Popular Post andyb5 Posted April 7, 2012 Popular Post Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Here's the story behind my new-to-me 1999 V70 R. Its gonna be a long post, and picture heavy too! After wanting a P80 VR for a couple years, and finally being able to graduate from driving my parents old 98 V70 NA, I started looking for an R last May. I managed to convince my parents that a 12 year old turbo, AWD Volvo was the best car for me, and after nearly 8 months of searching, I finally picked my 1999 V70 R this past December. It had 149,022 miles on it, 2 previous owners and a decent maintenance log on its Carfax. In the last ~20k, it had a new master window switch, new front control arms, brake pads and rotors, and new front calipers, and a nice, matching set of Toyo all-season tires. The first day I was home for winter break, my dad and I drove up to Massachusetts to pick it up. I get in, and even after sitting for a few days, it fired right up. After 4 years of driving a non-turbo V70, the first time I got into boost was beyond exciting. On the way home, shortly before we got on I95, I hit a small pothole and then heard a very loud "clunk" followed immediately by a horrible grinding sound. I freaked out and dumped the car in neutral and pulled over. As it turns out, the center driveshaft support plate was extremely corroded, and the pothole was the straw that broke the proverbial camel's back, and the plate basically disintegrated into a pile of rust! The driveshaft was rubbing against the exhaust, and making a terrifying sound. Thankfully, no damage occurred, (well, it sure tested my nerves!) but I was now stuck 35 miles from home with a car I couldn't drive. I got a tow from AAA to Tasca Volvo in Cranston RI, where they replaced the driveshaft support and my car passed RI inspection. I left the dealership and headed up to my uncle's house to change the timing belt and serpentine belt, which were both about 7 years old, and not in the best of shape. My uncle is a Volvo Master Tech, and walked me through how to do both jobs. Even though I doubt he'll see this thread, I owe him a huge thank you for all his help these past few years.0209121239 by Andy Buresh, on Flickr Here it is the first night I got it home to my parent's house:First night home by Andy Buresh, on Flickr I love the R seats, much better than standard leather seatsDSCN0532 by Andy Buresh, on Flickr Bought a box of Stage 0 goodies from FCPDSCN0461 by Andy Buresh, on FlickrRear license plate bracket, both front door warning lights, fuel filter, oil filters, spark plugs, a filler neck gasket, a cabin filter, and an air filter for the 98 so I could put my K&N panel in the R Cabin air filter was in need of replacement...DSCN0462 by Andy Buresh, on Flickr Mid-sparkplug change, and in the process of cleaning all the oil off the head. Leaky filler cap gaskets suck.DSCN0513 by Andy Buresh, on Flickr I replaced my SC901 with a Pioneer AVIC-F700BTinstalled 1 by Andy Buresh, on Flickr When I bought it, my drivers visor was broken. Total pain in the ass to deal with. That's been replaced, so much better.DSCN0383 by Andy Buresh, on Flickr In an attempt to fix a small oil leak, and since it needed to be done anyways, I replaced my PCV system. I dove into removing parts late Friday night, bought parts on Saturday and spent the morning cleaning 12 years of grime out of my engine bay, degreasing the ETM, cleaning the IC piping, etc. Saturday afternoon I installed the new PCV system--hardline around the block and all.DSCN0560 by Andy Buresh, on Flickr Yeah, that never needs replacing DSCN0573 by Andy Buresh, on Flickr ETM looks much better after cleaning; and there's no sign of it acting up so far.DSCN0580 by Andy Buresh, on Flickr I started to put things back together, and called it a night. Sunday morning I tried to wrap things up, and ended up spending 2+ hours attempting to get the banjo fitting on the underside of the intake manifold I finally got everything put back together, and top off my coolant, only to find it slowly leaking out of the banjo fitting on the drivers side of the block It turned out that I forgot to replace 1 of the crush washers, and had to wait until Monday morning to get the washer and finish everything up. I may have set a VS record for longest PCV replacement Once I got back to school in January, I went to change the oil, and had some "issues." The filter housing was on so tight that I couldn't break it free with a breaker bar on the OEM filter housing socket. Pissed off didn't even begin to describe how I was feeling at this point. So I grabbed a drill, punched a nice big hole through it, and jammed a long screwdriver through the housing for more leverage. Lots of swearing later, it finally came off. I got a ride to the dealership and bought a new filter housing. Unfortunately, the car started leaking lots of oil after that. I was not happy, and basically let it sit for a couple weeks, leaking more oil than the BP's Deepwater Horizon. Semir (d s50r) was nice enough to lend a hand and fix my car. It turns out I nicked the oil pan with the drill bit, and the scratch was preventing the rubber gasket from fully sealing against the oil pan, which caused a fairly massive oil leak! He used some aluminum putty to fill the scratch, and it's still good till this day. Thanks again bro! Anyways, here's a couple halfway decent pictures of my car earlier this winter.DSCN0610 by Andy Buresh, on FlickrDSCN0618 by Andy Buresh, on Flickr We finally got some snowBiotech in winter by Andy Buresh, on Flickr I used that opportunity to verify that my AWD was 100% functional... Turns out it works very well, and does donuts quite nicely Drift by Andy Buresh, on Flickr During spring break, I plasti-dipped my grille and repainted my lower grilles satin black. I also started to install a 5 channel amp, subwoofer, and component speakers.DSCN0665 by Andy Buresh, on Flickr Pictures of the stereo will come once its finished.... That's where I'm at so far. I'll be installing my projector retrofit this summer, and have accumulated a decent pile of parts that are waiting to be installed. I have plenty of mods planed, I just need more money and free time...... Thanks for reading! 10 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GltGreco Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Its good to see a fellow Rhode Islander getting into the turbo world, its much better. The car looks great and im glad to see you taking care of all the maintenance first you will be glad you did. Let me know if you ever need a hand or a spare part I may have, im only in RI a few months out of the year but might be able to help some time. Good luck with the new R. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NEU Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Looks good Andy, nice start, I didn't realize you just got the car. I also have rust issues with my driveshaft center carrier, I think they just get packed up with salty crap from the roads and rust away. I need to get a new one soon. What are your plans for suspension? Cause you need to lower that ASAP! :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lookforjoe Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Very Nice! It's the right color too! Sucks about the oil pan, just shows you can never be too careful when working on it. The manifold banjo is much easier to address if you just unbolt the PS pump (3 easy to access bolts) & move it aside. Hopefully the JB will hold up over time. You may want to source a replacement oil pan now as a backup... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Overboost850 Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Fun platform to start with. Glad to see the important bits are functioning. Can't wait to see the progress. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamdrives Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 Sucks about the oil pan, just shows you can never be too careful when working on it. The manifold banjo is much easier to address if you just unbolt the PS pump (3 easy to access bolts) & move it aside. Hopefully the JB will hold up over time. You may want to source a replacement oil pan now as a backup... Much, much, much easier. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D s50r Posted April 7, 2012 Report Share Posted April 7, 2012 no problem andy and H he has a oil waiting for him in my parts bin just in case he needs it i told him its only a temp fix but it seems like its been working great! but if needed i have the oil pan for cheap we need to do a photo shoot sir! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EVL WAGN Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 Woot woot on the ride brah Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nvr70 Posted April 8, 2012 Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 Welcome to the V70R AWD club. As for lowering, you only have a couple of options and they are expensive. Ask EVL Wagn and lookforjoe about that. They are very well versed in that area. I'm still saving my pennies for that. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andyb5 Posted April 8, 2012 Author Report Share Posted April 8, 2012 Its good to see a fellow Rhode Islander getting into the turbo world, its much better. The car looks great and im glad to see you taking care of all the maintenance first you will be glad you did. Let me know if you ever need a hand or a spare part I may have, im only in RI a few months out of the year but might be able to help some time. Good luck with the new R. Thanks man, sounds good. I'm only in RI for the summer, I'm usually away at school in NYLooks good Andy, nice start, I didn't realize you just got the car. I also have rust issues with my driveshaft center carrier, I think they just get packed up with salty crap from the roads and rust away. I need to get a new one soon. What are your plans for suspension? Cause you need to lower that ASAP! Apparently the original center carriers weren't galvanized, and replacement ones are, so it'll hold up much better. Be sure to replace yours before it breaks, boy did the sound scare the crap outta me! Very Nice! It's the right color too! Sucks about the oil pan, just shows you can never be too careful when working on it. The manifold banjo is much easier to address if you just unbolt the PS pump (3 easy to access bolts) & move it aside. Hopefully the JB will hold up over time. You may want to source a replacement oil pan now as a backup... Thanks H. I'll be sure to remember that if I need to pull the intake mani again. And I plan on replacing the oil pan this summer when actually I have time to do it. Going to do oil pan o-rings, etc at the same time.Fun platform to start with. Glad to see the important bits are functioning. Can't wait to see the progress.Thanks!no problem andy and H he has a oil waiting for him in my parts bin just in case he needs it i told him its only a temp fix but it seems like its been working great! but if needed i have the oil pan for cheap we need to do a photo shoot sir!Just saw your pics, S70 is lookin good. Like I said earlier, I'm planning on replacing the oil pan this summer, so you'll be hearing from me haha.I'm definitely game for a photoshoot, I just need to actually wash my car Woot woot on the ride brahThanks!Welcome to the V70R AWD club. As for lowering, you only have a couple of options and they are expensive. Ask EVL Wagn and lookforjoe about that. They are very well versed in that area. I'm still saving my pennies for that. Thanks man! Oh yeah, I've been doing my research--nothing for these cars is cheap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tyler T5R Posted April 10, 2012 Report Share Posted April 10, 2012 Nice car and good job fixing it up. I think I can compete for "longest time to do pcv job on vs" - just ask my wife how long she couldn't drive the VR after I "bought it for her". But hey, while I was in there I cleaned everything else and replaced a lot of rotten wire loom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
volvodoc01 Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 Nice! I got the same color interior (mines not a R, and didnt know these model Rs came with blue face gauges), and had to overhaul the pcv as well. brittle as glass. lol Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mune237 Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 didnt know these model Rs came with blue face gauges Easy upgrade. Keep checking the FS threads. When you find a R cluster, all you need to do is swap the gauge faces. I added the trim rings at the same time. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lookforjoe Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 Easy upgrade. Keep checking the FS threads. When you find a R cluster, all you need to do is swap the gauge faces. I added the trim rings at the same time. Easier to just swap the entire gauges from one cluster to the original - no messing with the faces & needles. Just transfer the trip computer to the R speedo perfect time to add the trim rings Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mune237 Posted September 10, 2012 Report Share Posted September 10, 2012 Easier to just swap the entire gauges from one cluster to the original - no messing with the faces & needles. I guess thats what I did too. Cause I don't remember fussing with the needles. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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