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Story time.. We had 2 Volvos, the Saffron C70 that sees summer weather only, and the 1997 base model 850 sedan which has been my wife's daily for 3 years now with basically no issues. We recently had a child, and space was just too tight in the 850 for 2 adults, a car seat, 2 dogs and anything else we would want to take if the whole family went somewhere. The logical choice was to replace the 850 with a wagon. My only requirements were that it had to at least be a T5 model. After several months of looking for a nice, good condition 1998 V70T5, We started joking that it might be easier to find a Saffron V70R, than it had been trying to find a basic T5... So we changed our search. We had a couple possible leads out in California, but the costs were a bit more than we really wanted to spend once we had to pay to get it here.. Plus I hate buying a car sight-unseen. Last week, a 1998 Saffron V70R popped up for sale just a few hours away from me. The miles were high, and it was a little riced from what I could tell by the pictures. (black plastidip, smoked tails, etc..), but the price was quite a bit lower than any other I had found, so I decided to go take a look. From what I can tell, it was basically stock except for a cobbled together exhaust, and the random parts that the previous owner decided to paint. It needs a bit of work (detailed below), but it did drive decent, A/C worked, and was complete. It will make a great daily once I put in some work, It's cool enough that I don't mind a station wagon, but it's not in such good condition that I will feel bad about it being driven all year in Indiana. So I decided to bring it home. Here are a few pics on the way back home: Once I got it home, I obviously the first thing I had to do was get some pictures of the matching pair together. Now I am getting really excited about this project! Now that it's home I was able to give a more thorough looking over. It's going to need a lot of work, I mean a complete stage zero, plus front suspension. and several other things. Got it in the shop. Here's the list of good things: -Body is very good for the age/miles. Some dents and dings, but virtually no rust. Just very slight along the bottom of the pinch welds. should clean up easily. -Driveshaft is still there. Can't really tell condition, but it's there, and there isn't much of a vibration other than junk tires. -Interior condition is pretty good, leather and suede will clean up nicely, and I can replace the ricey painted parts easily from the junk yard -While it needs a lot of maintenance, the engine is in good shape, checked compression and they were 165-170 on my old harbor freight gauge that normally reads low. the cam lobes under the oil cap look great -It's a freakin Saffron V70R.. Here's what it needs... - Stage zero, I mean everything! -Timing belt/water pump/thermostat/front seals/drivebelt - PCV system - Complete ignition tune up (found autolite plugs and autozone wires, ugh) - All rubber hoses - Bottom of intercooler is cracked where someone put some sort of rigged up drain plug. Need to replace and might as well do the radiator while I'm at it. - It's got an oil leak on the back of the engine that I still need to diagnose Assuming something going to/from the turbo, or turbo itself. Someone put that stupid angle gear in the way and I can't see crap. - I think axle seals are bad too. - I'll throw the oil pan o-rings in it too for good measure - ABS module needs the soldier joints retouched. - CEL for rear O2, Air pump system (will delete that junk), and the P0107 for the stupid baro sensor. - New Exhaust - All front suspension (tie rods, control arms, CV axles, links, IPD subframe bushing inserts, etc..) Strut assemblies seem surprisingly ok for now - Brakes all around - E-brake cables broken - Front right door lock actuator - Have 2 remotes, even with new batteries, they don't work.. - Sunroof assy works sketchy and has caulk on it. I'll find another at the junkyard. - Various cosmetic doo-dads that I can get from the junk yard It needs more, but that list should get it on the road and reliable anyways. The goal is to have it up and going by winter because my in-laws want to buy the silver 850 before then. I've never had an AWD car before, especially a P80, so thanks in advance for help with all of the dumb questions, and expect a lot of them regarding the AWD system. Here are the rest of the pictures I've taken so far: The half-arse drain thingy on the intercooler that cracked it: Here's the oil leak area: Needs brakes, the wheels are just plastidip, but I'm scared what they look like underneath.. The underside is in relatively decent shape for being a midwestern car: Here's how it sits for now, for a while probably:

Thanks! I'm very happy with how both of them are shaping up and excited to get them out and put miles on them. Short version is I was crossing an intersection and got hit by a guy turning right on a red. It was 100% his fault and thankfully he wasn't going that fast yet since he was taking off from a stop. Still hit me hard enough to take the bike out from under me and bounce me off the hood though. One upside is that since the All City was my commuter/rain bike I'd been mostly off my Cielo since the fall. Been riding it exclusively the last couple months and putting good miles on it. Love this bike:

Started rewiring the car. First the rear. Parking lights, tail lights, number plate lights, fog light, backup/reversing lights, turn signal lights and brake lights. After that the main front loom. This is the loom running from the fuse/relay box to the steering column, wipers, front lights and also hold wires for the motormanagement, OBD and some other stuff. Most has been removed. Starting the puzzle, Empty fuse/relay box to start, After some time... What is left for now after putting it back in the car, Also stripped the light and hazard switches from the dash loom and added them to the main loom. What is working now, Parking lights, turn signal lights, low beam, high beam, hazard function, horns, wiper all modes. Also added wires for the fan relay, coolant and brake fluid levels, dash turn signal indicators and the fuel pump relay wired to standalone specs which is different from how Motronic is handling the fuel pump. Using OEM fuse locations for powering the standalone and engine stuff. Added a new radiator, Sourced some bits and bolts from the junk yard for fixing the headlights, fan, shifter cables and some other small stuff. Also horns from an Alter 1 850 and a fuel rail from a 10v with an old style 300Kpa FPR. Swapped the injectors from the RN rail and went creative matching the fuel lines to the rail with the VVT solenoid in place, Missing PS pump, alternator, top engine mount, a few wires and a hose, Oh, also came up with a name, SwedeDemon Ex Rally Car ..

Here is a diagram for 98 X70. Not sure if Gabe will see this but no one can say I didn't try to be helpful.

Building up a couple new bikes simultaneously right now. First is a new All-City Mr. Pink. I got hit by a car a couple months ago while riding my red All-City (I'm fine but the bike is dead) so this is the replacement: Scored some good deals on parts so it'll be built up with a mix of Thomson, ENVE, Chris King and SRAM Red. Just need to decide on/build wheels for it and it'll be good to go. I also came up on a good deal on a Geekhouse Rockcity frameset. I had pretty much all the parts sitting around already to build it so I figured why not, even though I'm sure I'll get plenty of hipster accusations For now it'll be set up with Thomson seatpost/collar/stem, Chris King Headset, Fizik saddle, Paul Components cranks and a mismatched wheelset (Velocity rear/H Plus Son TB14 front). It'll change over time too I'm sure. New wheelset eventually for sure and I still need to decide what bars and front brake I want to run on it.

Your package should be there on Wednesday...

Did some more work on the R tonight, trying to put a list of parts together so I can get them ordered. I was able to get a good look at the back of the engine from underneath and, while I can't confirm that it's the only leak, I can confirm that the turbo drain seals are bad and need to be replaced. The other smoking gun back there is the passenger CV axle seal. Got all the intake stuff out and some other stuff around the drivers side of the engine bay. Good news, besides being all greasy due to ptc and pcv issues, the turbo still seems to be in good shape. There is very little side to side shaft play, and virtually zero in/out shaft play. Spins very free by hand. Not sure if it's the original turbo or not, but it certainly doesn't show any signs of ever being changed. This is very encouraging considering the car has 214k miles. Besides a handful of terrible repair decisions, it seems like it was in general well taken care of for a large portion of its life. The exhaust however is the most haggard together thing I've ever seen up to and including a rear 02 sensor delete... Yep, that would definitely explain why there is a CEL for the rear o2.. It's just gone, and they wire nutted the ends of the wires to cap them off.. Freakin retards. I found this tucked up underneath the airbox.. Does anyone make an exhaust system for the AWD that isn't a million dollars? I've used the OBX on FWD cars before and it does great for the price.. But no such luck for AWD cars. I like the idea of using a 2000 VR setup to get duals, but can't seem to find anything else that's cheap.. I might end up welding something up temporarily, but the section over the rear subframe does not look fun at all! Anyways, I'll just keep chipping away until it's all fixed. Here is a shot as I'm getting ready to call it a night, I do love this car:

No problem getting to the flange bolts, although the DP needs to come off to remove the BG. Doesn't take much time to undo the V-band clamps though. The car has been together for 2 months at this point, and yes the flex coupler is about 4" after the v-band. And before you ask, yes it is has the interlock liner.