Previous Post: https://rdrama.net/h/personal/post/224879/tuesday-night-wednesday-morning-volvo-appreciation
For awhile today I had three cars on jackstands. That's three more than the doofus neighbor who complains to the township would like to see, but they're all mine so it's legal.
I got the leather to reupholster the Volvo doors. I didn't do a very good job on the first one, but that's why I started with the back doors. I'll probably redo this one at some point.
Here's how it looked before. The vinyl they used would shrink and pull away from the foam it was adhered to.
In the previous post I had mentioned ruining the threads on the Propshaft carrier while extracting broken bolts. I solved it by filling the hole with weld then drilling and tapping it.
Then under the car, where the center support bracket goes, one of the nut inserts broke free. I couldn't think of a non-destructive way to fix the ruined hole, so I drilled and tapped it in a few places next to it and believe it will hold. It's not pretty but neither am I.
Then, finally, I replaced all of the dash and switch bulbs that were burnt out. To buy the bulbs in their little carriers it would be six dollars per bulb. I bought the bare bulbs and wired them in myself for only 50 cents per bulb. Now I can see what buttons I'm pushing at night.
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Looking good 👀
How's the engine rebuild going
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Not rebuilding it yet. I just need to replace some variocam components to get it running.
There is a stuck ring on one cylinder, but it's been stuck for a long time and when wet and warm the leak down is only 12%.
The problem is the cylinders are probably not perfect circles at this point, so I can't just pop a new ring into it. Any actual fix will require boring and sleeving - a $10k job.
So right now my plan is to wait until spring to get it running again and just try to enjoy it as-is for as long as I can. I'm honestly hoping I total it before it actually needs a rebuild.
In the meantime I've spent all of the money I saved up for Porsche parts on this here “free” Volvo.
I really like the Volvo, though, and I'm amazed by how little rust there is. The only big problem is the rear main seal is leaking, but not enough to be dripping on the ground so it can wait until I get the Porsche running again.
It's also leaning to one side - which my mom just pointed out to me today and is going to drive me nuts. My uncle must've hit the mother of all Detroit potholes because both tires on the leaning side had broken belts and now I'm suspecting the springs or spring mounts are shot.
I'm out of money now so I'm just going to have to live with it until I pick up some work, part out the old BMW, or sell my Ansel Adams.
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Oh shit. Yea that's fricked and I'm assuming a common problem so finding a replacement engine is a no go as well. There's no rush at least, you have a good daily. my car has been on stands for four years so I get it. I'll finish it eventually.
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LS swap
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I'm sure if I did a leak down test on ten different Porsches, at least half of them would have a cylinder with low compression. It's just that most people are blissfully unaware because they're not neurodivergent enough to spend all of their money on diagnostic cowtools just because they want to know how things work.
What car are you working on?
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Ive been banned from driving my friends cars for the same reason because I tell them all the ways they are broken
It's my old daily from being a broke student, too attached to her to let her go.
Engine is in and running but I'm fixing the rest of the car as well. Rust repair, electrics, fuel system brakes etc.
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