Rebuild my 2.3T! B235L

The Parts have all arrived!
I'm going to: Hone the cylinders, replace the rings, replace the cracked piston with a used one someone gave me, rebuild the turbo, replace the rod bearings, replace the main bearings by rolling them in, clean out the intercooler of oil and gunk.

Things I've done already: Replaced the timing chain and balance chain and sprockets and guides, cleaned the carbon off the pistons, replace all the gaskets, Replaced the valve seals, Honed the valves, cleaned and painted a bunch of parts, dropped the sump for cleaning.

Now it's just rebuild it. I'll take a bunch of pictures and get a few videos of the progress and post links.

I hope to get at it tomorrow. Sat. I have yet to remove the turbo from the car as it's in my neighbours driveway. I'll push it into mine and get it in the air for sure. Monday is a Thanksgiving here in Canada. We are having family and friends over for a smoked turkey dinner on Sunday. (I'm doing the smoking and cooking so I can't work on the car too much sun. Sat is apple picking, puffball hunting, tromping around in the woods, etc.)

We have allot to be thankful for this year. Sunday marks the one year anniversary of our 5 year old daughter finishing her chemo treatments for Leukaemia! She is in full remission and doing great!
Here is a picture of Squeaky chasing bubbles this past August.

I got it into the driveway and into the air today. After apple picking and tromping, in the country.
Then I got to work. Kind of... I tried to get some video with my car cam but it died about 2 min in.
First I removed the things that squirt oil up at the bottom of the pistons. I could just see things going wrong if I hit one of them with the hone.
I put rags down the cylinders to catch the honing sludge I then honed the cylinders using a 3 sided hone and motor oil. It went pretty quickly. I think they turned out good.
then I got underneath and removed one main bearing at a time and replaced 4 of the 5 bearings. It got dark too quickly for me to do the last one.
And I came across a problem: The main bearings are meant to be changed with the motor out of the car.... I couldn't get the one closest to the transmission out! It would touch the transmission and the crank it's self. I will modify the transmission tomorrow with my grinder and get the 2mm I need off the bumps ware the bolts go... See picture. (I just noticed that I may be able to undo that plate... I'll explore this before I grind.)
I tried to roll the bearings out with a cotter pin stuck in the oil passage way of the crank and turn... It wouldn't work... It would get started some times and not others. The first one I did (#2) the bearing would get part way in and stop... I finally got it.
So I devised another way of rolling them in...! Once I took the bolts out of the rod bearing I took the old bottom half and pushed out the top one with a flat screwdriver. The I put the new one in and pushed it in with the old one.
This worked great!
Some of the photos show the bearing cups. They # 1-4 L to R the bottom of each set is on the left.
You will notice that the 3ds set looks a bit worn. (I think some junk got into it and scratched it. The crank its self fools great.
The bearing I am holding is the bottom of #3. The top isn't much better. But the crank is fine...? I found a shim beside this bearing on the transmission side top.
Comments are always welcome! Charging the car cam now.

I need torque specks... Is there a WIS? I haven't found one.
Here is some of what I've found:

No problem, glad I can help. Torque specs, according to WIS:
Rod and Main Bearings: 20Nm + 70 degrees. (I can't find a WIS...?)

21.06.2006
Bolts
Tighten the bolts to 81 ft-lbs (Torx E16 socket). Install the remaining three pistons. The rods and rod caps are numbered 1 to 4 from the timing cover. The nuts need a 12-point 14 mm socket, tighten to 35 ft-lbs. (I think this is for a B234 engine...?)

And this from the serioussaabuk site:
9-5 Torque settings Settings are provided in good faith and every effort has been made to ensure that settings provided are correct, however, no responsibility can be accepted for injury, loss or damage that may arise from using the information. The author hopes that readers spotting errors will contact us promptly.

Power unit (4 cylinder 2.0 & 2.3 only)	Lbs/ft	Nm
Balance shaft gear sprocket	16	22
Balance shaft idler	18	25
Big end (connecting rod) stage 1	15	20
Big end (connecting rod) stage 2	+70°	+70°
Cambox (valve) cover for cylinder head	11	15
Camshaft bearing cap	11	15
Camshaft gear sprocket	31	42
Crankshaft pulley bolt	129	175
Cylinder head bolts (Stage 1)	30	40
Cylinder head bolts (Stage 2)	44	60
Cylinder head bolts (Stage 3)	+ 90°	+ 90°
Flexi-plate (flywheel for auto)	70	95
Flywheel bolts	59	80
Main bearing cap bolts (Stage 1)	15	20
Main bearing cap bolts (Stage 2)	+ 70°	+ 70°
Sump bolts	16	22
Sump drain plug	18	25
Timing cover bolts	16	22
Water pump bolts	16	22

Other selected useful toque settings	Lbs/ft	Nm
Driveshaft (cv) nut/ early type (no groove)	214	290
Driveshaft (cv) nut/ (with groove) 1st stage	125	170
Driveshaft (cv) nut/ (with groove) 2nd stage	+ 25°	+ 25°
Driveshaft (cv) nut/ 2002 & later cars	37	50
Wheel bolt	81	110

And here is one that they refer to thesaabsite as the authors:
ENGINE TORQUE SPECIFICATIONS: (Ft. Lbs) - (Nm)


Main Bearing Bolts: 79 - 108
Connecting Rod Bolts: 40 - 54
Canshaft Bearing Caps: 13 - 18 (8 valve)
Canshaft Bearing Caps: 11 - 15 (16 valve)
Valve cover bolts: 3.6 - 5 (8 valve)
Valve cover bolts: 11 - 15 (16 valve)
Harmonic Balancer Bolt: 137 - 190
Flyweheel Seal Plate: 14 - 20
Cylinder Head Bolts(17mm hex): 69 - 93 (B engine)
Flywheel Bolts: 43 - 59
6mm oiil pump bolts: 13 - 18
Spark Plugs: 20 - 28
Idler Shaft Locator Plate: 14 - 20
Sprocket, Idler Shaft: 18 - 25
Camshaft Sprocket Bolts: 14 - 20 (8 valve)
Camshaft Sprocket Bolts: 46 - 62 (16valve)
Intake Manifold: 13 - 18 (8 valve)
Intake Manifold: 16 - 22 (16 valve)
Thermostat Housing: 13 - 18
Throttle Valve Housing: 13 - 18
Exhaust Manifold: 18 - 25
Timing Chain Cover: 14 - 19

A bit different....? Any ideas?

I got the last bearing in after a little grinding of the cast aluminium that holds the rear seal. See picture. (Don't try and remove that plate with the transmission attached. Or you will want to replace the seal. )
I torqued the main bearings to 80flb... It's was a compromise between the two different ideas above.
I also got the rings on the pistons and the pistons installed in the block. I didn't have time to torque the rods yet. (I also BBQ'd a turkey and made Thanksgiving dinner. So that cut into my rebuild time.) I now think the BBQ/smoked turkey idea is overrated.... It turned out moist and was great! But... I think I'll stick to the oven for turkey. I do smoke about everything else!
I'm going to remove the turbo tonight and rebuild it so I can put everything together tomorrow.
Here are some pictures from today:

Very interesting to follow your rebuild. Engine tightening torques from the WIS posted here for reference: http://saabworld.net/f144/tightening...b-9-5-a-29162/

Thanks Frank! That's a big help!
I found The ones I found didn't really have any proper titles. The said things like ...Saab engine torque.... But didn't specify the what Saab engine....?

Late last night I took the turbo out and rebuilt it. (I picked up a 3 AAA battery powered led mechanics light a few months back. I love this light! It's bright and doesn't give a big glair. And the big plus..... I haven't tripped on a cord since!)
The turbo took some time to clean. Wow carbon gets hard in there! I ended up using dental tools and my wire wheel on the bench grinder and drill. (See the difference in the exhaust side shield in my hand.)
(In the future I won't be rebuilding another turbo unless someone gives me a free kit. It took 3 hours!!!! (And I had this apart and cleaned a bunch of it before...) I believe I will be just getting the whole cartage for the other car. (Next spring/summer).
The worst part of this job is removing and replacing the big C clip. I had to modify a pair of needle nose pliers to do this and still fought with it! This of course after I broke my removal tool! (I love the life time guarantee at Princess Auto.) I wonder if the staff is thinking the same tinkling when I say I'll be back! I have had very good use of there tools. And I have broke a few things too.
I saw on a UK Saab site that they were adding springs to the waste gate actuator to hold it back a bit to keep the boost longer before it opens and dumps.
So... I'm going to put a spring on mine. I have a few old springs kicking around and the turbo on the bench... (It will be easy to remove or change if I don't like the results. On the UK site it didn't mention the strength of the spring so it's going to be allot of guessing.) (I'll try and find a link.)
Today I'm going to keep putting things back together.
Pictures of the turbo and kit.

After working late into the night last night (3) I got up kind of late today... Noonish. So I didn't get as much done as I hoped.
Here is what I did get done:
I rigged my turbo blow off up with a spring.
I installed the sump and hooked the turbo and exhaust up. I should have left this loose as when I went to put the head on (with the exhaust manifold still on the head) I couldn't get the head to line up on the block and the turbo at the same time... (Didn't I learn that last time too...)
I bolted the head on and torqued it to 30flb, 44flb, then 90 degrees.
When I was tightening the 2nd last bolt to 90* I felt what you don't ever want to feel........! All of a sudden it got easier! (I said F! really loudly!) Just what I need now is to have to pull the head off again and drill out a broken stud or put a heliocoil in.....
I then tried to tighten the last bolt and SNAP! FFFFFFFFFFFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I broke... a 6" 3/8 extension! Twisted it off at the male end!
I quickly grabbed anther extension and checked the 2nd last bolt I thought was going to be a problem... Perfectly fine! I finished the 90* on it and the last one and done. What a relief!
I learnt that I shouldn't use so much of that red gasket stuff when I put the sump on when I took the sump off this time. The liquid gasket stuff had filled the bolt holes and locked the bolts in so much that I had to work to get them out. The 4 that are near the crank were a real PITA! (1/4 turn with a wrench at a time.) So I used a 1.5 mm bead of sealant this time and only used a little bit extra ware the different things meet the block. (At the transmission and the timing chain cover areas.)
I did use the gasket stuff on the block, timing cover, and head gasket at the timing cover end. I think this will help there never to be a leak from that area. See photos;
I got the intake manifold bolted on. (Checked it for rags and walnuts. Squirrels have been hiding walnuts under the hood this last week that the car has sat at my neighbours.) I put the timing chain on and turned the engine over a few times by hand to make sure that I didn't get the timing wrong. There is more compression! I think that this is going to run like a new car. (I expect it to.)
It was getting dark and I didn't want to lean over the car any more so I called it quits for the day. That means I will be working on it after work this week... And with my schedule... Who knows what times I'll have.
(I also have to pull my sail boat and wash the bottom then take it to my storage place about 30 min. out of town... Before Thursday. That is when I am pulling my dock... The one that floated off its posts a few weeks back... Well it did it again last week! No one called me or my dock mate. I just found it sideways and my and his boats tied to moorings on Friday. (The members of the club must have moved them..) And of course the tell tale signs of high water. New logs and stuff on shore. It came up 7'!)
Here are some photos: The spring and the all-round strap with a piece of heavy wire is the turbo mod. (Check out the bearings and the other parts of the turbo for signs of wear...)

Here is a bad video of me getting ready to hone the cylinders. Saab 2.3 rebuild. About to hone the cylinders. - YouTube
Sorry about the sound quality. It's the camera... It died so I couldn't finish the honing shots.
I'll make more.

I mentioned above that I found a shim while replacing the main bearings. i didn't have any idea what it was for.
I should have taken a picture of the shim. There was only the one that I saw. It was on the transmission side of #3 main bearing. It was on the top and horizontal... Like a upside down horse shoe. It fell out while I was replacing the main bearings. Good thing I was watching or I never would have figured out what side it came from. (Maybe not never but It would have been another unnecessary hiccup.)
(EDIT: I did take a picture of the shim, both of them. I only noticed the one on the left of the bearing at the time.)
I didn't even think of measuring the gap between it and the crank/ bearing.
(I don't get it's placement as this is a automatic transmission. Maybe SAAB had them all built like this to accommodate a manual transmission car if that's what it happened to go into.)
Has anyone else fond these shims in there repairs?
Here are two shots of it and one of a bottom bearing about to be installed.
Note the 2nd picture has the left shim missing.

I didn't get at the car today. I did get a chance to tow my boat with the 03 AERO though. It tows better than my old 04 Dakota crew cab! Really!
Here is a shot of the car and boat.