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Topics - Max Headroom

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1
Its been a long time since dropping in here to write anything, but I do pop in for a nose occasionally. I hope you are all well and keeping your feet dry in this unprecidented weather!

I'm still driving the Suzuki Jimny which is huge fun with its rigid axles (this is what I switched to from the  SAAB vert) I even took it off-roading at Aldermaston last year which turned out to be  the biggest gathering of Suzuki Jimnys the UK has seen so far. It was so successful another even bigger event has been organised for the humble little Jimny later this year in Yorks
Offroading is immense fun, but when its your daily driver great care needs to be taken! I was utterly astonished at what these vehicles can do in their standard form

Everywhere I look I still see lovely SAABs and it makes me miss mine a lot.

Progress on the vintage MG (J2 Midget) continues with the engine almost ready, the trim all done (apart from the seats) and a gearbox on the way to being finished too.

The modern Midget that I owned from almost new until 1999 ...and bought back 3 years ago will get its original (matching numbers engine) renovated and reunited with the car in April (I put a tuned unit in it during the 90s but it was never very successful) - luckily the spare 'original' engine remained with the car until I reunited myself with it three years ago

Very Best Wishes to you all!

2
eBay links / SAAB Jacking tools
« on: 27 May 2018, 03:45:53 PM »
Sorry - I thought I had this in the forums before putting it on eBay, but it itsn't


I'm selling a Jack suitable for a 2006 onwards 93. The part number on this one is identical to the one that was in the car when I sold it, however the polystyrene stowage bit is different to that of the convertible (The tools and jack remain identical)

Part number of the jack = 12765778

£15 to existing members of the forums including postage.


eBay LINK

3


This video was posted in the Jimny Forums made by one of the Norwegian members, Ola G Braaten.
The scenery is just as stunning as the filming.
Its filmed in a fairly Northern part of Norway Sunndalsora. Vinnufossen, the huge waterfall in the video, is the 6th highest waterfall in the world which is just 2km from his house.

He uses a long-range racing drone and flies it using some some VR type goggles rather than a small screen, and tries to fly most days when he's free.

I'm sharing this from the Jimny site because I was totally blown away by it!

If you go on Youtube there are one or two other equally astonishing videos he's made.
The motorbike chase is outrageous!

Video is here... FPV Is Addictive!

4
Just back from the NEC and had a bit of a lump in the throat from seeing the devoted SAAB fraternity there - I was more than impressed with the SAAB Shop stand with the early stuff, and had to be dragged away from that one! ::)

The SAAB owners club were there in force with a big stand and a good selection of cars from across the years, but it was those late 1940s cars that really grabbed my attention.  8)

5
Sadly and after much deliberation and soul-searching I have decided to part company with my lovely parchment 9-3 Convertible and regretfully leave the world of SAAB behind.... for now at least.

I have owned and enjoyed this car as well as the company and camaraderie of this community for something like the past six or seven years in spite of my longer absences here more recently, mostly due to a combination of long shifts and busying myself restoring the vintage MG. I know that I may possibly regret this decision later, but it is one borne out of practicality and reason.

Having settled myself in with the new job at Brize Norton which is just a short drive from my home rather than the long cruise down the M40 into Middlesex that I used to do, my mileage has now dropped to around 5000 in two years, and I can no longer justify running such a luxurious and perhaps expensive-if-it goes-wrong beast.
Moreover being a diesel, I'm acutely aware that short journeys don't go well with diesels. As well as this, I am often leaving work in the wee hours, and these last few months I have been caught out in some really nasty blizzard like conditions that even with winter tyres on, I have only just made it home. While I agree that the snowy period in this country is very short it is nonetheless worrying when driving in these conditions thinking you might have to abandon your pride and joy in the middle of nowhere at 4am in order to walk several miles to get to warmth.

My intention is to stay with the open air motoring but find something that might be more resilient to the 3rd World road surfaces in this country  >:(, while also being capable of dragging itself up snow-laden Cotswold hills - this doesn't give me much choice on my budget unfortunately; an open topped 4x4 offers me either an old rag-top Landrover or a pre-2005 Suzuki Jimny.

So after much thought, I am now on the cusp of part-exing my beloved SAAB for Jap-Scrap ???.  Sacrilege I know, but the Jimny is a very capable vehicle if a bit slow and dated. My brother owned one and loved it, in fact he still drives a Suzi 4x4 today - but its a more conventional modern car.
My midwife neighbour  has a Jimny as her winter vehicle for getting around the rural hills to visit the Stork's latest arrivals rather than ruin her gleaming white open-top Peugeot, and has allowed me to drive it in anger in this recent weather. Its cheap to run and after lots of consideration probably my best option. I was amazed at what it could do; I deliberately tried to drive through or over impossible snow-drifts on relatively normal all-rounder tyres, and I couldn't get the thing really stuck! I was utterly astonished.

I would like to keep my account on Tech Talk going and will certainly drop in from time to time. I still have lots of 'calling cards' left that I had printed and will continue to leave them on windows of SAABs that look like the owners care, and will continue to do this until they run out.
I will always be eternally grateful for all the conversations, help, and ideas generated here. I bought my car when SAAB was lurching towards its demise, and have learnt a lot of SAAB history. I hope to see some more SAABs begin attending the local classic shows that seem to spring up everywhere now,  I attend these with the MG Midget I bought back after 17 years of it being AWOL,  (which this year will be kept busy as its the Sprite & Midgets 60th birthday!).

I will update this thread later, particularly if, and when I acquire the Jimny.  :'( :'(

My respect and thanks to you all.

6


Well there goes another set of front springs - the second set in just over 3 years due the the sh-1tty roads in Oxfordshire and Gloucestershire. Has anyone tried going over that damned bridge in Burford?  >:( I have to negotiate the potholes on that bridge every time I go to/from work - its an utter disgrace; I'm sure one of them is so deep you can see through to the water running under the bridge.
The idiots that fill the holes in are doing a crap job of it and most holes are opened up again withing a couple of months. I'm quite serious when I tell you that I've driven on far better roads in 3rd world countries.
I've written to the council and local MP until I'm blue in he face but nothing gets done. I almost hit a cyclist that swerved suddenly wildly into my path to avoid a hole. Someone needs to be held to account.

Yours sincerely,

Mr F Angry

7
EGR Cooler - Elbow pipe (not the cooler itself) for 2006 diesel 93

I think it's one of these part numbers but not sure which one 55202704  or  55210701

Can anyone suggest the cheapest supplier for this elbow pipe as I think mine is leaking; I'm getting exhaust fumes in the cockpit

8

A quick question for those of you far more knowledgeable than me with modern cars  ::) :-[ ...
I've had a quick look around the forum but couldn't satisfactorily find the answer to this; although I'm sure the answers will be here somewhere, so I'll ask again anyway...

I'm going to have to replace the car's battery (2006 93TDi convertible). What 'side-effects' might I encounter when carrying out this job?
Am I going to lose radio-codes or find the car loses recognition of other things such as the key fob/blip etc?

My battery is noticeably becoming slower (sometimes struggling) in the colder weather to turn the engine over particularly if the car has been left for periods of four or five days (which it regularly is due to my shift pattern).
With daily usage it doesn't seem so bad, so I'm pointing the finger at the battery which is now some 6.5 years old.

I intend to replace it with an 'extra-heavy-duty' battery of the correct type.

Any pointers/advice gratefully received




9
Its a very long story, but I first bought ONP 848T in 1980 when she was just 6 months or so old. At the time I was 20 and the MG Midget was part of a deal with my parents to get me away from motorbikes.

It all began when I had expressed a strong wish to my parents, to race bikes for the RAF and was poised to buy a Laverda Jota for the job. My father had very successfully raced bikes himself (Velocettes) in the early 1950s and then went on to race home-built cars (Austin 7 based). I can just about recall his last racing car in the early 60s when I was not much more than a toddler which looked a bit like a small Shelby Cobra.

Back to 1980, and I was home on leave one Sunday when 'The Money Programme' was on TV reporting on the mess that BL had found itself in and the impending closure of Abingdon.
My father said "Get yourself an MG - you'll have as much fun with one of those as you will with any motorbike!"
I wasn't very impressed and went back to base completely uninterested in the idea. However a colleague had a very new Midget in Brooklands Green, I remember finding him one sunny afternoon outside the back of the hangar polishing it and enquired how he got on with it. He told me he really liked it, it was fun to drive and that he had no regrets buying it. I explained my parent's feelings about the bike, and he offered to take me for a ride out in his MG that afternoon.
It was RAF Brawdy in South Wales, and we set off, roof down, around the Pembrokeshire coast roads on this gorgeous warm sunny day. I was smitten, and the Laverda idea started to fade.
I even remember the registration of that car to this day; FEX 419T. Sadly I don't think it has survived - at least looking on the DVLA site it says there is no record of it.

My parents lived in Cleobury Mortimer in south Shropshire during the 1980s and at the time I began to look for a suitable Midget there was a local newspaper printing strike on. My younger brother had a paper-round and recalled delivering just one local paper, (which my father went and asked to borrow). In that solitary paper was just one MG Midget for sale - it was just 6 months old, white, and in Kidderminster. My father arranged a viewing but it was too new and well out of my pocket.
However the bank of Mum and Dad prevailed and bought the car for me. It was garaged at my parents for a while so that I could start paying for it. In the meantime my first car (an Escort Mk1 estate) was up for sale to help raise funds. I finally got the MG on the road just after my 21st birthday. This was my second car.

ONP 848T stayed with me until 1999 when I regretfully parted company with her to help fund a house when I left the RAF. She was sold to a chap in Bicester whom was under strict instructions to contact me first if he was going to sell her. Frustratingly he never did and I lost contact with the cars whereabouts. All I knew was that she was declared SORN and it was like this for years.

...Until the other week (7th April 2017) when I almost spat my coffee out and fell off my chair - because there she was; for sale on eBay!

I managed to scrape together some funds, and a few days later we were reunited, I drove her back with the biggest grin on my face ever, and she now sits on my driveway at long last, still in remarkable condition; almost as good as the day we parted company.
For some reason a new owner had dry-stored her on axle-stands since 2003 - this was in Woodstock just outside Oxford, so I had unknowingly driven past her for years!
A lad from Bicester bought her and she was duly recommissioned, but eventually put up for sale which is when I found her.

Urgent preparations are now under way to make some space in my garage/workshop for this old friend. My garage is where I'm restoring a 1930s Midget (J2) bought in the mid 80s after MG had become part of my DNA from heading off to all the big events and rallies.

I'm stunned to get this car back after so many years. My parents will be even more stunned when they hear of my news, (and no doubt think I've lost the plot), but it's really their fault; they started it all when they suggested I got an MG instead of another motorbike!

10

History: EGR valve sticks and keeps putting engine management light on, (I had it apart and cleaned this a couple of years ago as it had seized) but about five months ago it started coming on agian, so have acquired a replacement valve but not fitted it yet. I was also  considering blanking it off but have not got around to doing either.
Car has been fine for past couple of years with no problems whatsoever.

Car serviced in last two weeks. (Carried out by SAAB in Oxford)
Two journeys made since service, one back from the service itself to Gloucestershire, and another, a good fast run up to Bromsgrove and back just three days ago. No problems during either journey.

Today I got in the car to head off to Thame. Car starts and idles as normal while I set up Sat-nav and make a phone call.

I pull off the drive (a downhill slope) and set off up the road but notice I have no power; rpm won't go over 2000. having gone a few hundred yards I pull over, shut the engine down to see if it will reset itself and behave when I restart.
There are no captions (other than Eng Management light from previously mentioned sticky EGR valve) and the self check runs fine.

Several restarts to reset everything, and I notice that I can achieve 4000 rpm shortly after starting the engine, but after a while it eventually wont achieve more than 2000rpm.

Any suggestions invited.

I'll probably have to call AA and get it back to the folk that serviced it.


 :(

11
My CD player has failed. (2006 Vector)



I'm sure there is a thread regarding this problem but I haven't found it.

It has power to it, but will not accept a disc, and if I do manage to get a disc in, it doesn't play and then won't eject.

On inserting the disc, the disc is not drawn into the player. On trying to get it to eject a repetitive 'clicking' sound can be heard, but the disc is not ejected.

I seem to recall reading somewhere that this was due to a plastic gear housing cracking.

How easy is it to remove the player? I can see there are two slots either side of the unit - are these for a special tool or can a couple of thin strips of tin be used?
I've never taken any radio or CD player out of any car before  :-[

Cheers!


12
Having had to face the excessive expense of replacing this damned thing some time ago when the swirl vanes all came off, a colleague of mine at work also running a 2006 93 has pointed out that there is in fact a relatively inexpensive fix available which can be FOUND HERE!

Has anyone else tried this? I see no reason why it shouldn't be a permanent solution to this manifold problem.

If nobody else has tried it, then I am hopefully saving someone some money if theirs fails as mine did.

(EDIT: I also note that they do the Gearbox turret mod for those with a 6-speed box that feels stiff and vague.  Oooer  :o)

13
Sorry - I am sure I have asked this before in these forums but can't locate the topic.  :-[ :-\

Is there a tow-bar for a 93 (Convertible, 2006) that definitely does NOT require the bumper to be cut?

I don't need this for towing, but for mounting a bike carrier to.

14
! HAPPY NEW YEAR !

Wishing you all a safe and reliable year of motoring in 2014. A healthy, prosperous New Year to you all


15
eBay links / Illuminated SAAB sign
« on: 10 November 2013, 09:31:52 AM »

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