevers off the lowside towards the exhaust manifold.

Also examined the heads I'd collected, the cam journals definitely aren't cherry on either of them, a couple have scoring that you can feel. My plan was to do nothing to the head except have it tanked - rebuilding gets expensive quickly, and they can be swapped without removing the engine (although at that point its about 20% more effort to get the whole lump out...) Opinions? The pictures of course don't really tell you much, is there some sort of fix? I know zero about the history of the cars they came from, one of them has two different flavors of sealant for the valve cover - I'm assuming the head was pulled at some point. The other seems unmolested but in similar condition, the quality of random mechanics shops in this town is suspect to say the least, especially when dealing with oddball Swede cars...

EDIT: Just checked the inventory at the Upull, might go and look at cam journals for the weekend and see if I can get lucky, '99 or newer 9-3 or 9-5 will have the T7 head as I recall:

Saab 9-3 1999 base
Saab 9-5 1999 se
Saab 9-5 2000 se
Saab 9-5 2000 aero
Saab 9-5 1999 se
Saab 9-5 2001 base
Saab 9-5 2001 se
Saab 900 1983 base
Saab 900 1984 turbo
Saab 900 1986 turbo
Saab 9-5 1999 se
Saab 900 1992 turbo
Saab 9-5 1999 se
Saab 900 1992 turbo
Saab 9-5 1999 base
Saab 900 1994 s
Saab 9-3 2002 se
Saab 900 1995 s
Saab 9-3 2001 se
Saab 900 1995 s
Saab 9-3 2000 base
Saab 9000 1993 cs
Saab 9-5 2001 aero

Forgot I'd taken this picture, fuel rail block and 2.1 l intake sitting on the 16v in the car, the block doesn't clear some weird boss on the head (looks like a mechanical fuel pump would mount there...) so its one port forward of where it should sit - I think it should / can / might clear the hood. Hopefully. The hood is sitting open about 1" at the radiator support in this picture.

[DrewP]

Cool.

T7 heads will be on any 4-cyl 9-5, any 9-3 Viggen, and '00-'02 9-3 and '03 9-3 convertibles.

[swmeatball]

Awesome, a ton of 9-5's there. I'll look for the nicest journals I can find, definitely the most affordable thing at the yard, I think a head is still $30. How bad do the pictured ones look to you?

[DrewP]

Not that bad, but not super I guess? Most of the lifters in my cars look smoother than that, but the flash up close can distort what things look like.

If you can run your fingernail across the cam bearing journals and the wear doesn't catch your fingernail, they are probably plenty fine. The only time I've ever had problems with a cam journal was when one had a knick in one corner from being handled that would bind the cam up when it was torqued down. Sheared two cam sprockets before I found it.

[swmeatball]

Spent some time at the Upull on Saturday, pulled three valve covers but didn't find any journals that looked a whole lot better than what I already have, cars were pretty complete though, usually the turbos go missing the day they show up. Managed to find some cams in a '99 9-3 so it wasn't a total waste of a morning.

I sprayed some penetrating oil in the intake and exhaust passages of the better of my two heads and it found its way through on about a third of the valves - is it possible to lap the valves on these things? Or does that trash the special coating on the exhaust valves?

[gmreider]

LAP Away !! I have been lightly lapping the valves in on 16 V heads for years and have yet to see any burned valves etc. Clean all the carbon off your valve stems while you are at it.

[swmeatball]

Oh goody, that is the answer I was hoping for, guess I'll replace seals too while I'm at it, they're in the budget, 8 @ $26 valves not so much...

EDIT:
Got the valves out yesterday, pleased to note very little play in the guide and no pitting or anything on the sealing surfaces, any advice on cleaning carbon off? I read oven cleaner works, presumably the mechanized wire brush and scotchbrite route is not the way to go?

[swmeatball]

Any reason I'd want one of the turbos I found in the yard? I was planning on using the one I've got, a regular 900 unit from an '88, in great shape. All 1999 SE 9-5's, the Aero was missing its snail.

[schwartz]

I wouldn't use a 9-5 non-aero turbo, they have the famous Garret GT17 which isn't known to live long. There are some 2.3T that have a td04-15t (aero turbo) though I think...

[Jordan]

'06+ all 9-5s used the td04

[swmeatball]

Cool, I'll keep an eye out for the later models.

On closer inspection the exhaust valves on the heads I have are pretty worked, I gave a typical one a quick lap job, not sure I left much of the coating and the sealing area is huge - but perhaps that's how it's designed? The options I'm considering:

A. Don't fret, lap the little turds, reassemble, cross fingers, possibly pull the head in 6 months and do B.

B. Replace the entire exhaust side, minus the lifter. The seat needs to be replaced as well?

Obviously I'm a cheap bastard, but I dont think I've a reasonable junkyard alternative and I'll be mad when have to pull the head and do it all anyways...

Opinions?

EDIT:

Just spoke with machine shop, $600 for the exhaust side, I guess not terrible, but I'm gonna go to the junkyard with my spring compressor and check the heads I saw, the Aero one was already removed, one more time...What makes the Aero valves so pricey? Also looking on Ebay, a few relatively low mile options available.

FINAL Edit:

Got one from ebay off a wrecked '03 with a little under 100k, $200 including shipping, hopefully its fine!

[swmeatball]

Got my used head, looks much better than the others, cam journals aren't pristine but certainly an improvement. I took it apart - told myself I wasn't gonna do that, but I already have some new valve stem seals, so what the hell, gonna lap the valves a little too. Valves before and after oven cleanerizing:

Dunno if the (Chinese) steel brush scratched the coating, I don't think I went too hard on it, but you can see some marks on the face of the valve.