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Sonett Bulletin Board
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Re: What to look for?
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Posted by spiv (more from spiv) on Mon, 11 Jul 2005 14:32:33 Share Post by Email
In Reply to: What to look for?, Jim [Profile/Gallery] , Mon, 11 Jul 2005 13:44:27
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What to look for? Rust. Rust. Intact body parts, glass and trim bits -- unlike a '66 Mustang, you can't just get anything you need for a Sonett with a phone call and a credit card; for some parts it's hard to find a good one. Rust. Transaxle -- one with bad bearings can be rebuilt ($$) but one with damaged gear teeth is a problem as replacement gearsets aren't available except by salvage. Rust. Brake hydraulics -- just assume that if you buy a car that hasn't been driven regularly, you'll need to replace all of them. Rust. Rust. Oh, yeah, don't forget rust.

Now, about this rust thing: At this point, any Sonnet you find that hasn't already been restored is probably going to have some rust on it. There are exceptions from desert states and no-salt states, but just assume on average that there's going to be some. The issue is how MUCH rust you can tolerate. If you happen to be an expert welder and metal fabricator, you can resurrect just about any rusty Sonett you please, as long as you don't mind putting in the time -- pretty much everything is formed from flat stock and you can just cut out, fab, and weld until you've got it all. If you can weld but aren't that good a fabricator, you can still deal with a lot, because a lot of rust-prone areas such as sills have replacement panels available from our fine marque specialists (check classifieds.) However, if you can't or don't like to weld, or just don't want to get into that big a project, your range of possible cars to buy will be somewhat narrower because you'll need to look for a car that's mostly rust-free, and those are hard to find.

Keep in mind that a Sonett is a very different proposition than a Mustang because Saab (and its subcontractors) only built about as many Sonetts in a YEAR as Ford built Mustangs on maybe one factory shift -- seriously, production of Sonetts never exceeded 2,500 per year because of capacity limitations at the plant that made the fiberglass bodies, and most years it was a bit less than that. So it's a much less easily found car, and there's much less parts support -- again, we've got a handful of marque specialists who can get you most anything you'll need, eventually, but don't count on being able to pick up much at the parts counter at NAPA or from mainstream parts catalogs. You'll need to get wired into the vintage SAAB subculture -- but then, that's part of the fun!

Good luck -- we need more good Sonetts out running around!

posted by 65.165.16...
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