my $350 2003 9-3 se convertible

[turbojohnny]

This car was posted on saabcentral. It was a repo. Has been sitting most likely since 2012 judging by the last registration/inspection on the windshield.

So my fiancé a friend and I all left here around 4:30 Friday morning to head down to Johnstown PA. to pick up this car. We arrived at the business around 10:30. Looked at the car and decided I still wanted it. I paid for the car and filled out their bill of sale. Yes, I paid $350 for this car. No keys, not knowing if it runs or not. But with a valid title. By 11:30 we were at the notary, to have the title notarized. We were here for least half an hour, but it felt like forever.

I am not a fan of the way Pa handles vehicle transfers.

We finally got back to the business and devised a plan to pull the car from its frozen resting place. The oem tow hook was nowhere to be found. So reluctantly, we hooked a strap to the strut brace and after giving the brake rotors and calipers a few good hits with a small sledge hammer; the car started to roll freely.

Now that the car was in the street we backed up the trailer and began to winch it up. This process was the fastest part of the day. By about 1:00 the car was loaded on the trailer and we were ready to go. I then realized that I had left my driver's license at the notary office. So we had to backtrack to get that, more waiting. Now we stopped for food and then headed home.

At about quarter to 7 we got back to our apartment.

My fiancé was gracious enough to let me pull her 9-5 aero out of our garage and park it in the snow so that I could stow the new addition out of the weather to be worked on.

So we rolled her car out, backed the trailer up, and rolled the convertible into its new place of residence.

Then we had to return the trailer to uhaul, and again return home.

All said and done, we were gone from 4:30A.M. To 9 P.M.












Here it sits until I can look it over thoroughly


I did a little bit of clean up on the car. Pulled the headlights, corner lenses and the front bumper. Then after cleaning out all of the animal nests and walnuts, I reassembled it and reattached the passenger side of the bumper. I also installed a brand new battery.

I attempted to put the top down. Of course, there is something not working. The Sid says "check soft top latches" and "soft top failure" I've never owned a 9-3 convertible. So this will be new territory for me.

The good. All of the little pieces on a viggen body that normally go missing, are intact. The jack covers are there. The tow hook cover is there, and the mesh bumper piece is still there as well.























I grabbed the owner's manual to read up on how to operate the soft top, and found this...

The original window sticker, as well as a hand full of service receipts, along with a sludge recall letter.





The receipts take us into 2009 still in the family of the original owners. I have found 3 different names on the paperwork. All people with the same last name.

[turbojohnny]

I got the new twice installed, and programmed. I tried to start the car and it wouldn't fire. I then realized that the fuel system was bone dry. After pouring a gallon of gas into the tank and priming the system, the car fired right up.

[Chemtiger]

Congratulations! You have quite a find here, I'm jealous! It looks virtually new!

[nordwulf]

Cool story, can't really go wrong for less than 1% of the original MSRP.

Did you get the soft top working?

[swisssaabist]

that's a good shot for you, how many miles/Kms on the dash ?

[turbojohnny]

Sorry I haven't updated this thread guys. Thanks for the support. I have gotten the top to operate, but the hydraulic rams are shot. they're rusted and pitted. I sourced a new Hydraulic assembly with the pump, hoses and rams from ebay. I will have to replace them soon.

Please forgive my copy and pasting from other forums. We have a multi gauge system that will give us oil pressure, boost pressure, water temp, and voltage readings. Right in the small dash cubby.

We also just finished painting the brake calipers.












Viggen dash fascia and sill plates.








Novelty parts.




I have already mounted the display in the dash cubby. I'll be covering the face with some vinyl so the seam between the polycarbonate and the plastic isn't visible.





I tried some 3m cf vinyl this morning. This looks much better.

[turbojohnny]

No new pictures yet. We are slowly making progress. The painted brake calipers are on, as well as new dust shields front and rear and Goodridge stainless lines all around.

Brand new tires are mounted. I replaced the rusty exhaust with a Saab Sport that I was saving for a rainy day. I'm also working on welding a viggen tip to the tail pipe to help replicate the Viggen look. The inner fender liners were pulled to clean out all of the nesting from whatever animal was living in the car. Most of the front end is reassembled.

Soon we will hook up all of the sending units to wire our multigauge and make it functional. Then comes the big process of replacing the hydraulic cylinders for the top.

I will try to post some pictures when the car is back on the ground and able to be pulled out of the garage.

[turbojohnny]

More pictures

[turbojohnny]

Okay so I did a little bit of easy fun stuff today. I finished welding the Viggen tip to the sport exhaust today. Got that mounted. Put the car down on the ground, torqued all the lugs. Put the black caps on the wheel bolts. Finally programmed both of the new all-in-one keys to the car. Started it up and took some pictures.


This weekend I might attempt the hydraulic cylinders.

















Yes, the car has still not been washed since we brought it home. We are not allowed to wash our cars at our apartment complex. We have to wait until the car is on the road. Then we will take it to a self serve car wash place to give it some much needed attention.

[nordwulf]

It sounds like you're making some good progress in bringing this Saab back to life. I bet you're looking forward to driving it with the top down this summer.

From the pictures, the interior appears to be in pretty good shape. I imagine those Viggen seats are just as comfortable as the 9-5 Aero sport seats.