I bought a project 99 Saturn SC2 car.

pinballlooking · 05-01-18, 11:13 PM

I bought another Saturn for my other son. This will be his first car.
I bought this off eBay first time for me on this. I paid a little more for this one. $719
But it does not need painted the AC works windows are tinted front brakes are good.
It has 164,945 miles on it. Reverse is not good and second gear not very good.
This is usually input shaft bolt loose and a rebuilt trans valve body.

My son turns 15 Nov and can’t drive by himself at least 6 months after that. We have time to get it done.
We will probably rebuild the motor over the winter with my youngest son.
Yes more sweat equity.

I put it up on jack stands and it really looks good.

Brake lines

Daox · 06-11-18, 07:39 PM

Any updates on this?

BTW, I'm super jealous of your ridiculously rust free 90s car.

My 4 year old car looks so much worse than that.

pinballlooking · 06-12-18, 09:36 AM

I am from PA and no way would you find cars this old in this good shape up there.
Junk yards in PA have rusted out cars with good motors here we have great bodies with bad motors and transmissions.

We have been slowly moving forward.
The compression checked out good.
Reverse was very bad it would not move in reverse and second gear has issues (this is related). It had code P0732 Gear 2 incorrect Ratio.
I ordered and installed a rebuilt valve body from central valve bodies. The input and output transmission nuts needed tightened. We now have reverse and no codes.

I need to get a plate to take it on the road to take it through all the gears. (soon)

Both side mirrors were hacked with screws I ordered two new mirrors they were on sale so I got a good deal we will just leave them black.

New trans mount and top motor mount they were so bad.

We rebuilt both dog bone motor mounts Prothane 7-510 kits. Seen in red in this picture.

The oil sensor and knock sensor had both wires broken a I solder in splice wire with heat shrink that is fixed.
New back brake wheel cylinders rebuilt front calibers and master cylinder flushed brake fluid.
New transmission fluid/filter new motor synthetic oil/filter.

New tires Walmart opened CC card got $25 off 4 tires under $200 mounted and balanced. 45K miles with good reviews.

New coolant (ECTS) sensor installed

The drivers door window would not wind down. Windows regulator handle gear was stripped.
The driver’s door is apart and we are installing a new windows regulator in the driver’s door. To do this you have to take door skin off and the inside panel off. The outside panel just unbolts.

It is running without codes so far. It seems to have bad valve seals. after it sits you get a small amount of smoke when it first starts up. Idle is great we want to get it out on the road to do more testing.

pinballlooking · 06-22-18, 02:50 PM

The windows regular is installed. We still need to install inner door panel.
I got lucky and got this mirror off Amazon for $6.17 both mirrors total was $27.26 shipped. (It pays to watch for deals.)

Before and after

I think it looks good and we are going to leave in black.

I drove the car about ten miles yesterday. No codes it did shift a little hard I need to reset the adaptive learning.
It handled good pretty darn tight and It ran good.

stevehull · 06-23-18, 10:48 AM

This is one of those good news stoties and I am grateful to Pinball and his son for the bolt by bolt story.

Just great - thank you!

jeff5may · 06-24-18, 06:57 PM

Another reconditioned Saturn on the road. Congrats! How u liking those prothane inserts? I'm about to do that to my 3 door sc2. Wife started driving it when her Pontiac broke down, now it's feeling rather lurching when you dump the clutch.

As far as the valve seals, it could be the rings as well. If you're going to take the head apart far enough to change the seals, might as well do the whole valve job. I never did on my old single cam sl, just added oil at every fill up.

pinballlooking · 06-25-18, 07:02 AM

The inserts will last the lifetime of the car. They will also make the top motor mount last a lot longer and the transmission mount. They don't let the motor and transmission move very much so that extends the life of the other mounts. I think they are worth it.

I will know more about the rings once we get some miles on this one. We were going to rebuild the motor but it has great compression so I am going and wait am see how it does. If it using the Saturn amount of oil it is getting rebuilt. I already have the parts.

jeff5may · 06-25-18, 09:25 AM

I always used rural King or tractor supply oil in my old one. I believe that is one of the main reasons it lived so long. Adding oil every couple of fill-ups keeps the additives fresh, so the whole engine lasts longer.

pinballlooking · 09-25-18, 01:35 PM

Back drum brakes totally done. New everything except ebrake cable and it was fine.
My oldest son has been driving this car while we get his ready to paint. It is using more oil than I would like we will probably rebuild it once my other sons’ car is painted.

pinballlooking · 10-11-19, 08:50 AM

Master cylinder rebuilt and new brakes and front rotors.
My son has his permit and has been using his car to learn to drive. He has about 25 hours so far.

My son and I took out his front seats. We took off the front covers and put them through the washing machine.
We are happy with the results. They are 20 years old so lots of dirt came out. We will take out the back seats tonight.
The carpet comes out this weekend. Pressure washing time.

Our washer is a LG top load that does not have a traditional washing machine agitator. It just uses water pressure movement to clean. This worked out very well for this task.
We washed each part of the cover itself so the plastic pieces would not harm the other covers.

05-01-18, 11:13 PM	#1
pinballlooking Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: SC Posts: 2,923 Thanks: 172 Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts	I bought a project 99 Saturn SC2 car. I bought another Saturn for my other son. This will be his first car. I bought this off eBay first time for me on this. I paid a little more for this one. $719 But it does not need painted the AC works windows are tinted front brakes are good. It has 164,945 miles on it. Reverse is not good and second gear not very good. This is usually input shaft bolt loose and a rebuilt trans valve body. My son turns 15 Nov and can’t drive by himself at least 6 months after that. We have time to get it done. We will probably rebuild the motor over the winter with my youngest son. Yes more sweat equity. I put it up on jack stands and it really looks good. Brake lines Attached Thumbnails __________________ Current project Aquaponics system , Passive Solar Greenhouse build To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Solar Install 12.5 Kwh- To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Mini Split installs - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. EV Chevy Volt - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Last edited by pinballlooking; 05-02-18 at 10:34 AM..

06-11-18, 07:39 PM	#2
Daox Administrator Join Date: Aug 2008 Location: Germantown, WI Posts: 5,525 Thanks: 1,162 Thanked 374 Times in 305 Posts	Any updates on this? BTW, I'm super jealous of your ridiculously rust free 90s car. My 4 year old car looks so much worse than that. __________________ Current project - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. & To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

06-12-18, 09:36 AM	#3
pinballlooking Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: SC Posts: 2,923 Thanks: 172 Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts	I am from PA and no way would you find cars this old in this good shape up there. Junk yards in PA have rusted out cars with good motors here we have great bodies with bad motors and transmissions. We have been slowly moving forward. The compression checked out good. Reverse was very bad it would not move in reverse and second gear has issues (this is related). It had code P0732 Gear 2 incorrect Ratio. I ordered and installed a rebuilt valve body from central valve bodies. The input and output transmission nuts needed tightened. We now have reverse and no codes. I need to get a plate to take it on the road to take it through all the gears. (soon) Both side mirrors were hacked with screws I ordered two new mirrors they were on sale so I got a good deal we will just leave them black. New trans mount and top motor mount they were so bad. We rebuilt both dog bone motor mounts Prothane 7-510 kits. Seen in red in this picture. The oil sensor and knock sensor had both wires broken a I solder in splice wire with heat shrink that is fixed. New back brake wheel cylinders rebuilt front calibers and master cylinder flushed brake fluid. New transmission fluid/filter new motor synthetic oil/filter. New tires Walmart opened CC card got $25 off 4 tires under $200 mounted and balanced. 45K miles with good reviews. New coolant (ECTS) sensor installed The drivers door window would not wind down. Windows regulator handle gear was stripped. The driver’s door is apart and we are installing a new windows regulator in the driver’s door. To do this you have to take door skin off and the inside panel off. The outside panel just unbolts. It is running without codes so far. It seems to have bad valve seals. after it sits you get a small amount of smoke when it first starts up. Idle is great we want to get it out on the road to do more testing. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Current project Aquaponics system , Passive Solar Greenhouse build To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Solar Install 12.5 Kwh- To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Mini Split installs - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. EV Chevy Volt - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Last edited by pinballlooking; 06-12-18 at 10:22 AM..

06-22-18, 02:50 PM	#4
pinballlooking Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: SC Posts: 2,923 Thanks: 172 Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts	The windows regular is installed. We still need to install inner door panel. I got lucky and got this mirror off Amazon for $6.17 both mirrors total was $27.26 shipped. (It pays to watch for deals.) Before and after I think it looks good and we are going to leave in black. I drove the car about ten miles yesterday. No codes it did shift a little hard I need to reset the adaptive learning. It handled good pretty darn tight and It ran good. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Current project Aquaponics system , Passive Solar Greenhouse build To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Solar Install 12.5 Kwh- To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Mini Split installs - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. EV Chevy Volt - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

06-23-18, 10:48 AM	#5
stevehull Steve Hull Join Date: Dec 2012 Location: hilly, tree covered Arcadia, OK USA Posts: 826 Thanks: 241 Thanked 165 Times in 123 Posts	This is one of those good news stoties and I am grateful to Pinball and his son for the bolt by bolt story. Just great - thank you! __________________ consulting on geothermal heating/cooling & rational energy use since 1990

06-24-18, 06:57 PM	#6
jeff5may Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: elizabethtown, ky, USA Posts: 2,431 Thanks: 431 Thanked 619 Times in 517 Posts	Another reconditioned Saturn on the road. Congrats! How u liking those prothane inserts? I'm about to do that to my 3 door sc2. Wife started driving it when her Pontiac broke down, now it's feeling rather lurching when you dump the clutch. As far as the valve seals, it could be the rings as well. If you're going to take the head apart far enough to change the seals, might as well do the whole valve job. I never did on my old single cam sl, just added oil at every fill up.

06-25-18, 07:02 AM	#7
pinballlooking Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: SC Posts: 2,923 Thanks: 172 Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts	The inserts will last the lifetime of the car. They will also make the top motor mount last a lot longer and the transmission mount. They don't let the motor and transmission move very much so that extends the life of the other mounts. I think they are worth it. I will know more about the rings once we get some miles on this one. We were going to rebuild the motor but it has great compression so I am going and wait am see how it does. If it using the Saturn amount of oil it is getting rebuilt. I already have the parts. __________________ Current project Aquaponics system , Passive Solar Greenhouse build To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Solar Install 12.5 Kwh- To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Mini Split installs - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. EV Chevy Volt - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

06-25-18, 09:25 AM	#8
jeff5may Supreme EcoRenovator Join Date: Jan 2010 Location: elizabethtown, ky, USA Posts: 2,431 Thanks: 431 Thanked 619 Times in 517 Posts	I always used rural King or tractor supply oil in my old one. I believe that is one of the main reasons it lived so long. Adding oil every couple of fill-ups keeps the additives fresh, so the whole engine lasts longer.

09-25-18, 01:35 PM	#9
pinballlooking Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: SC Posts: 2,923 Thanks: 172 Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts	Back drum brakes totally done. New everything except ebrake cable and it was fine. My oldest son has been driving this car while we get his ready to paint. It is using more oil than I would like we will probably rebuild it once my other sons’ car is painted. __________________ Current project Aquaponics system , Passive Solar Greenhouse build To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Solar Install 12.5 Kwh- To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Mini Split installs - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. EV Chevy Volt - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

10-11-19, 08:50 AM	#10
pinballlooking Super Moderator Join Date: Jun 2013 Location: SC Posts: 2,923 Thanks: 172 Thanked 564 Times in 463 Posts	Master cylinder rebuilt and new brakes and front rotors. My son has his permit and has been using his car to learn to drive. He has about 25 hours so far. My son and I took out his front seats. We took off the front covers and put them through the washing machine. We are happy with the results. They are 20 years old so lots of dirt came out. We will take out the back seats tonight. The carpet comes out this weekend. Pressure washing time. Our washer is a LG top load that does not have a traditional washing machine agitator. It just uses water pressure movement to clean. This worked out very well for this task. We washed each part of the cover itself so the plastic pieces would not harm the other covers. Attached Thumbnails __________________ Current project Aquaponics system , Passive Solar Greenhouse build To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Solar Install 12.5 Kwh- To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Mini Split installs - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. EV Chevy Volt - To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Last edited by pinballlooking; 10-11-19 at 09:41 AM..