tuner4life

So the locks keep freezing.. I'll spray some lock oil in them at night and they will be stuck again the next morning.. The drivers side is missing the little flap that covers the key hole, so I'm going to have to find one of those at the junk yard, but the pass side has the flap and it freezes too.. Idk. Random little annoyance I guess..

Since the C70 is put away for the winter, we've been driving this one more. We are really liking the simplicity of this car! Everything just seems to work and work well. It has been turn key reliable thus far.

I recently completed the timing belt, water pump, thermostat, cam seals, plugs, wires, cap, rotor, etc..

I also had to find a charcoal canister because the previous owner had it removed and bypassed and would throw a CEL.. That had me chasing my tail for a few weeks. It's fixed now. You can read more about that here if interested:

I also installed IPD subframe bushing inserts and they are great, really fixed most of the steering wander. It still needs control arms, tie rods, tires, brakes, etc.. but it is good enough for this winter.

I also picked up a set of IPDs all weather floor mats and rear mud flaps to match the fronts.

And lastly, to help combat the stupid salt they use around here, I sprayed the underside with a generous amount of "Fluid Film". If you havent heard of it, look it up. Good stuff.

Anyways, what you really want to see.. Sitting at work the other night:

And the mud flaps..

BTW: I have SEM charcoal paint for the bumpers and trim, but that's a spring project for when it warms up..

Car is now in storage for the winter.

There are a few things I will have to tinker with when it gets out in the spring, but shouldn't be too much.

-Taillights are still having issues. I suspect that the circuit boards are bad because fiddling with them fixed the problems for a short time before they come back. I'll try to track down new boards over the winter.

-Steering wheel is nasty, I'd like to track down a wheel with the wood inlay. the very dark walnut? I think? Idk.

-Need to hook up a sub/amp.

-Needs an exhaust soon.

-Other Misc piddly crap..

Either way, It's cozy now and out of the weather for the winter.

The only gripe I have with the head unit is that I have too much music on my USB drive and it will only play up to a certain number of folders.. I think this cuts off my music somewhere in the "R"s. Not really an issue as I just divide the alphabet in half and put it on 2 sticks and rotate them occasionally. that and I have a "strictly best of everything" USB stick with only my absolute favorites on it.

Haven't done much to this car since the last update. Just washing it and driving it. Maybe I'll do an exhaust next spring...

Anyways, I was following the wife the other day and was able to get a couple decent rollers..

That's all.

Saw a red 850 wagon in the lot at Import Alliance on sunday 7/21. Had a Honda emblem hanging from the rear bumper. I was in the Saffron C70.

First thorough cleaning. Washed, dried, clay bared, Meguiars Gold Class. etc.. Also touched up the scratches on the bumpers, conditioned the plastic bumper caps/door moldings, and removed the dealer sticker.

Timing belt, water pump, thermostat, etc are on order.

The engine bay in this thing still just amazes me! So much stuff crammed in there!

Definitely always use synthetic oil in anything with a turbo. Regular oil just doesn't hold up to the heat.

This finally happened:

Finally got around to installing the Kenwood DDX-470 that I have had for several months. It was a chore figuring out how to make it work with the SC-901 wiring, but I (with some assistance) got it done over the weekend. Wow! Just Wow!! I love this thing! It is easy to use and sounds better than the stock SC-901 even using the same speakers and no amp. Ghost shadow was totally right, compared to this, the SC-901 sucks. I would never go back!

Beautiful car! It's the same as mine, but you got lucky enough to get a manual! Totally Jealous!

I'll probably swap mine if the auto ever breaks. Can't wait to see what you do with it!

No pictures, but I replaced all of the engine mounts yesterday. All I can say is wow! It is a night and day difference! So smooth now!

Giant pain though to get the front mount in/out.

One comment, and it's about the other car. lol..

More (not very) exciting news!

-Replaced snapped front end links. No more caddilac style body roll.

-Trans fluid changed

-Oil Changed

-trunk hinge tweaked back to the right shape. No more trunk swimming pool. Need new non rusty jack and related things now.

-A/C Clutch gap fixed, A/C now works all the time! It will seriously give you freezer burn now.

-PCV completed.. Well almost.. Found a big split in the big intake tube from the airbox to the throttle body. New one is on order.

I seriously don't know how this car ran so well. I found multiple vacuum leaks while doing the PCV. The PCV system was original and really bad. Every vacuum elbow was split, and the main tube wasn't even attached. I have never driven a car that runs as smoothly or quietly as this one. I can't imagine how much better it will be with all these vacuum leaks fixed and a working PCV!

I also made a list, and am currently checking it twice.

Still to do:

-Timing belt/water pump job

-Thermostat while coolant is drained.

-Brakes all around

-Find little ball stud that connects the gas pedal to the cruise control actuator (I really need to get to the junk yard)

-replace cracked turn signal lamps

-Put a decent radio in it.

-Fix bumper

-(Maybe) Repaint bumpers. (Previous owners were seemingly horrible at parking)

-etc...

This may just be the most boring showroom thread you will ever read...

We were looking for an 850/S70 to replace my wife's old and falling apart Infiniti G20. She wanted something similar to the C70, but with more doors and less worry of messing up a rare car in the winter. She almost preferred non turbo base model for the winter for simplicity's sake... Oh, and it had to be white. Well after a fairly long conversation the other day we agreed that condition > color, and we started looking. Yesterday this little gem pops up on the local craigslist. I didn't give it a second look at first because the silver just kind of looked bad in the picture, but it turned out to be quite the good car as well as being well below our budget.

It's a 1997 850 base, and I mean base! n/a, no options besides an automatic transmission. It doesn't even have a sunroof (I thought they all did from 1994+). It has 137k miles and has had the same owner since 30k. Besides a few superficial scuffs on the bumpers, and a few small dings, the body is in pretty good shape. Maintenance seems to have been mostly kept up with.

The Grey Cloth interior is imaculate:

I don't know, but I really like the base model-ness of it. There is no sunroof to whistle, it's quiet, comfy, and just seems to work. It should make a great second/winter car and keep the C70 out of the snow.

Maintenance things that I need to do:

-Due for timing belt service

-PCV system

-Fluids/filters

-A/C clutch adjustment (every now and then shuts off when hot, Freon pressures are fine)

-That's about it...

Once the basic maintenance is taken care of, I'll probably throw some OEM volvo Alloys of some sort on it, maybe a spoiler if I can find one at the junk yard, and a decent radio..

That's it, the most boring showroom thread you will ever read.

And a crappy rolling shot from the way home to finish it off:

I would love some Jewels! But it is very low on the priority list at this point.

Just a quick update. I finally got the tow hook cover painted. It matches decent.

Everything else is working great. We've taken this car on several road trips already this summer and love driving it. The next round of stuff will include: Motor mounts, exhaust, pcv (again), and some interior stuff.

Wow, Just wow! The cars are beautiful!

Sounds like typical cops though...

Absolutely beautiful! One of my favorite old school Volvos.

Is the C70 part the same as the S/V70? If so I'd be interested in those.

Ready for summer, Picture whoring:

Got the car mostly ready for summer.

-IPD HD strut mounts

-Boge Strut bearings

-IPD HD end links

-Drilled/slotted rotors all around

-Power Stop ceramic pads

-Flush brake fluid with ATE Super Blue

-New steering reservoir cap

-Volvo OE plugs

-Bosch Cap/rotor

-IPD Blue Performance wires

-4 new Fuzion ZRI tires

-Alignment

Now to get Grom to take back this worthless USB adapter and install a real stereo.

This thing is sweet!

Why 2 oil caps tho?

Holy crap!

Again, I'm just sitting here staring at the picture of the hauler hauling... It's a mesmerizing vehicle.

Thanks guys!

Polishing the manifold was a huge pita. I did the majority of the sanding of the rough cast with 40 grit on a DA sander, but had to do the tighter places by hand. After that is was a dozen different grits of sanding and a few stages of polishing with a cloth wheel on an angle grinder.

It took most of a weekend to do the cam cover and most of another weekend to do the manifold and fuel rail pieces. (Letting my fingers heal in the meantime).

Also the power antenna is installed.. Its one of the few things I could reach given where the car is parked lol.

I like those!