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From your Club President
December is the month for the RMSC's annual Christmas Dinner, so no regu- lar meeting is scheduled
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Yet another year has passed. 2012 has been a great year for me and I can only hope it is as well for you also. It is always a pleasure to reflect what has happened and how we can improve on, modify, change or go a completely new direction knowing the reason we chose this is because what we did just did not work. We all have had expe- riences we wish we could take back but the facts are that we just can not. Overall I have had some great days. There is no such a thing as a bad day however some days are better than others.
Many memories have been made with Saab in my life. For all our Saab Club members, Saab Owners, Saab enthusiasts, Saab collectors, Saab mechanics, Saab Dealers, Saab vendors, Saab Tuners, Saab is a huge part of our life. I know we are all sad to see the demise of such a great car company. I am proud to have been a part of history, as small as it was. We are all part of his- tory also by owning and believing in this great car. This car is not doing to die in our memories. We, as Saab enthusiasts, will keep this car alive for many years to come.
As for the up coming year, we will continue on the same path we have been on. We will, as a club, keep the spirit of friendship moving up- wards and onward. Look for club events, meet- ings, projects & drives in the upcoming year.
Keep the spirit of Saab alive in all of us.
Jerry Danner, President (Photo by Charles Stoyer)
by Charles Stoyer with help from Karl Kingery
The October meeting was changed from the regular venue to be a working meeting in Jerry’s Mile Hi Body Shop garage. There were two projects for a single 1991 non-turbo classic 900.
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Our Rocky Mountain Saab Club of Colorado pur- chased a 1991 Saab 900NT, 3dr Black, 5 speed that is in need of a few mechanical repairs. This will be
a club project. The car is pretty clean and has a lot of potential. The car’s transmission does not go into 5th gear. It also needs a headliner, water pump and few oil seals replaced.
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One of the projects for the October meeting was to assemble a transmission for this car to be installed at a later date. Club members were on hand to learn what is inside a 5 speed manual transmission and to see how it is assembled.
The goal was to have the transmission together by
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meetings end. We will have everything set, new bearings installed, parts cleaned and ready to be as- sembled by club members. Everyone was encour- aged to be involved but the main work was per- formed by Dave Snider, who put together the trans-
mission with the assistance of club members as he explained each step.
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A second group was formed to remove the headliner, replace the headliner fabric and reinstall it..
A third project was to detail the car. I am not certain that it ever actually took place.
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Members were encouraged to bring work clothes. Sandwiches and soft drinks were provided. Subs were catered by SubWay, tasty, and great selection of vari- ety and the beer was not bad either. Thanks Paul Bot- tone!
There was a brief business meeting in which Paul Bottone discussed the new hats and T-shirts that were being designed to be offered for sale to club members at a later date.
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Karl watched the assembly of the Transmission by Dave Snider and was amazed at his expertise and
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memory of how all of those pieces and parts fit into the transmission. Many of the gears, synchronizers, bushings and other parts are so similar that Karl felt he would have difficulty figuring out which was what, and in what order they would go into the trans- mission case. As it turned out, even Dave became confused on one part. Karl felt he would have needed a detailed plan and pictures to accomplish the task, and it would have taken him an awful lot more time
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than the 3 hours (plus prior preparations) that it took Dave to put it together. Karl would take his transmis- sion to Dave any day to have it repaired or reworked, he was that impressed with his knowledge, workman- ship and the attention to detail and precision of his work.
Karl didn't participate in the headliner replacement, but, when he looked at it in the later phases of instal- lation, it looked as though everyone was doing a great job. From what he could see, it was looking like a brand new car's installation. That new buyer should be very happy with the results of both the transmis- sion and headliner. That looks like it is going to be a pretty nice C900.
Charles mostly took pictures to document the ongo- ing projects, but he did watch the careful transmis- sion assembly, the headliner removal and replace- ment. There was more than enough labor available so that opportunities existed for other Saab related dis- cussions in small groups.
All-in-all, the food, drink and camaraderie were great and a good and productive time was had by all.
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Charles Stoyer and Karl Kingery
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Project Colleen
by Jerry Danner
Our club acquired a new project named Project Col- leen. Project Colleen is a 1991 Saab 900 N/A, 3dr, black classic 900 3dr. Like all of our previous club owned vehicle projects, there is a reason our projects are named after the previous owner or named in memory of a special person.
Colleen Wells has been a 20 year Saab owner and has owned 99’s and 900’s. She always had her car ser- viced at Mile Hi Body Shop in Denver Colorado.
Mile Hi has sold her two cars in the past only to be terminated by accidents. This one was doing well un- til it needed a water pump and a few other items. It was time for Colleen to move forward and get a new- er vehicle. Colleen offered the vehicle to Mile Hi to purchase and come home to rest.
The body on this car is still very solid and there is absolutely no reason for this vehicle to go out to pas- ture Mile Hi offered this car to the RMSC for a club project. After detailed inspection there was a few more things the car needed. 1) Transmission was per- fect except was unable to go into fifth gear. The transmission needed to come out for repair a shaft that slides the lever to engage fifth, 2) water pump leaks, 3) headliner needs replacement, 4) general de- tail and clean up.
The plan is to get the club members active in the re- pair Project Colleen. Our October meeting we decid- ed to get started on the project. The meeting was held at Mile Hi Body Shop, Inc.
Headliner was one of the topics for the night. Head- liner material and glue was on hand. A group of the members guided by Bruce Harbison & Steve McCoy (who both had experience replacing headliners) en- gaged other members to replace the headliner. We got it finished in a two hour time frame.
Transmission was the other topic of our October RMSC bi-monthly meeting. We wanted to rebuild and show the club what it takes to rebuild a classic 900 transmission. The only problem is we wanted to rebuild it in two hours. We were successful except we needed some serious planning. Instead of taking the transmission out and thus crippling the car, Mile Hi used a hi mileage transmission to rebuild. Two weeks prior, Jerry Danner dissembled the transmission to inspect. John Clary helped me by cleaning all parts and having all covers, cases, gears & bolts ready to assemble. David Snider took the helm in rebuilding and the technical aspects. The goal was to have all parts installed with new bearings, syncros, gaskets cleaned and where we would discuss how shimming, preload and transmission action happens. The main
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goal was to have the transmission totally assembled in the two hour window we were allotted. Thanks to Dave, we were successful.
Next gathering, we are going to remove the transmission, replace the water pump, replace engine seals, install the newly refur- bished transmission, rebuild the clutch hydraulics and have a driv- able car is a short period of time.
Some exterior detailing will be needed.
This vehicle will be for sale. All proceeds will go directly to our Rocky Mountain Saab Club cof- fers to support our club projects.
To be continued………
Ron Hagerman,’s family two new 2011 Saabs
by Tom Nelson and Ron Hagerman
In addition to the 4 new 2011 Saabs purchased by our RMSC members in the above article, we keep hear- ing of other members who are finding the deals just too good to pass up. After the final article went to press I got this message from our member Ron Hagerman, whose family bought not one, but two new 2011 Saabs.
We bought a 2011 Saab 9-5. It is a Turbo4, Premium edition, Fjord Blue. We also bought a 2011 Saab 9-3 Turbo4, Nocturne Blue, 5 spd AT with our son, Geoff (See attached photo of Geoff, Dianne, and me, with our new cars at the dealers lot).
We got both cars for a little over 1/2 of MSRP, with a 4-year, 50,000 mile warranty (basically all mechani- cal and electronic systems), from Cold Brook Saab in Skowhegan, Maine. The owner, Joey Joseph, had
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purchased 82 Saabs in September, through the auc- tion process. He had only 35 left when we made our purchases two weeks later.
2 Stroke Plug Bug
by Jerry Danner
While attending my neighbor’s outdoor evening get together last summer I met Mark Burton.
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Mark, a scrap metal artist who is a visionary, has the eye to create anything using scrap metal. He showed me a spark plug bug he made out of a GM (small) spark plug. I immediately thought of the large bucket of two stroke plug I have accumulat- ed to make a swarm of monster bug.
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I rounded up twenty used plugs. Mark created the monster bugs and gave me one for the donations. Mark would be happy to accept plug donations for his cause to keep the Monster Bugs alive. You can see his creations at
RMSC Members Have Huge Presence at SOC12
by Tom Nelson
The Annual Saab Owners Convention came back within striking distance of Colorado again this year, and our members took advantage in a big way. We brought 18 members and 12 cars to Iowa City, IA and took home trophies well beyond our fair share. It also turned out to be one of the most enjoyable Saab events ever! I will try to convey our enjoyment of the major elements via several topics: The Convention Site, Saab People, Museum Cars and RMSC Cars, RMSC Awards, and The Charity Auction.
The 2012 owners convention was sponsored by SCNA and hosted primarily by members of the fami- ly of Annette and Marty Adams. Annette Adams, SOC chairperson, who is also President of SCNA, did a superb job.
The Convention Site
Annette (show at the podium) selected the Mariott in Coralville, Iowa as it provided all the necessities in a very nice setting along the river. Space for tech ses- sions (Jack Lawerence speaking), historical car dis- plays, parking lots, and the banquet all worked great as depicted in the following 4 photos:
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Saab People
One of the highlights of most Saab Conventions is to get together with old friends from all over the coun- try. Here, in order, are photos of Tom with Bill Clark getting reacquainted, Jim Hutchins with a prized bull- nose hood from the swap meet strapped to his 9-5
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wagon, a gang of familiar RMSC members kicking tires late at night, and our friend John Moss doing one of the many things he does best ... judging vin-
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tage Saabs, shown here underneath Sadie. I was hon- ored to be able to judge the Concours model 96 class with John. Many of our other RMSC members assist- ed in the judging.
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Museum Cars and RMSC Cars
Certainly one of the main features of SOC12 was the spectacular display of museum quality cars from Tom Donney's collection, including several that he recent- ly purchased from the former Saab/GM Heritage Col- lection. But some of the award winning car brought to Iowa by RMSC members were also noteworthy, including Dan & Cathy's Sonett dragster, and Dave's beautiful and unique model 99.
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RMSC Awards
Did I mention that RMSC members took home some
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trophies? How about 14 individual plaques, with many first place awards. In the Concours, Jerry won first place in the 96 category, and Karl won first in the classic 900 convertibles. In People's Choice, Dan won first place in the Sonett category, Dave won first in the 99 category, and Jerry first in the long nose 96 category. Other first place awards included, Jerry in the Photo Contest, Tom & Avis in the Best Saab Fleet, and Dave won the prestigious Walter Kern Award for his ingenious work on his Saab 99.
The photos below depict Jerry's trophy extravaganza; we needed to provide help to display them all. Then our 3 RMSC award winning Best Saab Fleet entries; we need to encourage people beyond our club to en- ter more often. Gary Stottler, Concours Chairman, present the winners with Jerry's gorgeous 96 dis- played on the screen. Finally the complete haul of awards with most of the RMSC gang in the picture.
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The Charity Auction
No SOC would be complete without the annual Sun- day morning John Moss Charity Auction, in which
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many rare pieces of Saab memorabilia change hands. This year over $3,000 was raised for Make a Wish Foundation with one rare Saab art print bringing over
$1,000. Photos below show John in action selling a carton of 2-stroke oil, Dave helping display a rare Saab calendar, and two happy winning bidders with their prizes.
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