DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

The big one is the pcv system in 04, the engine block changed to allow the oil trap to drain better. In 06, they made the oil trap holes even bigger, so this has the latest update in that area. No engine sludge should ever occur.

Coolant bypass valve eliminated, this is a plastic valve that fails, its not hard to replace, but annoying, it diverts coolant away from the heater core in the event you turn the A/C to MAX Low, I never do that.

Eliminated a lot of vacuum lines, just down to 2

Timing chain and head gasket, I went to ARP head studs so it should help in the future of never having to do another head gasket in the future. These cars are okay with head gaskets, not all of them have it, its not all common. But I am pushing a 300-325hp tune...so it could still happen. I put a new timing chain in, they tend to go around 200k.

Rear camber arms, for wagon sag over time, its an extra 200-300lbs back there

The transmission is a later one, I think revision 10, so that means no reverse lock out issues, 3rd gear grind, 2nd gear synchro issues.

SS braided clutch line over rubber. Rubber gets soft.

Things I added that were options on these cars through the years
-Better seats (they are super comfortable) cooled and heated
-Auto level suspension for wagon, can suport 500lbs and keep the suspension level
-Auto dimming mirrors on all 3 with homelink
-rear brakes 300mm vented rotors, the brakes on these cars are no joke with the right setup
-What we call king cobra pipe, its a bigger inlet pipe to the turbo, its a ***** to fit but worth the 10hp
-what we call T5 cams, they are cams from a Saab 9000 turbo, 20hp gain, more lift and duration
-Rear cargo roll out loading floor (rare option)

Only thing that I don't have is the back up park sensors, its the only thing I can't figure out how to add

The car at this point is virtually new at this point and everything works. Very happy with it for a daily driver.

Prophecy99

iTrader: (1)

props man !! very very detailed, and i like your reasoning and dedication to getting this better than new ! i wish i had the mechanical ability to do all these things , very impressive ! enjoy that thing !!

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

Thanks dude!

The improvements are just years of people trying things, or my experiences with things. I've been playing with Saabs for 10 years now. Anybody can do what I've done, I just have hand tools, no lift. Jack stands and on my back.

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

Got some groceries


It got wet:





Then it got dry:

Prophecy99

iTrader: (1)

damn dude !!!! does it get much better?? very nice !! that combo with orange corners and yellow fogs on a black car are perfect ! first saw it on a 4th gen years ago , so so nice.

you make me wanna put that effort into mine. (which i have, but slowly faded with it's daily driving and age) i got quarter rust sheet going on i have been so blah about i don't even know what to do and i am so used to seeing it i blank it out.

wheres your rust ! lol

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

Mr. ****s 4th gen. Always loved his look.

Both my Saabs are completely 100% rust free, the Sedan will easily stay that way (I cleaned and coated everything I could) and it will never even see Rain. The Wagon I bought in North Carolina where it sat in a Barn for the last 6 years, never seen snow until this year. I did some preventative with cosmoline on bolts (wax spray), Black star on anything bare and will be doing fluid film in between wheel changes for summer and winter. See how low it lasts, all I can do is try I guess.

On a side note, I picked up new wheels. OEM and period correct to the year of the car. Basically what it came with when it was new. They are being powder coated in BMW Silver and will be my new Summer wheels, the current wheels will be Winter wheels.

Prophecy99

iTrader: (1)

what is black star, and fluid film ? i have heard of doing linseed oil, that's all i have recently learned about. and i like the current wheels, and i look forward to seeing the new ones.

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

Black star is a rust converter, I needed in a few areas on the wagon. but it also helps coat and protect things too.

Fluid film is a coating you can put on and protect.

Cosmoline is a wax spray that I put on joints/bolts/brake lines. It covers them too.

There is no reason you can't protect a car in the northeast anymore.

Prophecy99

iTrader: (1)

this is all amazing ! thanks dude ! i feel like the damage is done on my 17 year old daily driver... but maybe not ! i guess preventive things help no matter when you start them.

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

So the Wagon needed some fixes off the bat
LCA Bushings that were brand new took a ****





Wheel bearing went, press it


and subframe bushings were bad


Underside so clean





69 giggity


Cockpit


Parking situation


Going on adventures



Daughter says she loves this car


And then this happened...that's right both my builds are running and driving



Still working out some kinks, but its on the road.

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

You've got two awesome cars there, keep up the good work! Sucks about the new LCA bushings, do you know what happened?

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

The company that I got them from must have a bad batch; they were selling the whole thing as a kit, LCA with bushings pressed in. They shorted the gap from front to rear mounts on the LCA by about 3/8" so it pushed out the bushings. I wanted to stay rubber as much as possible on all the bushings...but I got Polys in the Subframe and LCAs, though the new LCA bushings are a poly/rubber mix, they aren't bad; some roads are felt more for sure.

Wagon is spot on perfect now. Only a few things I have to do is the brake booster (its failing) and while the AC works, it struggles once it gets to 85* outside. So I'm going to replace the compressor, ac drier and condenser.

Sedan is going to be a project til I'm old and can't do it anymore. But there are thoughts of dropping in the 6 speed conversion and a gtx3076r

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

From Today, enjoying it. Feels good to have this phase done.

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

Looks damn good!

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

Thanks Dude

Prophecy99

iTrader: (1)

ditto! great to see ! ! =)

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

So drove the Sedan a few times now, did it first oil change at about 85 miles on the engine. Next one at 500 miles
-Small oil leak on feed line for turbo (should be resolved)
-Small oil leak on oil return off turbo (think its still leaking, only one drop of oil after I turned it off though)
-Small oil leak on oil pump housing or crank seal (bugger, easy repair but not good it didn't take)
-Suspension has a few clunks from sway bar end links

I plan to get 1500-2000 miles on it before winter, drop the oil pan (this car is supposed to run on synthetic) so need to check the pan, do oil leak fixes, make some adjustments and hopefully vinyl wrap this car.



So Wagon got some new wheels, these are the wheels it would have came with in 2000. Love the look. Wagon just needs a brake booster for repairs. I want to add a trailer hitch to it for extra "this car does everything factor"




Clean ecopower


Dirty ecopower


It rained today while I was putting in my new garage door opener on my side of the garage; I did my wife's side 2 years ago and it was super quiet, bought another one, said the only way I would install it is if I got that car running and it moved under its own power.






And then...we traded in her 2015 Mitsubishi Outlander Sport for a 2019 Subaru Forester. Mitsubishi is looking like its going the way of Suzuki with Nissan mismanaging money as it is, don't think they will make it much longer than another 2-3 years. Took the equity we had and ran.
The Forester is fantastic we got the Limited with the Power liftgate, harmon kardon, panoramic roof, and stuff.


Parking lot


And I modded it

Prophecy99

iTrader: (1)

sweet man !! i am starting to lean subuaru myself, and yea thats interesting with Mitsubishi , sad to hear, but they haven't had much to rave about in recent years anyway. i still see a nice 99 gsx eclipse around here and there, the good ol days.

and i smiled knowing you already modded the new car !! there is a special window when you first bring a car home and can dream and contemplate and plan all the future mods =) its a nice time, enjoy !!

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

Its just my prediction. Its been rumored for some time now though.

Nissan is in trouble financially as it is and being their parent company now only can mean that if they don't perform enough and cost Nissan money, you can bet they will just pull the plug.

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

It is kind of boring when everything just kind of works. :shrug:

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

Good call on getting rid of the Mitsubishi and getting the Forester! And yes, isn't it great when things just work?! I'd much rather be driving my cars than working on them.

krismax

iTrader: (15)

Very clean cars, for the Albany area.

Prophecy99

iTrader: (1)

you got that right ! =) looking great dude.
does NY state use brine too?

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

How to ruin a rust free car

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

Blue wrap? Doing it by yourself?

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

3M Ice Blue Gloss and yes by myself.

Transmission is out right now, about to be shipped to Nebraska to be rebuilt, hopefully the car will be back on its feet by early March.

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

Forgot to mention, kid ran a red light, clipped the front end of the wife's car.

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

Have you done wrapping before? How difficult is it? What's the total cost going to be?

krismax

iTrader: (15)

Good that she had the camera,smart thinking. Do you recommend a certain one?

Glad she is OK and the car's not that bad.

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

I've wrapped some things; mirrors, grilles, interior pieces, roofs. This is my first time wrapping a whole car.

I have about $100-150 in tools (like good knives, gloves, squeegees), I've made mistakes, but all done $600-700. Someone who can wrap in one shot on a car this size it would be about $400-500 in material.

Watch CK Wraps on Youtube, pay attention to what he says, where he puts his hands, and how he pulls it.

Its not hard at all these days, they have made such huge improvements in the last decade its easy for all to do. The hard part is trimming and finishing edges, I'm still working on that.

Thanks, all of my vehicles have dash cams. Front and rear in the 2 daily drivers.

Yi 1080 dash cam for front only. Yi has the best app and wifi. You can view the file on your phone, clip it to what you need and download it fast. $30-40 amazon flash deal

This was the Apeman 1080 front and rear in stock settings, the video footage is a little too dark, so I bumped the exposure up. This is a cheap Front and rear, I think $60 amazon flash deal.

I run the viofio A129 front and rear, the wifi and app are garbage. $110 amazon deal. Has good quality out of the box.

I like having a wifi and app setup for quick video grabs instead of having to take out the SD card. But there really isn't any wifi based front and rear setups that I have seen as of 6-9 months ago, could be a different story now.

Here is the A129 at dusk

Prophecy99

iTrader: (1)

glad everyone is ok ! that was quite a red light, more like missed traffic intersection than blowing red light. and love the bronze wheels!

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

Wife's Rental while her car got fixed:





When we got her car back, I added some color
Purple mirrors/rear valence and pink accents; Gunmetal grey grille Vinyl wrap

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

Wagon fun
Grinding Glass headlights to clear them for better light output




I guess the new wheels since the 3 spoke wheels are bent


Brand new shift ****


tow hitch


Clear corner lights, haven't decided if I will use them


Hauled a transmission to ship


climbed 3 mountains this winter

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

And the Sedan....

Transmission out



Manifold


Vinyl wrap


Deleting the front plate and playing with lights



Forged Carbon Fiber dash



New ride height or test fitting for clearance?

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

Skylar checking my work and my side skirt work




Emblem


Colorness





Spoiler


Getting there



Playing with this Ricer idea with side splitters

Prophecy99

iTrader: (1)

wow dude! nice work !! waiting for installed pics

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

That's some serious attention to detail right there, damn! What's up with the transmission work?

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

Thanks dude, I can't wait to get this car out in the sun light and see it done.

That said, right now I know about 3 panels have to rewrapped. The ridge that runs along the car I thought i back laid into it, but the back doors are pulling up a bit, not terrible but in the heat of the sun they will bubble. Grrr. Not a huge deal. Hoping I can get through the season and revisit next winter. We will see, things like that tear at me and I'll probably redo them before the car even sees the sun.

Reverse gear never worked.

B3Designs is rebuilding it now (this is build #2 for this transmission but someone different this time).

"Wrong slider/selector used on reverse assembly and was rubbing on input shaft 1st gear. Reverse blocker/synchro cooked. Need whole new reverse idler assembly. Both 5th gears chipped and missing a tooth. 5th slider, hub, and synchro assembly worn out. Need new 5th gear set and new 5th synchro hub and slider assy. Probably be smart to replace input shaft too as 1st gear on shaft worn down a bit from rubbing on rev slider"

"Overall in decent condition. 1-2 and 3-4 hub, slider, and synchro assemblies in good condition which is rare. My only gripe is it has the 1st Gen carbon synchros everywhere. 2nd gen much better

Carbon/fiber synchro material used on 3rd 4th 5th and reverse. 1 and 2 use tripple cone bronze/steel"

"The reverse thing I could see how that got overlooked. Chipped 5th gears deal makes me think wtf. Not enough preload either. Overall, not a terrible build but far from what I deem acceptable"


Anyways, the case is now powder coated silver.
Upgrades include:
-4.45 final drive
-Quaife LSD
-Crush sleeve delete
-3rd/4th gear realignment
-Upgraded Synchros
-Secret sauce gear oil

There was one other option he had that I wanted to do but couldn't see doing it for cost factor and the fact that this car, lets face it...a garage queen. But a girddle support brace internal to the transmission, pretty neat but $750 too much.

This setup/rebuild alone was a pretty penny as it was.

95maxrider

iTrader: (32)

Errr.....ever hear of a junkyard?

DrunkieTheBear

iTrader: (17)

Yes I know, the one in the wagon was $200.

But that 4.45 final drive, kills the turbo lag and this car books at 400hp. The LSD was huge improvement. Neither were options in these cars EVER, unless you installed them.

Worth it.