Just another SAAB story

[tombrosorry]

BACKSTORY TIME:

So. Let’s rewind to summer 2014. I’m scrolling through craigslist and find this gem of a car. A 1997 SAAB 9000 CSE turbo 50th anneversarry model. Stored in a tile floor garage. $500. SOLD. I called the guy and said I’d come pick it up in an hour. So I called out of work and did exactly that! I always wanted a aaab 9000 but could never find a clean one for cheap.

Here she is when I first got her.



I immediately got to work, upgrading the turbo, and painting some odds and ends... H20i was coming fast and I was determined to get this car done! It ended up getting a JZW stage 3 tune which made just over 300 hp.





Next I picked up a set of OZ fittipaldis. They were 16x8”... pretty weak specs but they were $100 sooo whatever. Spent about 3 days polishing them until they looked like this



NEXT STEP: COILOVERS. no one makes coilovers for these cars. SAAB people tend to be very one dimensional for the most part. Most just get lowering springs, bilsteins, and tell everyone “any lower is just stupid.” I guess they ain’t wrong but I wanted lower

my first attempt at front coilover.....

[tombrosorry]

So the coilovers were a total flop. this was 3/4 the way down and painfully bouncy



I ended up making some mk3 Golf coilovers work. And man, I couldn’t have been happier with the result !




As it turned out, I put these coilovers in a day before we left for H20i.... just my luck I guess. So I never really got to mess around with ride heights. Here’s some pics from the ride down. I had to raise up twice Bc my Axle bound up on the highway and almost took me off the road!





please disreguard the picture quality! these were all taken with my good ole iphone 4 back in the day

[tombrosorry]

Finally made it to Maryland! It was a great trip. No one gave a shit about my car and that was just fine. It’s a saab at the end of the day... everyone is there to see burnots and mk5’s on rep wheels.... not a low saab !

[tombrosorry]

NOW THE PLOT THICKENS. I developed a rod knock on the way home. Returned it to stock and sold it. Never to see it again. Two years later I buy it back... same price. The guy never took it ou of storage! Hahaha

In the meantime, I got into drifting, bought an IS300, wasted way too much money on it, and let the saab sit in the corner of my shop. It could have sat there for 10 more years; as long as I had it I didn’t care what it did. It’s never leaving my possession again! Here’s my IS.



About a month ago, I decided it was time. It’s fall here and western mass and my girlfriend wants to do cute fall things. The only way i can fathom that idea is if we have a fun fall cruiser. Next thing ya know, I found motivation to pull the blown motor




Bought another motor and tore it down completely



So I know what most of you are probably thinking: why would you build a saab motor?....
They’re actually a very stout motor capable of making 400hp on stock internals. People make 550+hp with really built engines.

Mine is a 2.3l in-line 4. I’m planning to make 350 ish WHP.

parts are showing up and my stockpile is getting large fast! thank god EEuro parts is 20 mins away from me... i can just drive over and they have everything id ever neeed

[tombrosorry]

So I just dropped off my block for a hot tanking, deck, and hone. Having my head cleaned up as well. But I couldn’t for the life of me find my cams and crankshaft.... when I showed up at the machine shop, I find saab crankshaft and cams on the ground. I asked he owner how they got there and he told me some bearded dude stopped by to drop them off to see if he would give him any money for them.... he said no but the guy left them there anyway. The machinist said “hey if you want them they’re yours”... I look up the casting number... they’re for a ‘97 saab 9000... WHAT A COINCIDENCE.



As it turns out, the weirdo next door stole them for some odd reason. He must have thought they were worth something. I lucked out. Big time. SO I took that as a sign to get my crank balanced and polished too!

I will be deleting the balance shafts, doing all new bearings, piston rings, seals, etc. I need to find a stock piston somewhere... I dropped one the other day and can’t use it. Dammit

[tombrosorry]

my buddies all told me to pull the trigger on a CX racing turbo. so i bought their gt2871rr turbo. it showed up. i returned it within two hours

so right now im on the search for a td05. i think im gonna step up to a 20g. Kinuguwa makes some really nice 20g's that are in my price range and have anti surge housing, 9 blade comp wheel, and a few other nice goodies.

in the meantime, i got bored and tried to adapt an SR20det manifold to a saab flange. could probably definately work, but would also probably definately crack after a week of use !


im considering pulling the trigger on an SAS CUSTOMS manifold. theyre about $500. if not, ill just buy schedule 40 weld els and make my own. but DAMN these sas manifolds are pretty

[fackinsteve]

I'm here for the burnouts

[19birel]

This is awesome, I love Saabs. Can't wait to see more

[ztfoss]

way too excited for this to come back out

[YesOuiSi]

Absolutely love this. Any details of how the golf coilovers were modded to fit?

[Ronal Wheel Accessories]

Very kewl

[leaferiksin]

oooooo totally subbing this

[Fruttolo]

Well this is unique!
Followin', I'd have never thought a Saab could look so good when slammed

[tombrosorry]

Thanks for the love, guys!
Regarding the golf suspension- I will get into detail later into the build- i plan to make a better set using height adjustable golf coilovers modified to fit. essentiallly, the fronts are just mcpherson struts with custom tabs welded on- the rears pretty much bolted right in.... i used bilstein HD rear shocks- they were shorter and stiffer. also as a side note, a golf and a 9k have very similar weight distribution! so the coilovers rode pretty well.

I have been working CRAZY amounts of OT lately and have made a few purchases. Lets just say i made a final decision on turbo and manifold .... everything should be arriving this week! looks like i may be aiming for a little closer to 400whp .... OH DARN

in the meantime, my guages all came in, and i got them mocked up. (AFR, boost/vac, oil pressure). I went with glowshift brand. not only do i find them aesthetically pleasing, i really liked that the air/fuel/wideband has the ability to data log, and the oil pressure sensor was more compact as compared to some other brands. heres how everything looks mocked up.





it almost looks OEM and i think it will work out perfectly!

[tombrosorry]

More goodies have arrived!

I went with the KINUGAWA td05 20g turbo. The turbo is internally gated, had an anti surge compressor housing, and an 8cm turbine housing. ive read lots of good tings about these turbos, and couldnt help but pull the trigger when i saw a 15% off! for $700, i got the turbo and all lines/fittings needed to fit my car. I was very impressed by the sales department for kinugawa/kamak. friendlyy, helpful, and informative.



Catch can



got the crankshaft balanced and polished.


A GENUINE SAAB / TALIFIERRO short shifter- My oem shifter is made of plastic and would pop out of place when i would shift hard, so this should be a wonderful addition.



lastly, stiffer valve springs, also from Genuine saab/talifierro.... so i can rev higher, safely



At this point, i'm pretty much just waiting on my machinist. hes had my block in the hot tank for quite some time. i made the mistake of saying "no rush"...... welp, its been a month and he sure making sure not to rush, ill tell ya that much