New C900T owner-need advise on trans install

[s900t8v]

No, I wasn't specific enough sorry, I had to recheck. Sorry for being vague!

The Gm45606 is external centering with type 6 primaries (rubber front mount)
the Gm55706 is internal centering with type 7 primaries (hydraulic front mount)

Your original transmission is a 91+ with the new style inner drivers and driveshafts as well as internal self centering selector
Your donor is a <89 with old style inner drivers and driveshafts and external centering selector. you can choose which type of engine mount you want to use, just swap the primary drive cover. Rubber mounts are far cheaper but may not provide as high quality vibration reduction and may fatigue faster with higher torque/power applications.

Saab changed their inner driver cups around 86/87 - the driveshaft axle length changed, the tripod bearing size changed as did the driver cup size. I was not aware of any durability concern and as far as I know the older style does not necessitate change. Proper lubrication determines the lifespan of the drivetrain components - if you're swapping do new boots, clean and repack with grease.

To make your swap work you will need to either
- change the inner driver cups (press the old ones out of their housings and into the new housings - or swap the entire cups over - the latter may not be possible due to change in pinion and ring gear setups I'm not 100% on it - to do the first you will also most likely need to set crown wheel backlash which is fairly involved)
- obtain 91+ model driveshafts (entire shafts) to install with your replacement transmission

One is difficult to do right but costs nothing with the right tools the other may cost a bit to obtain the correct driveshafts so it's really up to you.

[Foreign Object]

Finally got the car in the garage, hood off and donor trans cleaned up. Next week should have more to report.

[Foreign Object]

Wow, this has taken a long time to get beck to but the past week has been a good one for working on the Saab. As mentioned in some of your replies it did require swapping to the rubber mount from hydraulic, swapped in the 86 drivers and external shift mechanism.
All is back together and started right up but have 2 problems:
First is that the car sat over a year with engine under a tarp and although I primed the pump when I installed the filter housing last week, when I finally got it started it clattered away, and after running almost 10 minutes it didn't really quiet down. Do I need to re-prime the oil pump or just let it run?
Second issue is the shift linkage. The shifter is a pre86 that has a centering hole that will lock it into reverse. The Bently does not address how to set up and adjust this shifter from scratch. It does say that those with a centering tool at the trans can lock into 3rd, and then place shifter into 3rd, but that is not making sense to me.
I have adjusted, disconnected/reconnected etc. 1/2 dozen times but it appears that the shifter rod is about 2 inches too short to correctly connect. The best I can get is, that the shifter will catch forward gears where it should be in neutral, and if in 2nd,4th or reverse it is in neutral.
Hope this makes sense, and of course any comments will be met with grateful interest!
I have taken a few pics although I am not sure if they will help.

[jskrebs]

You need the shift rod from the car with external centering it's longer. I did the same thing. The coupler may also be different.

[s900t8v]

You need the shift rod from the car with external centering it's longer. I did the same thing. The coupler may also be different.

drive the car to quieten down the lifters, they won't quieten down from idling. idling a car in general does nothing good for it, the engine oil stays colder longer (so car runs richer) which washes the oil of the cyl walls, the oil is colder and pressure is lower, it is just pointless lol

regarding the shifter I don't get why you'd have to change, the selector shafts in teh gearbox protrude the same amount whether they are internal or external, if the shaft in the gearbox is the same, then why would you need to change the other shaft.

I would suggest that the different couplers have different lengths, and you need to use the same coupler as what was originally on your car, not the coupler that was fitted to the replacement transmission.

[peva]

The lifters will quieten, even when idling, but it may take longer. Sometimes they need to get some engine heat into them to free them up. On a cool engine you will be getting sufficient oil pressure, around 3 BAR, to get to them. Even on a hot engine you will be getting around 2 BAR at idle. I would be inclined to check oil pressure if you feel there may be a problem. Does the oil warning light go out? There may be another problem - oil pressure release valve stuck open or a blockage in the head oilways. Yes, I've seen that too. Check that oil pressure before you go further.

Regarding the shift coupler. What you say does not make sense to me. Are you sure, absolutely sure you have it in the correct gear?

[jskrebs]

You need the shift rod from the car with external centering it's longer

I was referring to the rod from the shifter mechanism to the coupler.

Pictures attached. I initially just moved the centering mechanism, but then realized I had to change the shift rod as well.

This was on my 87 C900 (Threepwood) and the donor trans was from an 86 car. I had to change the drivers as well.

EDIT in looking at the picture I think I will swap my comment to the other way around.

[Foreign Object]

jskrebs, that picture says it all! The rod I removed looks like the one on the left, the one installed looks like the one on the right only the coupler I used is a different style, I can see the one on the right is obviously longer and would do the trick.
Next job, find the coupler like that!

A week had passed between when I primed the pump and initial start-up, so I think I will reprime it before next start-up.

Thanks for the help guys.

[Foreign Object]

Ok, The ticking noises in the engine went away.
So after failing to procure a used coupler of the longer variety and finding a new one at $97.00, I decided to go back and review the pile of parts I have acquired for this project thus far. I found that the original shifter rod (from internal shift positioner style) was actually longer than the swapped unit from the '86.



I realized that they were compatible as a highbred, so I went about dismantling them and building a customer shift rod that was long as the original yet had the external shift positioner mounted.



I just made a few measurements, dismantled the long one carefully and drilled the hole. It is canted slightly so measuring had to be perfect. Also the plastic piece is held by a role pin so it was crucial not to wallow out the hole. It went together perfectly and shifts great!



Almost a year after receiving this car as a basket case I was able to take it for a ride today.
Next I need to check the power steering, it was empty this past year, and now full it hardly works, wines and foams in the bottle.
Apologies for cell phone pics!

Moderator: It may be time to move this to projects as I hope it will soon be my daily driver and a work in progress!