J-roc
New member
- Joined
- Oct 21, 2014
- Location
- Portland, OR
I've had this car for over a year now and have had multiple people ask me about the progress of the car, how I built the suspension etc... I'm finally getting around to posting this. The first post is going to be a long one and then hopefully I can keep up with the progress from here on out.
Most current photo of the car; dirty, but current. But, we will get to that.
Day one. Monster truck. Busted headlights, taillights, half the gauges on the cluster didn't work, overdrive non functional. Estimated 300k on the odometer. 1991 B230FT with an AW71. $1200
First modification. So much better. Also this day I went in and bypassed the original overdrive solenoid so the car could actually cruise down the freeway without sounding like it was going to blow up.
The previous owner had "waxed" the car but it ended up being just super greasy and nasty looking. Dish soap stripped that away and revealed the true condition of the paint. Not great, but salvageable.
E-Code front end, still needed a few brackets at this point but this was mostly all here. The US spec lights on these cars are horrible.
Paint restoration was going well, but extremely slow going. The paint was in bad shape. Lots of contaminants that needed to be cleaned off and then could be compounded and polished.
Debadged the trunk (obviously the one is still yet to be removed in this photo) and removed the small amount of pinstriping. Certain panels I was able to get away with a green pad with Meguiars Paint Restoration Cream while others needed more work. This one required Meguiars D300 on a microfiber cutting pad followed up with M205 on a blue pad.
The most hated wheel acquired.
Cut brand new IPD sport springs installed with Bilstein TC struts. Ride was pretty good actually but riding around in a half buffed out 740 with Draco's on it was less than ideal.
Exhaust clearance was a bit of an issue. Shortly after this I had the exhaust tucked up and the forward muffler deleted.
Tires. Kumho Ecsta in a 215/35 R18
Pegs all polished up.
Parts on parts. Door cards, tires, and all sorts of other odds and ends the car needed.
Before.
After. E-Codes were a much needed improvement. Both visually and in light output. Also I know the car looks goofy with the Pegs at this height.
All that blue. Featuring sketchy zip tie limiting straps.
Car was starting to look more presentable.
The 740 looked goofy as all hell with the Pegasus wheels at that height so I decided to make a change and switch wheels around from my 850 which resulted in a look like this.
The 850 on the other hand became this.
Winter was a bit slow going but I addressed some of the issues the car had. This cracked manifold being one of them.
Installed some fresh Do88 intercooler couplers as my old ones were oil soaked and ready to pop.
Winter hit Portland particularly hard last year and we ended up with quite a bit of snow and ice. The car got some Canisto wheels as the 850 needed its Comets back. The 740 did OK in the snow but in the ice it actually left me stranded one night as it couldn't get up any sort of incline.
Pre-Pump died on the car causing it to stall intermittently, particularly around corners. This one looked pretty roached out.
Organizing the madness that is my spare parts supply.
Unrelated to this car but Ansel and I crushed our very first Volvo. Taro's old 244. Parted and sent to Pick N Pull.
Cleaned up for the XXX show.
It's not a redblock unless it leaks oil, right?
Nasty torque rods. Old bushings were the consistency of cookie dough causing the whole rear end of the car to feel extremely loose. Replaced these with some fresh rubber and the whole car felt immediately more controllable.
This was the first shot at coilovers on the car. Kaplan hardware. Ten inch 250 lb up front and 9.5 inch 200 lb in the back with adjustable sleeves.
The Pegs are back! But I still wasn't happy with the ride height of the car and I was out of shock travel nearly all the way around.
Fresh coolant hoses from Do88.
Bumper painting process. First I thoroughly cleaned the unit with a solvent and heat gunned all the burrs on the bumper skin. Then came masking, adhesion promoter and a high build primer.
Base coat laid down.
Clearcoat laid down.
Mid stage wet sanding.
Wet sanding complete and SEM bumper coater applied to the upper section of the skin and grille area.
Mounted. This already has the short strut coils on it which I'll address next.
This is probably what a lot of you are curious about so here it goes. On the left you'll see a stock 7/900 series Bilstein TC strut. On the right you'll see a KYB shock from the front of a late 90's Saab 900. You'll need to sand down the barrel of the Saab strut slightly as the diameter is extremely tight within the strut tubes. I have an ABS model so my strut tubes may be slightly different from the non ABS cars that came on earlier cars. You may also want to clean out your strut tubes for debris or any burrs from manufacturing.
You'll also notice that where the struts fit into the mount the diameter will be different. 2mm to be exact.
To remedy this you can pick up some bearing sleeves with an ID of 16mm and an OD of 18mm. I purchased mine from McMaster Carr. You'll run into this issue as well putting these struts on a 240.
With this sleeve in place the strut mount will fit correctly against the strut body.
This is where you'll want a fabricator or someone who knows how to weld help you out. Re-welding the strut tubes after shortening them should be done by someone who isn't going to booger weld it. I used the stock 7/900 Bilstein TC gland nuts. These are also the same gland nut off of a 200 series TC strut as well. I would expect you could use a stock gland nut too but the ID of the nut where it fits over the strut shaft is slightly too small and would have to be enlarged.
Assembled with 8 inch 250 lb Eibach springs.
Top fitment. I used the stock top nut from the Bilstein's and it has just enough bite to get all of the threads.
Installed in the car. All the way up on my adjuster sleeves.
Set down. Again this is all the way up on the adjuster sleeves. Tremendously better. Ride is a lot more comfortable, not bouncy and the car has full shock travel again.
Most current photo of the car; dirty, but current. But, we will get to that.
Day one. Monster truck. Busted headlights, taillights, half the gauges on the cluster didn't work, overdrive non functional. Estimated 300k on the odometer. 1991 B230FT with an AW71. $1200
First modification. So much better. Also this day I went in and bypassed the original overdrive solenoid so the car could actually cruise down the freeway without sounding like it was going to blow up.
The previous owner had "waxed" the car but it ended up being just super greasy and nasty looking. Dish soap stripped that away and revealed the true condition of the paint. Not great, but salvageable.
E-Code front end, still needed a few brackets at this point but this was mostly all here. The US spec lights on these cars are horrible.
Paint restoration was going well, but extremely slow going. The paint was in bad shape. Lots of contaminants that needed to be cleaned off and then could be compounded and polished.
Debadged the trunk (obviously the one is still yet to be removed in this photo) and removed the small amount of pinstriping. Certain panels I was able to get away with a green pad with Meguiars Paint Restoration Cream while others needed more work. This one required Meguiars D300 on a microfiber cutting pad followed up with M205 on a blue pad.
The most hated wheel acquired.
Cut brand new IPD sport springs installed with Bilstein TC struts. Ride was pretty good actually but riding around in a half buffed out 740 with Draco's on it was less than ideal.
Exhaust clearance was a bit of an issue. Shortly after this I had the exhaust tucked up and the forward muffler deleted.
Tires. Kumho Ecsta in a 215/35 R18
Pegs all polished up.
Parts on parts. Door cards, tires, and all sorts of other odds and ends the car needed.
Before.
After. E-Codes were a much needed improvement. Both visually and in light output. Also I know the car looks goofy with the Pegs at this height.
All that blue. Featuring sketchy zip tie limiting straps.
Car was starting to look more presentable.
The 740 looked goofy as all hell with the Pegasus wheels at that height so I decided to make a change and switch wheels around from my 850 which resulted in a look like this.
The 850 on the other hand became this.
Winter was a bit slow going but I addressed some of the issues the car had. This cracked manifold being one of them.
Installed some fresh Do88 intercooler couplers as my old ones were oil soaked and ready to pop.
Winter hit Portland particularly hard last year and we ended up with quite a bit of snow and ice. The car got some Canisto wheels as the 850 needed its Comets back. The 740 did OK in the snow but in the ice it actually left me stranded one night as it couldn't get up any sort of incline.
Pre-Pump died on the car causing it to stall intermittently, particularly around corners. This one looked pretty roached out.
Organizing the madness that is my spare parts supply.
Unrelated to this car but Ansel and I crushed our very first Volvo. Taro's old 244. Parted and sent to Pick N Pull.
Cleaned up for the XXX show.
It's not a redblock unless it leaks oil, right?
Nasty torque rods. Old bushings were the consistency of cookie dough causing the whole rear end of the car to feel extremely loose. Replaced these with some fresh rubber and the whole car felt immediately more controllable.
This was the first shot at coilovers on the car. Kaplan hardware. Ten inch 250 lb up front and 9.5 inch 200 lb in the back with adjustable sleeves.
The Pegs are back! But I still wasn't happy with the ride height of the car and I was out of shock travel nearly all the way around.
Fresh coolant hoses from Do88.
Bumper painting process. First I thoroughly cleaned the unit with a solvent and heat gunned all the burrs on the bumper skin. Then came masking, adhesion promoter and a high build primer.
Base coat laid down.
Clearcoat laid down.
Mid stage wet sanding.
Wet sanding complete and SEM bumper coater applied to the upper section of the skin and grille area.
Mounted. This already has the short strut coils on it which I'll address next.
This is probably what a lot of you are curious about so here it goes. On the left you'll see a stock 7/900 series Bilstein TC strut. On the right you'll see a KYB shock from the front of a late 90's Saab 900. You'll need to sand down the barrel of the Saab strut slightly as the diameter is extremely tight within the strut tubes. I have an ABS model so my strut tubes may be slightly different from the non ABS cars that came on earlier cars. You may also want to clean out your strut tubes for debris or any burrs from manufacturing.
You'll also notice that where the struts fit into the mount the diameter will be different. 2mm to be exact.
To remedy this you can pick up some bearing sleeves with an ID of 16mm and an OD of 18mm. I purchased mine from McMaster Carr. You'll run into this issue as well putting these struts on a 240.
With this sleeve in place the strut mount will fit correctly against the strut body.
This is where you'll want a fabricator or someone who knows how to weld help you out. Re-welding the strut tubes after shortening them should be done by someone who isn't going to booger weld it. I used the stock 7/900 Bilstein TC gland nuts. These are also the same gland nut off of a 200 series TC strut as well. I would expect you could use a stock gland nut too but the ID of the nut where it fits over the strut shaft is slightly too small and would have to be enlarged.
Assembled with 8 inch 250 lb Eibach springs.
Top fitment. I used the stock top nut from the Bilstein's and it has just enough bite to get all of the threads.
Installed in the car. All the way up on my adjuster sleeves.
Set down. Again this is all the way up on the adjuster sleeves. Tremendously better. Ride is a lot more comfortable, not bouncy and the car has full shock travel again.
