I am slowly getting the body and interior of the SAAB tidied up ready for registration but I have an issue with the motor that needs to be rectified. I can get the motor to start but sometimes it floods and it is very hard to get it to start afterwards. Leave it sit for a week or more or tow starting are the only options.

If the motor has been running at operating temperature before it is turned off it will start fine but if the motor is turned off or stalls before it is warm it refuses to start. If/when it does go after flooding it runs on 1-2 cylinders before finally clearing its throat and emitting a huge cloud of smoke. It could be as simple as adjusting the idle mixture or the cold start enrichment solenoid.

Having checked the basics without solving the problem the only way forward is to start swapping parts over from the donor car. Despite it being an atmo engine most of the fuel injection and ignition systems are the same. I have a planned the attack as follows.

• Swap all ignition components to see if the fault is fixed.
• Change the cold start enrichment valve.
• Bypass the turbo on the fuel intake side.
• Fit the fuel injection regulator from the donor vehicle.

If it is an ignition problem the fault should be transfered from the turbo car to the donor car. If this doesn’t work the cold start and idle air solenoids will be swapped over but I think the turbo is too tight and restricting the intake airflow. The turbo doesn’t spin easily but it is not hard to turn so I will by pass the turbo on the intake side using the donor vehicles intake ducts and see if this makes a difference.

If all else fails I can fit the fuel injection unit from the donor vehicle and hope that fixes the problem. If anything else is the culprit I am in trouble because other engine management parts are not the same as the donor car so I would need to locate a turbo donor car to continue the fault finding process. Hopefully the issue will be resolved before getting to that stage.

Any tips or clues from readers would be appreciated, I am a novice with SAABs and not overly familiar with the Bosch K-jetronic fuel injection system used on 8 valve motors.

Well the Pathfinder project had an abrupt change of direction shortly after picking up the V6 donor vehicle from the transport depot in ?Melbourne to drive it home. Taking off in first it was very obvious that the car had 4.89 diffs fitted. The tacho doesnt work so it is hard to know exactly how hard the motor is reving at freewayspeeds but it feels like my Navara 2WD V6 ute in fourth gear.

Arriving home a quick look at the compliance plate confirmed it was a 4cyl vehicle that had a V6 fitted from a half cut Terrano import. So still not having a V6 compliance plate I had no choice other than reverting to the original plan. Fit the rebuilt Z24 motor to register the car and do a V6 transplant at some time in the future after the Pathfinder is registered.

Who knows when the V6 conversion will happen, previous experience tells me that once aa car is on the road and while the car still works projects get put off and put off… The 4cyl motor is in the engine bay so a few lines and accessories to fit up and it should be ready for a RWC chaeck this week.

Well I am starting a new project next week after months of planning and wasting a fair bit of time due to a change in plan. Originally I started with a rusty 4cyl manual that needed a lot of work. Shortly after having the bulk of the rust removed I found a better vehicle with a blown motor. So the mechanicals were removed from the first black car to fix the blue pathy.

The project vehicle is shown above, it was originally fitted with a Z24 motor that had an internal hemorage. The blue pathy was purchased for $360- and the manual transmission from the black car was onsold for $400- by the seller. I fully rebuilt the Z24 from the black car with new rings, ground crank, new mains, big ends, double row timing chain and a fully reco head.

The idea was to install the Z24 to get the vehicle registered and useable while I located parts at the right price to convert to a VG30E motor. The biggest hurdle was locating a manual gearbox and the correct parts to fit the V6 motor. I located a flywheel and manifolds in the Adelaide Hills but this motor had a 2 wheel drive sump.  Parts for manual V6 cars are rare, from what I can find out manuals were not sold here and very few were imported.

Just as I was finishing the Z24 ready to fit a rusty V6 manual come up for sale in Queenland for the right price, I had it shipped to Melbourne and I will pick it up next week. So if anybody is looking for Z24 pathfinder or navara parts I have a shit load. I will also have a a V6 VG30E block for sale shortly as well. I have a D22 V6 dual cab Navara ute and the VG30E is one of those motors that keep on going.