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Writer's pictureRocky Mountain Saab Club

RMSC News 2014 Issue 2 March-April 2014

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From your Club President

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As we get older, we tend to get softer. A/C, power door locks and cruise con- trol are al- most a must. The cars we started with in our pro- bationary driving times proba-

bly are not the quality of vehicles we drive today. My first car when I was 15 3/4 was a 1948 Willy's Jeep CJ2A. This Jeep was my main transportation back then. For the first year I had it, it did not have a top. I carried a tarp I cut down to keep the rain off my head during a rain storm. It also did not have a heater so I dressed up in winter like I was going skiing.

Heavy gloves, heavy shoes with two layers of socks. Do you think I would do it to- day? Maybe...

The March 11th meeting will be held at the Breckenridge Brewery (5th & Kalamath) at 7:00 PM. Topics include Project Colleen fender update, Brian O’Donnell’s Texas speed event, upcoming club events and finally a Saab trivia contest!

I truly respect newer cars and I truly en- joy the older ones. I have a 1958 Saab 93 & 1964 Saab 96 that are among my favor- ite cars. My main drivers are a 2006 Saab 9-5 and a Classic 1994 900 CV. My older cars are just used around town. I will drive the 1958 Saab to the shop. I give customers rides to work and when I have that car there, customers are excited to ride in an old relic. The thrill of the two cycle motor creating power and the sound of the ring-a ding from the loud exhaust system is something I enjoy. Would I take my older cars on a 6 hour road trip? NO!! I would not!! I am not as crazy as Tom Donney and his wife Patty when he drove his 1958 Saab 93 from Iowa to Detroit for the 2007 national convention.

I like to show my old Saab's. If I want to take my older cars to a convention, I will tow them behind my 9-5. That is the only time they will see 75MPH.

Yes I do like cruise, A/C, power door locks and most of all predictability of the newer cars and I like the unpredictability of the older cars also. I want to live in both worlds. (Photo by Tom Nelson)

RMSC Meeting Minutes January 14th 2014

by Darrell Christiansen (photos by Charles Stoyer)

The January 2014 general meeting was held at the Colorado Plus Brew Pub, in Wheatridge. This was an alternate to the regular meeting place at Brecken- ridge Brewery, due to a scheduling conflict result- ing from the change of meetings to odd months.

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This change was made due to conflicts with Valen- tines Day, the annual SOC convention, and Christ- mas.

Thanks to Colorado Plus, EJ, Eugene, and Jesse for accommodating us at the last minute for this meet- ing. Jerry Danner also has a couple of pieces of art displayed in the building. Other art work displayed is from Denver’s First Friday Exhibition.

A new member, Jonathan, was introduced and has owned several Saabs, and is currently driving a 1974 Saab Sonett.

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Tom came up to discuss membership. He did an update on January 1st and sent around a 6 page list for the attending members to review and make changes. Paul plans to make a map of current mem- bers so that the club can vary event locations based on the geographic location of the membership.

The newsletter was discussed, with the desire to get

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it published before the end of every even month, so that information can be disseminated before the up- coming odd month meetings. The Nines magazine is always looking for articles and points of interest to publish. Tom discussed the Club facebook page, and indicated that 52 of our 154 members have signed up on that social medium.

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Jerry discussed the Concours event in Greg Rus- sell’s absence. This event is scheduled for early June.

John discussed the status of project Colleen, noting that a meeting has been planned at Jerry’s house to work on the front left fender. The gathering will meet at 10 a.m. and the group will weld on the fend- er lip and then ‘glue’ on the fender with the latest technology. A detailing party will be held in March, after which the club will sell the car. As soon as Colleen is done the club will begin work on project Rob, a 1986, Edwardian Grey, SPG. Not sure at which venue this car will be worked on.

Brett Barker, brought in a rebuilt 3 cylinder two- stroke crankshaft from Dave Baugher. It was re- built with all new bearings, that are better than the original design. Brett is using this for a 64 Bullnose, but is currently in need of a block.

RMSC Meeting Minutes January 14th 2014

by Darrell Christiansen (photos by Charles Stoyer) (continued)

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Paul Bottone, March is our next meeting with the restaurant TBA. The Breck is booked and will be the go to place lacking someplace new. Brian O’Donnell of OEM in Parker is going to update us on his latest speed runs down in Texas. Bruce and Jim will have a trivia quiz for the meeting. April 12, Saturday, is the annual auto show club get to- gether. Breakfast will be at the Denver Diner at 8 – 8:30, and then the group will walk over to the con- vention center for the auto show.

Memorial Day is the annual Proof-a-Pallooza auto

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show at the Fresh Fish Company. This will be a warm up for the CP event in early June. Great priz- es and trophies are given out for the best cars.

June 8th is the CP show at Arapahoe Community College. Paul has volunteered for traffic control.

July will be some sort of tour and a BBQ.

August 7 – 10 is the annual SOC in Redmond, Washington. The meeting will be preceded by a six day tour down the coast and up to Crater Lake.

The Christmas party is for those members that par- ticipate in projects, and events outside of the gen- eral monthly meetings.

Jerry discussed his latest idea for a Saab Converti- ble Rally/Photo shoot this summer. Jerry has 337 convertibles listed in his database at the shop. The gathering would be in May or June and would be open to anyone nationwide. The plan is to advertise in the Nines magazine to garner interest in this event.

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Slide shows were presented of the 2013 SOC, the engine swap on Jerry’s 58 Saab, and the transmis- sion party at Jerry’s house to rebuild Wayne Brew- er’s transmission. Jerry and Dave Snider had earlier gotten together to clean up the parts prior to the re- build with the group.

Achievements over the years, have included the Save Saab Rally at the Capital, which was written up in Nines magazine, and the We Are Many Rally, which at 131 participants was the largest Rally in the United States and the third largest in the world.

The club takes on many project cars to restore older Saabs and returning them to the road. The annual CP Concurs, run by Greg Russell, is attended by the Saab Club along with many other auto clubs from the Denver region. The Club has a by-monthly newsletter, and contributes many articles to Nines magazine.

V-4 Engine Projects: Part One

by Bruce Harbison

On March 14th, Larry Beetham, Bob Buck, John Clary, David Snider and I gathered at my home shop to begin a multi-stage project. Larry, Bob & I each have at least one V-4 en-

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gine to rebuild. Other RMSC members may join the project later on.

David was kind enough to be our mentor in getting us started as he has a lot of experience with Saab engines. Our first task was to “practice” on a “mystery” 1.5L short block that was acquired along with a rusty but run- ning ’69 96 which came my way years ago.

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The short block had been stored in my barn for probably ten years or more.

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We started by removing the balance-shaft and learned how to measure and adjust the end-play. The balance-shaft bearings were in good condition, but the end play was exces- sive. The camshaft was missing from the en- gine. Next we removed a rod bearing cap and

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experimented with Plastigage® to check the bearing clearance. We found that the engine had previously been rebuilt and that the rod journals and been turned .010” and the crank journals .020” undersize. The machinist had stamped the crank with those numbers to identify it as such.

We found that had the engine been complete,

V-4 Engine Projects: Part One

by Bruce Harbison (continued)

it probably would have run but would have had low oil pressure as there was excessive clearance in the journal we measured. We then disassembled the rest of the short block and found significant wear on the crank and rod bearings. So much for the practice en- gine, although the pistons and rods seemed to be in good condition. Further measurements will be necessary.

We then turned our attention to the complete 1.7L engine that belongs to Bob. Following the manual, our crew took turns with the wrenches and soon had the engine disassem- bled into its component parts. We were care- ful to keep the all the components such as the bearing caps from getting mixed up. One cyl- inder was known to have had very low com- pression. As the heads were removed, a burned valve was found to be the problem in the suspect cylinder. There was also a signifi- cant ridge on the upper part of each cylinder and the lifters show some wear. When exam- ining the crankshaft and rod bearings, howev- er, they were in excellent condition and origi- nal to the engine. The crank probably does

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not need to be turned, as no wear was found anywhere. Good news for Bob!

Now, on to the next one or two or three!

Project Colleen Fender Painting

by Jerry Danner

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Project Colleen went through the painting of the fender Saturday March 22, 2014. This is the final step needed to continue. Satur- day March 15, 2015 John Clary and Jerry Danner primed the fender preparing it for paint. Thursday March 20, 2014 Bob Buck and Jerry Danner sanded the primer preparing the car for paint. Saturday we gathered to paint the fender. We as a group masked off the car preparing it for paint. Miles Bendixson paint- ed the fender. Six Club members were present. Jerry Danner explained paint process and how this new generation paint is far superior to paints of the past.

Six Club members were present. Tom Jansen, Bob Buck, Miles Bendixson, Doug Crane, Tom Nelson and Jerry Danner.

Saab 99/900 B-Engine Water Pump Installation

by Bruce Harbison

At last year’s SOC near Albany, NY, RMSC member Da- vid Snider and long-time friend and 99 owner Gary Stot- tler held a Tech-Session about installing the internal water pump in the Saab B-engine used in U.S. models of 99s from 1973-1980, and in the 900 from 1979-1980. Subse- quent Saab engines had more conventional belt-driven water pumps.

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The water pump (as well as the entire engine design) in the B-engine was derived from its predecessor, the Tri- umph supplied engine used in 99s from 1969-1972 as well as a version for some British cars. It is installed inside the

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engine and is driven by a short geared driveshaft off a geared idler shaft in the en- gine. The ignition distributor is driven off the same shaft at the opposite end.

Great care must be taken to successfully remove and install a replacement unit, as the gears must mesh properly and special clearances must be maintained. David and Gary used a spare engine block and the special Saab tools to show how this is done. There are three versions of this pump used in the B-engine,

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early, middle and late styles. In the case of the late style, the brass “cage” (number 6 in diagram) which centers the shaft, seals and impeller is not used; instead the block is machined to the same shape as the “cage”. It is possible to remove/install these pumps without special tools, but is not recommended. A partial set of the special tools (needing restoration!) is shown in the photograph. David and Gary showed how to use the various special tools and how to check for compatibility of the various parts of the pump and how critical the tolerances are. The internal pump is covered by a large “flat” housing on top of the block, sealed with a gasket and there are several methods to check for the proper depth of the pump impeller. The session was held under a tent in the parking lot very close to displays and vendors and was well attended. David and Gary were able to easily answer any questions participants asked. Well done guys! David plans to host a similar Tech-Session at this year’s SOC in Oregon.

2014 CP Concours—Sunday 8th June

by Greg Russell

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Now known as the “Colorado Concours d’Elegance and Exotic Sports Car Show”, the largest and best concours in Colorado for European, Asian and sporty American road iron, will soon bring together 450 ex- amples of 30 different marques along with historical- ly significant vintage racing machines. On Sunday, June 8th, our club’s annual concours event happens on the huge lawn field at Arapahoe Community Col- lege.

Each year intrepid members of the Rocky Mountain SAAB Club bring their Swedish pride out to be seen and admired at this Mecca of automotive’s finest, with spectator attendance reaching well over 10,000 for the day. Our 2013 show attracted a record 16 SAABs ranging in vintage from 1964 to 2011, with several members showing 2 or 3 cars from their sta- bles. It would be great to have that many again this year, but I know of some who will not be able to par- ticipate this year due to a variety of matters. Maybe some members who have not come out for this show can help make up for those on sabbatical with some fresh wheels. Since Tom sold his red Sonett III and Bob says he won’t be able to bring his yellow one this year, we will sorely need a Sonett III at this show. Participants need not have perfect examples (although several of our members do), nor need they even be a member of RMSC to join us.

SAAB owners who wish to have their cars judged in the concours may do so, however it is not required. Our RMSC Judging Team (Bruce and friends) will appraise those being judged using SCNA rules and SAABs must be at least ten years old to be eligible for judging. Any mention of an additional $25 judg- ing fee on the concours website when registering does not pertain to our cars, so just ignore that. But you may buy our judges beers to show your apprecia- tion, AFTER the judging occurs.

As always, I encourage club members who do not

want to show a car, but who love cars, to come out and hang with us anyway. Spectator admission is still only $10 and I will provide $1 off coupons to anyone who asks for them. All proceeds benefit a worthy cause.

Also, this large of a show requires many, many vol- unteers to help make it successful. Last year our own Paul Bottone volunteered to help with traffic control and the organizers were so impressed with the job he did they made him Head of Traffic Control for all future events! All volunteers receive free admission of course, as well as other perks, and there are all sorts of duties available.

If volunteering sounds like a nice way for you to par- ticipate, use this link to check it out or to register to help:

http://abilityconnectioncolorado.org/colorado- concours-volunteer/

RMSC is very proud of our participation in this event which has helped Ability Connection Colorado raise over $100,000 annually through this one show, providing much needed funds for children with Cere- bral Palsy.

On-line registration is now open, and participants must register by May 25th.

To register your SAAB use this link:

http://abilityconnectioncolorado.org/colorado- concours/

If anyone needs more information or has specific questions about this concours, please contact me at this email address or call my cell: 720-226-5479

Thanks for listening. Hope you can make it!

- Greg

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