Saab Central - Regular Columns

First off, an introduction. SAABs were originally brought into the country in low volumes around the sixties and seventies. We have several nice examples of 93's and 96's still running, mostly in the smaller towns and maintained by real enthusiasts. The classic 900 was the first real serious attempt at volume sales in the Malaysian market, and by far most SAABs in the country are of this genre. We got almost the entire range - GLS carb models, GLi base model injection ones, GLE full spec non-turbo models, and turbos as well. The body shapes we got were the 3 door, 4 door and 5 door as well as a limited number of CD's (12) which are a 4 door stretched 8 inches, with the extra length split evenly between the front and rear door extensions. We never got the coupe body, and never saw the SAAB 90.

We only ever imported the cars up till 1985, so originally all our engines were 8v running either the carburettors or the K-Jetronic fuel injection. After 1985 up till about 1992 there was no local dealer, leading to the general fear of poor dealer support up till today. This was compounded by a dealer swap again in 1997, although this was mostly transparent to the end user since support was available from the new dealer almost instantly. Right now SAAB's are being imported (the tasty 9-5's and 9-3's) by the same dealer as Porsche, which interestingly enough was highlighted to me to be a very effective and convenient setup, since SAABs and Porches are are
targeted at totally different market segments and complement each other, with the dealership being able to take advantage of economies of scale to no obvious detriment. Ultimately to me it means I have an 'official' source for parts, though they are a bit pricey.

We've always had SAABs in the family since as long as I can remember. My dad bought his first SAAB in 1981, when the classic 900 was first introduced, an 8vTurbo 4 door, and in 1984 we acquired the second one off the showroom floor for my mum to use, an 8vGLi, also 4 door. Since then we
acquired another 8vTurbo which I unfortunately wrote off, a CD for the novelty value, a 3 door that is sitting in the garage waiting for a chance to be rejuvenated in 'racier' trim when money and time permit , another 8vTurbo 4 door for a daily driver, and most recently, a converted Lucas
LPT 16v 4 door that used to be a GLE.

With a family of cars like that, its hard not to have developed a healthy interest in SAABs, in particular the c900. Most of our cars have been converted to 16v engines with the facelifts, running the various varieties of fuel management, from K-Jetronic with custom fuel injector brackets on a 16v turbo engine, through to Lucas LPT's through to Bosch LH2.4 NA.

Two of the cars I converted very hands-on with the invaluable help of a very supportive local workshop that had never seen a SAAB till they met me; the 8vGLi that my mum used to drive into a 16v LH2.4 autobox that my sister now drives daily, and the CD with a Lucas powered LPT engine. The NA engine despite being gutless has proven to be as reliable as the engine it replaced, which at 330000km before it was swapped never having had its head ever removed something of a wonder... The CD became something of a project, with an assortment of light mods - full 3" exhaust, rising rate malpassi regulator, external wastegate, electronic boost controller and retrofitted intercooler. Currently its sitting on stands waiting my custom steel braided lines for the 9000 brakes which I've just fitted.

Sometimes I wonder if all the SAABs will ever be simultaneously on the road, since with a fleet of 6 the gremlin always seems to have somewhere to cause mischief... Currently being mischevious is the fully converted, but incredibly stock Lucas LPT 4 door. The fan switch on the side of the radiator failed permanently closed, meaning the fan ran indefinitely... So I got a case of battery flattery yesterday, and got home yesterday after work to swap the switch. Only that swapping the switch requires the air conditioning fan to be removed, which requires the turbo crossover pipe and ignition coil to be removed... And then I while working on the car I start to notice the rubber hoses have cracked here and there, and the blow off valve doesn't seem to seal too well when I blow into the rubber hose leading to it ! Looks like a weekend of rubber hose removal is here for me, with the blow off having to go, I think I'll get a replacement BOV fitted, which undoubtedly won't fit, so I'll have to modify the crossover pipe... Aluminium welding is never cheap... And today the air-conditioning compressor has decided to fail on me - on the day when I have two clients to see of course ! Rocking up to both clients with my tie neatly in place, but my shirt looking like I took the shortcut straight through the fountain out the front grin

Forum members bohtak and edwinj make up another three c900s that meet up regularly for a teh-tarik, the local name for hot tea with milk done in a special way at a roadside stall at night, where we discuss where to best spend what little money we have to feed and satisfy our mad fascination with the car. bohtak's car is in the shop getting a full respray in black, his brother's car had some clutch problems over the weekend and edwinj's got a mild case of arthritis -his left CV joint in the early stages of complaining via the all famous 'tdhunk'.. Always with upgrades in mind of course... bohtak's looking at fitting mazda 4pot brakes off an FC onto his
beast !

Oh just part of the life of a bunch of nutters with an undeniable obsession for the most bizzare cars ever made
LG