2005 9.2x Linear

[GMJohnny]

So over the weekend, I made the trek to Washington D.C. to pick up my "new" car. AKRover
(soon to be AfricaRover) was thinking about maybe selling this car earlier in the year and I told
him when he was ready to dump it, I might have an interest. When he found out he was not
going to need it where he was going, we started negotiations. He cut me a sweet deal on the
car, based on what he could get for it on trade. I flew up to Baltimore on Saturday and drove the
car home on Sunday after a quick visit with Ak & this Mrs.... Here's a photo of us doing the deal.


I made it home safely on Sunday evening. There was never a doubt as to whether the car would
make it home or not, it's already been all over the country. AK was the only owner of the car, and
it has almost 74k miles on it now. I'm going to use it as a daily driver, and don't plan on hot-rodding
it, maybe just a K&N filter and exhaust work.....maybe. I'm really just wanting a turn-key car that I
don't have to tamper with all of the time. I'm going to put a hitch on it so I can tow, and plan on
tuning it up pretty quickly so it's ready to go when winter comes along. It could use a good detailing,
which I started last night.... The car has zero rust, which is sweet for a 7 year old car, but being that
it's not from northeast Ohio, that's understandable. On Wednesday, I have to get it titled in my name
and get my plates transfered to it. Emissions check will be done as well.

GM

[VeeDub]

Oh neat. Those things are basically a Subaru iirc. Is it all wheel drive? You'll like the hatch I'm guessing. Ive had 5 hatchbacks and they are handy. I can get more in my mk2's than my girlfriend can get in her 4 door. It should handle very good to.

[GMJohnny]

It has all wheel drive, 2.5L 4 cylinder ( no turbo, bummer! ). It has all of the Saab basic options ... Air, cruise,
tilt, cd player, etc... The previous owner bought it in Alaska, so heated seats were the only extra option that it has.... It seems to ride well, and it handles very well. So far I'm pleased. I am still getting accustomed to the clutch and shifting it. The shift pattern is way tighter, and the clutch feels way different than the International truck I'm used to driving at work.....and there's no 2 speed rear end splitter either!! Admittedly, I've stalled it a couple of times, but only when backing it up. Ha!!

GM

[MostMint]

This is how it starts with cog drive.

[Fred32v]

Yes, but what'll it turn?

[MostMint]

It's funny we always say what the car "turns" in the 1/4 mile since that is a straight line. I immediately think of road course times or skidpad lateral G's now.

Just load it up to 5000 RPMs and dump the clutch - that AWD should just leave I tell you

[VeeDub]

I think the aero is the turbo model. Those (Saab) are much easier on the eyes than the Subaru's. The interior is nicer also. Its also rumored to share the aluminum control arms with the STi...I think the rear ones ?? and also a couple of other suspension parts. I'm not a Subardude so I'm not sure of the particulars. I read about them a while back. The opposed 4 has a smooth idle and "pull" to it. I know you want to keep it stock... but theres good aftermarket support for those...pads, rotors, struts, short throw shifters-yaddi yada... shhhh- planting a seed here

[GMJohnny]

I don't expect to do any suspension upgrades or brakes or any of that stuff.... I'm just
not a "go around corners fast" dude. I'm relatively happy with it just getting me from point
a to point b and utility. I'm pretty pleased with how large it is inside for such a small car. I
think, and I haven't measured it yet, that it's smaller than the vette! It certainly is narrower,
and it's within inches on length. It seems to run real smooth and has enough power to get
out of its own way.....but I definitely am going to give it a tune up before winter... More to come.

GM

[AKROVER]

According to Edmunds and including my new vehicle as physical dimensions were part of my decision:

Length

Saab - 175.6
Xterra - 178.7
Corvette - 179.7

Width

Saab - 66.7
Xterra - 72.6
Corvette - 73.6

These are all small vehicles by our standards, but they are big when considering narrow streets, crazy drivers, and parallel parking in the rest of the world. A VW Golf is about a foot shorter (165.4) and is still a relatively large car in European cities. There really aren't too many vehicles that are narrower than that Saab, though. When you look at the data and then sit in the vehicle, you realize just how space efficient small wagons can be.

[GMJohnny]

So last Wednesday I purchased a hitch for the Saab. The internet showed an install time
of approximately 30 minutes... They were close, it took me about 45, relatively painless. What
was not mentioned was that wiring the trailer light pigtail would be relatively involved. I had to
take out both tail lights & splice in the wires to the factory harness. I struggled to find a pigtail
that would just plug in to the factory setup. I soldered all of my connections, so it took a bit of
time, but I know that the job is 100% correct and will endure the life of the vehicle. The worst
part of the job was wiring in the "modulite" unit - a device that allows the brake lights and turn
signals to work at the same time. The Saab has a directional bulb that's separate from the brake
light bulb. It creates a situation where 5 wires need to go into a 4 wire harness. The modulite
somehow makes it work. The bogus thing about this device is that it needs to be hardwired to
the battery, which means that you need to run a wire from the back of the car to the battery in
the front, a 1 hour job as I did it.... I did the job right and ran the wire under the carpet & through
a factory rubber grommet in the firewall. I will say that the car's interior trim was easy to work with
and the parts popped off and back on very well... I needed the trailer Thursday, so finishing Wednesday
was important.... Here's a pic with the trailer ready to roll.......


I also have completed all of the title work, license plates are transfered, and the car was emissions
checked. I am now 100% legal to drive in Ohio.... More work to come...

GM

[Basement Paul]

If the bolt patter on the trailer is the same as the car, I think the trailer would look better with a matching set of Saab wheels on it...

-BP

[Fred32v]

A 2005 Linear Silver trailer would complete the look.

[GMJohnny]

Since my last post, some more progress has been made. The undercarriage has been pressure washed (huge amounts of mud in the fenderwells & on struts), and the motor was degreased. Wednesday was the day to do a little more work on the Saab. ( Last Wednesday was spent shagging parts and installing a fuel tank and pump into daughter Ivy's LeSabre.) The previous owner had indicated to me that the car had its original battery in it still. Being a guy who is never in the mood to need a jump start, I decided to install a battery BEFORE I was stranded by it. I bought an 84 month, free replacement for 3 year, battery. I didn't even need to install the battery myself, if you go to Advance Auto, they put it in for you. I also purchased new wiper blades (which they also installed) because the other ones made the "vruump" noise when they wiped the windows. Money well spent....clean windows and no VRUUMP..... Next on the list of things to do: plugs and wires. So far so good with the car. I've learned how to use all of its functions, and it gets great fuel mileage. I even got a compliment on it from a valet guy..... HA!!!

GM

[GMJohnny]

ok ... so here's the deal... The Saab has two tone seats, light gray and black. I work in an
environment that makes my pants get dirty, and I have to drive the car home after work,
and do not want to change clothes for the ride home every day. I'd love for these seats to
be black. They are cloth seats, that are not velour feeling, but seem to have a tight, tight
checked pattern on them. I'm half contemplating using black fabric paint to paint the center
section of them so they are all black. The thought of using seat covers makes me cringe
because I don't like how they are loose all of the time, and I can't seem to find a decent set
of them, without spending $500.00. They're either $40.00 for a whole set ( junk I'm sure )
or big bucks. Currently, I've purchased a black bath towel to sit on, and have made it affix
to the seat with the headrest mounting rods, but I know this is only a temporary fix. Does
anybody have any experience with fabric paint? I've used vinyl paint at work, with awesome
success, but have never painted fabric. I don't want to ruin the interior with some junky paint,
but I know that the light gray will be brown soon if I don't make some type of permanent
change........ Comments would be greatly appreciated....

GM

[AKROVER]

Yeah, that light gray is really light and there are already a few stains thanks to the previous owner's carelessness. All black would look nice - I always had mixed emotions about the way they implemented that two tone interior. I agree that seat covers suck and with the shape of those seats I think they would be even worse than average. The fabric was never scotch guarded or anything so I would expect a dye to work well. I remember changing a couple of interiors to black and I think I did fabric portions of door skins, but I am pretty sure I never did seats. I agree that the vinyl stuff really does work incredibly well. Of course you would hate to go from worrying about what your pants are doing to your seats to worrying about what your seats are doing to your pants, but I bet there are some hidden portions of the rear seats that you could experiment with to see if the dye bleeds. If there was a product on the market that specifically said it would work on fabric seats, I personally would experiment with a hidden portion first and then go for it. Of course you could switch to only black pants for a few months just to be safe.