Oil and Belts

On Saturday Monkey and I started the Stage zero work on the R.
We started an oil change with Mobile 1.
While under the R I notice that I am also in need of a drivers side CV boot.




Once the engine cooled down to a non flesh searing temperature we started on the belts.
Because the B5234T5 "White Block" is an interference engine, getting the timing belt replaced was VERY HIGH on my list of things to get checked taken care of.



Moving the expansion tank helps access to the belts and tensioners.

When I ordered my timing belt from IPD I also got the Cam Locking Tool.
The tool was expensive for a rarely used item but cheap for insurance.





The next things on the list will be plugs, wires, distributor, coil, and not so much stage zero but a cold air kit.

On Sunday Kevin and I worked on the interior of my car. Kevin did most of the work on the interior because he has the skill and is anal enough to get it done correctly and I'm so damn ADD that I couldn't, ohh Zombie Land movie preview... Now what was I saying ? Oh, ya. Kevin did most of the work on the interior and I cleaned my wheels until broke the Black-Magic-Bullet that he bought. Mental note: If you are going to break a wheel cleaning tool, clean the owners wheels first.

Volvos New and Old

I dove up to Kansas City on the 11th to see Kevin and to go to the Heart of America Volvo Club group photo shoot at the Airline History Museum.

There were 16 Volvos there (only 14 pictured).

It was a VERY unique opportunity to be able to shoot my/our cars with a 1958 Lockheed Super G Constellation, model L-1049G .




After the shoot was finished the group went to Winslow's BBQ for some eats and general bullshitting. The club has a very broad range of members and they all seem to be really great people.

When the food was done and I tired of small talk with the club (I'm sure as I get to know them more it will be less trying to hang with them and it will be more like an outing with friends. It's just hard to follow conversations when you don't get the inside jokes, can't put names to faces in the stories, and so forth.) Kevin and I headed off to shot some pictures of our cars.

The first shoot quickly ended because an employee of the power station where we were shooting was sent down run us off by his boss. We were only about two feet into there property due to the fact that I was shooting the 70-200 2.8 and needed a little more room. I would have stood my ground stepped two feet forward and told the guy to "piss off" but I didn't like the location that much and didn't want to "shoot the messenger".

After that we found a neat spot to shoot Kevin's T-5 near the Broadway Bridge.




Then we headed to the Power and Light District and shot these images in a parking garage.





When we got to the garage we found the location where we shot the R by itself but the light was not good for two cars so we decided to move to the upper level. Access was blocked off to the upper level but they left enough room for a car to squeeze through and we did just that. After about 20 minutes security came to see what we were doing. I showed the guard the images we had already taken and he seemed totally cool with what we were doing and hung out with us for the next hour or so while we got the shots we wanted.

Those were the best four shots of the night and the garage was the last location we shot. We looked at Liberty Memorial and the Plaza but there were issues with both location and we were both dead tired.

I did learn one important thing that night. When you have been out with a friend all night, are driving in separate cars, and go through a DUI check point. Don't answer the officers questions with "WE" did this "WE" did that. The cop looked in backseat of the car, looked at me, leaned into the car looked into the empty passenger seat, looked back at me and asked "Who is WE"?
After reexplaining the whole car club photo shoot and pointing to Kevin's Volvo ahead of me and telling him that we, was me and the guy in the red Volvo ahead of me at the check point, the officer laughed and sent me on my way.

Dental Work

This afternoon I got in the dash and replaced the odometer/trip-meter gear.
Not much to say about it. It was Not a cheap fix (much cheaper than the dealer would have charged by around $500) but it is worth the price for the gear and the instructional DVD.

I used the IPD Repair kit that Kevin order for me when he placed his last order to the Oregon parts gods.

Boost gauge connection point

The broken tooth.

The 740TIc That Wasn't Meant To Be

Well after recovering from food poisoning I was able to muster up enough strength to drive Monkey and our wrecking crew to Lincoln, Nebraska so we could get a 745. It was also a chance
to take the R on it's first road trip.

When we got to there the 740 looked ok for it's age and had a schweet set of wheels. Once we popped the hood things looked kinda bad. There was a fair amount of oil collected around the water pump and I felt that the car was a little on the hot side for not being driven like it was a car that I owned.

On the test drive the car was under powerd for running around 7 pounds of boost, It shifted hard, and the Edsel in 59 Ford lineup was the fact that when we came to our first stop the oil pressue light started to flicker. We had checked the fluid levels before we started the drive and knew that it was only about half a quart low.

NO DEAL!

The TIc needed to get us home and with a low oil pressure we knew it was iffy not to mention what prior damage may have occurred to the B230FT due to the oiling issue.


The upside was good friends, the R's first road trip, and good beer at Lazlo's Brewery & Grill.

The quest goes on for Monkey's next set of wheels.

The New Addition

This week I picked up a 1996 850R.
I hadn't planned on getting a third Volvo but when you come across an R for the right price it's hard to pass it up. Props to D for finding it and telling me about it.

The car runs strong, tracks true, stops like it should, A/C is cold, the stereo and disc changer work and read burned discs, interior is in good shape for its age, power seats work, power moon roof works, and the about sums it up.

Now I just need to get it insured and tagged so I can drive the damn thing.


History

12/23/1995
Exported from Belgium and imported to Jacksonville, Florida.

5/15/1996
Registered as a lease vehicle in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

5/29/1996 Mileage 215
Issued to first owner in Richardson, Texas.

4/29/1997 Mileage 9443
Given salvage title in Tulsa, Oklahoma.

5/05/1997 Mileage not listed
Sold at salvage auction

11/20/1998 Mileage 10,403
Titled in Kansas

8/7/2009 Mileage 213,000 ish (odometer gear broken)
I purchased the vehicle.


Now for some images.

There is still the original Volan wheel in the trunk.

Now for the bad things,

Paint chipped

Body repair work cracking here

and here

Transmission

I made it to the shop today to help Mun-Kee crate up the 289 and get it ready for storage. This frees up the engine stand for working on the 302. While I was there I was able to shoot a couple of photos of the Tranny for the 850.

NA Brick

Seeing a it's been seven months since I posted a comment I feel I should have some sort of update.

Eurosport Tuning never got back with me after I talked to them on the phone and sent them photos of the exhaust problems. Seems they are full of customer service up to the point of having your money, then you are just a problem that is eating into their bottom dollar.
I am always willing to give someone a second chance so we will see what happens with my next order.

I also got a transmission for my 86 850 Estate. What? You don't remember my 850? Hmmmm,
well I guess it has been twenty three months since that tranns died and I have never mentioned it here. The long and short of it is that my friend Kevin found a used transmission for me while looking for a Volvo for himself. It's from another Volvo guy in kansas that bought it as a combo engine/trans for his 850 that had engine issues. Seeing as he didn't need the transmission he was selling it for $100. That is in my pricerange even in the summer.

I will update as soon as I fix the exhaust on the 740 (yes I still haven't found a way around the issues nor have I taken it to a muffler shop and said "Fix this shit yo") or start on the 850.