The definition of insanity...

in some Eastern religions it is said you repeat your life over and over until you finally get it right. -at least i think i heard about that from watching Groundhog Day too many times. -or is that the definition of some form of mental retardation?..

much in this spirit i hunted down another convert.

i looked at about 15 and made offers on 4 of them. finally on the coldest day in Feb i found my way to some remote part of Jersey drove home this: a 1991 900T with about 180k on it. sure she had some issues. but let's be honest here, so do i. she was a one owner from the Jersey shore, a corporate lease that he woman fell in love with and purchased outright after the lease term ended. all books and records from new (including ALL service) AND the original sticker. so, after doing all homework and finding it all it all checked out, i brought her home to begin her as the next Franken-saab winter project.

Here's what she looked like the day we bought her:


she was pretty rugged. she actually looks kind of nice here in the photos. -first off changed the oil, plugs, wires, fuel filters. then started with the brakes. changed the pads, then replaced the aging spent shocks with a new set of Bilsteins. then patched a piece of pipe that really just need a new clamp. new vacuum lines and sent her over to Frank, the guy who can work magic on my cars. -more about Frank later when we get into the Porsche Project.

he took care of a coolant problem and also a slight loss of pressure issue.

hey, remember those RIMS?... me too. so i searched around and found a set on craigslist in Ohio. had them shipped. put some new rubber on them and put spacers in the rear springs (VERY important btw, otherwise your car will bottom out over every bump).

turned to the interior next. i removed the old speakers, took apart the doors and replaced the really bad porn of the 80's Saab felt fabric with some cow skin the i picked up on ebay. and fit that in. then filled a syringe (we have kids) with black calking and filled the cracks in the dash. sanded and hit with a light coating of kryon FLAT black plastic paint.

then purchased some leather dye from World Auto Upholstery to re-dye the interior leather. THIS place ROCKS. i have been using them for like a decade ( 'www..worlduph.com'). again more about them later in the Porsche Project.

now i REALLY needed to find an SPG panel kit. so scrubbed the internet. looked on ebay for a while. but all of them were going for 1k+. -so i posted a personal ad on saabnet and struck a deal with a guy from St.Louis.

it took him about a month and half to send me the (almost) entire kit. one. piece. at. a. time. AND THE RAILS.

also located a boot on ebay. as original was destroyed.

sanded them down and purchased some SEM bumped paint. took like 7 coats with wet sanding. then used ULTRA flat hunting Krylon paint for the wheel arches.

i vowed to never again install a set of these... so this time i didn't!
got the guys over at Coatling's Auto body to do it for me. they're GREAT guys and Peter is a ROCK star. they painted the Jag for me, which we'll talk about later.

anyway, enough about this vehicle. she's pretty much done form the moment. couple more things need to be done, but she looks and drives great...AND she's an AUTOMATIC! :)

















peace,

Joe