Building a 900 rally car...in time for Rally West Virginia

[Jordan]

IIRC, the autopower cages didn't seem to necessarily be designed with co-driver in mind and the right side support seemed to angle towards the middle of the passenger footwell so he/she would have to basically straddle the bar. They may have changed the design, but if not it's going to a "re-do" section, unless they don't value reproduction.

[TRAILINGTHROTTLE]

oh yea!, i had an autopower bar in my old porsche 914. it was a one seater after the install. this cage is all symetrical, but only has single diagonals everywhere instead of Xs. and no harness bar for jeremiah. wonder how many harbor freight tubing notchers it will take to bring the cage up to spec.?

[Luke]

as for dampers-i was shying away from the bilsteins. never did like 'em on the old vws i used to go bustin around in. saab people seem to like em a bunch though. i was always more impressed with the KYB gas-adjusts if we are just comparing regular shock to regular shock-and a lot cheaper---but not pretty blue and yellow.

The guts inside the B46 "road" bilstien available for the SAAB are basically the same as the high end racing shocks they offer. You can send them to bilstien and specify whatever valving you want. SAAB used bilsteins on all their factory rally cars so valvings that work are documented. In fact in europe you can order a gravel rally spec Bilstein for SAAB right off the shelf. They are very durable and hold a nitrogen charge for a long time. My experience with KYB's is that they fade quickly and lose their nitrogen charge within a few months. For just $30 a corner more than a KYB you are getting a shock of a completely different caliber.
As for springs: Keep your eyes peeled on ebay and saabnet for used "SPG" springs. They came on the sporty SPG model of the SAAB 900 from 87-91. There rate is actually very similar to what we want for gravel, they are just much too low. Throw some thick spacers under there and you have your budget suspension.

[Hans]

As for springs: Keep your eyes peeled on ebay and saabnet for used "SPG" springs. They came on the sporty SPG model of the SAAB 900 from 87-91. There rate is actually very similar to what we want for gravel, they are just much too low.

So you don't end up with run-of-the-mill springs, you may identify SPG springs by a silver or bronze paint mark on the coils; on eBay, you may also see them described as from Saab's "roadholding kit." Some Saab springs have their p/n stamped at the top (search my old posts for a .pdf of all 900 springs).

Throw some thick spacers under there and you have your budget suspension.

Note that, for the front susp., whatever thickness of shim you put in will yield *double* that in ride height. (It’s 1:1 in the rear.) Go to www.sasab.com for polyurethane spacers for the rear; you'll have to make your own for the front -- UHMW plastic (kitchen cutting board) works well and is cheap. If you have one, a router works well to cut it. I have also heard of people using plywood...

[Scandia]

The nose on the 900's is where you'll run into trouble's . . .eventually. being abit longer than the 99's (2" 's) The nose pushes up. if you look back you'll see pic's of where they redone the front Sub frame. as for mine I ran my cage out to my strut towers. cut out the lower square thin hollow tubes, welded plating into the bottom just infront of the strut towers. . . .Replaced the thin squared tube w/ 1/2 X 2" stock & then ran support legs down to the plating. Then, if I remember correctly we ran a support bar from the strut tower down to the square tube. Have you double plated your strut towers ? Doubled up your engine mounts ? . . . let's see, did you go through & seem weld the wheel wells, & the interior of the car ? was it a plain jane 900 ? no sunroof ? . .hmmmmm lets see, what else ?

one place you don't want to waste $ is on your suspension, the other would be brakes. a stock springs will Never do. Scanwest Autosport can have some made up for you if U like. I believe they run about 280ish. & then shocks. if you can get your hands on some old Bilsteins, there's a place in Cali that can rebuild them for you. I have rally valve spec's if you'd like um. usually runs 112 per shock. w/ shipping. or you can purchase them premade through Eurospeed parts. Johan there can help you with as little or as much as you need. he supplied the suspension setup's for the Mini coopers in the Movie "The Italian Job" plus numerous Rally car's on both coast's. He also has a Very nice E-brake fly off handle. all aluminum . . .Very Nice Piece. . . . we have a place here that makes all our race brake pads. I just had a set made for a 911 that Johan is taking back to Sweden with him. full metal race pad's. run's 160.00 an axle. . . .if you do othing else. . . have race pads made. . . not the cheap POS one's you can buy. . . .that & change your brake fluid out to race fluid. this will help you greatly from getting brake fade. . . . .& I hope if your not now, you'll soon be a left foot brake er ! lol but keep in mind. . . . when driving a FWD the brakes are your worst enemy. . .they will only get you into More trouble if your on them. FWD's will pull you out of most things. . . .jus keep your foot to the floor & point the nose where U wanna go.

Good luck, have fun . . . . . .Dave

[TRAILINGTHROTTLE]

ok i ordered the Bilstein HDs all the way around, so the dampers are covered. thanks for setting me straight on the dampers, luke, although i must mention that my improved tourning Renault R5 is sitting out in front of the garage on a set on KYB gas-a-justs that have been on there since '01, that kyb knocked up at my request. i have no rally experience, but i do have a lot of time in using a shock dyno. i guess that i am just thinking of things from a road racing perspective. in rally i guess its much more important that things LAST. as for braking, in my experience with FF's, brakes were not only NOT my enemy, but i always considered them to be my best friends, as they were the only way that i have ever found to get an FF to truely turn at race speeds leading to my reputation as a serious trail braker. whether my foot was on throttle or not i damn near always turn a front driver in under at least a touch of brake. but this is rally...i have no experience and no expectations on being competitive, the budget for this car is so tight that i will be lucky to pay my entry fee for Rally WV. i have a long history of doing a lot with not very much car. i just want to do this thing. ive wanted to rally...to learn how to do it well, since i was 16. im going to be out there. my car may be a piece of crap, with not enought spring or not enought brake, but i assure you that it will be going like hell considering.

[Luke]

You wont regret the bilstein decision, now just get some front springs so we can stop bugging you about it. I think you've got the right attitude. I'm sure you'll be plently fast enough to have fun. Just get some higher rated front springs and build a good skid plate, its not fun paying all that entry and then getting 3 stages in and having to retire because of a cracked sump. BTDT (2X)

[TRAILINGTHROTTLE]

the 900 is now a driveable car! took it out yesterday for the first time with just a drivers seat and had a good time. my new shocks have both a map of the nurburring and a hologram on them, so thats a good time. need to put on the goodridge lines...think my right front caliper is hangin up a little. the bilstein HDs are a lot better than what i remembered the regular ones to be like. all the wiring is done. have to get some dry ice and get the rest of the sound deadening off of the floor and get that cage in...pronto. still shooting for rally wv, but real life keeps slowing us down.

[Jordan]

nice, good to hear your making some progress!

[Luke]

SPG springs going for a fair price on ebay: Grab these and fab some spacers and you'd be set.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Set-SAAB-900-SPG-Springs-and-Bilstein-Front-Shocks_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ33582QQihZ008QQitemZ180137811594QQrdZ1

[Luke]

How are things progressing? Get that thing together! They only have 30 entries for RWV. They are looking for 5 more entries or event may be canceled.

[TRAILINGTHROTTLE]

the control arms are boxed with 1/8" steel, and all of the ball joints are new. test drive confirmed that the heater valve is stuck in the on position---errrg. running out of time.

[Luke]

For a temp solution just bypass the heater with a copper or steel U bend placed right where the hoses hook up to the valve at the firewall. You'll still have the blower for defrost if need be.

[TRAILINGTHROTTLE]

i more than likely will do the quick fix, but im going to go ahead and replace the valve, as i still have the dashboard off from all of the terratrip wiring/install. i did the speedo drive for the terratrip, as its all nice and tidy and safe inside the car, but its on the driven wheels-and with an open diff. should i get a wheel/hub sensor for one of the back wheels and use the speedo as a back up? or, will the speedo drive be o.k.?

[Geoff]

For a temp solution just bypass the heater with a copper or steel U bend placed right where the hoses hook up to the valve at the firewall. You'll still have the blower for defrost if need be.

I did that once, the copper wasn't the right choice due to lack of barbs for the hose. We had to make an unscheduled stop on the way to parc expose. The cooling for the car for that event was provided by some clean, cool, clear Maine lake water

Yes, get a rear hub drive for that Terror Trip. Set two factors using both the speedo drive and the rear hub drive. That way you can switch from one to the other when the primary one fails.