Econmancer

I watched Home Alone this past week and noticed something that I think is interesting. Pizza prices have gone down over the past 20 years.

In the movie the family has ten pizzas delivered and the total is $122.50. It’s noted that it breaks down to “ten pizzas times twelve bucks” in the dialog. Later in the movie we are told the cost of a pizza again. Kevin orders “a whole cheese pizza” just for himself and the delivery guys says it costs $11.80.

Today I can buy large pizzas and have them delivered for $10 each, plus a $2 delivery charge. When you look at the prices with the CPI Inflation Calculator you can see that $11.80 in 1990 (the year Home Alone came out) has the same buying power as $19.70 today (2010).

-P. Econmancer

I take a lot of photos while I am working on my SAAB 9-5 and I’m happy to share them with anyone who needs an image for a message board post or whatnot. I frequently run into posts by other people using my images to help someone with a car problem and I think it’s great.

I just want to make this formal invitation to everyone in case some of you felt awkward about borrowing the photos without explicit permission.

This is a link to my Flickr account.

I am in the process of changing the user rites and organizing the images, but I will put this post under the stickies on the front page so it can be found easy; feel free to bookmark the Flickr link for quick access.

Linking images back to this blog or my Flickr page are appricated, but not in any way necessary.

I don’t have any advice about repairing the SID, or “SAAB Information Display”, on a SAAB 9-5 except to say that I only made mine worse by trying to make it better. There are several methods for DIY repair of missing pixels on the information display. I tried the foam spacer and warm iron methods and only ended up with more missing pixels.

There is a reputable company called BBA that will repair the SID and garentees its work.

SAAB Central has a thread about SID repairers that is worth reading before choosing a company.

My SID will be off to BBA soon for repair and I will post about the results at that time. For now, here are images from the inside of the SID for your entertainment:

Open air intakes are a common modification on the SAAB 9-5. Removing the cold air box really releases the sound of the turbo. The one complaint people have about having an exposed filter is the threat of water soaking and possibly entering the air intake.

Many people fabricate splash guards to help prevent the bulk of puddles from spraying the air filter. I personally have been driving around with an exposed filter for a year and a half with no issues.

I do have some protection from water. I installed a “Drycharger” from K&N. It is a mesh cover that fits over the filter and repels water using its treated material.

K&N says the addition of a drycharger only decreases airflow by 10% over an uncovered K&N filter, not too bad for the piece of mind and of little worry on a forced induction vehicle like the SAAB 9-5. It is actually more translucent than this image shows.

It fits snugly over the air filter and also helps to keep dust and larger particles out.

From Amazon:
K&N Drychargers

I’ve been bad about having things to post here, but not getting around to posting them. A lot of these items don’t really need their own post. I figure I’ll post them all and save some time.

New Direct Ignition Cassette:

My cassette was not part of the recent recall, but I was getting the usual misfire codes that signal a DIC on the way out. So I bit the bullet and purchased a new cassette. No more CEL and the car now runs so much smoother that I’m embarrassed I let it go without repair for what little time I did.

Update on Harrah’s Car Museum Shirt:

I received a brown envelope that was either originally purchased along with the t-shirt or it came with the t-shirt, I’m not sure which. I’m updating that post, but wanted to share anyways.

Tornado Warning:

I’m what I suspect is one of the few people in the world who have worked on a SAAB during a tornado warning. The sirens went off as I was installing the ignition cassette. I finished up, went inside, turned on the TV. I found my wife in the basement, but she was unaware of the tornado warning because she was playing video games very loudly at the time. Naturally I also went outside and took some photos of the “scary looking clouds” overhead. We got horizontal rain, light wind damage, and a little road flooding; but the radar indicated tornado never materialized. Not that I’m complaining.

And finally,

Reverse Diverter Valve

I purchased some silicone vacuum line along with the new ignition cassette so I could replace the line on the DV. This also gave me the extra length I needed to install the DV in reverse, as recommended in THE GREAT Diverter Valve FACE OFF. This has made a huge improvement in the sound of the DV releasing. I suggest anyone looking to get that “turbo sound” from their T7 SAAB to first get an open air intake, and second get a performance diverter valve installed in reverse. I’ll be updating my DV and intake posts to add this information.