Engine Shots
The stock Saab 2.3 engine block is very strong straight from the factory. To ensure maximum performance and reliability, I have always run Amsoil full synthetic motor oil with Amsoil filters. Also, you can reference the repairs page to see a list of recent work done on the car. My approach has always been to replace anything that appears suspect before it fails.

 
  Here is a list of the work recently completed –

Upgrades / Performance

  • Poly steering rack bushings
  • Magic Camber adjusters
  • Braided steel clutch line
  • Lightened flywheel 20lbs to 11lbs
  • Sachs sport racing pressure plate
  • OEM Sachs friction disk
  • H&R wheel studs kit
  • Optima red top battery
  • Poly transmission bushing
  • EBC Red Stuff front brake pads
  • ARP stainless steel exhaust manifold studs
  • 1.0mm Aquamist injector nozzle
  • High pressure waste gate actuator
  • Intake manifold from naturally aspirated car

Maintenance / Repair

  • Drained and flushed power steering rack
  • Removed rear brake splash guards
  • Changed oil and filter (Amsoil)
  • Installed interior status light for Aquamist
  • Cleaned grounding points · Drained and flushed brake fluid (ATE Super Blue)
  • Drained and flushed transmission with Saab synthetic fluid
  • Cleaned K&N air filter and re-oiled
  • Corrected position of AP Racing caliper brake lines to the top of the caliper
  • Re-packed rear wheel bearing
  • Blasted and repainted battery tray Installed the following new parts
  • Radiator w/ lower temp fan switch
  • New thermostat -New clutch slave cylinder
  • New reverse switch on transmission
  • New oil pressure sending switch
  • New front exhaust hangers
  • New air temp sensor on intake pipe
  • New starter motor
  • New positive battery cable
  • New power steering filter
  • New serpentine pulley wheel
  • New turbo studs and nuts
  • New washer fluid reservoir (Aquamist source)
This is the engine in its final form. You will note the strut brace installed and the new turbo. You can see the EGT probe coming off the exhaust manifold and the Aquamist water injection on the right (MF2).  
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This is a pic of what I believe Maptune had named Franken motor. You can see the huge turbo with an external waste gate.  
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Here is the engine right before it went back in. A number of people have asked me how many years it took to get it this clean. It really didn't take that long. The benefit is that if I spring a leak somewhere I can quickly identify the source. Whereas, if the engine is all mucky it is hard to tell where a leak is coming from.  
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First is an old pic of the engine bay. As you can see, I like to keep everything neat and clean. Then is the latest pic of the engine almost ready to be fired up again (8-1-03). We are waiting for the new 3.5" intercooler and she will be ready to go.  
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This is a pic of the Quaife limited slip differential that I bought from Abbott. I had the guys at my local independent Saab shop do the install for me since I do not have all the tools to tear down the transmission. While we were in the transmission, they noticed that the reverse gear had some wear on it, so it was replaced. The shifter tongs were also tightened up. To help preserve the life of the transmission, I have always run the Saab systhetic transmission fluid making sure to properly flush the system several times first.  
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Given that the stock bypass valve was not going to be able to handle the HP I wanted to run, I installed the HKS blow-off valve. I had to have a shop weld the fitting on for me, but other than that the installation was very straight forward. It was performed very well.  
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This is a picture of the engine bay before I installed the motor. Other than being cleaned, you can see the new steering bushings and the braided steel clutch line. However, I have not yet installed the SAS sway bar. You can see a pic of this in the suspension section.  
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This is the flywheel that I had Dave at Lesco lighten for me. He was able to shave 9lbs off the flywheel which originally weighed 20lbs. The engine revs a lot quicker and I have not noticed any problems with idle. Basically, this is a positive recommendation.  
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I replaced the stock shift coupler with one from a later year 9000. You can get this from the dealer. It serves to take some of the play out of the shifter.  

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Another thing that I upgraded was the intercooler. I bought the Abbott high-flow intercooler and installation was straight forward. Under higher boost pressures, the stock plastic end tanks tend to crack and leak. The Abbott IC has 28 horizontal core tubes verses 20 for the stock unit. The thickness of both core tubes was 5mm. The stock IC was about 32 mm while the Abbott measured 40mm (you can see this in the picture on the lower left). There was a difference in core design between the two units. You can also see from the picture on the lower right that there is still ample room for a larger IC like a 50mm unit.  
 

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This is the new 3.5 inch monster intercooler that was fitted once I removed the AC. This thing is huge and has great air flow capacity. Here is a link to some pics of the intercooler being made at Wagner Motorsports.  
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Well, it came time to replace my stock friction plate since I was ripping the stock one to shreds. Here I compare the stock Sachs plate to ones from Swedish Dynamics and AP Racing. The AP Racing plate looks well made and ready to stand what I might throw at it. Those pucks have the bite of an alligator and allow you to deliver every snort of horsepower. The Kevlar plate from Swedish Dynamics is suppose to last longer and the material will off-gas less which lends to less slippage. The build of the plate itself is not quite up to the standard of the AP Racing plate, but about on par with the stock plate. In the end, I actually ended up going with a new OEM Sachs friction disc. The reason being that the AP disc was going to give me more grip than I wanted since it was going to be combined with the Sachs Sport pressure plate. After 5 attempts at getting the Swedish Dynamics disc to work with the pressure plate, I gave up and went with the OEM disc. This combination is the same as recommended by the tuners in Sweden. The problem with the Swedish Dynamics disc is that it was thicker than the OEM disc and would not release from the pressure plate. After speaking with Gary from Swedish Dynamics, his experience was that this disc works well with the stock pressure plate, but was untested with the higher rate pressure plate. After an extended stay at Swedish Dynamics for "testing", I finally gave up and just had them ship it back to me. This is not the first time that I have had them deliver a product that did not fit the application as advertised and took an extended period of time.  
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This is a closer look at the braided steel clutch hose that came as part of the Sachs Sport clutch kit that I got from Engstrom Motorsport. This line gives you the added measure of assurance that the higher pressures will not cause a clutch line failure. To make sure that no other issues arose, I also replaced the slave and master cylinders and flushed the system with new Super Blue brake fluid.  
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Here you can see the coolant by-pass that I have designed and installed. Given that I live in a relatively warm climate in the winter, this type of modification does not affect my cold start capabilities (i.e., frozen throttle plate). However, in the summer when it gets real hot, this is good to keep the intake temperatures down.  
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Here is the short shifter I bought from Saab Savior. What makes this shifter different from the standard shifter is that they raised the pivot point about one inch, giving you move leverage. The stock plastic bearing housing is replaced with a nicely machined piece with a bearing insert. The total length of the rod has not changed (see pic in upper left), so the shift knob position is the same as stock. However, this piece is not as plug-and-play as it should be and it comes with some un-noted caveats. The problem being that it does not say anywhere that you will give-up your reverse lock-out when you install this shifter. Wanting to keep this feature, I removed the orginal shift lock-out plate and glued it to the top of the shifter housing. I will see how this works in the long run. Also, the shifter bearing at the end of the shift rod was a different size (pic lower left). This caused me to have to remove my original shift rod and install it in the new shifter house (PITA). Lastly, the shifter makes a clunk sound when you shift into second gear as the shifter rod strikes the side of the housing (I don't care for the additional sound affects). As to the whole reason for the install, I will have to update you on long-term performance, but initial feedback is that the gear changes are a lot shorter.  
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This is the higher pressure waste gate actuator. Since I am running higher boost pressures, I wanted to assure myself that the waste gate was not prematurely opening. So, I installed this unit from SPG9. The red hose is just a breather hose.  
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r those that have decided for forego the A/C in favor of more juice to the wheels, here is a pic of the OE serpentine belt that came stock on 9000s without A/C. I special ordered this one from the UK, but you might be able to get it through your local US dealer. The additional benefit is the removal of the A/C give more room for the monster intercooler.  
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In order to keep up with the new high fuel demands and just to be on the safe side, I installed a new high pressure fuel pump I picked-up from MapTun in Sweden. As a note to those that may also decided to do this, it does require some modifications and is not a direct drop in. The top of the new Bosch pump is larger than the OE Walbro pump and also longer. You also have to add some customer fuel lines to the top of the pump. This thing should be able to meet all my fuel needs. Since it does not come with any installation directions, you are basically on your own. Enjoy!  
 
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Here is the 2.3 engine with the timing cover removed. You can see the balance shaft chain in the front with the timing chain to the back. To avoid any potential issues with the balance shaft chain tensioner, I removed the internal piston and made a cover or blanking plate that I put just behind the now modified tensioner housing. Also, as you can see in the main picture, the chain guide that the tensioner positions into is now useless. So, I cut off the main body with only the spacer portion remaining and place on the pin in front of the timing chain guide.  

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