Snow and Ice!

Well with all the snow and ice last weekend Nick and I decided it was not worth taking the engine out of the Saab and just stayed in the warm. So now Christmas is here and the Saab engine is still not out, a bit behind schedule but hopefully after all the family stuff is over there may be some time to complete this task before the new year! Ready to order the zero plus kit any day now as well, now that we are close to completing work on the two donor cars there will be space for the kit.

Some more about Trionic

Trionic is the name of the engine management system in the Saabs of this age and our 900 (model often referred to as NG900 or GM900). Its is highly modifiable and the previously mentioned software 'T5suite' allows vitually every parameter to be modified.

Having read the manuals, its looks pretty easy to fix up the settings for the ford gearbox including speed sensor pulse per wheel revolution, gear ratios etc. Also on the site is a schematic for the electronics interface needed to reprogram the ECU, looks pretty easy to make, and we work for an electronics company so plenty of clever people around to help!

Quick pic of the beast

Complicated

This Saab engine is definitely proving to be more complicated than initially expected. The turbo has so many hoses, pipes and connectors its crazy! As well as all the other parts in the engine bay. We have the engine free of all the surrounding parts now though after much work, the drive shafts came undone with a 32mm socket, and so its pretty much ready to drop out now, but its getting dark so we called it a day. The engine will drop out with the front sub frame and come out of the bottom of the engine bay, then we will need to lift the front of the car high enough to get the engine out from underneath, which should be pretty interesting! I'll make sure to get a photo of that for you.

We also need to get the ECU from the car to go with the engine, and maybe one or two other small parts we can think of.

We will hopefully get the engine out friday afternoon i think, as we'll be working all week as usual - so look for an update with some pics then.

Saab progress

After a couple of weekends without working on the car at all, Nick and I have got back to work today and made fair headway on the Saab engine removal. It is however quite complex!

The Saab has a lot of extra parts in the engine bay that are just not present on the Sierra, such as power steering, air con, anti lock brakes and numerous other parts. These are all joined into the engine and filling up the engine bay restricting access. So progress has been slow and steady, rather than rapid.

We also need to be careful to note which parts we take off connect where, so that we can re-attach the parts we need in the kit. Should make some more progress tomorrow, if things go well, then to the point of dropping the engine out!

Its cold and wet

So I've been doing some reading up on Saab info and to work out exactly what we've let ourselves in for.

If you're looking at doing something similar, definitely head over to www.uksaabs.co.uk there's so much info there and they seem like a friendly bunch.

Anyway, I think the following brain dump is a list of stuff that's going to be a pain to sort out/ challenge to get stuck into:

• Saab ECU need speed sensor as it calculates boost on detecting what gear you're in. Sierra doesn't have ABS, so we may have to rig up a toothed wheel and sensor onto the prop, or Burton Power sell electronic speedo sender adaptors for the Type 9 gearbox.
• Clutch - the Saab is 185bhp, and while the Zero is a light car, it's stil a lot for the old 2.3 Sierra plate to deal with. Yukspeed and SBDevelopments do uprated plates if needed.
  
• Engine size, I've now heard a lot of 'this engine is very tall' stories, fingers crossed the expected bonnet bulge will look more 'purposeful' than 'upturned bathtub'.
• Custom engine mounts - I'd best brush off the welder...
• Power Steering and Air Con will be ditched so will need an idler pulley or 2 and brackets to retain belt tension.
• 'Sticky-out bits' i.e. Manifolds, turbo, alternator, etc; all these could get in the way of chassis rails, steering column etc.
• Fuel tank to suit fuel injection i.e. has a return inlet.
  

And I'm sure a lot more!