Fred's 1990 Volvo 740 GLE Sedan

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Fred
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Re: Fred's 1990 Volvo 740 GLE Sedan

Post by Fred »

I was hoping that the 940 fan resistor pack would work in the 740, but alas, no, different. So tonight I pulled the 740 unit and found this:

https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 7685076996
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 8555685888

Which explains everything, but leaves me wondering if I'd be better off wiring a switch directly to the motor :-D I will seek Volvo help on this matter.
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Re: Fred's 1990 Volvo 740 GLE Sedan

Post by Fred »

Took the old girl for a spin tonight and got the rear lights all sorted out! The number plate lights were grubby and dysfunctional. All cleaned and dielectrically greased now. Added that grease to the other bulb connectors/terminals, too. Should stop them fizzing away and keep the contact good despite potentially moist conditions. Also realised that I had installed a 5w bulb in with the other 10w units, hence uneven look, so that's sorted too. Woops.
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Re: Fred's 1990 Volvo 740 GLE Sedan

Post by Fred »

I'm hoping to use two of these for drag racing, possibly as is, or possibly widened (if that's possible/legal). Depends on how much drag tyre I can fit under the car without body mods and how well it'll mount to the wheels as is. The mods wouldn't even have to be legal, as they'd only get used at the drag strip, anyway. As long as they were safe and strong and balanced, it'd be fine.
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Re: Fred's 1990 Volvo 740 GLE Sedan

Post by Fred »

So to answer my own question, yes, some people widen alloy wheels:

http://www.weldcraftwheels.com/what-we-do/widen/

"Aluminum Wheels are V-grooved and hand tig welded on both sides of all seams. Visible weld beads can be sanded smooth for an additional fee."

http://ericvaughnmachine.com/Services.html

"Widening is accomplished by removing normally a 1-2 inch wide piece of parent wheel, including bead seat and flange that holds the tire on, and replacing with another rim section that is longer to make it wider. The new piece comes from an outer shell that 2 piece wheels are made from. The 2 pieces are turned to interlock to maintain alignment during welding. The 2 pieces are then welded together on our automatic rotary welding machine. Final step is to skim cut in lathe the new bead seat diameter, and slim cut mounting surface on back of center. These steps insure a perfect true running wheel. Cost $200.00-$300.00 depending on size.

Many of our modified wheels run regularly at high speed, such as Bonneville Salt Flats, at 200-400+ MPH with confidence."

And this is the local crowd that I had repair one of my FD3S 17" wheels:

http://www.arrowwheels.co.nz/about-us/faqs/

"Q. Can I have my wheels widened?"
"A. Cast alloy 1 piece wheels are not allowed to be cut and re welded to make wider etc."

I will talk to them about a not-for-steet-use modification and see what they say.

Fred.
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Re: Fred's 1990 Volvo 740 GLE Sedan

Post by Fred »

Not quite the pretty sedan that I have, but similar enough to be interesting relative to this car: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 3844286465

Pricing info is interesting, too! :-)
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Re: Fred's 1990 Volvo 740 GLE Sedan

Post by Fred »

So I took this out to buy screws to fix the toilet seat properly, and when I got back I thought "I'll just quickly check the blower fan for blockage" and it was seized, so I took it out and here's a couple of pics:

https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 0360773632
https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 0708673538

Image

Image
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Re: Fred's 1990 Volvo 740 GLE Sedan

Post by Fred »

Took a break to do a bit of work on the fan today:

Cut open bad one: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 8932538368
Worn out armature/rotor: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 9947239424
Brushes and brush holder: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 2694119424

Inlined:

Image

Image

Image




Did that to find out how to sneak some oil into the top bearing without pulling it to bits. Success, did just that.

Then cleaned the blade part of the good one, toothbrush, bigger brush, detergents, hose on jet, motor protected from water, all good. Drying downstairs now.

Next up: Clean the back of it/outside of motor, and then power it up with the variac and ensure it spins and is happy. Then it can go back into the car.
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Re: Fred's 1990 Volvo 740 GLE Sedan

Post by Fred »

Blower motor is back in the car, and tested on the bench to perform flawlessly at full speed, and any other speed between there and full stop. Updates:

Image




Test rig: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 7766846464
Clean bottom: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 5161091073
Freshened up gasket: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 9575584769
New foam air seal: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 6063327232
New little drain hole: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 2067195904

And exceedingly boring video of testing the motor: https://youtu.be/SgUWnIPi4hA

Can't test it even on full speed in the car because a friend has the power stage module and is going to fix it. It was pretty toasted too: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 8555685888

Image



And for reference, they look like this on the outside: https://twitter.com/FredCookeNZ/status/ ... 7097111554
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Re: Fred's 1990 Volvo 740 GLE Sedan

Post by Fred »

Fred wrote:http://www.arrowwheels.co.nz/about-us/faqs/

"Q. Can I have my wheels widened?"
"A. Cast alloy 1 piece wheels are not allowed to be cut and re welded to make wider etc."

I will talk to them about a not-for-steet-use modification and see what they say.
Dropped by today while out in the 740 and talked to them and the answer is no, with the reason basically: Too busy doing other quicker more profitable work. Fair enough!

I'll have to source a pair in the US, have them done, then shipped home. See above partially quoted post for more details of yank companies. I guess I might be able to find another firm to do the mods here. Will see about that, first.
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Re: Fred's 1990 Volvo 740 GLE Sedan

Post by Fred »

Took this for a spin today, to pay a speeding ticket I got in the KP60.

And then, when the wife got home, she handed me the 1990 Volvo range brochure, which I just read through. Even the brochures are exquisitely crafted :-)

I might have to do a thread on my brochure collection, I think. One nasty winter day with nothing better to do, perhaps.
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