Saab 9000 budget build

[Svenska94Aero]

Decided I'd better start a thread just so I can keep track of my ideas and progress. I haven't really done anything to the suspension yet, except for replace my blown struts with new Bilstein ones, which of course made the car ride higher than it had been. I guess that's negative progress

Car is a 1994 Saab 9000 Aero, 5speed manual, 220k miles on body, 95k on rebuilt engine with original high-output turbocharger. Current mods are custom black suede headliner, custom shift knob, modified rear spoiler, 5% limo tint on back windows, oem tinted sunroof spoiler, clear corners, smoked side markers, GenuineSaab strut tower brace, HKS SSQV blow-off valve, BSR cat-back exhaust, JVC AVX44 head unit, side-mount license plate, custom badges, locking hood pins, custom 3" turbo intake with cone filter, 6000k HIDs, roof-mount antenna. Custom turbo-back exhaust and stage 3 ecu tune are on the way, as well as suspension and wheels.

I have a set of 17x7.5 Motegi MR12 wheels I picked up cheap on another forum, with 205/40 tires (I forget what brand). I just need to get a set of spacers to drop the offset, I think I'm going to bring it down to about 25 in the front and 20 in the rear, but I need to do some mockups and figure out for sure.

I have a line on a custom set of coilovers (adapted from an e46) that a friend is developing, and I will hopefully be picking a set up next spring to bring my car down where it should be. I am also considering trying out a bag-over-coil setup for the adjustability, but I'm not sure about reliability issues, as this is my daily driver. I will make that decision after I have had the coilovers for a while. If I can't find a height that I think both looks good and remains usable, then I will give air a shot.

I'll post up a couple of pictures and photoshops later of the car as it lies now and some ideas for the future. Thanks for looking!

[Svenska94Aero]

As promised...
first is a photoshop slammed, second is a little more realistic because of the roads in VT, and the third was just me goofing around with a hoodride theme.

[Vstone2262]

Nice to see another saab

Heres mine, I need coils once winter is done. Im only an inch and a half dropped.

[soab]

Please no hood ride on a nice black aero... get a beat up one like mine for that :P
Have you thrown the 40 series tires/wheels on and if so how does it ride with that low series tire?
And what did you do with the wing?! looks sweet in that little picture!

[Svenska94Aero]

Please no hood ride on a nice black aero... get a beat up one like mine for that :P
Have you thrown the 40 series tires/wheels on and if so how does it ride with that low series tire?
And what did you do with the wing?! looks sweet in that little picture!

Wow, I completely forgot I made this thread haha! I have decided against the hoodride--for now. Although, since these pics I did get in some minor collisions (involving black ice, mailboxes, a telephone pole, and 2 guardrails, so it is beat up.) Lately I have been considering ordering a set of Diamond Racing wheels in white, add chrome hubcaps and throw on my roofrack, kind of a different take on the rat look while my front is all banged up.

The 40-series tires came on the wheels when i bought them, I haven't mounted them yet due to my mentality of "do it all at once." I need spacers, and I don't quite want to jump on the spacers before lowering, that way I can dial in exactly how I want the wheels to sit. And while I'm doing spacers I want do convert to studs instead of ordering longer bolts...it goes on :/

As for the spoiler, I had spaced it with fiberglass blocks because when I bought the car the spoiler was hanging by only 2 of the 5 mounting bolts and I wanted to try something different. It looked ok from certain angles, but it was an incredibly shoddy job overall. The hatch was rusty as hell, so I just recently swapped on a hatch in much better condition, so it's back to the stock spoiler now. Eventually I hope to find a factory bridge spoiler, or mount one from a Volvo.

Cheers!

Edit: BTW, the whole project is kind of on hold for awhile, as I need to save all the money I'm getting so I can study abroad in Ireland next semester. After I get back, though I hope to really start making some progress.