building saab900 for trackdays

[Hans]

A few people have done this in the US and Canada but I think they have all put the engines back there too to create a mid-engine car. I want one of those too!

There is a scanned article from European Car from '94 or so floating around the 'net -- it's about both the new-at-the-time NG900 and a mid-engined c900 that a California-based mechanic former Saab employee made. The car wasn't fully sorted -- they mentioned handling issues -- dunno how it turned out.

My dream Saab project: c900 + front end grafted to rear + B234R + Porsche transaxle...

[Luke]

Well not that anyone asked... but you know my personal opinion on the matter... What a big waste of time! Even my coil-over mod in the rear was a big waste of time, but I am a notorious time waster and over complicator. The solid rear axle is a perfectly adequate simple design and well executed on the saab. Gobs of Mk2 escorts, Volvos, Opels etc have been flying around tarmac stages and circuits in europe faster than we can dream about, all with solid rear axles with 0 camber... only they have to put the power through them too!

[99Super]

I wasn't trying to come off like I know everything about 99/900 suspensions or anything, or even telling anyone what to do, sorry if it came across that way, and I think it did...

Anyway, I Auto-X and Hillclimb with a lot of cars that have loads more HP than I do, and more aftermarket bits than we can even dream of. I'm always among the fastest door-slammers.
Makes me want to go buy a roached C-4 to build as a trackday/Hillclimber...

So, I just keet tuning and tweaking and fabbing trying to get it as "right" as can be.
I have a 16 mile-long road behind my house leading to nothing but a ski hill. That's my test track. Any Skoobi, Crackura, Wiper or ferrari is fair game
I really want to lose some more weight on the car, but will have to go a BSi202 sooner than later.
Luke, I NEED one of your Kevlar hoods!!!

john

[ric]

Ok , I will put the rearshaft issue aside for the moment I will go for the std one this season.
Now the problem is in the front end, how to make it lighter ?
I realized that after cutting out everything,putting in lexan windows and put on a fibreglass trunk lid (std 15kg with hinges and springs vs 1,9kg) the car is really heavy in the front.
I have moved the battery to the trunk and I have a fibreglass hood, I will move back the washerfluid "container"?and fuel filter.

Is there anything else I can get rid of in the front? I do want to keep the engine even if that would solve the weight problem

[Geoff]

I have the same thoughts about the front end, its always just too heavy. But you put all that weight on the front wheels and you'll have a lot of traction on the front tires!

Do you have an aluminum radiator? Those save some weight over the brass ones. You probably don't have air conditioning but if you did you could remove that and save a bunch of front end weight.

[Crazyswede]

If you are building a track car to run on smooth pavement then you could source some lighter wheels.

[ric]

Yes I have a leaking aluminium radiator and unfortunately I have a brand new brass one on the shelf. When I bought it they claimed the brass radiator cools better than the aluminium radiator, does anyone know?
Since I´m not have the time to convert the brakes I`m going to use 15" rims, I have been looking at the OZ racing rims but they become quite expensive when you look at the lightest ones, it´s probably gonna be second hand ones for me.
The car did not have an AC from the beginning lucky me, and I took of the wipers for the headlights and also striped out all unnecessary wiring for example AC control, cruisecontrol, centrallocking, powerwindows, loudspeakers, sunroof, and more.
I´m thinking about change the headlights, they look heavy but I need to change them for something that will pass the MOT.
The guy who built my hood did also do headlight/indicator dummies maybe I could put a round lamp inside that... Well I will think about that.
Do you have MOT in the USA ?

[Geoff]

I've found that the aluminum radiators cool better. Maybe it's just becuase they're always newer than the old brass ones I've removed. But I've never had a cooling problem in a 900 with an 82°C thermostat (89°C in the winter so the car has heat!)

I don't think the headlights are too heavy, I think the US ones weigh more because there is a metal retainer and adjuster for the headlights as well. You may be able to save a little bit by going with some round lights but you may also find that you make no weight savings because you have to add weight for adjusters and brackets. Plus you'll have better aerodynamics with the stock headlights.

We have a form of MOT in the US, we just call it "vehicle inspection". It is governed by the individual state that the car is registered in and not all states require inspection. Each state that performs inspections has different rules about what is checked in the inspection (emissions, emissions levels, safety, etc.).

[DeLorean]

I've found that the aluminum radiators cool better. Maybe it's just becuase they're always newer than the old brass ones I've removed. But I've never had a cooling problem in a 900 with an 82°C thermostat (89°C in the winter so the car has heat!)

the aluminum ones do work better for sure, by nature they are less susceptible to internal corrosion than the copper units. The only thing to look out for with the aluminum rads is that they very commonly have end tank issues since they are a press fit with a rubber gasket. Very commonly you will have a plastic radiator that works fine, has no corrosion yet has several pin hole leaks from the end tanks that amount to a significant amount of lost coolant over a period of several thousand miles.

also sometimes the outlets snap off with no warning. usually this only happens when the unit is 15+ years old, and usually only when you are doing something like removing a radiator hose.

[Luke]

But copper is almost twice as good a heat conductor and more resistant to corrosion than aluminum.

[GRMPer]

Interestingly enough, that same issue has my Jetta as a feature car.

There is a scanned article from European Car from '94 or so floating around the 'net -- it's about both the new-at-the-time NG900 and a mid-engined c900 that a California-based mechanic former Saab employee made. The car wasn't fully sorted -- they mentioned handling issues -- dunno how it turned out.:

[ric]

About the steering quickener is it the same splines in both ends ?
A friend of mine is coming over for the summer and he could bring one to me and I believe that I also should by two splined couplers OR ?

[Geoff]

the splines are the same on both end. i forget what the spline is, I think it says on some of the websites that sell them. but its an imperial size, measured in inches.

You'll need some kind of splined coupler or universal joint to slip onto the quickener. What you need to get depends on how you fit it in the car...

When I bought my splined universal joints and couplers I first got them from the race parts place that sells the quickener, but the quality was very poor (splines were not centered in the bore). I returned the bad parts and bought some nice ones from http://www.borgeson.com

[ric]

OK hmm I looked at www.stockcarproducts.com and they did have the couplers there, but are they good? they where like $12 each and that is not very expensive or ? but you get what you pay for I guess.

[xassh]

on the topic of weight reduction... is your car still equipped with cruise control and the charcoal canister? what about heater core / dash vents? interior insulation,paneling and carpeting?