LocostUSA.com

Hi, new member here, thought i would join up and see what you guys think of my slightly nutty build idea For a little background, I'm a bit of a Saab fanatic, i currently drive a 73 99 EMS and have had a few pretty heavily modded 900 turbos, two of which ran on megasquirt, so I'm no stranger to standalone EFI, or transmission swaps .

That said, I'm still very much in the planning stages, but heres the basic idea, BMW e30 as the donor vehicle, but pretty much only for the trans, which according to some Swedish Saab sites only needs a pretty simple adapter plate to work with the Saab engine. the engine in question would be from a Saab 9000, 2.3l turbo, basically completely bulletproof, and plenty of power. I also plan to use front hub assemblies from a Saab 900, should be pretty straightforward, as they have a double wishbone suspension from the factory. and for an increased level of difficulty, i figure I'll try using the rear end out of a 240sx, since they run the same bolt pattern as the front Saab hubs i want to run.

so, thats my crazy plan, probably wont be doing it for a while now, need to do some more research first, and finish a few other projects that are in the works, but thats the basic idea, let me know what you guys think, I'll be browsing around this great forum in the meantime.

Paul

Sounds good to me, but be aware you are not taking the path of least resistance or the lowest cost for that matter. If it's worth the extra work, and cost to you to have something truly unique then I say more power to you.
The Locost I'm building isn't what I "wanted" to build, but based on my limited (to put it mildly) experience building cars and equally limited budget I chose to go with a Miata based design. A great many more of these cars are started than finished so I wanted to make it as easy as possible to help shift the odds of project completion more in my favor. It's something worth considering.

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He is a wise man who does not grieve for the things which he has not, but rejoices for those which he has.

Use the Saab engine and transmission to build a locost middie, with the engine in the proper orientation! I have very fond memories of my old 72 99E, I blew up the transmission which pretty much sent Bjorn to the morgue...

yeah, i do realize this is going to be a bit difficult, the trans thing for one is something im not too sure about, i plan to make sure i can actually get a RWD trans bolted to the engine first though. another potential option is the borg-warner T5 trans, apparently the saab engine has the same bellhousing pattern as some vauxhall 4cyl, and there is a company in the UK that makes a bellhousing to adapt to a T5, so thats an option, though i havent heard many positive things about the durability of the t5's. and as for the ease of building, i have considered that, however, i do drive saabs, we are a foolish bunch for the most part

Paul

belive me ive thought of that, but like you mentioned, the trans is a big big problem in these cars, the engines have basically unlimited power potential (there are 9000s with stock internals making well over 400whp ) the transmissions are less than bulletproof. i actually just did a trans swap on my 99, ive gotten very used to the job after having a couple high hp 900's, i think ive done about 4 or 5 trans jobs on my own cars, and assisted with a few others, it gets a bit easier with experience . heres a picture of the 99



Paul

How would the engine sit? Saab motor have the transmission out on the front of the motor. Ok if you want a rear engined machine but I'm having a hard time figuring how it would hook up with a rwd transmission. Aren't the sumps a little odd on Saabs too. Good engines but not sure how the packaging would work.

The spindles by the way are very similar to the old Triumph TR spindles ...

A Corolla axle has the same wheel bolt pattern too if you want live axle.

Saab engine (flywheel at front of car- tranny gone)

yeah thats how the older saabs mount, 900s and 99s. i plan to use a 9000 engine wich is similar in design, but doesnt sit at a 45* angle like the 900s, its a much more conventional transversely mounted FWD engine.



thats the engine, bolted up to a opel omega transmission, wich apparently is a direct bolt on operation, unfortunately we didnt get those here in the states so thats not an option.

and actually the 900s dont have the trans in front of the engine, its underneath! the oil pan is actually part of the trans case. heres a few pictures that should clear up the confusion







but thats not the engine im using, because like you said, packaging would be quite difficult, plus it doesnt even have the correct attachment points for a traditional bellhousing anyway.

as for the triumph similarities, there are quite a few of them, the early 99s actually had a triumph sourced engine in them, and the engines in the c900s and even the 9000s are basically an evolution of that design.

Paul

also, its actually pretty funny that you mention that in your picture the tranny is gone, cause it actually isnt, the clutch has been removed, along with the imput shaft, but the trans is still in place, a clutch job is a very pleasant job, usually less than a 2 hour operation.

Paul

mmm saab...

I've got a c900 8valve, it's got no power, but try finding a decent non-sunroof car these days!



If you don't mind the weak points (transmission...), this might be an interesting project. The front spindles are already set for double-wishbone, and the strange lambda-engine over transmission might actually make packaging a middy easier (lots of room on either side for nice long wishbones...)

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Georgia Tech
Ride and Handling Engineer for a major car company
Locost finished - book frame, IRS, '84 celica GTS donor, '99 tacoma 2rz motor with a turbo, megasquirt DIYPNP. Getting rebuilt with new IRS, F20C
"the all-consuming time-sucking car, which I really enjoy working on" -KB

yeah those 8v 900s are real slow.

i suppose the middy thing is a possibilty, especially since i could keep the weight, as well as the power down compared to when its in a 900. the transmissions stand a decent chance of surviving with under 250ft/lbs, but above that its a crapshoot, typically 10k miles to a trans before you have a spectacular failure. but im not really sure im quite prepared for such an extreme project, rather go with the more traditional locost setup so that i can at least use some proven methods. i'm not out to re-invent the wheel here, just want a fun RWD car thats decently reliable and cheap!

Paul

The bell housing and oil pan from a Triumph TR7 will bolt directly to your Saab motor, they use the same blocks. It should not be THAT difficult to find one and if it's very important for you to use the Saab engine which are one of the best built ever. I'm not positive that it will bolt up to the 2.3l but will to the 2.0-2.1l.
John....