Topic: Barn, From Jets

[seat safety switch]

Previously on Seat Safety Switch, I got rid of my not-quite-beloved beater 2003 Impreza that I drove for like four frickin' years.

The reason? Rear strut tower cancer. All of the 02-07 wagons get it, and so I was like "I better not get another 02-07 wagon." I also had some trouble sourcing fenders for the bugeye during my time with it, culminating in me finally getting another set of fenders just before I realized the shell was toast (another iteration of the Fender Curse which also claimed my '97 OBS closely after fixing its front end), so I was like "I better not get a rare car, or a rare colour, so I can source body panels."

So with that in mind, I went out and bought the first car I looked at. It's red.



Welcome to the future-past. It's got some real Snaab appeal.

The Good

• 136,000 km. I didn't even know that was a number the odometer could display.
• Came with aftermarket wheels which are growing on me the more I look at it. I might make up some centre cap stickers and put them on instead of the dumb brand logo they have now.
• Pretty good service records, including the airbag recall
• It's red, and I've never had a red car before
• No sunroof but has all the other options for this year including fancy leather door cards
• Everything in the suspension and steering is so god damn tight now you guys

The Bad

• Various dings, dents and scrapes all over the body. The worst of it is a patch of missing clearcoat on the hood, and a good-sized ding in the rear tail light bucket that I hope I can get PDR'd out. It also has the normal fender lip rust from those stupid rubber covers that trap grit against the metal, so I'm going to probably effect a simple repair on those before the salt arrives again.
• Needs a timing belt very soon
• Radiator (or upper rad hose) has a pinhole leak that mists the front of the rad support with maple syrup smell if you drive it hard on the highway
• When the car started throwing cat codes, PO replaced the cat with a resonated straight pipe and then ziptied the rear O2 sensor loose in the engine bay. The exhaust is growing on me but I probably should put a race cat on this thing or something and put the rear O2 back in.
• AC doesn't work
• Like all Saabs, the gloriously overcomplicated badges are obliterated from daily use of the car.

Follow along as I get up to basic maintenance!

[OrcasNotOilers]

Radar bait red! Love it. Subscribed. Those wheels almost look like a bit like the stock Aero's, but I agree - RallyPig those centrecaps.
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Saab-Black-Rally-Pig-Replacement-Decal-Sticker-8-Piece-Set-1014-hood-emblem-/201172929637

[RedndWhite]

I know the previous owner, he used to work at a car wash, and almost every day he worked, he washed the car.

So you *might* get lucky when it comes to the grit trap.

[seat safety switch]

I know the previous owner, he used to work at a car wash, and almost every day he worked, he washed the car.

So you *might* get lucky when it comes to the grit trap.

Oh there's definitely some rust there and missing paint, but it's just started. It's nowhere near as bad as my 03 was when I bought it, where one of the flaps just fell right off when I touched it along with the entire fender lip.

[LilDrunkenSmurf]

Congrats on the purchase. It looks pretty good. By far the nicest car you've owned while I've known you.

[seat safety switch]

Congrats on the purchase. It looks pretty good. By far the nicest car you've owned while I've known you.

I look outside and I'm like "oh a rich person is visiting."

[Rathburn]

I look outside and I'm like "oh a rich person is visiting."

Arent they usually just the ones that show up in white vans for your monthly assessment?

[jellynuts]

Congrats man!  I wasn't expecting red.  Or a Saab.  Or something so nice. 

[diamondedge]

At first I thought you got Tik-tok's old whip. If I see you driving you'll get the dorkiest wave, guaranteed.

Congrats on the architect-mobile

[RedBimmer93]

I like the red

[seat safety switch]

You guys I saw another Saabaru in Edgemont! I was on foot so I couldn't wave but now I know where there are some parts.

I've still never seen another red one.

Car is growing on me, though the shifter is really bad, much worse than my 300k+ TS was. Maybe it's just because the synchronizers still exist and I'm not double-clutching everywhere, but I reckon it could probably do with a Holy Shift kit. I topped the clutch master reservoir back up to the maximum line, and now I'm wondering if maybe clutches are like brake pads in that the fluid level is low because the friction surface is gone.

These tires (Costco-special Michelin MXV4s) are hot garbage that remind me a lot of the RE92s that came on my 06 WRX when I got that back in the day. No sidewall integrity and they turn to slime after any corner. I might put on my RE760s and see how it looks with ratty Speedlines.

Either the hatch or the back part of the exhaust is rattling really badly; I've been doing the micro-adjustments of the hatch stopper whenever I'm stopped somewhere for awhile but it's a slow task.

Coolant squirts from the radiator are a very slow loss, but it definitely smells like coolant after a highway run. Additionally the AC is pretty weak, but seems to get marginally better when I have a lot of clean airflow going through the condenser. Guessing I've got some schmutz trapped between the rad and the condenser, which I'll have to remember to clean out when the rad is pulled.

The dogbone is apparently Saab proprietary and it feels a little loose (bucks hard in second gear when I let off the throttle even gently), so either I'll have to figure out how to mould new rubber into there or figure out where the last Saab OEM parts holdouts are and kill them for their bounty.

I'm guessing it's the same as a Subaru dogbone and a Subaru one will fit, so that's a good fallback. I want to track one down for science - curious what the Saab part changes, probably just a different durometer of rubber or a slightly wider part for NVH.

Ordered a whack of parts, waiting on a good time to install them:

• Radiator (Denso)
• Rad cap (Subaru OEM)
• Rad hoses (Continental)
• Water pump & gasket (Subaru OEM)
• Thermostat (Subaru OEM)
• Timing kit, sans water pump (Gates)

Also debating pulling the entire exhaust system off and building my own with a high-flow cat and a Cherry Bomb. I really don't like running catless because I am a filthy socialist.

[Asstuna]

Re: pitch stop

I have urethane 2pac with uckyfay durometer. We can make bushings

[jellynuts]

Canuckrz also has a Beatrush pitch stop in the FS if you wanted to add some JDM street cred. To make this more appealing, Japan has a huge right wing movement going on right now that may fit in with your socialist ideology.

[poopeebum]

yup, pitch stop uses the same one as all subarus, i had a beatrush one in my 92x, it definately improves the rubbery loose feel but transmitted a lot of noise, vibes, harshness into the cabin, which i didn't mind but some people will not like it

pretty much the only things that are saab parts are: hood, bumper covers f & r, hatch, side skirts, fender liners, everything else you can swap with impreza/wrx/sti parts

[Rathburn]

Re: pitch stop

I have urethane 2pac with uckyfay durometer. We can make bushings

[honz]

Lovin it!

"No sunroof..."
... So, there I was, surrounded by pygmies while cleaning my laundry room and found a sunroof...

[seat safety switch]

Lovin it!

"No sunroof..."
... So, there I was, surrounded by pygmies while cleaning my laundry room and found a sunroof...

Noice. I wonder if it would fit in the Civic.

[seat safety switch]

Finally got this puppy up on the lift. I think I figured out where the coolant pissing is coming from:




I had assumed it was the rad since on the test drive I saw coolant on top of the rad support.. not sure how coolant would get from the bottom of the engine to the top of the rad support so maybe I have multiple leaks.

I mean I already ordered a new rad, cap, hoses, water pump, t-stat and gasket so this is pretty good. I snugged up the bolts in the meantime, one of them was really loose and may in fact be the source of this leak.

The axle I thought had a blown boot does have a blown boot:


Control arms are your usual 02-07 dodginess:


For some reason the undercoating seems very thin, especially compared to my 03. Not sure why. Probably going to steam clean the underside and take this excuse to finally buy a proper undercoating gun.



There's a pretty good wave in the unibody right after the front subframe:



Probably got high-centered on something or fell off a jack.

Diff mount outrigger brackets are gross:


Rear strut bodies are gross:


Rear wheel wells need a sealing and new undercoat, I don't want to be fobbing this one off to Grant in a few years too:


Anyway. It wasn't on the lift so I could look at it, it was on the lift so I could do this:


22mm adjustable rear Whiteline bar, here we come. I put it on the hardest setting because I love weird handling cars. Also replaced the rear endlinks with Audi front endlinks and dropped in some new fasteners and painted the swaybar bushing body mount brackets because they were out.

Did the air filter and the cabin air filter:


The cabin air filter looked like every other picture of an old cabin air filter you've ever seen. Lots of poplar fluff and bugs.

Had a pretty good day today with the Saab. I am growing to like this car quite a bit.

[jellynuts]

I might have some extra outrigger bushings

[seat safety switch]

I think I have at least two sets. It's one of those things I keep buying and never install because it's kind of a pain in the assay, even on a lift.

[jellynuts]

Ah hit me up next time you're under the car. I don't mind doing them, albeit, I've only done them once.

[GrantC]

I think I have at least two sets. It's one of those things I keep buying and never install because it's kind of a pain in the assay, even on a lift.

Are you kidding me?  I've done outrigger bushings several times w/o even jacking up the car or getting under it.

[seat safety switch]

Are you kidding me?  I've done outrigger bushings several times w/o even jacking up the car or getting under it.

I thought you had to hold the front diff crossmember/outrigger up with a jack after pulling the side bracket. I guess I'll give it a shot next time I'm under the car, probably after this mess of a Honda engine is off the stand.

[Asstuna]

I've done them on Pumpkin with no issues apart from rust flakes in the eyeballs.

Also, these cars handle predictably with a decent RSB.

[seat safety switch]

Yeah, the handling has definitely improved. It feels much more like how I would imagine a Subaru to handle had I never been in one before.

A++++ would put off installing this part through three cars again.