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Yes, I talked to Jack Lawrence of MSS on the phone a week or two ago and he said he was heading toward the west coast for the Saab convention and various other things; said he would be out about a month. Still, you've got plenty of other things you can do on the car until he gets back! And I would suggest you wait until he's back and then talk to him, because...
He's got an interesting new alternative to the 32/36 DGV option: he's modifying stock single-barrel manifolds to accept a Weber 40 DCNF synchronous carb. I've just put one of these on my car, and while I'm still dialing in the jetting and such, the results are really promising. The modified manifold has much straighter runners for better breathing. And you don't have to haunt eBay or contact an European scrapyard for one of the Ford/Saab two-barrel manifolds; instead you send your single-barrel manifold to MSS as an exchange, and they send you a modified one, along with a rebuilt DCNF to go on it, and an air filter housing and throttle linkage. Cost of the carb/manifold kit is about $850, and you'll also need manifold, thermostat, and valve cover gaskets... but that's still competitive on cost with the other Jack's DGV kit (although more expensive than finding used stuff on eBay.)
MSS has dyno sheets showing that their induction kit and exhaust system improve power 30% vs. the old stock exhaust and FooMooCow carb. Improvement over a DGV wouldn't be as much (and the DGV might be more responsive/economical around town.) My car didn't "feel" significantly stronger than with its previous carb (a European-spec Solex progressive 2bbl) but when I tried it out on a racetrack at an open-track day, it was definitely faster -- something like 4% - 5% improvement in top speed on the longest straightaway.
Anyway, that's a new option and worth considering when you're looking into induction for your car. Other stuff:
-- The MSS exhaust system is good, or you can have an exhaust shop replicate the factory duals. The MSS might make a bit more power, but it's also noisier -- it's tuned for optimum scavenging, and at about 4000 rpm in 4th gear it sounds like God's Own Chainsaw. Not too comfy for highway cruising, but it makes Harley riders smile (the V4 rips just like a pair of V-twins.)
-- The Pertronix is a good drop-in for ignition and doesn't clutter up your engine compartment. Add a nice Bosch blue coil and you should have good solid sparks. Some people like to add an MSD box.
-- Two other good starter add-ons, assuming you don't care about keeping the car original: [1] Replace all the rubber brake lines with braided stainless ones from West of Sweden (old Sonett lines tend to deteriorate and swell up internally, which makes the brakes bind.) [2] Ditch the belt-driven cooling fan and replace with a thermostatically controlled electric fan. There's plenty of room for a "pusher" fan in the nose. The big advantage of this, aside from reducing parasitic drag, is that with no fan to worry about, you can run the V-belt as loose as it can be and still spin the alternator. This saves wear on the balance shaft bearings, which are a trouble spot on the V4 engine and require a full tear-down to replace.
-- Speaking of alternators, the little 35 amp number in a Sonett isn't much if you like to add electric toys. If you think that's likely to be a problem, you might want to look into swapping in the bigger Bosch unit from a later Saab model (West of Sweden can fix you up with one of these) or some other type (there are several articles floating around the Internet about alternators that will work.)
-- Stock water pump should be okay as long as the back plate hasn't eroded (water eventually does a Grand Canyon number on it because of cavitation from the pump impeller.) If your cooling system is dodgy, it's more likely that the radiator is clogged -- pull it and have it boiled out or re-cored.
-- If the car had sat for a long time before you got it, clean and flush the gas tank and lines. Might as well do it now BEFORE rust flakes and crud plug up the pump and filter!
Do all this stuff, give it a tuneup and new brake pads/shoes, and you should have a good-running Sonett that won't need a lot of constant mechanical attention... leaving you more time to fix rust holes!!
posted by 68.13.13...
, Fri, 15 Oct 2004 12:56:24
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