Saab B204e to Calibra SE5 - & So It Begins.....!

[DanSE4]

James's big day finally arrived (on his Birthday too )!

Few things to deal with first.

Andy didn't see the point in having one driveshaft with a Calibra castle nut & one with a Saab nut so he split the offside shaft at the CV & put the Calibra end on the Saab shaft. Good work!

I finished up the wiring for the washer motor, sorted out the hoses & got the nearside wheel arch liner back in. Last check of all hose connections, nuts, bolts & an everything check, fill with fluids (oil, coolant, gearbox oil & PAS fluid), check everything again, scratch balls & we were ready for it............

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XQIB7y2 ... e=youtu.be

She's alive, ALIIIIIIIVE!!

Usual stuff for the first few minutes (also remember the downpipe isn't connected to the exhaust yet) after an engine build, smoky, tappety & a bit rough at the edges but it settled down nicely, really nicely in fact!

We ran it for probably 20 mins but there's no temp gauge as yet nor an operational cooling fan so Andy monitored the temperature of the coolant pipes, also to make sure things were happening in the correct order, so when it hit 103 degrees we shut things down.

So, the "to do" list (in the new year now);

Get temp sensor fitted & connect to temperature gauge in dash.
Get the cooling fan working (temperature switch, relay & a bit of wiring for that).
Make up a pipe to join downpipe to exhaust.
Connect up gear linkage.
Put drivers footwell back together again.
Cut anything required on the bumper to clear the intercooler.
Get it back on wheels & go for a spin!

Good result today & big relief to all I think. Looking forward to a bit of a break from it now but also looking forward to seeing it move under it's new power for the fist time.

As they say, job's a good-un!

[Miscbrah]

That's about where I am right now!

[craigyboy]

Keep up the good work guys

[Miscbrah]

Happy new year everyone!

Got cracking at the weekend with Dan and Andy who both braved the cold. Ian and Paul popped over for a bit also which was nice.

Saturday was not the most joyous of days as we discovered an oil leak, likely from the crank oil seal. Either that or a less-than-tight sump bolt. Both or either locations leaking would suck a bit, but as Andy and I discussed the F18 is only on until I source a decent F20 so a little weep of oil is tolerable until that's replaced, at which time I can remove the flywheel and fit another. If it's the sump then we've enough super-special top-grade "raspberry jam" anaerobic sealant to re-do it. I SO WISH THEY MADE A GASKET FOR THAT BIT! GRRrrrrr. We also reckoned the Saab downpipe to Cally stock exhaust (60mm down to 45mm) would throttle the engine performance far too much.

On the plus-side, Dan and Andy worked some more of their magic and we've got a standalone thermostat control for the fan fitted and some more wiring done (bless those guys!) 'Tidyup' jobs included fixing brackets for intercooler and odds and sods fitting back on. Had a play with sorting the gear stick/linkage. We had chicken burgers too.

Sunday I'd slept on the oil weeping business and felt more positive, and we found that with a little fettling and some flexi joins we can use most of the Saab exhaust! Different route and probably not 100% permanent but hey, beats the crap out of spending £400+/- on a full stainless system! That'll be for fitting next weekend though. We popped a hose off revving the engine in a shower of coolant (I SOOO wish I'd been filming that) to discover we'd never even put a clip on it! Herp derp.

On the horizon is a switchable boost controller (either the stock T5 or the T7 APC conversion) which I have advice on installing. Advantage of that is I won't be running full chat all the time for the sakes of fuel consumption and a more favourable torque level for the F20. Not sure if it's switchable with the engine actually running, but I know of at least one person who does this.

So yes, I'm off to eBay to buy a new backbox as exhaust fitting is next week.

As is the initial test drive.

And so it begins...

[Miscbrah]

Ta! I'll give him a prod on that.

Do you know if the route of it varies much in the way it misses the transfer box etc? Or will it just fit into the hangers and recesses of an 8v under there?

[Miscbrah]

Okay, made an exec decision and bought a flexi or two and a nice* backbox. We'll make the exhaust up out of the rest of the Saab one seeing as it's in good nick.

*workable.

In other news, I saved £100 on my car insurance by using the DanSE4 negotiating method! In just fourteen free seminars you too can learn phrases such as "ooh, now I know I've had it cheaper elsewhere" and "Admiral never said that" and irritate the poor work experience call centre phone girl who has to go and ask her manager for reductions and best prices over and over.

Covered to drive this hybridised road-nasty from Saturday, just to tempt fate.

Right, eBay deliveries sent to MK so Rangie/Andy has been receiving pipe all day (which sounds FILTHY doesn't it?) So exhaust additions on site and almost ready to go. Saturday I guess all we need to do is trim a teeny bit off the inside of the bumper, sort out the gear linkage, nail that exhaust together and *deep breath* give it a drive.

Wish us luck kind internet people.

[DanSE4]

Did you use the same negotiating method for your life insurance?

[Miscbrah]

life insurance

Life insurance? What's that?

[Miscbrah]

Well early reports indicate that our lego-style exhaust system arrived as a mis-matched assortment of sizes, but which doesn't matter anyway as the Saab system is 60mm (OD) ONLY TO THE RESONATING CHAMBER and after THAT it's 55mm. So, almost all wrong.

And the backbox doesn't really fit.

Was spitting blood all last night. F**K S**T C**T!!!



We'll see if we can bodge or nail up enough to at least get a test drive around the block in though.

And having said all that, Sportex do a cat-to-backbox, and even a downpipe-to-cat-to-backbox in 3" for even a bit less than all the bodging pipes cost. This might be the way to go to get 'something' done either north or south of the Saab resonator. GIven that my cat is now on the Saab downpipe right next to the sump I don't have to worry about that now and can get something in a "race" tube if I need.

HHhhhhhmmmmmmMMMMMmmmmm........

But let's hope whilst looking at it we CAN get that SMEGGING backbox to actually fit.

[DanSE4]

Suddenly I'm really looking forward to tomorrow.

[Miscbrah]

Suddenly I'm really looking forward to tomorrow.

Hold me?

[Miscbrah]

Dan will borrow my genitals with an angle grinder.

[DanSE4]

Ain't no-one cutting my Powerflow up!!

So, this afternoon was all about putting together a "Blue Peter" style exhaust will all manner of bits, bobs & odds & sods (oh, & putting the front bumper back on with a minor bit of cutting around the lower vent to clear the intercooler & some mesh).

The Saab exhaust is fine to the mid-silencer but what was needed was something from there back, here's what happened.

James bought a "universal" after-market back box (you know the ones, no hangers or anything really to fit it with) so we needed something from the back of that, that was less restrictive than the one on the 8v, with the right bends to meet the mid-section. Andy just so happened to have an old (60mm) Rover exhaust lying around & a few glances at it suggested "that bend may actually work"!

Some chopping later,



We have a 60mm old Rover pipe attached to the SAAB mid section,



What a spot on bend!

It left this small gap to fill to meet the back box.



The backbox came with a ally "strap" which was next to useless on it's own bit with some ingenuity from Andy (a couple of long bolts bent at the ends which secured the strap in place) we had hangers perfect to mount to the rubbers on the Calibra.



The flexi joint attached to the end just so happened to fill the gap between that & the Rover/Saab hybrid pipe!

I left James & Andy fitting the rest up as it was by now dark & my testicles were frozen to the point they could've been used as ice cubes in some bizarre "bush tucker" drink!

Not sure on the test drive time now as neither myself nor James can do anything tomorrow so we'll see if Andy (much to James's displeasure) decides to go for a play tomorrow, otherwise it may well be next weekend now. Even without the backbox the exhaust sounded perfect when we ran it before I left so there's pretty much naff all left to do now!

[Miscbrah]

Very exciting times ahead. Or explode-y times.

Andy and Dan did some most excellent join-the-dots with the zorst. Can't wait to hear it grumbling! Socially acceptable grumble of course; still got the resonator in there.

Sad I can't make it this weekend BUT I get this feeling that we're close and that's a good feeling indeed. As a memo to myself I need to find a brake light switch signal for the ECU (helps with fuel economy, no injection on braking) and the front wheels need tightening up as they're not even nipped up yet.

[Miscbrah]

Don't look now but I may have sourced an F20!

Let's not think about that for the mo though - once this is moving and tidied away we all need a breather!