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From your Club President
Yet another year has passed. 2014 has been a great year for me and I can only hope it was as good 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 rea- son we chose this is because what we did just did not work. We all have had experi- ences 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. We seem to wonder where Saab is headed. For all our Saab Club members, Saab Owners, Saab enthusiasts, Saab collec- tors, 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 de- mise 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 history also by owning and believing in this great car. Saab is not going 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
The January 13th meeting will be at Colorado Plus Brew Pub in Wheat Ridge due to a conflict with Breckenridge Brewery. John Williams from JZW tuning will be our guest speaker. Other topics in- clude upcoming events and what’s up with Saab.
on the same path we have been on. We will, as a club, keep the spirit of friendship mov- ing upwards and onward. Look for club events, meetings, projects & drives in the upcoming year. Keep the spirit of Saab alive in all of us.
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Happy 2015 to all! Drive safely!! (Photo by Tom Nelson)
RMSC Meeting Minutes November 11th 2014
by Darrell Christiansen (photos by Charles Stoyer)
It was definitely a Saab night weather wise with the snow and ice on the roads.
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Jerry started out the meeting with introducing new mem- bers Juan and Alied who have a 2006 9-3 Aero. They ended up buying a Saab while attempting to buy a Sub- aru. Drove both and liked the Saab most. Another new member, Bob Saraduke, from Washington State, who recently moved out here. Bob moved here after his daughter moved to Erie, PA, and decided to move here where he has a brother living in the Lakewood area.
Bob has a red 1967 96 2-stroke, which he bought 2 years
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ago, because his dad once had one and he always said he would get one when he could. The car is mostly re- stored and runs well. Bob and Tom got connect when a motor cyclist pulled up to him on Colfax and asked if he
knew Tom Nelson. He indicated he didn’t, but later got in contact with Tom via email.
A discussion on ‘Salvage’ and ‘Rebuild’ Car titles came up, with Jerry stating that Colorado recently changed their laws concerning this. It used to be that a ‘Salvage’ car over 7 years old could be retitled as a ‘Rebuild’ until about 3 months ago. Colorado now requires that any auto that is totaled by an insurance company, and is ti- tled with them, has to have a ‘Salvage’ title no matter what the age of the vehicle.
Jesse, another new member to the club related his story of how he had a Saab Club business card slipped under his wiper blade while he was buying rings at the Shane Company. He has had several Saabs over the years, and currently has an 88 900T. His vehicle has the vents
worked into the front fenders to increase the air flow, much like John Williams care. Bob Buck confessed to probably being the one who slipped the card under his wiper.
Randy Kelly, who attended the meeting with his son Bryan, has 18 Saabs in his stable, and has 5 1994 Aeros in his possession.
Randy Kelly also brought a bag of ‘Turbo’ coffee that was given out as an award at the last convention by Peter Backstrom. Jerry noted that the reference to APC on the coffee bag, refers to the APC (Automatic Performance Control) that was developed by Saab to enhance the per- formance of its turbo engines, and prevent damage from engine knock.
There was a brief discussion of the possibility of a 2017 Saab anniversary celebration. No specific information was available at this time
Tom discussed membership, noted his history as the
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membership chairman, and indicated that he has several lists depending on whether it is from the Yahoo site, Fa- cebook, or the official club list. He has sorted out all of the Yahoo email names and matched to actual names to create the current club roster that has 173 members on it. This has grown from 154 members a year ago. The list was sent around the group to makes any changes to their names, or add them, in case they were not on the list.
The Yahoo list is currently sitting at 182 members, which may have duplicates. The Facebook site now has 85 members on it. We have members in Costa Rica, and Argentina.
Bob Buck mentioned that there is a Facebook site/club called ‘Swedefleet’ that meets down at IKEA on occa- sion. Mostly young folks from Loveland/Fort Collins that has some really nice performance Saabs and Volvos. Bob suggested that our club and theirs get together some time. They had talked about doing a more regional type Swedish event around the time of the Estes Park festival,
RMSC Meeting Minutes November 11th 2014
by Darrell Christiansen (photos by Charles Stoyer) (continued)
perhaps getting a larger venue (parking lot).
Charles talked about the Newsletter, which consists of the Presidents letter, two pages or more of meeting notes, and articles from members. He likes to have sto-
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ries that contain a nice balance of pictures and text. Pic- tures should be germane to the article. Classifieds can be submitted for inclusion in the newsletter. Any article that will be of interest to Saab owners is very welcome, whether it is a tech upgrade, or where to buy parts.
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Jerry talked about his conversation with John Williams who custom tunes Saabs to increase performance. He was going to try to attend the meeting, but has promised to try to get to the January meeting. Paul Bottone has had John tune his car, with a significant increase in per- formance.
John Clary discussed our current projects. Project Col- leen is ready for the final clean up and detailing after a crew, last week, finished up the last of the assembly work. There is a classified ad for this car at the end of this newsletter. The car is a good basic transportation vehicle. Will be calling a meeting in the next few weeks to do the clean-up work, take pictures, and post the car for sale. Rob will be the next project that the Club un- dertakes, which is a 1986 900T SPG. The mechanicals, steering and engine/transmission are out of the car, and need to be installed. A lot of the parts of the engine need to be reinstalled, such as intake and exhaust manifolds.
The Club presented the Haldex Unit (Halda Speed Pilot)
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to Tom for his project Red Bull. The item was donated by Karl Kingery, and originally came from his neighbor. The unit is for keeping track of time and mileage during Rally events, and is tied into the speedometer cable. The club took possession of the Unit about 8 years ago, when Red Bull was to be a Club project. Tom subsequently bought this car from the club, and as Tom and his grand- kids are restoring this car, it was felt that the unit should be installed in the car.
SAAB Story
by Charles Harper
What is it like to have a vehicle sold by an exotic manufacturer like Spyker? I bought my SAAB new in June of 2010. I had seen the vehicle first on the Mike Shaw lot in February 2010. This vehicle is unique, quirky and good looking with modern touches like RainSense and frosted tail lights. It also has a manual transmission and is a two-door which was what I was looking for. However, I did not think the vehicle was worth the $43,000 sticker price. Oh well.
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Hey look at that! In June an incentive ap- peared for a $5,000 rebate. And look! A zero-percent interest rate! That would make the payments the same as my last car I bought, so I should be able to af- ford that. Even in June, the possibility that the car could be- come an orphan was high; but, the vehicle wasn’t going to be
my primary vehicle. Sometimes, orphans can become collectible cars like Packards, and Duesenbergs.
Some just end up like Saturns--the Rodney Danger- field of the automobile world. However, I wasn’t planning on selling the car. Also, I would have a ve- hicle with a club!
I went to the dealer with my check book in hand and set down to bargaining. The salesman did not want to give me both incentives. ($5000 rebate and zero fi- nancing.) However, the sales manager asked me what I wanted to pay and I said I have a check for $4,000 and said how much I wanted to pay monthly for 60 months. (I had worked out the math beforehand.) The sales manager left and after a while came back and said we could do business. The transaction ended up bargaining out the extra document fees and dealer- prep fees. I see the vehicle I picked had been made in October of 2009 and finished in Austria. With a very low VIN ending in 00574 it must have been one of the first convertibles of the 2010 model year. The ve-
hicle still has it’s GM of Europe battery.
The SAAB had three years of complimentary mainte- nance; yet, I only got two oil changes before compa- ny filed bankruptcy. I had maintenance performed once more at the dealer before I received notification of being part of the bankruptcy from the Court. I could file with the Court to be reimbursed for the maintenance I paid for. The paperwork was fairly complicated. However, I had only a couple of days to respond and the amount was small enough that it wouldn’t make sense to try to hire a lawyer. I did my best, realizing that I was taking a chance filing out the paperwork without an attorney. After several back and forth responses, I realized that my documents were not proper and sending more clarification would be a long shot. My legal packet’s denial was soon approved by the Court and that was that. In a way, the Court had declared my vehicle an orphan without further maintenance or warranty.
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Or was it? In September of 2014, I received notice that GM had a
change of heart and wanted to de- clare the vehicle one of its own. A seatbelt recall has been issued for all SAAB converti- bles made by GM since 2004 model year. I thought this was quite bizarre since GM said they wouldn’t hon- or any type of war- ranty since the ve- hicle was marketed
by Spyker. Somehow, being shamed publicly regard- ing recalls has significantly embarrassed GM.I hear GM is considering bringing back Hummer, one of the other brands GM shed through bankruptcy. GM wants to compete directly against Jeep. It’s too bad they don’t want to compete against Volvo or Jaguar. As for the seatbelt fix, I am still waiting.
SAAB 96 Racer
by Jerry Danner
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Ray Middleton has been an acquaintance I have known for years. Ray got into racing in the late 60's in England racing an 1933 Aston Martin in Lem- ons when he was a kid. Ray also was a Air- plane Mechan- ic. When in England, Ray serviced Eric Carlsson's Saab 91 Airplane.
The Saab 91 was like a Mooney being single engine. When Ray came to America in the early 80's he got to know Scotty Knocks. Scotty an airplane owner living on a private field, also a race car fanatic, owning many rally cars. Ray & Scotty formed a lifelong relation- ship. Ray, not having a car, drove Scotty's 1967 Saab 96 Monte Carlo and Scotty drove the car of choice, usually his Mini, when they took off cross country to enter into races. Steamboat Springs was their favorite race venue.
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Ray Son Miles, took interest in racing and liked Scot-
ty's 2 stroke 96. Ray found a 1967 96 2 stroke sitting in a field with no engine. Ray and his Son Miles asked the Farmer about the car he said that he used the two stroke engine to power an irrigation pump for his field. Can you imagine that! A 2 stroke running an irrigation pump! Farmers are creative. I only won-
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der how long the two stroke engine lasted. Guess what Ray now owns. A Saab without an engine.
Ray planed was to spend time with his Son to make him a race car. Miles in 1994 was in 10th grade. He and his Dad stripped the car down, painted it Blue & Gray and was getting it ready to assemble as a race car and in 1996 his interest stopped when Miles was a Senior in High School. Miles received a ROTC Scholarship, entered the Military, took Pilot training
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and today he is working on being a Chief Test Pilot for the Military with a very promising career. Need- less to say the Race Car got book shelved.
Ray's racing interest declined and his business restor- ing WWII British Military War planes was taking off. People send planes to Ray restore. Ray's restoration
SAAB 96 Racer
by Jerry Danner (continued)
shop is located in Ft. Collins Colorado airfield.
This car has been sitting in Ray's airplane hangar since 1994. As you can tell, it has not been touched for many years. There comes a time in all of our lives when you need to cut the strings and let go your de- sires that have been re-routed. Over time we all ac- quire not only one car but two cars and a boat load of parts, engines, transmissions, radiators and some of the rarest NOS items. Ray approached me and asked me if I would take his entire collection off his hands. Guess what I now own.
I asked Tom Nelson, Bruce Harbison, Bob Buck and Tom Jensen from our Rocky Mountain Saab Club to assist me one Monday morning to help me clean out Ray's collection. It was like a treasure hunt. What fun that morning was. Bruce Harbison acquired the sec-
ond 1967 long nose body to restore his 1967 Saab Deluxe. Bruce's Deluxe is extremely rusted beyond repair and this car will give him a solid foundation to start his restoration project.
What a find. The body of this 1967 96 2 stroke Racer is like it came from the factory. I have been around many older Saab's and seen it all with regards to rust. This car is someone's dream. I probably will not pur- sue repairing this car as I have too many restoration projects left to complete in this lifetime. I have a 1967 Monte Carlo and a 1964 GT 850 in the plans. I would entertain the thought of selling the body to an- yone who has interest. Maybe not a racer but a re- markably restored original Saab.
Thanks Ray!!
Club Project—Rocky Mountain Saab Club
by Jerry Danner
The Rocky Mountain Saab Club of Colorado gath- ered for the final detail of Project Colleen January 19, 2015 at Mile Hi Body Shop in Denver Colorado.
This is the final detail prior to our putting this project up for sale. We had 9 gatherings with over 245 com- bined man hours invested.
All our club projects are cars offered to our club usu- ally in a hard ship case. Project Colleen was owned by Colleen Wells who had a great 1991 900 NT 3dr she dearly loved. It has a great body however had mechanical issues. Our Club took on the challenge bring her back to mechanical soundness. Phase I we bench rebuilt a 5 speed transmission to replace at a later date. Phase II we gathered to replace transmis- sion, reseal motor, replace clutch & water pump, de- tail engine compartment when engine out, replace headliner. Phase III was replacing headliner and mis- cellaneous detail items. The car is now drivable and runs great.
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Our Club just acquired another project. "Project Robb" 1986 900 SPG 3dr Edwardian Gray in excel- lent condition. We will keep you posted.
Loading a Modern Saab onto a Tow Dolly
by Charles Stoyer
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Tow Dollies, at least the older ones, are not designed for those modern cars with the air dams in the front. The main problem is that the ramp going up to the tow dolly is too steep and the front bumper or air dam hits the tow dolly before the wheels lift it up enough to clear it.
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Classified Ads
To fix this, you reduce the steepness of the tow dolly loading ramp so that the wheels raise the car and
1991 Saab 900S, 3dr, black, 199,224 Miles
To all RMSC Club Members,
Project Colleen is now being offered to our Rocky Mountain Saab Club of Colorado Members. Our first priority is to offer it to those who worked on the project. Second priority is any RMSC member who lives in Colorado. Third priority is those RMSC Members who live out of Colorado. If no takers then we will post in the open markets.
This vehicle is owned by The Rocky Mountain Saab Club of Colorado and is named “Project Colleen”. This car was offered to our Club by Colleen Wells as a Club Project. Colleen had a few mechanical issues and did not want to put the money re- quired to upgrade. She donated this car to our Club and as a Club we gathered for 9 meetings with over 245 man hours to undertake and restore this to quality mechanical condition.
damage to the bumper and air dam is avoided.
I did this with two blocks of wood so that the wheels
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drive onto the wood which has also flattened out the loading ramp. Depending on your clearance, you may need more or less than two blocks.
Too few blocks will result in insufficient reduction in steepness, so it’s better to have too many than too few. Do the same while unloading the car.
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Items restored were under supervision of Jerry Danner from Mile Hi Body Shop, Inc, Denver’s premier Independent Saab repair facility. Items we restored were ; Rebuilt transmission, rebuilt clutch hydraulics, resealed motor, new voltage regulator, new headliner, repaired drivers leather seat lower panel, detailed carpet, repaired and refinished LF fender from slight damage and numerous minor items. This car has a few slight exterior blemishes however presents well. Brakes, muffler, lights have been inspected and are in top quality condition.
This car has great curb appeal. “It is a Colorado Car, meaning no rust”. We are asking $3,900 OBO. This vehicle is ready to go. Write us and we will send you detailed pictures of the mi- nor blemishes. You will not be disappointed when you see this car in real life. E-mail jerry@milehiauto.com to request addi- tional detailed pictures.