Checking for salt damage

@rocketman I had a 96 two stroke and a 99 with the British Leyland motor. Though I enjoyed both cars initially, the 99 motor though a good performer was terrible keeping it in tune and bought the farm at less then 70k miles. The two stroke was a good , " around the town" motor but terrible on the highway above 55 and lasted less then 55 k before I needed it replaced under the lifetime warranty. Both, left a sour tast in my mouth. That’s too bad as their body and chassis were excellent. I would recommend the v4 four stroke on a later year if you plan to drive it. Of course, you seem to be into them more then I but that was my take. If I knew the rust proofing technique back then and had the v4, I might still have it today…or at least the Sonnet.

I had a friend with an early 2 stroke Saab, first one I ever saw. He proudly, although with tongue-in-cheek, showed me his single overhead fan shaft.

I’ve worked on some of those old SAABs when they randomly appeared at the dealer as a last resort. They have their quirks no doubt about it although the 99 is a good car.

I seem to remember the front drum brakes on the 95 used 4 wheel cylinders; two on each drum. All four were different and could not be interchanged.
There’s also that 4 on the tree shift linkage…
They’re kind of fun to wind out in a cloud of smoke like a Weedeater run amok.

The Sonett is a neat car but…
Prone to electrical problems as every electrical item seems to have a 5 foot long ground wire that has a dubious connection; not made any easier due to the fiberglass construction.

Problem with the free-wheel mechanism in the transmission getting very noisy.

Service is a PITA as they don’t have a hood to speak of. It’s a trap door more than anything else.
Whenever I worked on one that needed engine servicing it was easier for me to disconnect wiring, remove some bolts, disconnect the flip up headlight mechanism, and have someone help me pull the entire nose section from the windshield forward off the car.

At least the bodies didn’t rust… smile:

Quoting @Keith

“A little accident at the Morton Salt factory.”

Now that’s salt damage of a completely different kind. Tons of salt can’t be good for roofs, or suspension.

BTW, according to the local news, that’s a Cargill facility, not Morton salt. They are the MAJOR players in the USA salt business. Cargill has an underground salt mine near me, not to mention a big flour mill and a soybean processing facility. Cargill is BIG.

Did you know that author Kurt Vonnegut was one of the very first Saab dealers in the USA? He referred to the engines as “melting”, but I digress…

The SAAB two stroke with just a three speed column shifter was very spunkie around town. On the highway, it was was woefully under powered. It just ran out of breathe. It had torque galor at lower RPMs, but the horsepower rating was so low, you literally had to keep the gas pedal on the floor just to keep up with highway traffic. Add any weight other then a driver and forget it.

The free wheel was neat as it did supply great coasting traction when cornering for a fwd but it meant ALL braking was done by the brakes to insure a stop as NO engine braking was available. Sure, you could kick it out…but at the expense of decreased motor life as the two stroke was then forced to turn at higher speeds while getting little or no lubrication from the oil laced gasoline.

It’s best claim to fame for me for this crappy two stroke version ? It was a good ice racer and did a good job of dragging the infield between baseball practices and games. Other then that , it was very, very poor for American use and should have just fallen out of the cars and into the Atlantic during shipment. Other then a Vega motor, anything made in America was better suited for our use. It is a novelty but was not a very practical car with that motor. The v4. ? A solid choice but the two stroke killed their reputation as did the British Leyland motor of the 99 which was another POS.

The SAAB 96…a car with a well designed body for the ravages of winter but in two stroke form ? 38 freak’n hp and terrible fuel economy and poor life expectancy. That says it all. Look for one as a city getaway car for bank robberies as the are quick at low speeds and set down a good smoke screen. That’s it. Oh, and did I mention it had less then 20 hp when a plug fouled when spending too much time in traffic. That was another big " advantage" . So, please don’t tell me there was much good about putting an outboard / lawn mower engine in a car and don’t think of resurrecting one for anything but eye candy.

The 99 was a good car ? Well, yes and no. It was a good performing, innovative with a great body…version of a Yugo. It Took owning just these two SAABs to forever get them out of my system !

Btw, the biggest mistake I ever made with the two stroke SAAB, was pulling in behind a blocked in bus. The driver leaned out the window and yelled " you had better move that SAAB before I make it a SLAB. I should have got out of the car then and walked away.

Rust may not be an issue as there is a severe salt shortage looming on the horizon and thus no salt for the roads. This shortage is being caused by politicians because too many of them have to be taken with a grain of salt.

I’d love to find a decent Sonnet, the bodies on what I’ve looked at are pretty bad. Rocketman