A mate of mine ran a DKW F7 back in the late '60s I understand the engine was the forerunner of the Saab one. It was a bit of a oddball machine, went reasonably well, but the brakes were non existentStroker Saabs mmmmm
DKW/MZ fan here.
We have had 3 Saab classic 900 turbos (current one is an ongoing resto), a 9000, and a 9-5 estate. BillJ on here has a Saab collection too. They are still reasonably priced for classics compared to old Fords or Minis.
My first Saab was a 1984 900 16v turbo S, had it from 77k to 185k on the original engine and was still going strong when I sold it, possibly the car I miss the most, way better than my Escort Mexico, then had a 9000 2.3 turbo, then 93 turbo. My dad runs a 9-3 1.9ttid and my brother a 9-3 2.0 turbo, great cars for comfortable long journeys. Though I tend use my Defender as my daily driver for the state of the roads where I live!
DKW/MZ fan here.
Yikes, you had some serious rust, I think mine is relatively good, worst area is the bulkhead. Though its in much better condition now at 45 years old than my last Ford Escort when it was 10 years old!Both the bulkhead and the air box on the 95 were in quite bad nick, I mainly removed the panel to be able to do a proper job on the air box grilles. The bulkhead on the 96 was even worse, but when I repaired that a long time ago I had no clue and I completely hacked up the airbox. It's structurally sound, but I don't dare share a picture here as it looks horrible. I'm very tempted to graft in a completely new bulkhead top half when I do the screen surround, but I'm afraid I have other priorities at the moment. I recently did the left rear shock and spring mount on the 96: http://www.saab-v4.co.uk/speedball/topic.asp?topic_id=31068 (scroll down, I can't link to a specific post on the V4 forum).
Oh no they weren't, they were very good cars being produced by Saab under ownership of GM, the 9-5 beat the Vectra hands down on all counts, also Gm had a 50% share of Saab from 1990 so any model from the 9000 onwards is a GM Saab.GM Saabs were basically overpriced Vauxhalls... This is an observation, not an insult.
Having had a Vectra as a company car and as present day 9-5 Aero owner I agree, though there are niggles when I see some of the common parts. The 9-5 engine I love, the comfort of the seats is night and day better. Some of the electrical components and interior trim are not so great. I did feel my 1984 900 16v turbo s was better made than my 1997 9000 2.3 turbo and my 2006 9-5.Oh no they weren't, they were very good cars being produced by Saab under ownership of GM, the 9-5 beat the Vectra hands down on all counts, also Gm had a 50% share of Saab from 1990 so any model from the 9000 onwards is a GM Saab.
Aye, mine has the freewheel, it is a push pull on the bulkhead below the dash. It was developed to prevent the 2 strokes seizing when folk shut the throttle going down hills - so no engine petroil lubrication. It allows clutchless gear changes as well as improving fuel economy.Great project Rannsachair. One of my first cars was a 1976 Saab 99, solid old buses. When are you expecting/hoping it to be on the road? I can remember a bloke who shared a house with me having one like yours and it had a button on the floor for free wheeling, has yours got that?