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Preparing for takeoff...
I'm very fond of the classic Saab 900 lines and therefore I have tried to leave the car's appearance as close to as it was originally designed to be as possible. There are a few modifications, though. I can only assure you that most of them were made with the functionality in mind. Well, perhaps the rear view mirrors would have worked in original black color, but thats it... :)

The latest addition is the installation of the Aero body kit. I had been considering this for some time, but was a bit unsure if I really wanted it. But as Kieran from UK made an offer I could not refuse... Now the car is equipped with the aero cladding...

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Aero kit Last Update 7th October 2003
     


Here are a few photos from the aero-kit project I tackled last summer. I sourced the aero panels from Kieran in UK. They were in very nice shape but I had them repainted in anthracite gray just to make them perfect. I also got the original Saab Airflow bumpers from Kie. They needed some serious TLC and I had to admit to myself that I did not have the tools to make them perfect myself - or the guts to pay someone else to make them perfect for me. So I made a deal with Mikko and traded the bumpers for the original aero bumper extensions which are pretty hard to find an darn expensive, too! So lots of stuff was shipped around Europe and ended up in my car... :)

It took about a week or so with the aero kit on that I realized the kit will have to be accompanied with an original Saab wheel design. Since I already had 16" rims I did not want to switch back to 15" original aero wheels which would have been easy to get hold of. Instead I made up my mind to go for the 16" aero rims. They are - if at all possible - even more difficult to find than the aero kit itself in a decent shape and for a reasonable price. With lots of luck I came across Graham's ad on the Saab Club of UK's site. He had for sale a set of brand-new 16" Super Aero II rims. The price was, though not cheap, reasonable. Thanks Graham for taking the time and trouble of shipping the rims all the way to Finland!

The rims are a fairly special model which is distinguished from the "ordinary" Super Aero rims by the exposed lug nuts. They came standard in the very last 9000 CSE models in 1998. I like the appearance of them very much, but that's my opinion. See for yourself, there are two photo shots of my car in its current shape up there. Thanks go to Edvin Pihlström for the photos.

A walk around Last Update 14th August 2000
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Rims Last Update 2nd May 2002
Found a nice set of Alessio Spider 16" rims for a very good price and could not walk away. These are 7x16" rims with ET35 offset - just a perfect fit for the 900 with no rubbing or playing with spacers. They're fitted with the new Nokian NRH2 tires in size 205x50R16. These are H-rated only - decided to make that compromise in handling to get a better comfort this time. These seem to be much quieter in 16" size than my previous Nokian NRV's (V-rated) were in 15"! And they weren't noisy either... Just got these today but the first impressions are very positive!
ComponentModelSourceEst. cost (€/$)
Rims Alessio Spider 7x16" ET 35 4x108 www.rengasmaailma.fi 400.-
This size of Alessio Spider's is specifically custom-made in 7" width to better suit the Saab. The standard width of 7,5" is too much for the Saab 900.
Lock bolts From a reputable German brand   50.-
This was truly a lesson: I first bought cheapo lock bolt set with the rims. In summer of 1999 while replacing the springs I was opening the bolts (previously tightened by a shop with an air gun) and realized they were WAY too tight. I had to try to open them with an extension arm and you can probably guess the result: the bolt head was ruined. And very soon after playing with another bolt the key itself broke! The importer told that they could get a replacement key in four weeks, gee! I went to a local repair shop which I can heartly recommend after many jobs well done: Helsingin Auto-Pelti in Malmi. They drilled out the bolts from two wheels without slightest damage to the alloy rim! Right after that I bought a set of bolts with a known good brand.
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Fender edging strips Last Update 30th April 1999
In April 1999 I replaced the original fender edging strips with the ones from the latest classic 900 (1993). They're about 1.5 cm wider than the original, this helps to keep the wide wheels inside the fenders: required by the MOT ispection and of course helps to keep the sides of the car clean. The cost is for 4 pcs. at the Saab dealer. I was at first considering the Saab accessory strips, but on second thought they were a bit too striking and the price was an incredible $440 a set!
ComponentModelSourceEst. cost (€/$)
Fender strips Saab OEM (1993)   66.-
 
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Side air outlet grille covers Last Update 7th April 1998
During the same visit to the dealer when I bought the car I immediately purchased the side air grille covers. In my opinion, even though they're a little bizarre in form, they make the side appearance so much lighter that they're a must accessory. Painted them red after preparing with Herbert's plastic primer. I used several coats of clearcoat and they've lasted very well.
ComponentModelSourceEst. cost (€/$)
Air outlet covers Original Saab accessory   80.-
 
1 inch lowering springs Last Update 21st June 1999
See Handling.
205x50HR16 Nokian NRH2 tires Last Update 2nd May 2002
See Handling.
Additional air inlet grille Last Update 17th June 1999
See Performance.
Ferrita Stainless steel exhaust Last Update 6th April 1999
See Performance.
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All materials Copyright © 2000 Jouko Kuisma