ABBAmobile

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Richard Moss
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Re: ABBAmobile

Post by Richard Moss » Sun Jun 09, 2013 6:38 am

Alucard7002 wrote:Keep us posted :-)
Will do. I don't expect to treat it like a sports car, just a tourer.
Out in the desert with a 1998 Grand Cherokee V8, 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4L and a 1997 Chevy Tahoe V8. Back home: 1969 MGC GT

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Re: ABBAmobile

Post by guru » Sun Jun 09, 2013 8:57 pm

I had one for a couple of years, also with the 2.3 nasp engine.
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It was a nice car however to be honest in hindsight I would probably have gone for either the 2.0 turbo or the V6, the 2.3 was quite unrefined, not particularly fast and pretty thirsty. That said for £400 if everything works it's an absolute steal!
I did like the fully lined roof, I drove it as my daily driver all year round and in the winter quite often I forgot it was a convertible! I also loved the interior, the dash is very clean and functional and the seats were extremely comfortable. Just bear in mind it is a tourer and in no way a sports car.
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Re: ABBAmobile

Post by dme123 » Sun Jun 16, 2013 4:22 pm

A chap I know bought one of these new in 1996 on a P plate, and moved it on it last year with 270,000 miles on the clock. Original exhaust and shocks, tired though they were. It never broke down, and never cost him any real money in maintenance. He serviced it reasonably well and drove with a bit of mechanical sympathy but beyond that no special treatment. Very comfortable seats and a nice way to get around, he was very sad to see it go and if it weren't for difficult personal cirumstances he'd have put it back on the road. I think it was a couple of new tyres and a snapped exhaust that did it. It might still be tooling around now!

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Re: ABBAmobile

Post by scoobyh123 » Fri Jun 28, 2013 9:06 am

Nice one Richard! I think Saabs are like Marmite, i had a D reg 900i once and never again! The car itself was fine, i just hated driving it. I'd also previously driven a 9-3 diesel rag-top which i didn't like either so i'm guessing it must be me.

I'll look forward to your proper intro when you get back!
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


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'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

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Re: ABBAmobile - AKA "Operation Deathtrap"

Post by Richard Moss » Sat Aug 10, 2013 12:41 pm

We're well overdue for an update here so here goes.

Time was short because I was on holiday and other things to do and the fact that the SAAB turned out to be a bit of a shed, to be frank, and needed/needs a lot of work. The first thing to say is that although it had a six-week old MOT, there is absolutely no way on earth that it should have had one. The brake discs were heavily corroded and warped, the unions on the brake flexi pipes heavily corroded and some rigid brake pipes are a bit crusty. You can see some of the brake pipe issues in the photos below. I am seriously tempted to report the testing garage to VOSA - and would do if it hadn't been for the fact that I've had to fix some of the problems just to make it safe to use. Also THREE of the tyres were so badly cracked and split (on sidewalls and treads) that they were clearly unsafe - so they have had to be replaced (thank you to Northallerton Tyre and Battery for an excellent price on supplying and fitted some Nexens)

Faults include (but are not limited to):
All four brake discs rusty as **** and juddering like hell.
Front pads worn and friction material coming away from the backing
Rusty brake pipes
Rusty fuel pipes
All hose clips on fuel filler pipes rusted through and detached
Back box blowing
Radio not working (code needed)
Electric hood mechanism knackered (this I knew)
Iffy repair patches (badly) welded on rear end of sills
holes on rear arches - not major
etc. etc.

On the plus side the engine is good, the ride is smooth, the car is generally quiet and refined and I rather like it.

So, I replaced all four discs and both sets of pads - discovering in the process that the earliest New Generation 900s have many mechanical parts that are different from the later ones, meaning that some can be tricky to find from motor factors (some are shared with mk3 Cavaliers and other Vauxhalls). However, Neo Brother on Waltham Cross are brilliant - decent prices, fast delivery and they really know their stuff.
Some pictures:

Brown brakes:
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New discs and pads:
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The fuel filler pipe split (or was already split) and I only found out after sticking £50 worth of petrol into it - and watching £25 of it run out!
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Image

Rusty/failed hose clips
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Culprit and replacement hose (note I taped up the original to stop loads of fuel escaping whilst I waited for the replacement parts):
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Fitted:
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Breather pipe clips replaced
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The car is now fuel tight and stops properly :) . I also replaced one chafed radiator hose (rubbed on a bracket and VERY close to going through), distributor cap and rotor arm and cleaned up/painted much of the underneath. Now that I'm back in the UAE work has had to stop but I may send it down to my father-in-law's local garage to get the brake flexi hoses replaced and any dodgy lengths of rigid pipe sorted out.

Dynamically it's not the best in the world - it does suffer some scuttle shake but is MUCH more refined than Mrs M's 200 cabrio in every respect. I have to say that although the repairs have cost me as much as I spent on buying the car, I like it. I will need to do a bit of bodywork, sort out the radio, try to fix the floppy gear linkage and so on but it's a nice car to drive. I also have a plan for fixing the ridiculously complicated automatic hood mechanism by re-wiring it to bypass the million-and-one microswitches in the setup.
Out in the desert with a 1998 Grand Cherokee V8, 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4L and a 1997 Chevy Tahoe V8. Back home: 1969 MGC GT

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Re: ABBAmobile

Post by Richard Moss » Sat Aug 10, 2013 12:53 pm

I've just realised that I spent so much time under the car that I never took any pictures of the topside!
Out in the desert with a 1998 Grand Cherokee V8, 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4L and a 1997 Chevy Tahoe V8. Back home: 1969 MGC GT

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Re: ABBAmobile

Post by scoobyh123 » Sat Aug 10, 2013 2:02 pm

I thought MoT testers like that were pensioned off with the white stick brigade! If not, then he should have been!

Glad you sorted it though, no good having a nice car if it doesn't go and stop properly!

That pic with the fluid ruinning into the drain grating - is it your floods of tears at watching money go down the drain or the fuel escaping?
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


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'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

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Richard Moss
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Re: ABBAmobile

Post by Richard Moss » Sat Aug 10, 2013 6:42 pm

scoobyh123 wrote:That pic with the fluid running into the drain grating - is it your floods of tears at watching money go down the drain or the fuel escaping?
Both! Luckily I only half filled it and the loss was about 1/4 of a tank's worth. If I'd filled it right up it would have been a real tear jerker.
Out in the desert with a 1998 Grand Cherokee V8, 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4L and a 1997 Chevy Tahoe V8. Back home: 1969 MGC GT

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Re: ABBAmobile

Post by scoobyh123 » Sat Aug 10, 2013 7:43 pm

I bet! When Jim (the VDM) collected the gearbox and other spares from me, he filled up at one of my local garages before heading home and the pump had a faulty cutout so overfilled it - poor bloke nearly cried at that and it was only about £3 worth over the floor! Admittedly some came out of the filler neck as far as i could tell but most came out the top.
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


Image
'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

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Re: ABBAmobile

Post by Richard Moss » Wed Aug 13, 2014 7:44 am

Well, I decided to cut my losses on this one. I was never going to get around to fixing it up so sold it off (at a loss) via ebay. I was therefore able to spend some time (well lots of time) working on my daughter's Rover 100 to make some improvements and repairs, plus a load of preventative maintenance. I'll post some pictures of that up in the relevant thread.

With regard to the Saab, at least I didn't use it enough to grow fond of it so wasn't really sorry to see it go.
Out in the desert with a 1998 Grand Cherokee V8, 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4L and a 1997 Chevy Tahoe V8. Back home: 1969 MGC GT

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Re: ABBAmobile

Post by scoobyh123 » Wed Aug 13, 2014 10:48 am

Bit of a shame but i can see how you're thinking. On the good side it gives you more time (and funds) to work on the rest of fleet - including the "extended" fleet fo the offspring! :wink:
Cheers,
Dave

'02 Honda CR-V SE Executive
'99 Jag S Type 3.0 V6 SE


Image
'94 827 Sterling saloon
'88 Volvo 760 V6 Estate
'95 827 Coupé LPG gone but not forgotten!

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Re: ABBAmobile

Post by Richard Moss » Wed Aug 13, 2014 11:13 am

I put in some hours on that 'Metro', that's for sure. Reconditioned and fitted 4 alloy wheels, serviced the car, painted all the suspension, rust proofed the whole car, undersealed (Shutzed) it all, fixed some rot in the scuttle, resealed the screens and sunrof (now water proof), fitted reversing sensors and high level brake light and gave the whole thing a good cut and polish. No doubt loads of other things I've forgotten, too.

It drives beautifully, though - cruises nicely at 70mph and is very perky through the gears. Subjectively, it's as quick as the MG Metro but much more refined. It's great fun and unlike modern cars has excellent visibility and lovely, unassisted steering.

I did reversing sensors and high level brake light on my father in law's very tidy 405 GTX TD estate. In fact, about the only car that got very little attention was my MGC GT (although it did get washed and have the clutch freed off)
Out in the desert with a 1998 Grand Cherokee V8, 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4L and a 1997 Chevy Tahoe V8. Back home: 1969 MGC GT

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