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Hello my name is Josh Mease and I live North Alabama.
I just purchased a 1970 Saab 95 and thought it would be invaluable to join in the excellent forums here. This is my first vintage Saab but I have restored a couple of older Volkswagens and Old Toyota Land Cruisers FJ40s, so I’m no noob to vintage cars and restoration/modifying...
I’ve perused the VSAAB website and appreciate the time and efforts of everyone in making all the Saab information there available.
The funny:
I purchased the Wagon, which was advertised as an 850cc, 3 cylinder, 2 stroke, which had never been wrecked. The previous owner who's my best friend, purchased it from the maticulous orig. owner and only kept it for a less than a month! He walked me through all the aspects of the car even showing me, what he referred to as the oil injector, where you put the oil. I asked if he had put in two stroke motor oil of which he informed me, no, that the manual called for 10w30. He said he believed the engine was a four cylinder though, as there were 4 plug wires.
The bad:
The friend had removed the rear lever shocks and screwed two pieces of wood to the bed. He then mounted a cylinder shock to each of these (thankfully the lever shocks were kept). The oil pan is leaking oil (around a quart a week supposedly with heavy driving) and was the reason that the previous owner thought he needed to add oil to the "2 stroke engine" on a regular basis... The brakes are *very* mushy. It is in bad need of a paint job to get rid of the current spray paint job that was done to cover up some light surface rust which is *very* minimal & only slight surface rust, no cancer at all fortunately!!. I guess the person with the spray paint didn't want to take the time to cover any of the chrome strips or emblems, as some of these are spray painted as well. The passenger side grill is a little tweaked, the embkem is badly cracked and the headlight bezels have either a couple tiny dents or decent scratches and the hood mount grill could use replacing... The previous owner had also pulled the gas tank, which i've had properly repaired & coated, because it was rusted and put in its place a 6 gallon plastic tank. I still haven't found the gas tank sending unit bit I haven't I don't pick up the crate of spare parts till next week. However, i'm wondering what the odds are if it even works if it's around... The air conditioner pump has been removed but I have it...
The good:
Exterior: All the body parts are there and the body is very straight but requires a paint job as mentioned... Thankfully this isn't a prob as my uncle is truly one of the best in the States and it just so happens he owes me a considerable amount in free paint job(s) including any required body work since I did about $15k worth of work to his new warehouse. There is not even one dent in the body! All the chrome, including the bumpers, are intact albeit some of it is painted or has very negliable amounts of surface rust. All the glass is present without so much as a chip. The tires are new and the rims are straight with all hubcaps intact and appear to be NOS. All the lights, lenses and bezels are present and work but the F/R turn signal & side marker lenses are slightly cracked. The only rust on the vehicle is surface rust around the rear of the car, primarily around the turn signals/brake lights and also at the rain gutter/air scoop. Nothing at all in comparison to the old, *complete* rust bucket Landcruiser FJ40’s!!
Interior: The interior is all original and in excellent shape which was a really big plus when I decided to purchase the vehicle. It is complete, intact, with not so much as a tear in any of the seats, door panels, headliner, etc. The pans are not *at all* rusted and the original carpet sets are intact and flawless. All the gauges are intact and working and no one has ever butchered the dash installing stereos or screwing other items to it. The dash pad has one small crack in it.
Engine/Drivetrain: The engine appears stock and clean and has plenty of power but as stated the oil pan is leaking at the front drivers side. Someone has installed an electric fuel pump. The clutch works great in both modes and the transmission shifts perfectly. The exhaust is a little loud but not at the manifold. I drove it home and got up to 75 effortlessly.
Brakes/Suspension: Brakes work but need attention as stated. Rear shocks replaced. Everything else appears fine. The front end/steering appears *very* tight.
Also, the original owner has a spare engine, transmission and a full, very large crate of spare parts that I pick up next week as stated earlier... Additionally, all the manuals, a small notebook which contains every single fuel fill up w/ corresponding MPG, ALL service records and even the original window sticker are in the glove box. There is also a Saab Motor card with the original purchasers name on it and instructions that it is not a wallet card but to be kept in the glove box which I thought was very cool!!
The questions:
Where is a good source for all the window rubber which is cracked and need of replacement and would be removed anyway to paint the vehicle?
Where is the most economical place to obtain brake parts and has anyone else been there and done that? Has a rear disk conversion ever been done? Seems as if it would be way easier to do then on an old Landcruiser... I have access to a very good machine/fabrication shop who charges very minimal, if at all.
I found a place to get the lever shocks rebuilt but is that the right thing to do?
Is pulling the engine the only way to replace the oil pan gasket, and if so what else would someone recommend doing when this is being accomplished?
My thoughts are boucing between lowering it just a tad, installing a good suspension kit with fully adjustable shocks as i'm accustomed to the handling of Porsche 930's and Jaguar XKE's with maxed out suspension components, custom sway bars, body stiffening and building a HiPo engine... Or, if it was yours, would you do it all original and hunt for 93b stroker to do all this to? Regardless, I would still want to add a little power and do what I can to improve handling...
Also, if anyone has any additional information or suggestions, they would not only be appreciated, but extremely so!!
My apologies for such a loonnngggg post! Furthermore, I’m really looking forward to further participation in the forum!!! Many thanks for your time and have a safe & happy holiday season to you all!!!
-Josh Mease
256.489.0809
posted by 24.96.142...
, Fri, 24 Nov 2006 09:12:26
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