transverse 16v in 99

[stig-swoosh]

...never seen this done before...some pretty intense fabwork...

http://forum.saabturboclub.com/viewtopic.php?t=173411

[hutch]

I (and others) saw it over in Sweden this summer at the 60th Anniversary Festival. It really was impressive to see all the work they had put into that car. It had some pretty wild stuff in it. I have some pictures of it on my computer I'll try to put up so I can post them.

[Geoff]

I wanted to talk to him and ask why he did it but I didn't get a chance to. Reading through his first post it looks like he said that he had a 99 and wanted to make it light with a lot of grip. He got talking with his buddy one night and he said he had a viggen motor he'd sell him cheap. So then they started thinking of ways to put it in the car. He then bought all the 9-3 sheet metal from SAAB, parts that would be used to reconstruct cars from crash damage.

It must have some strengths and weaknesses.
strengths (in my eyes): strong transmission, probably less weight in front of the front wheels (better balance), more parts/performance parts availability
weakness (in my eyes): Engines don't seem as robust to me as C900 engines, crappy suspension as compared to dual A-arms ("Why would someone want to race a McPherson strut car?!!! You can't make make them handle well! Well... you can but it's....." - Jack Lawrence), probably still no camber and caster adjustment, funky steering rack location

[sonett]

Geoff, lots of Peugeot 205 rally/track cars are using rose jointed mac/strut bottom wishbones, they are practically infinitly adjustable.

[Geoff]

Geoff, lots of Peugeot 205 rally/track cars are using rose jointed mac/strut bottom wishbones, they are practically infinitly adjustable.

Of course, but I wish SAAB had made them adjustable from stock I don't feel like making my own for a daily commuter (that I don't even drive) but those cars really need some adjustment.

It looks like Magnus used the stock wishbones. Maybe he changed them later or has some way of adjusting the alignment. I'd imagine he'd want something adjustable especially if he welded the whole front end onto the 99, it can't be perfectly square!

[paulh]

fun part about that car is its even crazier than it looks initially! the damn thing started out as a c900! its got the c900 dash and wipers still, but 99 front and rear sheet metal, and of course the obvious 9-3 bits. and i agree on the strengths and weaknesses, but the silly thing is the trannys still arent that strong, and with the power that thing is probably making, im sure its only a matter of time till it blows.

Paul

[DeLorean]

those Swedes do some crazy stuff... I really thought the 96 that had a 9-5 drive train stuffed in to the thing was pretty neat too!

[Geoff]

Nah, that was a 99. You can tell by the A-pillar post that runs all the way down to the inner fender, the interior sheet metal behind where the rear seat was, and the shorter distance between the front wheel wells and the door. He welded a firewall and the panel under the windshield from a C900 into it (you can see the welds at the base of the A-pillars and the different color paint) and put in a 900 dash.

I wonder if doing that to a 99 with a 16v or H engine conversion would get you any extra space? The heating system would have to be all changed but maybe you could use a 900 windshield? I like the look of the 99 heater intake scoop better anyway

[Jordan]

It's very impressive to see those parts cobble together in a way that looks almost like it should be there... however, he probably could have gotten more power reliably and easier to tune handling by mating the t7 head and viggen turbo (or larger) on to an H-block , use megasquirt and some speedparts gears for the tranny.

The viggen block and tranny would not warrant that amount of work IMO, I just don't see any advantages to them on top of the fact that they bring with them the McStrut suspension and weaker bottom end.

[paulh]

Nah, that was a 99. You can tell by the A-pillar post that runs all the way down to the inner fender, the interior sheet metal behind where the rear seat was, and the shorter distance between the front wheel wells and the door. He welded a firewall and the panel under the windshield from a C900 into it (you can see the welds at the base of the A-pillars and the different color paint) and put in a 900 dash.

I wonder if doing that to a 99 with a 16v or H engine conversion would get you any extra space? The heating system would have to be all changed but maybe you could use a 900 windshield? I like the look of the 99 heater intake scoop better anyway

i thought i remembered seeing pictures of the donor 900 all cut up before, but who knows where. either way theres a lot of craziness going on there :lol:

Paul