Today I mostly .....

[Zelandeth]

Saab 900. Proper 900, not one of the GM ones.

[excossack]

Purchased a Tohatsu 3.5hp 2 stroke outboard, made in 2006.

[rob-o]

It was indeed Neils, I still have the alloys and the bulbar is still on there but just out of shot.

Rob

[Janko]

I will probaby buy that. It's Tomos ATX 50C. It has 50ccm 2-stroke engine (2.2HP @ 5500RPM), 5 speed manual gearbox, top speed at around 40miles. Consumption is very low, around 2l/100km (141MPG).

It's my wish from child days. It was manufactured from 1988-2002. Tomos is our Slovenian factory of mopeds. They are very durable (like lada) and cheap to maintain (like lada).

Some more pictures:

[Zelandeth]

Today I mostly...bought the 900.

Well aware of the usual rust areas etc, have had two so far. This one is by far the cleanest I've ever encountered with a view to buying, one slightly less than stellar patch on the underside of the driveshaft tunnels (no stranger to repairing these...both of my previous ones rusted out there and required substantial welding to sort it), aside from that nothing aside from a few bits of surface rust that I spotted. I failed to poke any holes in it anyway, which is a first for me when looking at a 23 year old car. In fact...I think it's a first for me buying any car, save for the 107 which was brand new. 306 doesn't count as I didn't actually buy that...rather adopted it from my flatmate then agreed on a price after using it for about six months.

So far the fault list is:

Desperately needs an oil change.
Rusty (but reasonably solid) fuel filler cap (aren't they all?).
Headlining is knackered (colour me un-surprised).
N/S electric window jammed (I've still got a spare mech buried somewhere from when I was planning to convert my 2-door to electric windows but never got around to it).
Leaks oil like a sieve from the timing cover (no surprises there then).
Potential repair needed on the O/S driveshaft tunnel underside.
Broken lock push button on the inside of the driver's door.
Tiny crack in the very bottom of the O/S corner of the windscreen.

...That's about all I've found so far!

Sounds sweet as you could possibly ask for, Saab owners club sticker on the inside of the windscreen, more history than you can shake a stick at, even has the appropriately coloured polish and paint in the boot, started first touch from cold, drives like new. No knocks, bangs or rattles (save for the stereo facia anyway). I'd forgotten how good the brakes in the 900 are...and how "nice" they drive.

Apparently was previously owned by a university professor who had traded up due to needing something more economical.









It's not going to win any races, being an 8 valve 900i with a slushbox, but to be honest I really don't mind. I just love the way the 900 drives and am quite happy to waft along a bit slower and just enjoy the journey.

Given that I've been seeing far rougher examples selling lately for considerably larger sums of money than this (I've even looked at some of them), I wasn't going to haggle at the price in the window as I don't think it's unreasonable. Heck, it's taxed to the end of July and tested to late October...that's probably worth nearly that price irrespective of the car these days...

More photos will follow tomorrow when we've collected it and changed the oil - and probably a far longer niggle list!

[Zelandeth]

Yep, my first one was an auto and I really didn't mind it. Only complaint was the lack of an overdrive which meant it was damn thirsty on the motorway.

Slushbox seems to work a lot better with the 8 valver than the 16 in my experience as well, have to guess it just works better with the torque curve of the engine. It's quite low geared as well so works especially well for "point and click" driving around town - especially with the visibility and how chuckable the 900 is.

Definitely *looks* to be a clean car - even the doors are solid where the usually dissolve on the inboard part of the bottom edges, as is the bonnet. It's got a new radiator in and mostly new radiator hoses by the look of it, these are good things I reckon as both of mine have needed them changed - and I know from bitter experience that the lower radiator hose is an absolute git to get on and off on the auto because of the oil cooler!

Nothing quite like the massive "thud" when you close the door on a 2 or 3 door 900.

Have always fancied a 99, but they've always been well out of my price range.

Seller gets bonus points for refusing to sell it to a guy who turned up five minutes before we got there and was still there while we were looking at it on account of my having called ahead advising we were on our way. I know many sellers - especially dealers - who wouldn't have done that.

Also means I'm glad I didn't wait until tomorrow morning to take a look as per the original plan, and did leave work early to get to it today!

[Zelandeth]

True...though not as much as with a Volvo 240. Mate of mine had an estate one where you had to close the bootlid gently. If you slammed it and none of the doors or windows were open it wouldn't latch!

240 is another motor I'd like to have sometime. Got to be an early one though before they modernised the interior.

[excossack]

Collected a transit SWB hire van to move my sisters and brother in-laws stuff out of their flat. Some back to my mums and some into storage.

[Zelandeth]

Brought this home.

I'm well happy so far.

Full service history up to 102 of the 113K on the clock as well, a folder of receipts and notes for virtually everything you can think of that's about an inch and a half thick, even down to the letter from the dealership to the first owner thanking them for their custom.

A 75 mile dual carriageway trek isn't maybe what I would have picked as my first test voyage - but it didn't miss a beat.

Tomorrow, a service and a proper clean/polish, replace the missing trim on the front bumper, and some rust treatment on the bits which are bothering me.

For now, here's a couple of better photos.

[Zelandeth]

That is quite incredibly cute, Gadget. Looks like you'll have your hands full over the next few months then!

[Janko]

Awww.. What's his name, Gadget?

[excossack]

I shall name this dog Vaz.

[Zelandeth]

Today I mostly...Did most of a service on the Saab.

Drained oil, no problem.
Changed distributor cap and rotor arm, no problem.
Air filter on hold till next week as I've had to order it.

Then came to remove the oil filter. Would it budge? Not a chance. Removing he air intake gave me enough space eventually to just about get a filter wrench on it and I eventually managed to shift it. Managed to snap a wire off the back of the alternator in the process though, so need a new ring terminal for that - will fit it tomorrow, had to just wrap the wire around the ring and screw it together to get me back in to the flat.

Also changed a bunch of vacuum lines as they were either kinked or perished, seems to sound and feel a lot healthier now.

Failed to change the alternator/waterpump drive belts as I couldn't find a 16mm spanner to get the power steering belt off anywhere, so will need to attack that tomorrow evening. Also hope to get some more polish and wax on then too.

Probably change the fuel filter and transmission fluid next weekend, weather permitting.

[excossack]

Washed, waxed and polished the 110. Including cleaning the underside of the bonnet, the front windscreen gutter, the bits where the front ventilation flaps sit, the door jams and the tops and bottom of the doors.


Spent a hour or two trying to get a SVEON STV22 USB HD TV dongle working with Windows XP. - No joy.

[Zelandeth]

Indeed. I seem to have come across more than my fair share! Corsa one was the worst - not helped by it being buried right down the back of the engine so you could barely touch it, much less get a wrench on it. Think that one I eventually had to resort to punching a screwdriver through after wasting about half a day fighting with it.

900's one is awkward to get to - but not impossible. Probably worse on the 16V due to there being a lot more "stuff" associated with the injection system.

At least the sump plug wasn't similarly tight as that's always a fun game too.