Messages

1

Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: V6 XWD rumble

« on: 24 August 2013, 06:38:54 PM »

Front to back alignment laser checked, all good. Front & rear camber and toe checked, all on spec. Well +/- my workshop floor which is pretty good and certainly good enough to set my sports car. Did use to level the sports car on floor tiles and sand but found it wasn't really worth it.
So good news I don't see any issues here 
Only trouble is moving the sports car out into this weather means a busy day tomoz re-preping it for the show on Monday. Ho hum never mind 

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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: V6 XWD rumble

« on: 24 August 2013, 02:35:29 PM »

OK solved that then. Well more "identified that then" than solved. Front to back wheel swap moved sound to front nearside rather than seemingly both front sides. Sound is now there 30MPH through 60MPH. Sound is much louder but quieter on rough worn out road surface (of which there are plenty around here).
So on goes a full set of 17" wheels. Sound gone but yikes so has the handling. Very washy feel on these rims with horrible turn in  (cambers messed up I guess). Surprising this coz the 900, GM93 and 95 never seemed to worry to much about wheel size changes.
Back to the 18" as they were then and wait for:
a) things to settle (Unlikely)
b) tyres to wear out
c) get annoyed enough with noise to spend another £300 on a pair of new boots

Large towel and Scotch please..... horrible smegin weather out there 

Cheers all, would not have thought of this solution for a long long while with out ya 

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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: V6 XWD rumble

« on: 24 August 2013, 12:15:47 PM »

Just a quick update. Measured rear tyres. Offside 8mm all the way across. Nearside (damaged shock side) 8mm outer edge 4mm inside edge. Looks like a good clue here  PS Pirelli rears Continental fronts.

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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: V6 XWD rumble

« on: 24 August 2013, 11:59:24 AM »

I must admit the noise is very "road noise" like so tyres seemed the way to go to start with. Hence the change of well worn fronts.
Rear shock blown.....Rear tyre.... Noise transfer to the front?? Think I'll do the tyre front to back swap and see what happens. Bloody wet out there and the sports cars hogging the garage in prep state for Mondays show.

Things always arrive together. Just had to changed the exhaust centre section of the 93 coupé. Damn clamshell clamp bolts rounded on one end. Grrrrrr.... What next he sighs 

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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: V6 XWD rumble

« on: 24 August 2013, 10:16:07 AM »

Will be diving underneath today to see if there are any drive shaft bearings. Kinda wish I could figure out which side it"s coming from but we can't. Even with the kids ears leaning all over the show its hard to tell. And if he tries any harder we will probably get arrested 

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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / Re: V6 XWD rumble

« on: 24 August 2013, 01:38:42 AM »

Nope there is no denote as you take turns. Constant sound even under heavy break turn in. Wheel bearing was my first thought, but the evidence both physical and melodic just don't fit ? My 13 year old has better hearing and says it be loud at 40-45 mph still audible at 55 but only just. Gone below and above that narrow window. Will do some stripped down checks tomoz coz this is just way to puzzling. Maybe a bit of front to back wheel swaps coz I've been caught with sound transfer before.

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Saab 9-3 Sport Saloon / Convertible / Combi (Wagon/Estate) / Turbo X / AWD (2003 on) / V6 XWD rumble

« on: 23 August 2013, 11:10:29 PM »

My tow car, 2009 spec 58 reg 2.8 V6 XWD has developed a front end rumble at 40mph. Power on, over run or coasting strong sound of road noise but no vibrations. Tyres were low on tread so have been changed but no change. Full major service recently new shocks fitted at the rear during service but fronts given clean bill of health and are still solid with no leaks. No steering wheel wobble. No wheel or joint movement on jacks. So questions or possibilities please coz this is just weird!

8

Gallery / Re: AKA GM900

« on: 04 March 2012, 07:38:10 PM »

Things have finally reached a new high. After the down of the first VOSA IVA test fail, it's all got better. With the addition of trim, mirror extensions and more positive castor the second test was a pass.

The car now exists as a WLR Otage and is up for registration at the DVLA. So within the next few weeks a shiny new log book and registration number will arrive and a new type of car will exist.

This years run to Le Mans is going to be a real adventure 

The car is now being lowered slightly, the exhaust is having the small baffel removed leaving just the main baffel in place. Along with this the suspension / handeling will be tweaked and tucked for good road manors.

2.5 Years, 3000 man hours and £14K has it finally been worth it. YES!!!! The Beast is turning out to be a cool machine in all aspects 

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Gallery / Re: AKA GM900

« on: 19 February 2012, 11:18:05 PM »

Not been updated for a while as Xmas and work and other stuff has got in the way but finally got back here. The car has had its IVA test and it failed. Nothing unexpected there except that it failed on very minor things which was a real nice suprise.

1. Fail- Floor line radius. Must be > 2mm curve around lower all edges.
2. Fail- Steering Wheel Spoke. Radius > 2mm radius.
3. Fail- Top to dash radius. Radius > 2mm radius.
4. Fail- Rear Wing radius. Radius > 2mm radius.
5. Fail- Off side head light alignment. Passed a pre MOT check so I guess this is only slightly out.
6. Fail- Handbrake has little or no reserve. 6 clicks must only do 4.
7. Fail- Rear view mirror coverage (even if both were there coz on the way to the test one got ripped of when the car cover did a runner)
8. Fail- Steering self centring.
9. Recommendation- Grill the side pods behind the front wheels.

So items 1,2,3 & 4 are just needed stick on trim to resolve the issue of a all radius > 2mm, might go for a better cleaner look on the steering wheel.

Items 5 & 6 are just adjustment issues.

Item 7  took a little creativity and milling / turning power. Raising the wing mirrors up by 150mm should do the trick.

Item 9 is actually something I had pondered after watching just how much goop flies off the wheel and attacks the body work. The inspector made a few phone calls and advised that this “Would not be a fail at this time”. Ominous words for the future maybe? But a grill has been fitted that should stop the bodywork suffering from flying stones.

This just leaves the problem of front wheel alignment and is was the biggest head ache and required the most research. Needed to change the castor angle to get the steering to self centre. This was the be the big job and once sorted should mean a road legal car. The Castor angle wasadjusted with shims on moving the top wishbone back 3mm and shims raising the front of the lower ball joint up by 5mm. A degree of self centre has been achieved, which is the requirement.

Oh I am a happy bunny..... I hope. 

Booking retest tomorrow. 

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Gallery / Re: AKA GM900

« on: 03 October 2011, 07:44:35 PM »

The beast has spent two happy weeks at Abbott Racing being hung and fettled. All the corner weights have been taken and the suspension set up along with cambers and casters (or at the very least they have been measured) and adjusted. The car now feels a lot better both in handling performance and build confidence after having them that know paw through it.

But the big problem is with the rear end which has a massive 2.75 degrees (11mm) toe in on each side. Yikes!!

So some shims are going to be needed on the hub mounting face to sort this out. Going to start with about 1.5mm and see if that gets the toe in to about 2-3mm as I don't want the rear end to be to twitchy at this stage of development.

Once this is completed and the head light alignment is sorted it's time to fill in all the paperwork to make the beast a real car 

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Gallery / Re: AKA GM900

« on: 07 September 2011, 06:45:12 PM »

Insurance Quotes so far are provisional coz the beast is not yet a "real car". I'm guessing that means it does not appear as a type on insurance databases. But using all the info available and talking to specialist "Kit" & "Modified" car brokers I have quotes ranging from £194 to £310. Not so bad me thinks as even the most costly is less than I pay for my modified 95 ARC estate

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Gallery / Re: AKA GM900

« on: 07 September 2011, 04:28:27 PM »

The car has recovered from it's sump mods and runs well. The overall engine height has been reduced by 50mm (5mm off the dipstick height) 45mm off which is the sump. The sump has a modified pick up and baffle plate with windage trap door so the oil is kept under control. Works so far

Ed from Abbott Racing has been down to see it and, after some discussions and photo's and chat back at the workshop, is going to take the beast in to gather more info (corner weights etc.) and do the wheel alignment and brake bias. This should occur in the next week or two. After that some more shake down / performance runs are needed plus speedo calibration and headlight alignments. This should see the beast ready for its IVA (make it road legal) test.

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Classic Saab 9-3 & GM900 (MY 1994-2002/03CV) / Re: ecu

« on: 06 August 2011, 08:08:00 PM »

Maptune, Abbott Racing, Elkparts or T7 Suit. Anyway you do it you will love the results. The only problem is once you start you may become addicted 

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Gallery / Re: AKA GM900

« on: 26 July 2011, 09:05:48 PM »

Cheers Leon

The whole story from first concept to present day is here http://www.gaugingsystems.co.uk/Saabatage.
Might make a few days distracting reading if you find yourself restricted to the close proximity of the smallest room in the house. 
It's a very detailed nut & bolt step by step build diary, mainly so I don't forget how the hell I did it Probably the nearest thing I'll have to a workshop manual.

15

Gallery / Re: AKA GM900

« on: 26 July 2011, 06:11:37 PM »

It's a modification / evolution of an Alan Whitehead design. The Chassis is a heavily modified Ron Champion Seven type so it can handle 500BHP+ and big chunks of down force. Then virtually everything else gets modified to cram in the (yep you guessed it  ) modified for RWD B204 motor. The aeros have been tweaked and tucked to get a virtually flat under floor plus full on re-enforced rear wing and diffuser. There are ideas afoot to get a blown diffuser running in the long term.

After getting the new raised sump mounted and working the next job is to get it road legal