I keep having perverse thoughts that.....

As I said, then 'apart from the rusty bits, it's immaculate'

Well, apart from the rusty bits, my 75 is immaculate, too, then. Only I'd never describe it as immaculate, even with a 'get out' clause.

In terms of binning it in 10 months, then that would only be the case if it's got a realistic reserve - given the 480's reputation for being an unreliable piece of s**te (even owners say that about them.....), then it's not really worth much at all, however, some owners do seem to vastly over-value the 480 as an 'appreciating classic'.

Anyway - what the hell is the point of a 1.7lt, 120bhp turbo. Even by n/a standards, 120bhp is s**te.

In article , snipped-for-privacy@yahoo.co.uk spouted forth into uk.rec.cars.modifications...

I know. I get to dedicate as much time as I liek to the company at no extra charge (to them).

In article , snipped-for-privacy@italiancar.co.uk spouted forth into uk.rec.cars.modifications...

I'm looking at £2-3k on a car, to be more reliable, easier to maintain, need less tinkering (do stuff when I want to play, rather than when it desperatley needs it doing, something different every weekend), better on fuel, better condition, and better equiped, fun in a license preserving kind of way, and cheaper to insure (and yes even the Prelude and or an Alfa would be cheaper to insure than a 20 years old 900 turbo).

Plus, if I have the spare cash, why shouldn't I. The only nono is, I will never take finance for a car. Either it is bought cash, or worked off, or somesuch other. I'm materialistic underneith my liking of weird cars.

Are old Saabs really that s**te that they need tinkering every weekend to keep them going? - I'm doing 500 miles / week in a pair of s**te old Alfas, have been doing for months now, and haven't needed to spend any time at all in maintaining them.

Maybe it's just me, but spending £3k on a car seems more than a little foolish.

I currently earn 3 times what I did 6 years ago (when I first bought a car), but now drive a car worth a tenth of what my first one cost.

I do quite like them, except when the brain fails and you lose all electrical and electronic function, and when the popup light motors are buggered.

Oh and for their size they have bugger all power to start with and you need to superchip them, then they can really fly.

Was on my shortlist when I bought the Saab. Might not make it this time.

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It isn't that bad. Haven't really touched anything seriosu for about a month, but that was an oil and filter change, but I'm tweaking stuff when it doesn't quite feel right.

Any 20 year old car that has actually been driven will need work. In this case it was the last owner for 13 years, and he didn't do some stuff that was needed, and had other stuff "fixed" by a Saab indy in liverpool, one of my first jobs was undoing their fixes and that cost me about 100 quid to improve what should have been standard rather than just replace it.

Just things like oil and filter every 3k (I keep it up), because the engine runs sweet, but it gets a little tiresome. I have no problem doing weekly checks, and topping up when needed, but such frequent changes are a pain. but the suspension bushes are going to be needed within the next year, and to do one set properly, it is an engine out job as the wishbone mount is also an engine mount. Probably engine mounts could do with looking at too. I'm a bit fed up with the occasional popping out of first and second, and lower gear changes are getting abit ropey, and a recon box you are probably looking at £700 fitted by an Indy (I found a good one), plus the bushes/mounts work and that will take you at least £1k combined, add to that getting the body work sorted/painted (one small rust patch and peeling laquer on on metallic paint in a fe places), and it probably has £1.5-2k worth of work to be a really satisfying car, rather than a bit of a hack.

Someone who wants a car as a light weight project (nothing structural nor needing an engine rebuild) will get a good deal on it, but in it's present condition is looks good but has it's weeknesses.

In news: snipped-for-privacy@news.individual.net, MeatballTurbo decided to enlighten our sheltered souls with a rant as follows

Saabkar in Speke, or was it the other bunch of reprobates in Walton?

You've not seen the 'winking' Porsche 924s, MX-5s etc, then?

It's not common, but a right PITA to fix if it does happen.

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I will Speke no evil.

Just when the Dump valve started to leak and quak, they disconnected it and capped the hose at the throttle body with a bolt and wond off the boost.

Plus couple of other niggles like 3rd gear was really awkard to get at. They said it needed a new shift rod to the last owner, and would cost a fortune to do, I enquired about a shift rod at a Saab parts and garage place in Chorley, they said £30 for a used part, and an hours time to fit, but here have this detent spring for free, and see if that helps.

Got it home, had to cut the carpet instead of doign a full dismantle, but got the new spring in (yes the old spring was missing) and miles better. Still not perfect though, because years of being "fiddled in with the right technique" has worn the groove in the detent block, so it isn't quite were you expect it to be everytime, and spring centering is just a bit off.

It's all part of the little niggles I have with the car, like the way the drivrs seat just slots into grooves at the back to allow room for it be height/tilt adjusted at the base, so it has worn a little over the years, and rattles and moves over bumps. I could get the later style bolt down mounts added in, but that is more time, money and work. I would love the leather interior option, especially in the rare burgundy to match the rest of the interior, but without aircon that would be a nightmare in summer.

:)

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I think on 480 they are little pneumatic struts aren't they, saw one with one light stuck up, and one down at Sainsbury's yesterday lunch time.

Mate had a Mazda 323 that if he flicked the lights on and off enough times, they would go up and down out of sequence as he switched them on and off. you get them dancing until you switched them off for a while then they would work as expected again.

Hmm, I've yet to see a popup motor that has a fault, and I'm looking after about four "spares" in my shed. These are TR7 ones, many of the TR7 crowd went to breakers to get "newer" motors, only to find the fault was somewhere else - i.e. in the wiring.

I realise they must go wrong sometimes, but I've never seen one do it.

Like I say, they must go wrong sometimes but it has always turned out to be wiring, not the motor. Wiring is, of course, usually trivial to repair / clean.

Seen plenty that wink, they just have oxide on the track that says "the lamp is up" and so continue on past "up" to "down". Sometimes the system means the lamp goes up and down continually. Not a motor fault. Sometimes the crank arm to push the carrier up and down has been put back upside down. Etc.

PITA to fix depends on the system. The TR ones here, are trivial to fix - providing you know what they're supposed to be doing and why. Each time a TR is scrapped, they put the headlamp units somewhere as spares. Are they ever needed?

Er, what ?

What on earth's the point !

Back in those days, Pug's 1.9 8v NA made 10bhp more than that, and their 16v version made 45bhp more. Renault and Volvo must have had some REALLY bad engine bods :)

IIRC it's a fairly old engine, with pushrods and the like (or was that the R5 1.4 turbo? Are the blocks related?). Anyway, not exactly superdooper in technology terms, even for the time.

However, I reckon any turbocharged 120bhp engine of a given capacity is gonna be a lot different to a 120bhp NA one in terms of power delivery and torque spread through the rev range. Less cog swapping on the turbo, although probably a bit irritating off boost.

There's also the turbo spinny noise novelty. (c: I like turbo noises.

Although I wouldn't touch any 480 with yours. (c;

Douglas

Believe it or not, they will chip to 200+ and still be as (un)reliable as standard

But a bit of rust round the doors or arches isnt exactly a major issue. It probably rolled out the factory like it FFS! The previous owner of my Volvo told me it had a rusty rear arch. When i got there the paint had flaked off and there was a bit of surface rust, which is now fixed. OK, we wont mention the hole in the sill and the other wheel arch, but the definition of rust is a bit ambiguous. I wouldnt write that 480 off until i had a good look at it.

So? If car buying made sense we'd all be driving bland cars that had electric engines and did 100mpg. Fortunately there are some people out there that like cars with character, which the 480 has certainly got. Justr a shame its not RWD, that would make it a classic in my book.

Well the Clio Williams would suggest otherwise. And the 2.3T Volvo lump of the same era isnt exactly a slouch (that would be the one that slots right into my engine bay ;)). And to get more power out of a 1.9 8v NA its a lot of work. Its not difficult to get more power out of a turbo'd 1.7 8v. I'd imagine its only a LPT to give a wee kick. But its not all about power, what its got would be adequate enough to have a laugh in.

my MR2 is 122 and isn't s**te due to RWD and weighing under a tonne