My 1995 Saab Convertible Project

Paid $500.  It's only done 92,000km. They're the good points. Oh and new tyres and new battery and new back exhaust. Convertible roof works.

Bad points:

Don't think it's been serviced too well. Old lady owned it and she's clearly been taken advantage of. Has accident damage on quarter panel. Both bumpers need repainting. Filthy inside and out and engine bay. Leather seats not in good nick. Warning lights on dash. Broken lights. Let's have a look at it.

The interior is all grimy and dirty the carpet is disgusting the door trim vile and the seats no better.

The ignition key is in the centre console. I think Saab is the only car to do this.

The bonnet gas struts were too weak to hold up the bonnet. In this picture I use a mop handle. I got some struts off a Commodore ute while at the wreckers.

As far as getting the car back on the road it's not an issue but to me one of the most distressing things was the steering wheel. It was disintegrating and disgusting to touch,my hands were black after driving it home. A trip to the wreckers and I pulled one off in much better condition.




There are a couple of torx screws on either side of the underside of the wheel.






You can see in this pic how bad the wheel is.







Undoing those screws releases the airbag.







A 22mm socket gets off the wheel.







You can see the new one is much nicer.

Both front indicators were broken. $15 each from the wreckers.






One torx screw is all that holds it in.

One tail light was broken.






Open the boot and come at it from behind. Open a flap and the back of the lights are revealed. The globes are held in a bracket. Squeeze some tabs and remove. The tail light is held on by three 10mm bolts.














$40 from the wreckers. A retailer that deals in Saab wanted to sell me a brand new one for $200. Thanks but no thanks.

A good example of a customer being ripped off by lowlife mechanics. No doubt she paid for a service. But did she get one? Check out this air filter. Compare it to the new one I bought. Never ever changed imo.











That's the housing.








Job done.

It would take 90,000k to get that dirty. I hate the cxnts.

I love Saabs...I've owned three of them and I've loved them all...sadly they have stopped making them and I now have a

Volvo...nice car but will never compare with a Saab....I found it quite difficult to get parts until I found a chap called...would

you believe....Jon Saab!! he swore it was it his real name but i'm not sure.

Best of luck with it Kami.

Cheers JR. Obviously the best Saabs are from the 80s but this is a pretty good car for $500.

"Old lady owner"

"only done 92000km"


LOOK at car......................

what's wrong with this picture?

Unless it was Grandma from an indigenous community in Alice Springs  lettin cuz and co borrow it to

catch some bush tucker 

I thought the Socialist Victorian Government had brainwashed you blokes not to make comments like that. You could be in big sh1t.

Cleaned the throttle body. Not a full clean where you remove the throttle body completely just an in situ job. If your car is ever idling a bit rough or hesitates on acceleration then try this. It's something I do about once a year on my cars.








That's the throttle half open.





It's a bit dirty but I've seen worse.

I replaced the valve cover gasket. It was obviously leaking massively. Often called a rocker cover gasket in Australia. Nearly all oily engines have a leak from here. It's at the top of the engine and flows down. It's easy on the Saab an absolute nightmare on the VW.

I noticed that the upper radiator hose was soft and clearly very old. Bought one on ebay for $25. Very easy replacement. Here is the old and the new.

I took a photo comparing the dipstick on the Ute to on the Saab but it didn't turn out. The Saab oil was black and disgusting while the oil on the Ute was nearly clear. Couldn't wait to get that old sh1t out and put in some Nulon synthetic.

Changed the spark plugs. The old ones were pretty good but I still like to do it. Especially when they are as easily accessible as the Saab.

I had to replace the battery so while I was there I tidied up the battery tray area. Even on modern cars this is a high risk area for rust.

I finally figured out some brake lights weren't working on the boot. I didn't even know they were brake lights. Anyway,I raised the boot and removed the trim,discovered little tiny 5W lamps. Cost a fortune at Repco.

I had to replace the driver's door check. That's the thing that holds the the door in place so it stops falling back on you when you're doing something or are on a slope. You have to remove the door trim to get at the bolts that hold it near the hinge. It's not too hard. Less than half hour job.

Bought a badge for the bonnet. The old one was faded away to nothing. You just need something thin and strong to get under the badge while trying not to scratch the paint on the bonnet. I used an old paint scraper. It's held in by three little plugs.

Replaced the cabin filter. Hardly any car in the whole world ever gets it's cabin filter replaced. That's because usually it's not easy. The Saab is no exception.

You have to remove the plastic cowling around the windscreen wipers. The Saab had 22 years worth of leaves and compost under there. Clean it out stick in the new filter and you're done. Took about an hour.

Changed the tie rod ends. Remove wheel. Loosen nut. I used a Pittman Puller to loosen the tie rod but a hammer would do the same job. All up,both sides maybe an hour.

Tommy LOVES some Top Down motoring.