38 replies to this topic

[Fishey]

taylor98v70xcharris, on 24 January 2012 - 02:46 PM, said:

Every one on here seems to know a lot. Where did you learn or how?

not this forum.

[TRACStar]

Fishey, on 24 January 2012 - 10:05 PM, said:

However, they are pretty much the same as every other car ever built with a few Volvo only quirks.

scumcity14, on 24 January 2012 - 11:01 PM, said:

Yep. This.

Yeah, that

Learned 55% of what I know about cars from my dad, but he was always afraid to tackle the in depth bigger jobs. I would just say F that and tear it apart, sometimes it doesn't work but thats all part of learning. And even if you have to do a job 2 or 3 times, it's usually still cheaper than taking it somewhere and getting raped.

Only downside is my dad now acts like he knows nothing about cars and I have to do all of his and the rest of my families work. He does at least grab tools for me when I'm under a car.

[RZT5]

Volvospeed and a guy in Ontario Canada named Scott Cunningham who's been a Volvo Master Tech since 1978. Recently I've been learning alot from Lucky.

Edited by RZT5, 25 January 2012 - 06:01 AM.

[wizzard_al]

bought a hopped up B-16 544 in late '60's, and had to rebuild the engine because it spun a rod bearing. Learned quick how to rebuild it on a door turned into a table in my parent's basement. Seattle had a very active Volvo Car club then, and members did things like swapping B20 engines into 544's (which had B016 or B-18 engines), converted them to cable clutch, added front disc brakes etc. Listening to them (same as reading Swedespeed and Volvospeed forums today) and I learned that these were not difficult tasks, just needed some planning. From there, moved to Chicago and started racing Volvos in the mid '70's 544, 142, 122, and except for roll cage, rear axle, and other welding, did most of the mechanical work myself. Didn't do the major machine work on the engine, but rebulit it and the trans myriad times, and did some amateur fabrication work. Moved to Dallas and had to sell the race car in mid-80's, and continued to own Volvos during all that time except for a few years. Had a racing partner in Chicago who had his own shop specialing in Volvos, then found a shop in Dallas area that specialized in them as well, and becaime friends, and they let me do some of the prep work myself, so I gradually learned more and more about the newer street cars.

Moved back to Seattle area, bought VADIS, did some more work on my cars, found an excellent former dealer mechanic who lets me help on my car, and I'm at the stage of rebuilding an engine for when mine finally decides to die (but not for a couple years I'd guess. Just completely disassembled it, and also got another engine that I partially rebuilt, and it is on its way to the east coast for another member to put into his car to replace a tired engine. Basically, like lookforjoe said, get the manuals (I started with the old paper manuals) and go through that to see how the car is taken apart and assembled, and then start small, and work your way up.

That can be scary, I converted my T5 305 mm front brakes to XC90 330 mm brakes (288mm rear to 305 mm rears, as well) and it was a bit worrysome when I did it, but I spent a lot of time planning what to do, and then had a backup to go back to the original if it didn't work.

Look, listen (and decide who is a BS artist, and then decide who really knows what he is doing - like lookforjoe and look carefully at what they have done) and then start small and work on your car. Maybe change oil, brake pads and discs, and then go on to harder things. These cares are well built, and you have to try hard to break them.

Edited by wizzard_al, 25 January 2012 - 06:39 AM.

[Oreo931]

Volvospeed.

['12brotruckmofo]

I didn't.

[Kevin.]

Lucky, Rye, Robbie and Cassie

Learned tons from the forums but it only goes so far. You have to get out under the hood and do work to apply and learn what you though you knew haha

[Deimos]

Knowledge? naw, I just grab a hammer and wing it.

[Tommy.]

Bought my first car/Volvo in the summer of 2010, joined Volvospeed in august and had the first MWC meet in January. Learned a lot from those guys and my father mainly. Continue to buy fun parts/maintenance parts and learn more and more by reading forums and talking with Volvo people.

[boxpin]

Still learning

[survolvo]

I don't know all that much really. I'm still learning a lot, but the knowledge I have gained has come from the forums and just getting in there and doing it.

I don't think I would know, or be able to do, half of what I do, without all the people here on VS and MVS. They have both been priceless resources.

Edited by survolvo, 26 January 2012 - 01:05 AM.

[hotfoot]

Where do I get the Vadis Vida (?) for my 97 850R ?

[Get Some]

here.. and from the manual

[andyb5]

I still haven't. But I'm working on learning, 1 repair or mod at a time.

[tizio]

More you chop more you learn!!!

[InitialDriveGTR]

School and here. And just plain trial and error for the most part. Necessity is the mother of invention.

[Ghost Shadow]

boxpin, on 26 January 2012 - 12:25 AM, said:

Still learning

volvospeed....did the swedespeed thing(snobs), turbo bricks is all about duct tape and zip ties plus they more into the RWD thing, matthews vovlvovo site just wasnt my cup of tea.

same here, bought my first volvo back in 2004 and also did the 5 speed swap thing, didi the engine swap thing, trans swap thing, then it became easy thing. Now my car of choice is a 98 S/V70 T5M.

[AdirondackVolvo]

I learn a lot on here. But my addiction started when I was very young. I remember drawing V70XC's in 2nd grade. Never really thought about it, and always thought I'd be into the 240's/740's. My good friend in high school had a 92 244 and we kept up with numerous civics and 300 XZ's in that car, as long as it was already up to speed...... But then just before college I ended up getting my own 2000 V70XC. Now I'm addicted. since I bought my first Volvo, I've found it to one one of the most well thought out vehicles I've ever worked on. No need to remove motor mounts for timing belts!, No extra brake bleeding procedures (Unlike Toyota which requireds a scan tool....) And over all a most pleasing automobile. It just feels like home behind the steering wheel. My current room mate used to work at a Volvo dealer. Hes a Volvo addict. And I'm going to school to work in the high performance field and hope to live my life our working on Volvos and in high performance.

[Vagabond]

taylor98v70xcharris, on 24 January 2012 - 02:46 PM, said:

Where did you learn or how?

Volvospeed.com search.