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It's the end of a long weekend here and whilst posting has been slower than usual, that doesn't mean I've been idle the whole time.

Work has continued slowly on the SU Forums. See below.

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A new skin has been added to the Saabs United Forum.

For those wusses with sensitive eyes who couldn't handle Laser Red, there is now an Arctic White alternative :-)

Just scroll down to the bottom of the forum and in the footer there is a style selector drop-down box. Click that drop-down and you'll see the options there.

Fusion Blue is next.

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Avatars are finally available!!

You should crop your Avatar image before you upload. Max size is 20KB and 80x80pixels.

And speaking of Avatar, did you like James Cameron's faux enthusiastic reaction to his ex-wife beating him out for the Best Director Oscar?

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There is now a DIY forum included in the Saabology section.

That was at the request of Mike900, who posted a very good guide to making an iPhone camera mount so you can video your exhaust note:

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All: There were many more comments in the filter for manual approval than normal. I've released all of the valid comments and they should be available. Anything that you've posted recently that hasn't appeared should be visible now.

In keeping with Swade's post below for blogger support, please also consider a purchase from our site sponsors. Supporting them with your business is being a good citizen within the Saab community.

Finally, keep reading!! Thanks for participating in SaabsUnited.

In order to preserve some sanity here at SU central, I'm starting to set out some routines. One of those routine entries will be quarterly donation opportunity due to the fact that I get asked about it so much.

As always, if you feel the site's given you some good value in the last few months with the convoy coverage, the sale coverage and everything else, then please consider throwing some change into the hat.

Contributions keep the server costs under control and any excess keeps my dog Charli well stocked with Smackos.

You don't need a Paypal account, just a valid credit card will get it done. Paypal is a secure payment method and I don't see any card details at all.

Thanks for your ongoing support and for making the publication of this site so much fun.

Thanks to the generosity of a friend, I recently found myself with some money to spend at State of Nine, one of our site sponsors. I settled on two accessories for the "new" 1991 900 Turbo Convertible, both aimed at preservation.

First, because all convertible tops will leak at some time or another and because the plastics inside the 900 are still pristine, I chose the water-resistant convertible cover to carry in the car for those times when I'll park it outdoors for several hours at a stretch. I liked the portability of the cover (it comes in a box about 12" x 6" x 6" (30 cm x 15 cm x 15 cm)) and I liked the ease of use according to the State of Nine listing.

It is easily installed, that's for sure. On the other hand, my installation doesn't look quite as tidy is the picture on the State of Nine website:

I'll continue to work with the cover and the drawstring to optimize the fit.

Overall, I give the cover a 9 out of 10 for meeting overall expectations, but just 7 of 10 for fit for my 900. Worth the US$95.95.

See more photos after the jump.

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I also picked up a couple of Emblem Armor discs to protect the nearly new Saab-Scania logo badges on my 900.

Like most of you, I've certainly felt the frustration of the relatively fragile badge enamel that plagues virtually all Saabs (see evidence after the jump). My most recent brand-new Saab hood (bonnet) badge barely made it a year before the 80% of the color flaked off in one big piece as I drove one hot day. I saw it happen and, naturally, cussed like a sailor because I'd debated whether the replacement was worth the US$70 (with tax).

Naturally, I am in no mood for a repeat of that fiasco with my new 1991 Saab 900 Turbo Convertible.

For a reasonable US $9.95 each, State of Nine emblem armor seems to be a great idea. Installation was a snap. I decided to trim the "armor" prior to installation because it wasn't exactly circular and it appeared that the wider part wouldn't adhere unless it cleared the silver lip around the edge of the badge. (See photos after the jump.)

The "armor" is heavy-gauge self-adhesive clear plastic film that looks and feels that it will provide a great deal of protection for the badges. My questions are how the surface of the armor will endure, and if it should need replacement how easy it will be to replace the armor once it has cured in place for several months or a few years. Personally, I don't think that I'll be a good test of longevity since I drive the 900 fewer than 4,000 miles (6400 km) per year.

I give the Saab Emblem Armor a 10 of 10 for value, ease of installation and apparent quality. Naturally, I will not know how it will perform until a few more miles pass.

So, Swade's out and about. You're going to like what he's up to, but it's taken a toll on his time and the logistics of blogging have gotten a little difficult to manage. I'm happy to step in for a post or two.

Well, gents, the weather in my corner of the North American continent has returned to a more normal 60 degrees F / 15 degrees C this weekend, so I was able to get out and work on the cars a little (and get in some top-down driving in the 900, woo hoo!). This put a few thoughts in motion about the 9-5, and while I'm at it, I'll update you with a couple of news snippets regarding things (peripherally) related to Saab.

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First, the bit about the EnG 1999 Saab 9-5 SE:

I've vacillated about modding or not modding this car. I purchased the 9-5 to provide basic transportation while I repaired and further restored my 1988 Saab 900 Turbo convertible. Now, naturally, I have my "new" 1991 Saab 900 Turbo convertible and the 1988 will soon be gone. The 1991 basically needs nothing except a good detail. Sure, there are always little projects (I just replaced the thermostat), but nothing that will take any time or planning.

So, I got to thinking about the 9-5. It's got good "bones" -- no rust and all the parts are there. I'm reasonably sure that the car has never been mistreated, too. Over the couple of years that I've owned it, I've replaced a few things to keep the car on the road, but I've not done anything to better it.

Now I'm considering some improvements. Especially seeing how easily the Maptuner improved a car for one of Swade's friends, I thought that I'd try something like that myself. I'll have to wait for some time for a Maptuner for my car, and I think that I'm just as well served with a new chip or a new computer anyway. I've done no research in the last year, but I know that there are options. The handling is good, but I'm sure that some new bushings and shocks will help. Finally, some breathe-easy mods can't hurt, either.

The question is: how much do I invest in this car vs. investing in a newer, better car? I'll be shopping over the next few weeks to find out where the numbers fall. This is the car as of this afternoon:

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In the "peripherally related to Saab" department, Bejing Automobile Industry Corporation (BAIC) purchased 40% of the Daimler-Fujian Motor Industry joint venture to produce vans in China. As you may recall, BAIC bought the rights and tooling for the previous generation 9-5 in hopes of developing a Chinese-brand vehicle based on that design in about 18 months. Perhaps BAIC is setting themselves up to be a European-oriented full-line auto producer in China? Something to watch.

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I love the novel concept proposed by Just Saab for their upcoming auto show. Just Saab, a Saab dealership with stores in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA and Dayton, Ohio, USA, is preparing to display not only their new Saabs at the Cincinnati Auto Expo, but they are also including a crashed 2009 Saab 9-3. The driver and recent Just Saab customer walked away from the accident, and they're planning to use the crushed vehicle to highlight Saab's safety engineering and manufacturing quality. You Cincy Saabisti may wish to attend the event which is scheduled for this Thursday through Sunday. Photos, please!

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From the winner of 24 Hours of LeMons comes your Saab moment of Zen: his Saab 900 dirt track racer, complete with mud. Nice!! (from Jalopnik)

I think we can all feel a little fortunate that Kevin Q pointed out the WBZ-TV story about brand being phased out that was being planned for airing in the Boston market.

With Kevin pointing it out, we were able to take a little action and from the comments we received on site from WBZ, those actions were directly responsible for them altering the story.

You can watch the final edit on video here (or read it in text form, here)

It's a good thing, because that story spread to a number of other markets - like Los Angeles, Milwaukee and others.

Of course, it would have been better if they hadn't mentioned Saab at all, seeing the brand is transitioning and not being phased out in any way at all. Volvo were mentioned in the promo Kevin heard and they seem to have been removed all together.

Perhaps the reason Saab were still included was because of the video they footage they shot with a Saab-owning lady named Mara Woloshin. Mara was rightly concerned about here dealership closing and the increased distance she'd have to travel to service her car. Still, it's not fitting in with a story on brands like Pontiac and Saturn being closed.

One of the annoying things about all this is that a little bit of digging indicates that Mara's video footage appears to have been included out of convenience.

One of our commenters, HughW, managed to track Mara down and contact her. She was quite possibly a little surprised to hear about the story in the end.....

Thanks much for the email...I WAS concerned, VERY CONCERNED when the story was done, it was a few months ago when GM gave up on selling the company.

So the interview footage was taken when Saab were being closed, but used when Saab are being sold.

These are the things that get me frustrated about dealing with the press.

I guess it fleshed the story out a little more, having a third brand feature in the story. but the association, having Saab in the same story as Pontiac and Saturn, is a damaging one and totally unnecessary.

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By the way, there should be no complaints about what Mara's said on the video. Her concerns were quite justified. She was asked a question and answered.

The problem is the way the media have used the video and the chance it has to spread a damaging message through syndication.

I guess it highlights the importance of being an ambassador for the brand - noticing when things aren't right and taking courteous actions to correct them.

I did something wrong yesterday.

I posted what were some emotive design sketches received from Swedish designer, Johan Wejedal, prior to going to bed last night. Posting those sketches and then putting my head on my pillow meant that I couldn't monitor the comments that came through about them and as it turned out, those comments needed monitoring.

Johan, I published your sketches because I believed they were interesting to look at and provided a good discussion point about the future of Saab vehicle design. I did not foresee what turned out to be a smattering of personal comments that were probably hurtful for you, and were definitely embarassing for me as a publisher.

For my part in not scheduling the release of these sketches in a responsible manner, I'm very sorry.

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To those who chose to attack the designer instead of discussing the designs themselves in a respectful manner, I think you've embarrassed yourselves as well as me today.

Allow me to refer you to the comments policy of this site:

Respect

Good sportsmanship on the football field implies that the ball is the objective, not the man with the ball (rugby and gridiron fans, please think of other codes of football - ones where kicking the ball with one's foot is a big part of the game).

It's the same in comments.

The ball is the issue at hand and your opinion should be confined to that issue. No personal references to other people should be made (unless you know them personally and know they'll understand where you're coming from).

The key to everything is to write with respect.

Certain comments have been removed from the post covering Johan's work because they were personal in nature. To the person who kicked it all off and then justified his criticism by pointing out the correct nature of his pedantry with an all-caps AM I WRONG? Well, no, you weren't wrong about the name of the model in question, but you were wrong in so many other ways, as were some who followed.

I don't mind if people don't like the sketches and I don't think Johan minds that either. Design does polarise people and he'd know that just like any designer would. It's how you approach and explain your thoughts that matters and some people just did it in the wrong way.

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My thanks to those of you who did approach the sketches in a respectful manner and tried to keep a lid on things.

Saabs United is mean to be a respectful place. We are critical of various parties where it is warranted but that's in a professional capacity where the incorrect nature of their work (I'm mainly talking about journalists here) can be pointed out clearly.

To attack something as subjective as design and make your attack personal against the designer in question is out of place on this website. Johan was a guest here, just like you are, and his efforts should have been afforded the same respect you'd desire for yourselves in the same position.

We've finally solved the mystery ailment that was troubling our Saab 9000. I know a few of you were asking questions as to what the final verdict was, so here's your answer.

The original problem was diagnosed as a faulty fuel pump, but $500 and new pump later, the car was starting but it took quite a bit of cranking before it would do so. You'd turn the key and the car would be trying to start for 7-10 seconds before actually starting.

Given that this is my wife's car, I didn't want her getting stranded anywhere so we took it in to Steve the mechanic tonight for another look.

Steve hooked up a pressure gauge to the fuel system, started the car and the gauge immediately went up to around 2.5 bar, which is OK. Switch the ignition off, however, and the pressure went down to zero, which is not OK.

Apparently there was some gunk (technical term) in the fuel pressure regulator that was stopping a valve from sealing properly. I'm running from memory here, but there was definitely gunk involved.

Anyway, Steve got a clamp onto one of the lines, which cleared the blockage and the gauge showed a steady 2.5bar - on or off.

Problem solved. The car now starts on the first turn and lives to fight another year.

Well, gents, it's that time again. As we near the end of the Japanese fiscal year, my work load steadily increases right through the end. Add to that the additional goings on at our home, and my time gets pretty well maxed out right up until April 1.

Additionally, since this is officially a horrendous winter for those of us in the American South, I think that we'll be digging out until then, anyway. We'll also send our children to school until mid-June to make up all of the days lost (they are out of school again today)!

Thus, I'll not be around for a few weeks for any length of time. Bon mot!

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On the subject of Saab Independence Day, I'm all for it. As Ken suggested (and I followed suit), Saab Independence Day is appropriate, even cathartic, for we lovers of the Saab brand.

First of all, we should drive our cars. (duh!) I think that each location and person should celebrate in public fashion, but that's the only admonition that I make. Since each town has its own unique roads and scenery, I'll leave it up to you to choose. Some will spend an entire day driving a long loop, others will spend half an hour. That's great with me. Just show yourself well, with courtesy and aplomb.

Second, there shall be cake. We've had such a great showing with these tasty little billboards that it would be a shame to stop now! Again, uniqueness is the key! If you like cupcakes from a famous bakery, an elaborate Ursaab-shaped cake or a homemade cake that is made with lots of love, it doesn't matter. Suit yourself and treat yourself.

Third, there will be remembrance. Remember the shackles of ownership and remember the freedoms that we will enjoy. A moment of silence and pictures of Jan-Åke Jonsson and Rick Wagner may serve as reminders. Victor Muller, in his role as our own Simón Bolívar, should also be noted as the catalyst that brought our struggle to a close.

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In a note similar to Swade's giving up his 99 turbo, I believe that I've found a taker for the white 1988 900 convertible. I need the room in the driveway, believe me.

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Finally, your Saab moment of Zen, courtesy of Tommi and the Saab Club of Finland:

Recent Flickr photos to follow after the jump.