This came up for auction with $1 reserve and looked straight, so I took a risk and bid until the bitter end and won the auction.




Which felt like a risk and one that might have been a mistake, until I showed up and saw the car, saw how mint most of it is, how rust free it is, how well it runs, how well it drives, and generally how awesome it is. Upon just viewing it, I lost the feeling of regret completely. Upon driving it away up the motorway, I grinned like a child with a new toy. What a fabulous car :-)

Engine is in good shape. Auto trans shifts clean like a new one. Everything works except the driver's door handle, which I will attempt to fix soon enough.


Things that are wrong with it that I would like to fix:

• Driver's external door handle not working
• Trim missing from rear RHS door exterior and slight scuff of other paint onto the door and slight dent
• Slight dent right rear bumper side near gas flap
• Interior front door handle plastic trim has crumbled from harsh NZ UV light
• Other car's paint scuffed onto LHS front guard/wing
• Various internal cardboard/carpet panels loose or not fitted properly
• Aircon pump noisy and not very cold (but does seem to function, probably needs a service and new gas)
• Slight oil leak from front crank seal
• Odometer and trip counter move in a jerky fashion
• Sticky starter staying engaged needs grease
• Radio requires security code entering... manual says "ask your dealer"...
• Tiny rust hole in firewall/window well thingy
• Light on the dash says other light is blown somewhere
• Headlight reflectors are rusty on the lower half

Service items needing doing:

• Change oil/filter
• Check/change plugs
• Change auto trans fluid
• Change coolant

Mods that I may or may not do sooner or later:

• Stiffer sway bars
• Lower stiffer springs
• Fresh stiffer shocks
• 15 or 16" 5x108 PCD wheels and tyres (currently riding on near new 195/65R14 china tyres)
• Swap ECU to FreeEMS
• TD05HR16G turbo setup that can be easily removed for safety inspection time
• Better brakes? Only if:
• Some wild engine swap!
• Possibly ditch auto for manual

However I'm happy enough with it as is! So nothing will change for a while aside from physical fixups and maintenance.

Very pleased to own a Volvo wagon again! Feels good so far! :-)

Comments welcome!

Fred.

Problems list updated in first post.

Put some time towards boosting the Volvo, but removing and lubricating the exhaust manifold studs, and heat shield bolts (two of which were missing).

Nuts lubed: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 1268163586
Bolts replaced: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 0378830849
Dash light explanation: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 6013380609

Looks like a manifold inversion and J pipe turbo setup may work.

Fred.

The other day I took the starter out to lube it, and found it to be in less than ideal condition. Then I got a text message about a volvo in a yard. Now I have a new steering wheel and an intercooler. yay. Oh, and another rooted starter motor LOL :-D Not an ideal design from Bosch, there. Will try to rebuild one or both today, and reinstall so I can take the car to the new place. Pics of bits soon.

Starter was rebuilt and Volvo used for many trips since! Tonight I did some more work on her:

1) Whipped out ORIGINAL spare wheel/tyre combo and cleaned it. Amazing. It has been used, but only briefly. The wheel is like new. The lead weights are original. Snow tyre made in France. Cool. https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 8247932929 and https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 1936524288

2) Whipped out the seatbelt extension, and derusted the bracket and primed it with zinc as a temporary measure that may be good enough forever.

3) Whipped out the blown headlight bulb to get a replacement.

4) Cleaned out the spare tyre hole from dust etc.

Needs some more surface cleaning and some rust killer compound and paint. Then I can strap the spare back in nice and tight and clip the cover over it properly. Bulb is easy. Firewall rust spot will get a similar treatment and something covering it for now.

Needs a better ECU... :-)

Fred.

Removed the whiteish paint scrape/rub marks on the right rear door today; just the dentedness remains there, and lack of trim.

Cleaned out the engine bay a bit more, too. Scrubbed some rubber seals till they looked like new. Degreased the alternator and a few other things.

Replaced both headlight bulbs with new matching ones. The one that was still working looked tired in the filament department.

Another afternoon or two on it and it'll be WOF time. Then it'll be ECU time :-D

Fred.

WOF is on the car!
Door handle fixed.
Spare strapped in.
Rust welded up.
Zinc primer applied.
Exterior washed down.
Engine bay degreased and looking like new.
Synth ATF obtained for auto slush box.
Synth 80/140 obtained for diff.
Just nabbed a set of four Arrakis wheels from a later car for $200NZ :-D Pics of them on other cars etc










I reckon they'll fit the gold wagon pretty well, style wise. Going to try to pick up tomorrow arvo. Attending a show in it in the morning. Trailer load of gear from storage to flat after pickup of wheels.

Fred.

Pic of the actual wheels: https://mobile.twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/ ... 8940482561

Volvo now has full synthetic:

Diff oil (80w140)
ATF
Engine oil (10w50)

BIG BIG thank you to our member Corbon for allowing me to use his driveway and tools to do the engine oil and filter tonight! Hugely appreciated! Thanks mate! :-)

Volvo was coupled to the ute earlier, too! A frame seems to be mint. Will give it a tow test soon to see how it is under hard brakes. If it passes that, I'll leave it alone. If not, I'll modify the two bar on the Volvo like this: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 0875916288

Bought a little something for the Volvo tonight....

And did some work on the interior, too:

Before: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 8556931073
Glass cut: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 9144456192
Filled with epoxy and wetted down: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 1341786112
With glass laid on: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 4804090881
With load to keepit flat: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 9568191488
Rear panel with some cracks getting repaired, too. https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 6240072705