Course de côte SPG

I am excited to say that work on a new car for 2011 is currently well underway, and with the first event of the season fast approaching, the pressure is on.

This project started about a year ago when my younger brother and I purchased the car, a 1985 900 SPG. It was in a pretty sorry state when we got our hands on it, but we were attracted to it for several reasons. First, the shell lacked a lot of the typical rust so often found on New England cars. Second, the interior was gone, except for the dash. Since the interior would have been removed anyway, it was convenient, and helped lower the price. Finally, the suspension was in good shape and included Koni adjustable shocks and Swedish Dynamics springs that should be well suited for hillclimb.

The first step was to pull the engine and suspension off the car so everything could be cleaned, refurbished or replaced. This was also a good time to box the A-arms for added strength, and despite being in good condition, select bushings will also be changed. We did find three areas of rust that had been hidden. Those areas were cut out and new metal was welded in. Of course, we also had to remove the interior sound deadening material. This was done the old fashioned way, with a hammer and chisel, and I have to say it was a miserable job. While the shell is bare, the engine bay, wheel wells and interior will be getting a coat or two of white paint. Unfortunately, we will be forced to wait for warmer weather before we can start spraying.

After removing the engine and transmission we found that they had previously been replaced with an 86' unit. We decided to send the transmission to Charles River Saab where Peter Maitland and Mike Clancy are rebuilding it. We also made the decision to use a 92' Turbo engine, instead of the old 86' unit. With the new engine having over 200,000 miles, it seamed like a good idea to pull things apart to see what was what. Luckily these engines are very robust, and not much was needed. The factory cross-hatching was still present on the cylinder walls, and the oil pump surfaces looked brand new! After cleaning the block it got painted a nice cream color, a new timing chain was installed, and everything was re-assembled with new gaskets and seals.

Currently, the engine is 95% assembled and will be ready to go in the car once the transmission is finished. The front suspension components are also ready to go back on the car. The most recent progress has been on the cars roll cage. More on that, and other details later.

The full album of build pictures can be found at my picasa account.