My Big Swedish Box - Now With TURBO POWER

[rml2345]

Welcome to big daft Swedish brick ownership!

[oman5]

is there anyone left here who does not have/is not thinking of buying a brick volvo? I choose to see this as conclusive evidence as to how bloody great they are.

[Jim Bell]

Me. But I've had plenty. Still dreaming of a 940 2.3 Hpt in a 240 wagon though.

One day.

[skattrd]

Mustard mitt I am considering purchasing a Swedish Estate as well, pref a Heather Mills spec turbo.

[mouseflakes]

is there anyone left here who does not have/is not thinking of buying a brick volvo? I choose to see this as conclusive evidence as to how bloody great they are.

 

Will they carry an 8x4 sheet in the back? Currently this is one of the deciders that makes me hang on to my L300 Delica. If a 740/760 could carry a few 8x4s then that might make me switch. I'd love a nice old flat-front estate.

[phil_lihp]

According to a post here:

 

https://www.brickboard.com/RWD/volvo/1328118/740/760/780/740_940_wagon_interior_dimensions.html

 

Dimensions:

Between the wheel arches - 44 inches.

Gate - 51 inches at the midpoint, about 3-4 inches narrower at the top.

Height of the rear opening is 29 inches, 31 ceiling height once you get past the lip on the rear opening.

Overall length is 71 inches. Add another 2-4 with rear cushions removed (depending on how far the seats are back).

 

Mostly measurements seem to be given in multiples of the word 'big'.

[DVee8]

Buying one of these now entitles you and all family members to a vote in that there Scottish referendum.

[Heidel_Kakao]

Same colour as mine is under all the dirt  Welcome to the wonderful world of Volvo!

[Spiny Norman]

Well done, looks smart in that colour. Be sure to let us know if it comes with any random underwear secreted about its person, possibly in the engine bay. Both CMS & I bought Volvo bricks with 'questionable' dipstick wiping material tucked in a corner of the engine bay....

[phil_lihp]

The turquoise turbo has landed.  So far it's been met with widespread approval, not least for the functioning headlamp wipers.  It's massive, fairly clean and tidy apart from being keyed down both sides and the stickers came off easily enough - prancing mooses are staying though.

 

As it's been sat since July the battery was pretty knackered, it just about had enough in it to start the car but didn't improve at all after a good run.  Thankfully the route home was via Philibusmo's pad for a bit of Avantime fiddling/swearing and a much better battery was procured and fitted with only a small amount of blood lost - many thanks for that Phil!

 

Total faults remaining: frayed alternator wire on battery terminal and blocked washers on headlamps.  Not bad for an 18 year old car.  It needs a service but topping up the oil will do for now.

 

I am one happy brick owner, will throw up some pictures at some point.

 

Oh, and underbonnet oily textiles were limited to a dishcloth, no pants thankfully.

[phil_lihp]

Have some pictures.  Looking much better without the daft stickers (well, the BP and Bosch ones).  It needs a good wash and polish and the interior needs a good scrub in places but it's far from horrible.  

 

 

 

There's 0 service history but I've noticed from the pile of old tax discs in the window that it's lived most of its life in East Acton, plus all the belts etc. under the bonnet appear to be proper Volvo bits so I wonder if it's been to a dealer or specialist.  I've found a Volvo dealer 6 miles from East Acton so will give them a ring next week and see if they've got any records of it, I'd like to know when the cambelt was last done.  Are these interference engines?  I'm assuming they are.

 

I'm in two minds about a stereo swap, the wiring is like nothing I've seen before and some internet research suggests it's a pain to try and put my aftermarket one in, although the tape player it has doesn't seem to be an original one itself.  Anyone tried this before?

 

Also, at some point, I'll be after a pair of rear light lenses, a pair of front sidelight/indicator lenses and maybe a load cover - anyone got any of that lot knocking around?  Obviously eBay can provide but thought I might as well ask.

[cms206]

2.3s are non-interference, 2.0s are; if the stereo is OEM Volvo Halfords usually do adaptor cables for about a tenner.

 

That looks class, how are you finding it so far?

[phil_lihp]

Loving it, it feels nowhere near as huge when you're driving it, it shrinks around you, probably the massive quantities of glass help.  I might finally have found a car I want to keep for a period of time.  Maybe.  The engine's not as powerful as I might have expected but then it's a heavy, heavy car and it picks up speed quite well on the motorway so I'm not complaining.  It also needs a service, it's a little bit lumpy sometimes and the oil was low and very dirty.  I'll treat it to a full service next month including plugs and leads (the leads look pretty ropey) if I have the money.

[phil_lihp]

The Volvo love continues, just picked it up from a week's stay with a friend whilst I was away (he has a modern V70 but a secret desire for a 240/340 so there is hope) and it continues to be excellent.  There's a few things on the list to sort still:

 

* Oil & filter change

* PCV system renewal

* Fix non-working headlamp/rear window washers (new T-piece valve ordered for a mere £4.50 from eBay)

* Replace broken front indicator/sidelight and rear light lenses

* Clean and tidy interior - main fixes needed here are just the driver's sear cover has pulled away and needs fixing back down on one side, the heat knob won't go all the way to the left and, owing to a rather clumsy adaptor plate, the stereo sticks out too far so every time I change into 3rd gear I get Radio 1.

* Proper polishing session - I've had a crack at T-cut/ScratchX but the paint seems to be too hard for it to have much effect, the paintwork has the texture of sandpaper so I'll have to try some of that clay stuff I've heard of. 

 

Any of the Volvo massive got suitable and intact light lenses they'd like to trade for some monies?  Just noticed I've already asked that though!

 

Also, not getting too far on the PCV breather issue, it's blowing some oil out of the top cam seal which is a symptom of excessive crankcase pressure caused by a blocked PCV breather system plus mine's done 136k so it's probably about due (http://howardsvolvos.webs.com/engine.htm#487754928) - apparently cleaning is not really possible and the plastic pipes tend to crumble when disturbed so the best option is to replace it but I'm having problems finding a new one even on eBay, anyone got any experience of this?  Might try the local Volvo dealer just in case.

[Shep Shepherd]

^

 

I got a new breather box for The Volvo from my local Volvo dealer without any problem a couple of years ago when the original one's outlet pipes went feral. I managed to clean it out satisfactorily with white spirit every other service until then. After a good wash out with the aforesaid liquid, the 1992 vintage example on The Wentworth seems to be okay.

 

Pawnote: I have a pair of serviceable 940 front indicator/side marker lenses which I took off The Wentworth when I first bought it (they weren't up to my standards), but they are a bit sun-crazed.

[RobT]

This being autoshite I shouldn't admit to it, but I've clayed my cars in the past Phil and it's great stuff. Followed by a good polish with Meguiars or whatever and it makes washing the car so much easier for a long time after. Which is a good thing as it takes a bloody long time on a big car.

[phil_lihp]

Thanks for that, Shep, I'll give the local dealer a call, I'd like some proper 940 floor mats too so perhaps they'll have something suitable available.  You have a PM about the lenses.

 

I've done a bit of research on the claying business and apparently the best option now is a clay towel or mitt - supposed to be a lot easier and quicker than a clay bar and Halfords have one in stock so I'll have a bash at that when I have some time to kill.  I'll probably top it off with Autoglym Super Resin Polish and wax.  Could take a while on this one!

[Shep Shepherd]

^

 

PM sent ^^

[purplebargeken]

That is bloody nice! I have also heard that some Volvo dealers still have the old stuff available, so well worth a try.

 

Ken

[RobT]

Clay mitt sounds a good idea, as when I clayed that Renault 25 I had it took flippin ages!

[phil_lihp]

There are some very nice people on this forum.  Look what I got:

 

 

 

Thanks Shep!

 

The original sidelight/indicator units were chipped around the edges and one had a hole in it so they were both lined with muck inside and looked horrible.  Thanks to some clever design, they were swapped over in a couple of minutes, considerable improvement!

 

I also fitted a new valve so I now have working headlamp washers, this is very important and makes me very happy.  The rear one still doesn't work though, not worked out why yet.  The pump makes a lot of noise but nothing actually comes out so I'm assuming a pipe's blocked or disconnected somewhere.

 

I phoned the local Volvo dealer and was astonished at how helpful they were.  They can't get a full PCV 'kit' any more but he worked with a technician who still knew the 740/940 and got me a list of 4 parts that are needed plus some advice on what doesn't need changing but can be cleaned, all for a very reasonable £54.  They'll be getting more business from me if they keep that up (parts, not shiny new cars though).

[RobT]

Looking good there Phil, sounds like you're enjoying Volvo ownership. Nice colour and wheel combo this one.

[Tetleysmooth]

For the rear washer, check around the offside rear light inside the car. The tubing runs through there with yet another valve. Have you noticed washer fluid peeing out by the rear offside wheelarch when you operate the rear wash? I did with mine. Do away with the valve inside the car and just join the pipes together.

[2MB]

I swapped the original tape player in my old 240 for a kenwood CD player with minimal fuss after getting an adapter. The sound from the standard stuff is terrible! You'll need a fascia adapter as well though as the std head unit is bigger than din sized (in a 240 at least)

[filthyjohn]

None of the redblock engines are interference (the 2.0 and 2.3 use the same block, crank, cam and compression ratio, so either they all are or they all aren't.) and the cambelt is as easy as cambelts get. Interval is 80k and the belt is about £20 from the dealer.

[rml2345]

The original sidelight/indicator units were chipped around the edges and one had a hole in it so they were both lined with muck inside and looked horrible. Thanks to some clever design, they were swapped over in a couple of minutes, considerable improvement!

Great how easily they pop on and off, isn't it? For the more enthusiastic you can have the entire front of a 940 in bits (including bumper) in about half an hour without breaking a sweat.

[Shep Shepherd]

I'm glad that they arrived intact, Phil!

[daveb47]

Looks good Phil,same colour as mine

[greengartside]

Looking at all these Volvo purchases reminded me of the Volvo my father used to have. Shame that the old 940 hasn't seen the road in quite a while. Funnily enough, it's a SVM-reversal as it was first sold in Glasgow then made it's way southwards...

 

 

Trig spotted it somewhere in deepest Essex (credit to Trig for the photo - hope it's okay to post here...)

[phil_lihp]

For the rear washer, check around the offside rear light inside the car. The tubing runs through there with yet another valve. Have you noticed washer fluid peeing out by the rear offside wheelarch when you operate the rear wash? I did with mine. Do away with the valve inside the car and just join the pipes together.

 

Thanks for that, I'd never have known to look in there, I haven't noticed any dampness but I'll take a look, that sounds about right.

 

Looks good Phil,same colour as mine

 

Yes, I realised that after your thread came up a while back, the colour was a big turn-off originally but it's grown on me and I quite like it now, it stands out in a car park full of silver moderns.  It'll look better when I eventually get around to sorting the paint and put some actual shine on it.  The only thing stopping it looking 100% then will be the nasty keying damage down both sides which will have to stay as I'm not paying to have the sides resprayed.

 

Great how easily they pop on and off, isn't it? For the more enthusiastic you can have the entire front of a 940 in bits (including bumper) in about half an hour without breaking a sweat.

 

It's clear that Volvo really thought about the design, I love how the grill is only held on by two big spring clips and just lifts out in 2 seconds, no screws to rust and snap off.  My neighbour was most amused, I removed the grill to get to the washer pipes and whilst fishing out the relevant pipes had my head inside the huge void in the front of the car which must have looked a bit odd.  

 

I swapped the original tape player in my old 240 for a kenwood CD player with minimal fuss after getting an adapter. The sound from the standard stuff is terrible! You'll need a fascia adapter as well though as the std head unit is bigger than din sized (in a 240 at least)

 

I'm staying with the rubbish-looking cassette player it came with, it's not original but I think it must have been expensive when new, it sounds excellent and has an aux port for my MP3 player so it's all I need.  I'll put up with it sticking out so far as the adaptor can't be rotated, I pulled the dash apart yesterday to try.