Saved this Aussie V70R from the wreckers !

[thomasw]

Awesome...

There are a few of us Aussies here - we need to start our own support network!

Trent

Hey Trent. Good to see another enthusiast. Stumbled across ours years ago looking for a second family wagon and the salesman tells me an R is coming in for a trade in. Everything else after that was blah, blah, blah. I just wanted it

Even though I a list of the common issues for my model I still don'twantt to give up on it.

• ABS unit issues related to bad solder joints
  
• Early stage of the heater core rupturing (mist from air con vents)
  
• Steering rack replacement
  
• Front outerCV'ss
  
• Head recon as it was off for oil leak. Bores and pistons looked immaculate (Phew)
  
• Front strut spring seats/bearings
  
• Radiator replacement
  

We've had for a long time so the list above doesn't seem so bad in context and over 170K. Or that is what I keep telling myself

Thomas

[DAZ-13B]

Hi Thomas

G'day to another Aussie shall I say ! and great shot of the R on the track !

Well my R is still way off from getting back on the road (waiting for the right doner vehicle to come up)however its great to see my thread is attracting a few more comments from the Aussies !

At this rate we may even be able to organize the first V70R.com Barbie in oz....

Daz

[thomasw]

Hi Thomas

G'day to another Aussie shall I say ! and great shot of the R on the track !

Yes well I think you may have the only manual in Australia. Pity you guys are so far away it makes orgainising stuff a bit difficult. But you never know.

Thomas

[DAZ-13B]

Yes well I think you may have the only manual in Australia. Pity you guys are so far away it makes orgainising stuff a bit difficult. But you never know.

Thomas

$100 flights from Melb and brissie to Newcastle.

You will be picked up in luxury via my 2004 R.. noproblemo

[thomasw]

$100 flights from Melb and brissie to Newcastle.

You will be picked up in luxury via my 2004 R.. noproblemo

Yeah. $100 to get down to you and $600 to get home . Now to come up with a story that will allow me to disappear for a day or 2 without the wife and kids noticing....

How is the RX7 project coming along by the way?

[Nicks98R]

Aussie R BBQ. What a great idea! Just about to remove my head aswell Thomas. Exhaust valve seals on cylinder #2 have given up. Very embarrasing having that puff of blue smoke come out the back of a Volvo on startup!

Another shitty thing with these cars is the front swaybar design. Don't know if any of you have had to do it yet but my bushes have given up the ghost and instead of being able to replace them, you gotta buy a whole new bar from Volvo for $460 bucks or so. CRAZY!! I'd buy the IPD ones, but with shipping at $370, they end up around $800. The rest of the package more than makes up for it though!

Hope it's going well Daz. Don't forget to call me if you need any help. I got over wanting that M3, don't know what I was thinking. Hopefully we can all meet up one day!

Nick.

[thomasw]

Hi Nick,

I think we may have to bite bullet and do as Daz suggests. There are so few of us in OZ.

I have a shot that shows the me going through the kink in the front straight at Lakeside which would have been a nice shot apart from lift off smoke (valve stem seals most likely) and the waft of smoke from under the car from the leak at the back of the head.

In hindsight I'm glad I didn't go onto he last run of laps considering the turbo is not that far away and dripping oil onto it and the down pipe is not a healthy situation...

The bottom end still looked great when they pulled the head off which is good news!

Search for Lakeside Sprints and you will see what it looks like from inside other cars. The series is very popular and open to any road worthy car. None road going or heavily modified have a "Top Gear" series.

Good luck with your head Nick. Mine came off around 145K (Km's).

Thomas

[Nicks98R]

G'day Thomas,

Sweet shots!! She certainly seems to be settled quite nicely on her right side going round that bend. At least you've fixed the smoke now, I can't wait to be in the same circumstance. These motors are pretty bulletproof from what I've gathered and mine is still amazingly mechanically quiet at 190,000kms. Can't beat the old B230Fs though, my first car, an 89 240 which my Dad now drives has the original motor, 230,000kms and still does not use a drop of oil inbetween changes and seems like it could go forever.

Yep, your right. That's what I love about these cars so much. You could drive around all day and guarantee you will not see another R. They turn heads because they're so rare and people that even normally hate Volvo's start asking questions and are impressed by them. In this sense, they are a bargain.

I'll have to give these people Daz mentioned a ring, and see when they could do my head. I'll pull it myself and drop it off to whoever I decide to go with. Here's hoping I'm as fortunate with the bottom end as you were.

Nick.

[thomasw]

It felt settled when on the gas but beware even slight lift off when not in top gear and it would change up (usually in the worst possible place in a corner) unloading the suspension and at 2 occassions making me sit a little higher in my seat if you get the drift

The one time I dared look down at the speedo through the kink it read just under 190km/h and then I ran wide and had a slight "moment".

I had mine done via Trivetts Prestige up here who sent it to who ever they use for that sort of work (I might find out for my own records actually). They seem to use somebody decent for outsourced work as I often see exotics in that garage.

When my head was being done they had a Countach in there. It had been stripped (engine) and they had been waiting for weeks for the parts from Italy to put back together again.

We had a '89 240 for quite some time we "inherited" from my wife's family when they bought a new car. The only time it stopped was when the ecu that drives the fuel pump (and much more I suspect) went. And yes. Close to 200K K's on the clock and no oil comsumption to speak of.

[Nicks98R]

Ahhh, it's an auto is it? I definitely get your drift . I'm super lucky enough to have a manual , but have still witnessed lift-off oversteer on the dirt a couple of times. It's nothing drastic and completely controllable. I find it quite entertaining, makes the car feel agile and chuckable. Much more fun than ploughy understeer anyways . My Mum's auto XC70 has this trait also, much more noticeable in it. It's even a negative comment they have for it in the back of Wheels Mag. They don't know what they're talking about, they just love Holdens and Fords .

190km/h is a decent effort!! Did it feel stable otherwise?

Really, that's awesome. Yep, our ecu went to, It is a known issue. Got the good, pink label "516" ecu or something now, been so long since I've worked on it. I think Volvo would have to be one of the strongest brands in regards to customers staying loyal to the brand. They might not get too many "new to Volvo" sales, but I believe those that already own them, would most likely by another. Our whole family drives them .

Nick.

[thomasw]

190km/h is a decent effort!! Did it feel stable otherwise?

I think Lakeside is still classified as Australia's highest average speed circuit with only 2 places you should touch the brake pedal so it is an extremely fast flowing track but has little run off room. I remember the safety talk by the track owner (Tetley, who also owns QLD Raceway) including the phrase

"at least one of your cars will leave on the back of a tilt tray. More people have been killed here than any other track in Australia"

Confidence inspiring when about to jump into the family wagon for your first ever outing in it on a track This was also before he stuck 1.5 million into bringing it back to current safety standards.

It felt really stable and a manual box or possibly even the later models auto with the tiptronic type shifting (will probably get roasted for using another manufacturers name for the box setup) would have topped it off.

I have predominantly only driven front drive cars in anger before now so was learning the entire time out on the track. Braking and simply turning in would end up with severe under steer (maybe the standard setup didn't help?) so I found myself braking earlier and then turning in under power. It would just squeal its way through and virtually launch me out the other end. Big smile on my dial as I saw the guy in my mirror disappear into the background when he moments earlier threatened to pass me into the corner.

To combat the up changes I found myself driving it like a go cart on some of the iffy corners where the accelerator wasn't mashed to the firewall by touching and holding the brakes. One of the marshals asked me whether I had any brakes left after my final run. Yes and no. Pads were practically gone but amazingly no "Oh Crap" fading to speak of.

Amazing for what most auto magazines tend to describe as a marketing exercise rather than a serious attempt at a sports version of an existing model.

[Nicks98R]

Yikes, does sound hair raising! Well you probably were in the best car to be in if you did have a run-off . Yeh, I too have found that keeping the power on through a corner = a happy wagon. They really do handle well when you get it right and when you can get most of the weight on the outside rear. They do have a great amount of torque for hauling out the other end of the bend, like you mentioned. I took my friend for a quick spin on a gravel road near Forster. He used to have a Nissan R32 GTR and even he was stunned at the grip and amount of torque on such a loose surface. Not a hint of wheel spin, she just squatted and headed for the horizon.

Yeh, there's a lot of polarizing reviews of Volvo's sportier models out there. I read a review of Top Gear's on our first gen models, not that I rate Jeremy Clarkson as giving a true, unbiased opinion of anything, and the general impression was good. I'll have to try find the link. I also watched a review of the S60R on Fifth Gear, by Tiff Needell, whom I consider much more honest and reliable, and he had nothing but praise for it.

I think it's just those brand snobs out there, which is great. The less there are on the road, the more unique! I believe the amount of work they went to build our first gen R's is amazing. The unique aluminium IRS, the dual fuel tank setup etc etc. Just have a read through volvo's VADIS and it's quite extensive.

[DAZ-13B]

Yeah. $100 to get down to you and $600 to get home . Now to come up with a story that will allow me to disappear for a day or 2 without the wife and kids noticing....

How is the RX7 project coming along by the way?

RX-7 is now finished and is now with a friend.

Much more has happened since, my wife and I have decided to sell our house and rent for a while so I'm not sure which way to go with the Saff.

Im still keeping it as a project but I'm unsure of where the build will take place...(dropping sub frames takes up alot of space).

One option is a friend has a body repair shop not far from my work.

Still searching for a T5 s70 or v70 still to no avail, however a damaged C70 99 T5 has come up for sale and selling for the bargain price of $5000 and with 90000 klms.

Others can chime in as I need to know if the motors and injection are the same,Vadis would be good here and I'm thinking I could use the following parts ;

Engine,head lights,blinkers,bonnet,radiator support,radiator,condenser,intercooler,air flow sensor,front bumper reinforcement.

The frong guards look different so those will have to be sought new.

What do you guys think ? ...I mean for the price and the ultra low kilometres I think its a good buy.

Also I could use alot of the dash and door switch gear as mine are showing signs of wear !

The Dynadio speakers and the dolby unit would be nice to have too...as will the many nuts bolts and screws needed to get mine back together !

The C70 has been hit in the rear so all of the front is still ok.

Stuff I could sell off and recoup some money would be the following ;

#Auto box $1500

#Complete tan leather interior with elecrtic heated seats $1500

#Doors $400

#17 inch wheels $200 or good spares for the Saff

#suspension components

#body shell

So what do you guys think ?

Pro's

#can do alot of this work myself

#Saf will be on the road sooner

#sell off unwanted parts from C70

#won't have to do head rebuild, out sourcing head work, buying gaskets and timing kit and getting a mechanic to reinstall the head.Also my bottom end condition is unknown.

Con's

#Need space for two cars and alot of parts

#Just sold house and Im moving to a nice new rental property in the next 4 weeks

#Dont know if this engine will actually be compatable ?

So there is my life story lol !

Regards Daz

[JRL]

MY GOD!

That's a $400 car here and we buy these all the time.

In the old days I read that driving a LHD car there was illegal?

If this is not true anymore you should import one from here and learn to shift with your left hand (or buy an automatic!)

[DAZ-13B]

MY GOD!

That's a $400 car here and we buy these all the time.

In the old days I read that driving a LHD car there was illegal?

If this is not true anymore you should import one from here and learn to shift with your left hand (or buy an automatic!)

97-99 V70Rs sell for between $13000 and $18000 here, there are currenty 3 available in Australia.

Sorry to hear the used car market in the US is so bad !

Im predicting my car will owe me $7000 to $10000 and I will have learn't and had fun doing it....

At least I don't have to convert it from a slugamatic....