Tommi’s Saab Site

I finally got all the electrics sorted out. The car has combined wire harnesses from 1964 (engine), 1966 (cabin) and V4 (rear), so there was a little bit of figuring out what connects where and which wires are not needed… But it’s all working now:

Front parking lights.

Rear end is close to finished.

Stone guards.

I’m trying to figure out if this is the correct locking knob for the door – I have a bunch of different sorts…

Windscreen wipers.

Rear shelf in place. Still needs the front edge rubber which hasn’t been cleaned yet.

Basically I can now fit the dash! I still need the little card pieces in the footwell and need to do some sound insulation. Also I do not have the headliner and need to make it myself or have one made…

I’m hoping that I will get the Sport seats before IntSaab. I don’t know if I can get the car completely finished before it but hopefully it will be in good enough shape that I can bring it to the event anyway.

Some progress on the two stroke again. I managed to get a Saab 95 front window rubber from a fellow Saabclub member and the old rear window rubber was only cracked at couple places so it was used as such.

Rear fenders are in place. The rubber strip between body and the fenders is thicker than the original but then again it hides some of the fitting problems (it’s not that easy to make everything fit perfectly on car that has been rolled over and has parts from many different donors).

Check the photos:

Me and my friend Tomi “Tikkis” Tikanmäki have a new project.

We are collecting info and pictures of the Finnish Saab Works Team of 1970′s. Saab Works Finland built 19 full specs Saab 96 rally cars and 2 Saab 99 16 valve cars from 1970 onwards and brought home many international and scandinavian victories for Saab. Many of the cars have survived to this day, which makes this project (finding out their history) very exciting. The long term goal is to collect a comprehensive archive of all the drivers, cars, the team, etc.

I’m sorry the site is currently in Finnish only, we still have a ton of info and pics to upload so the english translation will come later: www.saabworks.fi

But at least you can check out the cars from the top navigation (they are indexed by the registration number and all the Saab Works Finland team cars can be found under the Saab Works Finland tab). There are also other cars featured on the site, just click through the top menu to see them.

Woodbecker Motorsport is Tomi’s team – he drives the AYA-10 Saab 96 ExWorks rally car in the Historic Rally Trophy here in Finland and does quite well in it also. AYA-10 was the first Saab 96 built by Saab Works Finland for Leo Kinnunen to compete in the 1970 Rally Of The 1000 Lakes. It’s very cool that the same car is still being raced 40 years later.

We are very interested in all pictures and materials concerning the Finnish teams efforts abroad. Finns participated in many rallies in Scandinavia and also the RAC in many years. If you have info, statistics, interviews from old magazines, pictures or anything related to the blue&white cars and their drivers, we would very much appreciate a scan or copy. Please contact us at saabworks@gmail.com.

Tommi

A “collector series” of classic rally cars has been published here in Finland this year. It looks like it’s a British company behind the series (www.eaglemoss.co.uk), the international marketing name appears to be “Champion Rally Cars” and in Finland “Mestareiden ralliautot” (Cars Of The Rally Champions).

The packaging looks nice and the model comes with a little 16 page brochure about the car in question. I have not bought any of the other models but decided to get the Saab 96 V4  “S.Blomqvist – A.Hertz” when it came availlable. The model is not of the highest quality but decend for the price. Actually, it looks to me that it is the same model that has been sold as the IXO Models Saab 96 V4 “S.Blomqvist – A.Hertz. Swedish Rally 1972″.

“Backissues” of the series can be bought at: www.ralliautot.com (In Finnish only)

I wasn’t really satisfied with the directional light mods I did earlier – so I did a few changes that I think work better and suit the car better (not that they are visible).

I took off the ugly patch I made earlier and inserted a proper rubber seal into the hole.

I then used some black silicon rubber to "glue" the 900 light in place.

And also to seal the rubber blug. I think that will work ok.

I also installed the headlights.

New H4 headlights with parking lights.

Tapping out the attachment iron threads.

Fitting the attachment iron and chrome

Punching out the paper seals for the attachment iron.

The little paper "seals" go here - between the support ring and the chrome ring. I don't actually know exactly why they are there - maybe to act as an "insulator" (corrosion protection) between the black attachment iron and the zinc plated piece on the chrome ring. Or maybe they just keep the screw from falling if it becomes loose...

No lights yet. Aluminium list are installed.

The little mounting rubber.

Headlight unit in place (also the adjustment screws with springs).

Here we go. Not the correct position yet - needs adjustment.

And the other side.

We also fitted some other pieces:

The air scoop.

The rubber seal had shrunk so we glued two seals together to get a sufficiently long one.

Trunk handle. Ok condition - not perfect. Maybe I can find a better one some day...

Minor issues. The window rubber seals have shrunk also. But I think we may be able to stretch them by gluing them in a bit by bit.

Oli from Iceland sent me this photo of his 1963 Saab 96. The car is rusted but complete. Good luck with the project Oli!