My latest millstone (Manky old Volvo content)

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I had a cheeky bid on this Volvo on sunday night last weekend:

 

 

I bid £225, won it for 220. WTF I bid on if for I don't know, I guess it seemed like a good idea at the time!

 

It looks pretty good in the pics but when I clocked  it on Street view it didn't look quite so hot.

 

 

Rang the seller on Monday morning and told them i'd collect at the weekend. "Oh thats no good, we're having building work done, I need to get it shifted, can you come tonight after 5pm?" I could not, as i was away in france Monday-Thursday with work so that wasn't gonna happen. I got the vibe that the seller was simply a bit feckless rather than unpleasant, and I pointed out that not many people could shift a Volvo from its 5-year resting place at less than 24hrs notice (excluding scrap men of course). Anyway long story short I went up to collect it this morning as planned!

 

Here was the edifying sight i stumbled upon:

 

 

 

 

Soz about the pics, had the camera exposure set wrong. Basically this thing has sat still for 5 years, the sun has scorched much of the lacquer off the roof and boot and the wheels were all seized of course. Its a bit of a sad old thing that is not as nice as it looks in the ad. The seller had cleverly lobbed a piece of roofing felt over it to protect* it while the building work went on, that of course has scratched the bonnet to fook as well.

 

I tried to start it but I cant get it cranking, not sure if this is a sticky relay, crappy battery or some problem with the shitty aftermarket immobiliser which is fitted but it was defo not happening.

 

Anyway I went round pumping the tyres up and freeing off the wheels on by one, after which it rolled out onto the road OK, causing a few curtains to twitch on the estate ("OMG THEYVE ROLLED IT OUT ONTO THE ROAD SIDNEY!!!! SHOULD I CALL THE POLICE?") The seller was amazed that one person could turn up with a few tools and shift it singlehandedly, I think he was expecting an army of bodybuilders to carry it onto the back of a truck or something.

 

 

 

Looked a lot better with the tyres blown up admittedly!

 

Got hooked up to my mates van which i borrowed for the morning:

 

 

Flipping brilliant van this, 2.4 TDCi or something, its as comfortable and nice to drive as anything else i've ever driven, I could drive it about all day! Unfortunately the clutch is tired and slips if you give it too many beans. Its 'bean' (see what i did there?) like that for yonks though so i figured one more slog with a volvo hanging off the back wouldnt kill it. I've already offered to help my mate fix it anyway meaning I can legitimately participate in knackering it up.

 

Now i know you're not supposed to tow automatics, but I figured that 24 miles of low-sped A-roads would not kill the gearbox in this Volvo. If it does, well so be it, that will teach me a lesson i guess.

 

Got it back to base and had a proper look:

 

 

 

 

 

To be fair it seems an honest enough old thing, just a bit rougher than i'd hoped. The paintwork is pretty fooked really, and no-one is gonna shell out  to fix that are they. I havent had a proper look underneath but I bet theres a rust hole or two that need looking at. The upper rear suspension arms (cast iron) look like they've lost about 25% of their mass due to rust so there must be some other stuff there! Obv the brakes would need sorting too, although the discs have cleaned up a lot on the way home and they don't seem to be sticking on.

 

Anyway, does anyone know where I can find a wiring diagram for this thing? Hopefully I can get a couple of hours in tomorrow to figure out whats gong on with the starter motor or whatever it is. The dash lights come on (with varying degrees of brightness) but theres not even a faint click from the starter, making me think perhaps the solenoid is stuck or something. The lad said it was starting and running fine when it was parked up, so presumably the problem is down to it being sat for so long. Whatever it is I need to get to the bottom of it reasonably quickly otherwise its going to be getting A'd round the corner to Garratts metals unfortunately. What am i likely to get for it in scrap, any idea?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Whats the deal with the pics? they are supposed to be a lot bigger than that.

 

****EDIT: OK I get it, you are supposed to click on them to get the full-size version*****

[autofive]

doesnt look too bad for the money, providing youn can get it going

 

wiring diagram - which haynes manual should be looking for in my loft?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Soz, its a Volvo 760 2.8 or 2.9, 1989 or thereabouts!

[autofive]

http://www.google.co.uk/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=24&ved=0CHgQFjAX&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.volvowiringdiagrams.com%2Fvolvo%2F740%2520Wiring%2520Diagrams%2FSchematy%2520Haynes%2520Volvo%2520740%2520760%2520od%25201987.pdf&ei=NlOzUYrBEYqM0wXR0oCgDw&usg=AFQjCNFnZzF394hWMAnKFjtAjLdUTvWEPw&sig2=u6-ljT0F4OIXqdv-VKLBEg&bvm=bv.47534661,d.d2k&cad=rja

[autofive]

and look here for more info

 

http://www.volvotips.com/index.php/740-760-780/volvo-740-760-780-service-and-repair-manual/

 

(google just saved me a trip into the loft)

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Blimey. Thats flipping brilliant! Its amazing what info is out there nowadays innit. A few years ago i'd now be digging for a Haynes at the local library or SH bookshop.

[Volksy]

It could be the Auto Transmission shifter switch is stuck, hence immobilising the starter, this happened to my S70 when it was left parked up for a summer while I was away, try ragging the shifter from P through to 1 a few times whilst holding the key in the start position?

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Actually I did make a half-arsed attempt to do that, the symptoms are the same as a stuck inhibitor switch so i might give that a (more enthusiastic) try tomorrow

[freebird]

To be fair, if it can be saved, you have the skills to do it. I love that interior, it looks like the kind of place you could spend all day in and drive hundreds of miles and not feel it at all.

Mind you, I suppose with it standing for so long, it must smell like a tramps fart in there.

[drum]

Looks like a good save to me ( if you can). Not many 760s about.

 

What's the best way to deal with the peeling lacquer, short of a full respray?

[R9UKE]

Great thread, that's such a good looking car. I'm at a slightly later stage of the resurrection of a 760. Mine had also been sat in a driveway untouched, but for one year less. It started fine thankfully but the sitting about hasn't done the masses of rubber belts driving the fan etc any good, and they have a lot of play and are VERY noisy. It also seems that the alternator is no good either which has halted play for a while longer.

 

Have you tried giving the starter motor a good whack? Worked every time I've had your problem

 

I'll be watching this one with interest. What's your plans for it?

[worldofceri]

Hopefully he'll get it sorted then lend it to me for six months!!!1!

[M'coli]

What's the best way to deal with the peeling lacquer, short of a full respray?

Acceptance is the cheapest method!

 

Looks a grand bus Bo11, seats look mega comfy.

[Lankytim]

I have an LPG gas kit to fit a 740 that would probably fit this if you're interested. Good save, although It's outside my abilities I think! Got a shed of 700 spares if you need anything....

[RichardMoss]

That's an awafulot of car for just over £200.  The interior is fab - Caramac coloured leather and a black steering wheel, the same colour scheme as my 1996 Jeep Grand Cherokee

 

Have you tried jolting the starter motor with a lead direct from the +ve terminal on the battery?

[rml2345]

Love the interior on the 760. It makes the 740 job look pretty miserable. 

Also, caramac leather is for winners.

inhibitor swiches are not unknown to fail on these. The gear selector cable could also be out of adjustment so that it's sat in the wrong gear or something. 

[Six-cylinder]

Great cars, nice story. We have had several 740 but never been brave enough to own a V6.

[cms206]

These 88/89 model 760s are the handsomest - new front but the old lego block taillights. It is to my great annoyments that I didn't save a similar but grey F-reg 760 Turbo a couple of years back but I suspect it'd have been rougher than arses had my limited mechanical knowledge been able to get the sodding thing to run.

 

Good luck, a brown 760 has to be all the way to the top of any Volvo apologist's wishlist.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

Just had a pretty successful hour or two on this thing. Went down with the aim of getting it stoked up.

 

I've got a big battery which I bought off my pikey neighbour for a fiver which is very useful for stoking up long-dead motors. I stuck it on charge overnight and chucked it on today to see what happened.

 

 

Lovely day for a bit of fettling! 

 

Anyway basically i jumped in it and the 'ASS KICKER' battery forced the lazy old crate to fire up immediately!!!! It started straight up and settled to a smoothish tickover straight away.

 

Heres a film of it:

 

 

WOW! I didnt expect that. I PROPER wish I'd charged the battery before Saturday, i would have loved to see the guy's face if it had just fired up on his driveway there and then.

 

First thing I noticed was that the exhaust was a bit noisy, Stuck my head underneath to find some QUALITY repairs:

 

 

The exhaust looks fairly jiggered from front to back TBH, and its a dual system cos of the V-engine...... expensive.

 

Anyway it seemed happy enough apart from a strange high-pitched whistling noise from the engine. I noticed some sludge in the expansion bottle, and no water in there (alarming) so drove it over to the hosepipe to top that up.

 

 

I blasted all the shiz out of the expansion bottle and topped it up and let it sit for 15-20 mins to see what happened. It didnt seem to be bubbling up in the bottle and did not boil up or anything daft so I'm not sure about that yet. No Water in the oil either and no steam out the oil cap. Obv a head gasket would be a 'game over' item on this car. I have an idea that a these PRV V6's often get a little bit of oil in the water and its not the end of the world, anyway its one to keep an eye on. The odd whistling noise cleared up after 15 mins or so too.

 

 

Difficult to see it in the pic, but there was nice little oil slick on the ground after i'd blasted all the shiz out the expansion bottle

 

 

 

Heres the scorched paint on the roof and bootlid. Annoying!

 

 

Little bit on the front wing as well:

 

 

Heres the results of the sellers efforts with the roofing felt:

 

We had a few warning lights on on the dash so i decided to try and extingush some of them:

 

 

Washer fluid: Just topped that up, the light went out but theres a leak where the pump is mounted on the bottle so that would need sorting for the MOT.

 

Bulb warning: Replaced a few bulbs and to my amazement that went out, I thought these were permanently lit on all old Volvos.

 

ABS: Drove it round the block a couple of times while pressing the brakes and it seemed to find all was in order so extinguished itself. REEEEZULT!

 

I decided to do a compression  check on it to further investigate the head gasket.

 

 

All pots turned out to be between 155 and 165 psi so that all seemed fair enough.

 

So basically thats it!!! It starts and runs and drives, the brakes and lights work, it seems to me that the exhaust is the biggest obstacle between this car and an MOT. Obv i'm on a very tight budget with it so I'm not gonna rush out and spend megabucks on a whole new exhaust. I guess i'll keep a close eye on the bay, also if anyone knows of any breakers give me a shout eh?

 

 

Arty* 'through the window' Mondeo shot giving you the benefit of a glimpse of my 'garage trousers'.

[dollywobbler]

Top work. Love the Bollox-cam action. "Hang about!" Ultimate bravery, just hope it results in rewards. 

[Split_Pin]

I'm in bed just now and my wife and 8 week old son are in the room and I don't think they appreciate being woken by the sound of an old 760 with a barking exhaust, but Id so love to watch it!

 

I too love these post-86 760s and the interior looks mint.

 

Nice one on the driveway collection!

[stuboy]

ohh a mondeo shot

 

love the old barge

[J-T]

Love the interior in that. Top result getting it running!

[RichardMoss]

I wonder if the oil/water interface situation is caused by something like the GM L36 V6 - a weakness in the inlet manifold gasket causing a small amount of mixing.

[Junkman]

Fuggin ace, man.

[hairnet]

BOLLUCKS WINZ AT VOLVOZ

[hairnet]

http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/251275517071

 

http://compare.ebay.co.uk/like/380379422725

[cort16]

Chop the rotten pipes and run side exhausts using some old scaffolding polls, don't bother rubbing it down but still paint it satin black using no more than 3 cans of pound shop paint, chop 3 coils out the springs, weld the diff solid then stick it on ebay and watch the money roll in*.

[Lankytim]

Amazing stuff! After seeing the pic of it festering away on that driveway I thought it's days were numbered. Apparently not!