N1CK4ND0

Hi all,

Just acquired a '99 9-3 two-door hatch with a history of vicious previous owners. I'm looking to put a good amount of love into this car to make her purr once again as all 9-3's should.

Picked her up from a guy who let it sit for a bit (and infest with mold) for 400 doll hairs. The interior looked like he drove a drunk guy home who decided to puke up 32 beers in the back seat. It also came with no keys because the lesbian couple who owned it before threw them after an argument. So my buddy, an ex-Saab technician, hooked it up with the correct chip that would stop the immobilizer. Still had to get a new key cut. No problem; some hole in the wall Saab parts guy did it for me.

My key would not go in all the way so when I hooked up a battery I just got stuck with the alarm which my neighbors adore. I was about to try and rip out the battery for the alarm but I decided to look in the ignition first. Ignition had about 8 pounds of guacamole in it so i had to take a propane torch and a needle to it to scrape out all the gunk so that the key would go in all the way. Key finally turns. Now I just need the FOB and TWICE unit to boot from a junk yard and I should be able to get her started. My buddy can reprogram it at a Saab dealership where he still has connections. This entire process would be even more hell-ish if I didn't have him helping me out.

Next fixes I have to do is refurbish the interior to my liking, replace the slave cylinder on my tranny, slip a new clutch in while I'm at that, and pop new head gaskets into her 2.0L. After that quick wallet-drop is over I might start thinking about upgrades.

These would include, but are not limited to:

New lines and whatnot. This car is old and I live in New England. Our roads have so much salt and **** on them that eats our cars.
Stop. Rust. Everywhere. Bed-line what I can after I patch any rust.
Tires/Suspension. Spin outs are only fun when you're doing them on purpose with the e-brake ripped.
TD04 15t is in the car now, bigger turbo to come when that teeters off.
There's a cheap set of leather seats in the junker I might hold on to.
Rear sway bar would get rid of the body roll and allow for better handling ("I wanna go fast!").
New brakes, full deal, they look like ****.
Might upgrade ECU. I've built the MegaSquirt ECU's before for my buddy's sport bike and they allow for more future fun.
I don't really care for much after that (yet).

I'm a pretty simple man I like to go fast sometimes but I can dig just a fun little car (and it is little). I love the looks of it though. Very European with its Swedish roots. The two tone interior is gnarly. Love the dark touches with the tan seats as well as the bit of wood color they rocked on the dasher. All around good looking car. Just hope it doesn't turn into too much of a money pit.

Any questions or suggestions or love or snuggles are all welcome. I'm down to listen, learn and try to give back around here.

Cheers.