My Verona -- 1973 Saab 99LE 2-door

[GAA]

I looked at this '73 Saab 99 near my house yesterday, advertised on Craigslist:

http://minneapolis.craigslist.org/car/715094003.html

and I went back today and bought it.

The good news is the car has 91,000 original miles, and is astonishingly rust free for a MN car. The only real rust problem on the whole car is the typical door bottom rust. The rest of the body is shockingly OK.

It starts and idles (after the vacuum hose to the distributor was hooked up, the old gas was drained and some new gas put in).

I was able to drive it up and down the seller's driveway. The brakes stick after the first application. Yesterday they were still sticking, but this morning I banged the brake master with a wrench and they loosened up enough for the 100 foot test drive. Whether that's the brake master or just 24 hours for the calipers to unstick, I do not know.

The turn signal dash light sucks power even when the turn signals are not activated. You have to pull the fuse for that circuit or the battery will run down. Apparently that's a fault in the turn signal relay, which I will need to replace.

On Monday, I'm going to have it towed to my office building parking lot. The basic agenda is getting it to run and drive enough to be mobile, change all the fluids, and then wax the living daylights out of it.

I'll have to redo the brake master and calipers to have any real confidence in driving the car, but I hope I can get it mobile before doing that -- to get it in and out of the garage for some weekend wrenching.

The name for the color is Verona Green - hence, the thread title.

Here are the obligatory pics -- more and better pics after I take possession on Monday:
















and a fuzzy interior shot

[JK9K]

I;m going to go steal it before Monday.

FYI

[slobuny]

That is freaking fantastic, we'll have to do a shoot together once mines done with paint

[hamradio]

I saw your thread on TSL; I love it! The color is great! The interior is great! Is that dealer add-on AC?

[GAA]

I;m going to go steal it before Monday.

FYI

Thanks for the warning - I'll get the comprehensive coverage put on it for the weekend.

[GAA]

I saw your thread on TSL; I love it! The color is great! The interior is great! Is that dealer add-on AC?

Yep, dealer add-on "Saab AC"!

I actually am wondering whether it's worth the cost or trouble to get the AC working. R134 conversion for a 35 year old system, or pay through the nose for R12, which is more painful?

Probably not worth the effort, and the AC is going to go away eventually when I get around to doing stuff with the car.

[hamradio]

Meh, might be worth a shot to get going with r134...pretty cheap. Is that a york compressor? And are those lines...hose clamped...on?

[GAA]

I should add the odds of this car attending Eurowerks '09 are fairly good.

(Are those hose clamps on the AC? Why, yes they are.)

[JK9K]

Did you get the new plugs, wires, cap and rotor like I suggested? When I went to look at this think a month ago it was running terribly.

[GAA]

Did you get the new plugs, wires, cap and rotor like I suggested? When I went to look at this think a month ago it was running terribly.

Not yet. I'll work on it next week, after I take possession on Monday.

The seller did not want me to work on it on his property. He was cool about it, but said no.

[hamradio]

I can't imagine how the freon leaked out of those lines.

[JK9K]

Not yet. I'll work on it next week, after I take possession on Monday.

The seller did not want me to work on it on his property. He was cool about it, but said no.

Makes sense. Just from that photo the dizzy cap looked "newish." That's the only reason I asked.

[Casper]

wicked color!

[GAA]

A couple of updates. First, I upgraded the wheels to some stock '86 sunbursts I bought from Palmer. Better pictures:







Second, I got the car to run ! It's amazing what plugs, spark plug wires, and a fuel filter will do.

But I was still having fuel starvation issues. It wouldn't start, I figure it's another clogged fuel filter (which would be the third in 50 miles). So I leave it alone for a couple of weeks, and decide I need to drop the gas tank and get it professionally refinished.

That was my project for the weekend - drop the tank and take it in on Monday. I get in the car, and it turns over but won't catch for want of fuel. Same symptom. I clean out the trunk just in case I need to do anything from the top, which was kind of a chore since the trunk had become my de facto tool storage area.

While I'm back there I decide to check the fuel filter, and yes there's some rusty crap in it, but oddly there's no gas in the line leading up to the fuel filter. Hmmm. Odd. Maybe the rusty crap has blocked the intake in the tank.

So I get the rear end jacked up, get under there and take off the drain plug for the gas tank.

Nothing comes out.

For a second I wonder if the rusty crap has blocked the drain hole, too. Then I rap on the tank with my knuckles.

The tank is clearly empty. Bone dry.

So I go get some gas, put it in, and start the car. After the time needed to repressurize the fuel system, it fires right up. Drives around fine.

So why would I assume that the gas gauge on a 35-year-old car would be accurate, when I'm having fuel delivery issues?

FWIW the gas gauge reads 7/8ths full. Both before and after this exercise.

[palmer]

You has sticky sender.


Best get the tank dipped though, it's not like you can buy a new one.