Quote:
Originally Posted by Othen
I have not seen the motor car, but I think you got it for a very sensible price. It is a pity about the cam belt failure, these things just happen.
With project motor cars I always think it is a really good idea to decide upon one's aim at the outset, and then work out a budget (of money and time) to suit. It seems to me that with this motor car you have three possible courses:
a. Renovate it to near new condition. I think you know already that would never pay. It is a cooking model with no particular historical interest.
b. Do a 'restomod' with the usual bling that folk seem to like (but make no sense to me): big alloy wheels, very low profile tyres, lowered suspension, turbochargers, garish paint... tyre clearance problems, wayward handling, blown up engines... undercar lighting, furry dice. That will cost a fortune. In my humble opinion that would be money wasted (but I have no view on what folk should waste their cash on).
c. Give the motor car a good service, fix the stuff that is wrong (like the exhaust back box) and drive it the way Mr Volvo intended for another decade or so (if it is still feasible to drive a gas powered motor car by then  ). I'd go for COA 'c' every day... and I suspect that is what you have concluded as well. From what you have told us I think you have just about dodged a bullet with the cam belt issue. Fix the cam belt and the back box, change all the fluids and enjoy it for what it is; I'm not sure I'd even bother with the valve clearances*. Other jobs will appear over the course of the next decade to give you plenty of project jobs to enjoy - 30-60 year old Volvos are just like that. It sounds like a nice motor car to me.
I'm not sure I'd agree with putting ATF in the oil - Mr Volvo intended for the viscosity to be what is written on the tin, not something thinner (others will disagree).
Just the thoughts of a middle aged man with a beard. Bobwalkin time now.
*: Did you do the wet pressure test? I would do that because it is free, easy and will give you a good idea of the condition of the engine. There is a big difference between knowing something isn't quite right and doing something about it though  . |
C Would be my option, with a caveat that I still might rebuild a B230E for fun to drop in at a later date.
B is not me (although I might consider getting some standard volvo alloy wheels to replace the steels it is on now).
A new toy arrived from Amazon this afternoon, a wifi endoscope for the grand sum of £20. It had a lot of good reviews.. when I opened the pack, I found a card offering me a £20 amazon voucher if I left a review with a video and pictures
Free endoscope!
In actual fact though, I'm really impressed with it, the picture is quite clear...
It's actually hit the inlet valve on
all 4 cylinders.
(the other mark in the second picture was where I poked something into No1 to see if I was approaching TDC when diagnosing the breakdown originally)
That said, I don't think knowing this changes much now, when I went to pick up the C70 from its MOT (a pass) I showed the pictures and the video of it running. His opinion - "if it were mine I wouldn't bother taking the head off for that, the compression is good enough and it sounds alright"
So I'll sleep on it, but I think I'm going to carry on..
I had almost forgotten about the random parts bin approach volvo used to take in the rear wheel drive days, and this evening I've spent far too long trying to establish if this will fit:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/155124448125
There seem to be about 9 billion variations of the exhaust system.
Looking at VIDA, the part number suggested for my car looks nothing like the volvo back box which is fitted (which looks like just the bosal one above) and the part number on the existing box - 9179120 - isn't found at all in VIDA so thats obviously quite an old part.
(I used to have VADIS but I haven't got room for both and I definitely need vida for the whiteblock motors.)
This listing for something that would be much lower quality that will allegedly fit does list the one above as a cross reference
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/354713732...Bk9SR96Y3MWBYg
I am tempted to take a flyer and 'make' it fit if its not quite right. The only reason it wouldn't would be if the pipe diameter was different, but there is plenty of room under there to move it towards the rear of the car a bit if I needed to get a sleeve welded on to correct that; and a bosal one will last much longer than a brand new one that only costs that much.