saablog

Yesterday I went to see a guy named Dan. He’s currently got 3 classic 900s at his house (an ‘85, ‘86 and a ‘90). All are turbo, 3-doors. The ‘85 is green, the other two are faded red, with the ‘86 undergoing some restoration to be ready for sale. Dan had read my post on Saab Central about my melancholy, and he was willing to give me  the stereo from the ‘86 in order to help me fal in love with my 900. we pulled the stereo from my 900 and his ‘86, and discovered that their cage/connectors differ.  We pulled the cages out and found that the in-dash wire bundles and connectors differ too. So that was a no-go.

However, he gave me some good advice on fixing my headliner by myeslf. It was fun to hear a story or two about the Alcan rally he’s doing in February. Dan only lives 10 minutes from my house, in a quiet neighborhood in Lake Forest Park, I may go over again when he is re-doing the headliner in his ‘86. He has inspired me to attempt repairing the headliner in my car.

Afeter getting home, I decided to look on ebay for a replacement stereo for my car, even though Dan recommended a new, modern unit. So I looked on eBay and found a stereo from a ‘92 9000, with the auxiliary CD player/equalizer unit. The photos show the basic head unit/cage to be identical to the one in my car. I’ve currently got a bid in on it.

Today I finally got around to changing the oil. 1992 was the first year that Saab recommended 5000 mile oil change intervals rather than shorter mileage intervals. I intended to change every 3000 miles (I did my original at 111000 miles, and the next at 114,000). But somehow I forgot and managed to to 4700 miles on my full synthetic oil that Scanwest put in last January.

Other than having a hard time getting the drain plug out (Scanwest tightened it too tight I’m afraid), all went well. I had a free oil filter from Scanwest/Northwest Saab Owners Club raffle, and free Pennzoil Platinum synthetic 10w30 motor oil. it took about an hour to perform the oil change, taking my time. the bottom of the motor is pretty oily (parking overnight leaves about a nickel-size reminder of my visit in oil on the driveway). I’m afraid that the super-micro synthetic will leak even a bit more.

So I don’t intend to let the next oil change go 4.7k, but over those miles the car had lost less than a quart of oil through burning/leaking. Not too bad for a 15 year old car. 

Despite my recent melancholy attitude about the 900, I’ve ordered the spark plugs and wires for the car. I’ve already got the oil and filter in the garage.

Erik, Jim, and Steve reminded me how cool it is that I’ve got the 900. That is true. Ani reminded everybody that the car is pretty much always in the way here. That is also true, as is the fact that none of the Black Saab Orange Stripe fan club (other than superstar Erik) have stopped by to help me do much work on the car, and keeping a 3rd car maintained can be expensive.

I posted my 900 angst on Saab Central, where I generally got a lot of support. A local acquaintance has offered to invite me over when he reupholsters his c900’s headliner, so I can do that with an experienced person around. That is great.

I still need to make the time to do the work. And I still need to address the stereo issue.  And the brakes. But one thing at a time, right?

 Also, I’ve decided to revisit the way I’m accounting for the car. I’m going to take the fuel expenses out of last year’s operating expenses tally. I would have spent more money on gas if I’d driven the Volvo, since most trips I take in the 900 are trips that would be taken in another car if the 900 weren’t around. Doing that will give a truer picture of the cost of ownership of the car, though I’ll have to re-visit fuel money spent as I look at all of the reimbursable work miles I’ve driven.

That’s all for now.

You’ve probably noticed that it has been a long time since I posted anything notable about the 900. That’s because there’s been nothing to post. While I bought the car for autocross, I haven’t made time for the sport all year. During the past two months, the 900 has mostly sat around while I drove one of the air-conditioned cars instead.

 I’ve been feeling a bit blah about the 900, my excitement over the car has really waned. I was truly excited about it from the day I bought it until sometime this summer. All of the modifications and work to get the car going were really exciting. When I waxed it, it really got shiny. When I got the seat stitched, it was a nice car again, etc…

Now the wax has worn off, the seat has ripped in another location, I’m tired of all of my cassettes, and the headliner is sagging more than ever. The car needs an oil change, new spark plugs, and new plug wires. It really probably needs a brake fluid flush and maybe even new pads. And it would look much better with lowering springs and turbo’s rear spoiler. I’m having a hard time getting excited about doing any of it.

Last spring I drove the 900 to a lot of jobsites to allow it to earn me money, and as the weather has cooled the past few weeks, I’ve driven it to a couple of local jobsites. Today the 900 had its first ferry trip in my stewardship (and its second) as I took the Edmonds-Kingston ferry to a job in Silverdale and back. But I need it to be a little better car if I’m going to do that, which probably means a new stereo and a rejuvinated headliner.

I’m in kind of a transitional period with the car. I’m pretty sure I’ll keep it over this winter and attempt to autocross it next year. But I need to take the time to do that, or the car probably isn’t worth keeping around. I love having a classic 900, but I really want a cool one, a 900 turbo in great condition. Mine is a non-turbo that is unlikely to ever be in great condition.

I did get a compliment on the car this morning though. When I climbed out of the car at the bank to run to the ATM, a mid-40s guy climbing into a Dodge Caliber rental car said “I like that stripe.” I said “Thanks.” He spoke again, saying  “It really makes your car look sporty. It’s really cool.” So the 900 did get a bit of love today, even though it wasn’t necessarily from me.