Redneck Engineering

Question:
What do a can of purple PVC primer, and the filler cap from a 1971 Saab Sonett clutch master cylinder have in common?

Answer:

The same size threads.

Drill a hole, add a little solder and paint, and voila - a new specialty part is born!  

(No, it definitely is not an OEM part, but it's a lot cheaper and more accessible than buying a complete refurbished master cylinder)

I'll be honest - it took a bit of finesse to get the new top to seal - but no more so than the original.  (The original, by the way, was toast because the threads got crushed when I repeatedly tried to tighten it down with an adjustable pliers to get it to quit leaking.)

I've attempted several times to start the car, but with no success.  The problem appears to be on the electrical side of the equation.  There is no spark to the distributor from the coil, so I've attempted to replace the coil.  Apparently that wasn't the problem.  With a little more investigation, I found that the contacts on the points were lightly corroded, enough that they weren't conducting.  So now I have spark, but the battery has gone dead.  Even with a jump, however, it still won't catch, and one of the alternator wires started smoking.  I tracked down two loose connections between the alternator and the voltage regulator, and tried to test the voltage regulator, but apparently you can only do that with the car running, so it's kind of trial and error at this point. . .