Saab 96 V4

Off Topic My Ride
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One of just 300 roadworthy Saab 96s in my country, and mostly mechanically sound except for a clutch plate (and other odds and ends, more on that later), I managed to get it for a low price due to it’s…well, I can’t think of a better word than ‘hippy’ for the colour scheme.

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So, here’s what me and my dad have done in the two years I’ve owned this car - it’s quite a bit for a first project, and I’m likely to do a bit more;

  • Replaced Clutch Plate

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The gearbox and Ford Taunus V4 can be seen here - it ended up having to be taken out twice, as washers needed adding just to make the clutch plate the right distace in the gearbox

  • Repainted Engine Bay

  • Replaced Wing Mirrors

  • Replaced Starter Motor (that was my own fault, a bolt to remove it so I could remove the engine was being tricky, and dad suggested we make the bolt contract. With a blowtorch. This didn’t exactly please the internals of that starter motor)

  • Had to get someone to resilver the headlights - the chemicals are rather dangerous

  • Replaced the indicator housings

  • Replaced the Fuel Pump

  • Replaced the Battery

  • Replaced the Clutch Slave Cylinder

  • Replaced Indicator TIcker

  • Repared Horn

  • Replaced Front Grille

  • Replaced Boot Floor, and finally (definately the biggest job)

  • Full Body Respray

Along with various smallt things, like replacing bulbs, fuses, etc.

This is the final result;

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It’s currently my daily driver, and I’m exceptionally proud of it. Plus, because it weighs less then a ton, and one of the previous owners added Weber carbs and an improved air filter, it’s not exactly slow!

30 Likes
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No, the V4 Saabs were actually pretty quick for being small cars from its era, they made nice rally cars…
Bit of a cult car for me as a Swede, you saw lots of them still in the 90s but now they are almost gone…

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Even in Belgium this is considered a true cult car, next to the 900 Turbo.

Never a fan of the latter, I absolutely love this one. I like the colour as well. Would love to drive it once.

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Man, you’re proud for good reason - I’ve always had a soft spot for Saabs, and this one is a beauty! Also, it kinda looks grateful for having that silly hippie lawn removed.

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Beautiful! Enjoy it!

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They got about 145 - 170 hp out of them when ralleying.
V4 that is, used america spec weber manifold. 2x 40mm DCOE.

The v6 Ford engine based on the v4 has exactly the same boltpattern for the gearbox.
:thinking:(145-170 x 1.5 = 218-255):grin:

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I’m glad you all like it, and it is such a shame there’s so few left - Saabs are so rare where I live, I didn’t know the company did anything before the 900 until seeing the tribute for the company in Topgear.

I knew they could get that amount of power for rallying - didn’t know it was down to DCOEs. I must confess, I have…no idea what you meant by boltpattern - I’m out of my depth when it comes to gearboxes :sweat_smile:, but I’m guessing it’s not a good idea.

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The pattern of bolts holding the gearbox to the engine block.

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Ah, ok - that makes sense. That does sound a bit odd, especially knowing how early V4s had gearbox problems…

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The gearbox is just for SAAB, but the pattern is the same on both types of engine. V4-V6
Most cars using the V6 was Front engine-Rear wheel drive.

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There has been some V6 Saab builds, but tbh they get very front heavy then…
At least the V6 in the previous generation Mustang still had some roots left in the old german V4/V6 engines… :stuck_out_tongue:

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Long roots then :grin: