1997 Volvo 850, new old friend

[Mainemantom]

I remember back in the late 80s, a police officer wrote a guy I knew a ticket for his rear turn signal lens on his Volvo 240. They had faded from amber to almost clear. Both sides had faded. It is a actual violation of the California vehicle code. Heck give the guy a warning, not a pay ticket. Real BS. The owner had to buy complete new tail lights as the ones in the wrecking yards had faded too. The tail lights did not section out either. At that time I lived in the California desert. Everything faded. Way before the internet or the buying sources we have now.

[Arquemann]

Well, now I finally have amber parking lights! Why? Cuz why not! I'm not even sure if they're legal lol (I'm not the first Volvo around here with amber parking lights)

The right side is a bit brighter for some reason, I ordered four bulbs so I think I'll switch them around to figure it out.

Rear window washer pump failed, don't really care, the wiper barely touches the glass anyways, the shaft and spring mechanism is too rusty.
Colder weather has settled in, and the blower motor has started squeaking again. I can't be bothered to pull it apart to lube it again, the bearings groan a bit and it has already blown the blower motor resistor once. I'll buy a new motor once I get sufficiently annoyed at the squeaking.


A couple dirt road shots right before sundown, why not:

The Volvo feels right at home on a dirt road between fields and I do too.

[sly]

[Arquemann]

Well here's the Volvo in it's new winter boots:

Looks pretty fly for the money, I'd say. Rims were 60€ and and demounting and mounting the studded tires was another 60€.

Got the door trims glued on with some trusty Sikaflex, they'll hold for sure now.
It could really do with 2 or 3 chunky round aux lights on the front, but I drive quite little due to studying from home and the last thing this needs is more money spent on unnecessary things.
And this brick will be going on for sale as I get the MGM back on the road next spring. What comes in place I don't know yet, something RWD for sure though, or maybe AWD.

If this thing was AWD and maybe even turbo, I'd consider keeping it for longer and de-turd-ifying it to make it nicer and longer lasting.
The car could do with some more rust repairs, a complete PCV replacement and bits and bobs from end to end.

Also got the summer steelies washed and sanded as well as I could be arsed. I'll be using some hammerite / rust sealer paint that I'll brush on, keep the steelies looking somewhat presentable. A friend called dibs on the new rims and tires, the same chick who got me the new brakes. She's got a '97 V70 AWD Turbo 5-speed, and these would fit right on. (probably because they are actual mk1 V70 rims )

[Arquemann]

LOL, rust is just part of life around here. No inspections in MI so some of the stuff that fails in other states (rusted through rockers) is just a way of life here.

Here most people watch out for rust, even when shopping for a beater like the Volvo. Because you gotta fix that shit if you want to keep driving it.
Where you live, without inspections, one can just buy a rust bucket that runs and drives and condemn it to a slow death of rotting to the point it's no longer safe to drive.

If an old car isn't suffering from rust, it's usually kept alive. Cars in general are expensive in Finland, especially new cars, so folks keep their cars in shape.
This year the rebate for scrapping a car that's 10+ years old is 1-2 thousand euros, the rebate is only applicable for new cars with CO2 emissions less than 95 grams/km, a FUCKING E-BICYCLE OR PUBLIC TRANSPORT PASS.

Personally I'll keep driving old crap because financing isn't very appetizing as an unemployed student (or at all) and in the future I'd rather spend my money on something older and nice vs some brand new 1.0l shitnugget that you can barely call a car.
Also there's something about inefficient, antiquated crap that I really like...

[VicCrownVic]

LOL, rust is just part of life around here. No inspections in MI so some of the stuff that fails in other states (rusted through rockers) is just a way of life here.
http://www.grandmarq.net/vb/showthre...l=1#post842229

[sly]

I totally understand that. Not having to deal with undercoating, brine, salt, sand, and all the issues that come with all of that are a major plus in my book. Not having to use heat and violence helps my ability to actually get things fixed. That said, this is nothing close to the real rust jobs I've seen from folks up north, so it's definitely still in good shape. The brake line horror stories are the real fear factor in my opinion.

[Arquemann]

Once again... so glad I don't live in the rust belt. Even "rusty" stuff around here is mainly surface and still workable.

To you, my MGM might be "rusty", but here it's pretty much perfect. The Volvo is pretty well-preserved being sold new here 24 years ago
Everything in the Volvo's wheel arches is pretty much just a few different shades of brown, but it's still in good shape since you can still see where bolt heads are and stuff usually comes apart with heat and violence.

This is one of the brake calipers I removed: (pins are knocked out, wasn't like that all the time)


This is a brake caliper that went in:


...I think I can hear the southerner and california car guys screaming internally.

Funny thing is, many of you rust belt folks drive unbelievably rusty cars, we don't see that in Finland, because of annual inspections. If the inspector pokes a screwdriver through your rocker, floor, wheel arch, quarter panel, or anything remotely "structural", it's a failed inspection and you've gotta fix it.
Volvo's rear arches are pretty bad, and they might be an issue in a year or two, but hopefully not my issue.

It's too cold and windy today to wash the car.

[sly]

Once again... so glad I don't live in the rust belt. Even "rusty" stuff around here is mainly surface and still workable.

[Arquemann]

So, naturally things got more complicated as I got to doing it.

The right caliper was pretty seized and I couldn't it to move freely at all. Left side was a little better, but both got replaced.
New Brembo calipers, pads, hardware, and fluid.
Also got new brake line fittings, twice.

Of course the brake line fittings wouldn't cooperate and I had to cut off 3 of the 4 that had to be removed, one then removed with a proper socket, two I just left in the old calipers, not my problem.
This Volvo has brake lines from such a hard metal, I had to remove the short brake lines to use the flaring too jammed tight in a bench vise and a cheater pipe to get any results.
Spent a couple days cursing in the driveway, weekend well spent.
Didn't think I'd have to go under the car, but here I am again with rust in my eyes, ears and nose...

Atleast I saved some money doing it myself. And actually saved a bit than the usual DIY case. My new friend wanted to help out, she works at a local auto parts store and gets an 18% staff discount from spare parts.
With some tip for her effort, I still saved 20€ on the brakes, and got them delivered to me

Even with that, I went to the auto parts store FIVE times this week, little odds and ends every time.

I had the car on jackstands for almost a week so I painted the lugbolts and swapped over to studded tires along the way. My new alloys look fuckin mint on the car, along with new Volvo center caps.
Gonna get a couple pics of my now- rally spec Volvo tomorrow after a wash, where daylight exists once again.

[Arquemann]

So, from terrible squealing noises while turning, I suspected a bad wheel bearing, which is not the case. Which is good and kinda not good.
Atleast the rear right brake is sticking, haven't gotten to the left side yet.


Yeah, brakes done in 2017 my ass.
Surprisingly, the rotor is usable and only has very minor grooves in it from riding on the worn-through brake pad.
Somebody has been driving with the parking brake engaged a bit, the shoes have worn deep into the drum of the brake disc. Took some effort to get the drum/disc off, but the shoes have plenty of life left.

Currently the biggest issues is getting the brake pistons back in the caliper. Tried pipe pliers or whatever those angled pliers are in english, didn't do anything. A screw clamp got the first piston moving, but I got a bit carried away and snapped the damn clamp

Off to get some new pads and probably a clamp or two that aren't for woodworking...

[Arquemann]

always thought those prancing moose emblems were funny but its even more appropriate on a red brick. The Saab troll stickers are also funny.

Here the moose stickers are like kind of an unofficial bullshit symbol of Volvo enthusiasts, mostly the younger guys. Others might think it's dumb, and they're probably right a lot of the time. Jävla Volvoraggare

Would you like to drift around on snowy roads in an RWD brick? - I would.

[gadget73]

always thought those prancing moose emblems were funny but its even more appropriate on a red brick. The Saab troll stickers are also funny.

[Arquemann]

Winter tire season is soon here, and I wanted to clean up the steelies I have studded tires on. I didn't bother even washing them before putting them away last spring, and they sat under a tarp outside all summer. Plus they weren't exactly in good shape from the beginning.
The steelies are so rusted that they chip all around in 1-2 mil thick pieces, they need to be sandblasted to even consider painting them. I don't care about them that much, even if they are Italian made original Volvo steelies. The rusty steelies look so shit I don't want to put them even on this beater of a Volvo.

So I got these for a whopping 60€

They are original Volvo alloys from something, pretty shoddily spray painted but supposedly round and good.
I'll probably throw some more black paint on them and some clear coat so they'll last atleast a single winter without chipping paint.

Also I wanted to add some "contrast" on the completely stock appearance of the red brick.
So what could I possibly add to the outside of a boxy Volvo?
-The prancing moose

On both sides, of course.

I've got another dumb visual mod ordered, worth about 5€.

[Arquemann]

The Volvo is back! Kinda.

I woke up the thing yesterday, fired right up (after I charged the battery...) The thing knocks a bit when cold, exaggerated this time since it hadn't been started for a month.
Drove it up and down the street a couple times, accompanied with a lot of veeery slightly blue smoke for the first half.

Inspection ran out earlier, so today I took the thing for an inspection. It failed.
One fail and two advisories, a front ball joint (aka replace whole arm), torn CV boot and worn rear bushings (don't care). Also the emissions values are really close to failing, not surprised.

I bought the parts, got home and went at it. Fuck rust.
First nut rounded off immediately and the rest I left untouched, I don't have a torch or other equipment to remove rusty ass hardware, so I've got to take it to a shop.
I'd have to take it to a shop anyways, since I'm not doing the timing set myself.

Shop job list:
Timing belt
Water pump
Engine & trans oil
Lower control arm
CV boot

Fcken eh, another chunk of money going to a car that might not pass emissions next year.
I've got to the get the thing in working order before taking the MGM into winter storage, and preferably not have the Volvo grenade itself soon after.