The Morbidmobile Blog

[360beast]

Originally Posted by classicswede

760 Turbo saloon and estate have a solid axle
960 mk1 most saloons have the IRS but not estates
960 mk2 are all IRS (mk2 version as per s90/v90)

Some 760 (v6) saloons have the mk1 IRS rear end

The 1987 and 1988 760 turbo saloons I broke had IRS I found out when someone asked me for the rear axle and I found out it didn't have one haha.

[Laird Scooby]

A neighbour had a 760GLE Turbo saloon on an F reg many moons ago, that had IRS as we discovered when the owner wanted to see how my shock absorbers attached and found his had a totally different axle to my 745GLE!

Then he started tinkering with the injection and wanted to look at mine to see where something went!

When he saw mine was K-Jet (his was B230ET with LH-Jetronic 2.2) he turned pale and mumbled something incoherent along the lines that his wife would kill him.

[classicswede]

It really does seem hit and miss on them then. All the 760 Turbo's I have had or stripped have all been solid axle axle.

[classicswede]

Originally Posted by TomSaintJames

How do you mean? I would hope to swap the two engines over, so that the then 2.0 940 runs nicely and sell it on to recuperate some funds. Do you think it would be better economically to strip the 940 and sell as spares? With all that is going on in my life the last I need is a car to strip! So as long as the 940's sale price doesn't get close or fall below the cost of putting the 2.0 into it, to me that seems the easiest/best way.

By the time you have pulled the head off of the B230, skimmed it, new gasket set possibly swapped cams is it worth it to have a £500 car to sell? You would most likely get £300ish from the banger boys without the engine and box

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by TomSaintJames

How do you mean? I would hope to swap the two engines over, so that the then 2.0 940 runs nicely and sell it on to recuperate some funds. Do you think it would be better economically to strip the 940 and sell as spares? With all that is going on in my life the last I need is a car to strip! So as long as the 940's sale price doesn't get close or fall below the cost of putting the 2.0 into it, to me that seems the easiest/best way.

Going back to my suggestion about if you bought that 940 Tom, the idea of getting a days temporary insurance cover and booking it for an MoT locally to you was so you could get it home legally without having to pay another £3-500 minimum to have it delivered, find out what state the engine is in (the emissions sheet can tell you a lot if you know what to look for) and also to assess the overall condition of the donor car.

Only then will you know if it's a viable proposition to swap your B200E into the 940 and sell it on as a going concern. Bear in mind though, it will be worth less because it's a 2.0 instead of the original 2.3.

If it turns out to have problems such as knackered shocks, corrosion and similar, it won't be worth selling on and you would be better off stripping it for what you can use on the hearse and selling the rest of the bits individually as secondhand spares.

Anything you make on the 940 needs to be thought of as a bonus and if the whole project is conditional on getting a fair chunk back from the 940 with the B200 in it then the project is a non-starter. Sorry if that sounds harsh but it's reality.

Like Dai said, you'd be better stripping the 940 and selling the parts and i'm sure others will confirm that you'll get more for it that way.

[360beast]

Originally Posted by classicswede

It really does seem hit and miss on them then. All the 760 Turbo's I have had or stripped have all been solid axle axle.

We're they estates Dai?

It is only the saloons that had the IRS.

[classicswede]

The only 760 turbos I have stripped have been saloons. When a rod goes through the block a saloon is not worth changing engine usually.

The 760 estate never had the IRS

[TomSaintJames]

Thankyou for the replies and advice everyone, it is good to hear the voices of experience - that is something I don't have.

I had some very bad news yesterday, I am due to start a new, more senior role as a Biomedical Scientist at work in two weeks. To be signed off and competent in this new role I need to be registered with the HCPC (Health Care Professions Council) as the role is a protected, regulated title.
I thought i'd done all the work, extra qualifications (a year of distance learning of 4 unvesity degree modules) and a 'registration portfolio', 30 pieces of evidence proving that I can conform to the HCPC standards of practice (essays, case studies, reviews etc). However, I applied for my portfolio to be verified yesterday and apparently I have a further 4 degree modules to complete before I can become registered. I couldn't believe it.

I am absolutely gutted, this means from September I have another 18 months of studying to do, which will invole coming home from work, having dinner and studying until bedtime. Likewise on weekends, all studying. Thankfully work has honoured me starting the new role, although i'm not sure what work I will actually be able to do until i'm registered.

In perspective, this means I have 6 weeks to get as much work done on the house as possible (soffits, fascias, guttering, chimney pointing, finish shed before winter, replace kitchen etc...) it means I cannot sort out of my BX GT which I planned on getting some real in-depth work done over the winter, including swapping over the a/c from the French TRS. I may still be able to get the hearse engine situation sorted by handing it over to a willing mechanic, but it'll be more expensive as I wont have time to do anything myself.

I'm quite down about it, life will be on hold for another 18 months when i've only come out of studying to complete this portfolio last Friday. Still there is 6 weeks, and a holiday before I enrol again.

[Laird Scooby]

That's bad news Tom, sorry to hear it!

Clutching at straws a little, are you sure the 4 modules they're referring to that you also need to complete aren't the 4 you've just finished? Sometimes the left hand doesn't know what the right hand is doing if you get my drift.
Would be a shame to have to wait another 18 months for the sake of a misunderstanding!

On another note, it gives you 18 months to save up to sort the hearse. The other idea that springs to mind is instead of getting a local mechanic to do the work who may or may not have sympathy with older Volvos and is just in business to make money without having an interest in doing it absolutely spot on, find a mechanic who is familiar with the conversion, has probably done it before and approach them about having the work done over a period of time?

You could even have it converted to LPG at the same time if you picked the right one. Obviously you would have to arrange with that mechanic/LPG installer how you were going to pay, time scales, whether it was done as a "fall-back job" when he wasn't busy with regular customers etc and that is always assuming said person is amenable to the idea. This is just an outline idea, i have an idea in mind who could do this for you but can't speak for him, see what happens on this thread.

[Laird Scooby]

When one door slams in your face and then someone runs full tilt into you from behind and splats your snout against the door for a second time in as many seconds, some kind person opens another door.

Not sure if it's what you're looking for but it has potential :

https://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=297280

Not far from you in Pewsey (closer than Ongar anyway!) and has a n/asp engine and auto box - have a look at it, two possibilities, either "downsize" your camper conversion to fit in a "normal" 7/9xx estate body and sell the hearse on to someone else or break it to make your hearse a B3064E powered beast.

I'd suggest making the 960 a camper would be cheaper to insure than the hearse with a 3.0 conversion, if you haven't seen the load deck on a 7/9xx estate, you might be pleasantly surprised.

Just another option and probably a lot cheaper in the long run!