Question about exhaust systems for the 99 Turbo. The header pipe is
.... cheesy. As in Swiss. Talked to the Saab dealer, and the header
pipe for '78 to '80 has been discontinued. The catalytic converter
on this car has a 45 degree bend on the front of it, which seems to be
the problem.

So, the question is this - can I use the header pipe for a later 900,
like 1981 and forward, with a cat from same? I do have the cat from my
'88 and the flanges look the same. Everything from the cat back is
new, MotorSports Service exhaust (which was in the trunk).

Can I put a '81-ish exhaust system on an older Turbo car?

Dave Hinz

in article 2u7kk0F25jkc1U1 (AT) uni-berlin (DOT) de, Dave Hinz at DaveHinz (AT) spamcop (DOT) net
wrote on 26/10/2004 19:50:

.... Not sure about cats Dave - we don't have to have them here in the UK
until a car is as new as a 1993 model! Any older than that and we whip them
off in a flash, replaced with straight pipe Are you taking about what I
would call a downpipe? The pipe from the turbo that drops down under the car
to meet the catalytic converter?

IIRC, the 99T exhaust manifold meets the charge pressure regulator (which
the turbo exhaust side also meets) and the exhaust drops off underneath. I'd
be very surprised if a downpipe off a 900 would fit - the turbos were
different (no charge pressure regulator, sadly) and the downpipe came out
sideways and then dropped down.

It is possible that if you took the exhaust manifold, turbo and downpipe off
a H type, it'd all fit together. You'd lose that nice walrus sneezing sound
though

Paul

1989 900 Turbo S
http://saab.go.dyndns.org/

Dave Hinz wrote:


You may be able to exploit the fact that the 900 header is 50 mm
longer than the 99 and add the necessary extra bends.

I did just that several years ago when I fitted a 81 900-turbo to my 99.
Using a hacksaw and 2 trips (i think) to a local welder I managed to fit
the entire exhaust system that came from a 81 900 on my 78 3 door 99-GL.

But the result was ugly and didn't give enough clearance from the body so
the next summer I bought a Starla unit that certainly will outlast the car.
I believe however that a 3'rd adjustment would probably have given enough
clearance to be usable, and as I understand you are not quite in such a
hurry as I was...

Note that this job did not involve a catalytic unit. All I did was basically
to replace the two front 45 degree bends with a 90 degree one in the proper
location. I suppose the cat will introduce additional problems.

Frode