Sold Volvo 760 NOT in Scotland

[Minimad5]

So you're 23yrs old and you fancy something 'different' , your daily drive is a V70 which is lightening strikes away from the previous BX TXD, Lada Riva and Peugeot 309 before all that.

 

Whilst browsing these very pages i spy across a very cheap 760 that our very own Luke is selling, which immediately grabs my attention, not only because it's not a Renault that he's selling, but because this fine steed just seems to tick all the boxes:

V6

Leather

Something to annoy fellow work folks with new VAG shit

Practical

 

Not having owned a V6 yet i just had to have it !

So messages and money were sent, along with these fine pictures:

 

 

Just look at that for comfort !

Fast forward MONTHS and i finally get the time off work to do something, so last minute i message Sir Luke and tell him i'll be flying over to collect his fine steed, to which he (like a true gent) promptly gets it delivered to his place, washed and a small amount of fuel in it, to see me to the fuel station then onwards to the ferry.

 

So the night before i set my alarms and plan to go to bed early for the ventures ahead, instead of sleeping i'm up all night reading stories of PRV V6 doom, this however doesn't put me off and a "Aaah it'll be fine" attitude leads me way up to 00:00 .... shit time for bed !

Queue that morning:

 

I jump in the V70 and head to my parents house, as a plan is hatched to leave V70 there, and with a quick brew i'm swiftly off to Liverpool John Lennon Airport.

 

I can't recall the time, something like 5:30 i get to the airport which is earlier than planned, so i waited around until the gate opened, at this time i start thinking "Maybe i should have brought some tools, mhhmm jump-leads may have been handy .... Naaah it'll be fine"

 

So i hop onto a slightly bumpy flight due to strong winds, and thankfully 30mins ahead of schedule we take off and hit Belfast within minutes.

Once at Belfast international, i begin to scour the place for a Taxi rank and end up finding a convenient Airport Taxi stand, to which i ask a gentleman "Can you take me here please *_________* " *insert location name*

To my shock he says he's never heard of it, but it's okay because his Renault cab has a Sat Nav !

So after punching in the Post Code etc, we are off, just a mere 12 miles down the road i hit Luke Towers and grace eyes upon the big grey beast (The car not Luke)

 

Anyway, we get the old girl out of the drive and find that the breaks are binding , but since the fuel station is close we decide to go and grab some fuel.

Faultless and smooth, that's how i would describe the drive to get fuel.

So here we are at the station (Sorry no pictures !) and i 'luzz' in £37.70 of fuel, and a little trickles down my leg as it seems to be brimmed .... Jesus how small are these fuel tanks ?

All paid for i jump in and start her up, mhhmm a bit lumpy, running on 3, 2 eer lets try Drive anyway, so we slowly and spluttery make it out of the forecourt and die in the road, SHIT.

She starts back up but sounds terrible, but we decide to take it back to Lukes for some investigation, to which it makes it back.

Luke focuses on the running and plays around with the leads, whilst i decide a sticking caliper or two ain't helping matters, after breaking a tyre brace - Sorry Luke !, i come to the conclusion that the wheel will have to stay on .... so out comes the hammer (whilst trying not to wake the neighbours) , and with a brisk tap they seem a little free-er.

 

After chatting for some time, and deciding that the ferry departure time is getting closer i throw the keys over to magic Irish fingers, to which the car starts and ticks over impeccably. "I hate you" says i in jest to Luke, as somehow the car now ran fine with him behind the wheel, a quick test drive also concluded this.

So we swap seats and Luke being a gent again, decides to ride in the passenger seat to the ferry terminal 'just in case'

On the road it seems to settle down even more, the Auxiliary belt stops squealing, the rear brakes free up a little more and it makes it to the docks with no drama. Out jumps the good luck charm and bids me good luck.

 

Having never driven to the docks here before my eyes are peeled looking for the signs that Luke informed me of, and with no dramas i end upon :

 

Now when actually boarding the ferry i see this ramp, god knows what the gradient is but the Petrol station dramas replay in my mind, "if it cuts out going up that, i'm a bit f*cked" - Yes i resorted to speaking to myself, but being a Volvo it ran up it with ease and made it to the top deck, why did i ever worry !?

Once on the top deck i was told to put the handbrake on, and eer i may have left it off some clicks for obvious reasons, and i was then ushered inside.

We set sail eventually and began a rough sail home, with waves crashing into the side the ship and over the bow, i suddenly remembered the hand-break ..... pfft it's in Park it'll be fine

 

After getting a Tea on-board and some horrible Panini thing, (that instantly gave me the shits) i decided to try get some sleep.

8 hours later and we are at the docks, and i recall Luke mentioning it can be a bit hard to start from cold so i run to the car deck as soon as the door opens.

 

 

Being the first one out i also wanted to check if she had shifted, nope - Phew !

Anyway once inside i turn the key and she coughs, bit of pedal and she is away singing - Phew !

whilst still the first out, i quickly throw it in R and hear the breaks pop from the rear disks, but they are still grabbing, so i sit and wait patiently until we can get off whilst listening to DA TUNES.

 

 

Once off i set my sights for home, just a 2 or 3 mile drive but i take it easy so not to cook the bearings / brakes etc

I get home with no dramas and park it in front of it's younger brother, whilst neighbours curtains twitch at the sound of a V6 thumping outside, this being slightly more audible due to a small blow in the centre section.

 

 

A few txts from Luke wanting to know if i got home safe, and a quick fast forward to today:

 

Rear calipers

 

I didn't have a fancy piston wind-back tool, so had to use a cheap G-Clamp which wasn't really up to the job

More details of calipers

 

If anyone could help me find a rebuild kit, with all pins, seals and pad retaining springs as they fell apart, that would be great, as i ended up bending my G clamp because two of the pistons were completely seized, luckily these being twin pots, i was able to free one off each side, but won't be using it till i can sort this out.

 

So the shopping list so far:

 

Caliper rebuild kit

new disk and pads all round

New inboard shoes

two new tyres (205 65 15 - Know any place cheap for these ?)

Set of rear lights (Cracked and let water in)

 

 

Replace all belts !

Plugs , Leads , Dizzy cap + rotor arm

Oil, Oil filter, fuel filter and air filter

 

Tiny bit of welding and possibly a ball joint or two.

Clean out sunroof drains or seal it shut if it continues to leak.

Pin up the headlining.

Aah maybe some rear shocks too, as it bounces around.

 

 

Thank you for reading my ramblings !

[spike60]

Is the handbrake on the pads or on internal drums? The old 244s etc I've had had drums inside the discs like BMW do.

[Minimad5]

Handbrake is on shoes, inside the disk, like many old Mercedes etc

[Cavcraft]

Nice one,  I bet you're well happy with that!

[Jim Bell]

Best interiors ever. Volvo 700s and 900s are comfort heaven. Well played man.

[R9UKE]

 

Look at that combination of excitement / dread!

 

Great to meet you Mark, I hope you'll be back. That old beast has really landed on its feet with you, it'll be completely transformed with what you've got planned for it.

 

Oh and I've decided to ditch the Renault wheel braces and buy a proper one

[Minimad5]

Sure will be back !

I'll keep in touch via facebook, and we can organise something.

 

Thanks again for being a gent

[Lacquer Peel]

Love these old crates, not sure I could bear one with a PRV engine though. Top shiteing.

[Station]

Lol

"Where did you get it from?"

"Belfast"

"Is that in Scotland?"

 

I actually said that.

[Lord Sterling]

Sweet! I remember you mentioning this a few weeks back. Glad you've got it, I think you've now got more cars than me. Is this going to be a daily runner?

[Minimad5]

Sweet! I remember you mentioning this a few weeks back. Glad you've got it, I think you've now got more cars than me. Is this going to be a daily runner?

I will sort all the bits out it needs, and once i'm happy with it it will turn into a daily for some time.

Then i may shift it on to pastures new, won't be the same price what i picked it up for, but won't be expensive.

Would love to try a Diesel one of these

[KruJoe]

Nice write-up Mark.

Two V-bricks now? You didn't sound Scotch last time I met you!

[Minimad5]

Two is the magic number my friend, two Volvos and two Ladas.
Winning at life etc (But failing at finding a cheap pair of calipers ! )

Anyone ever used Euro Car Parts for re-manufactured calipers ?

[KruJoe]

Ha ha yes!

I have two Volvos also, on different continents.

Two Justys.

Two RAV4's (well one is Pop_KJ's, but I may buy another this year.)

Two and a half wedgy Rovers an'all.

The MR2 and Estima don't have a twin (yet!)

[rml2345]

Top purchase and entertaining write up too. Can't say anything about the quality of ECP recon calipers but the potential for them to fuck it up is enormous due to Volvo using several different types at the same time.

Good luck!

[Station]

Joe, that's two Toyotas.

[DS20]

I had a Renault 25 with the PRV-V6, and the engine was fine.  Wasn't the most powerful thing ever, but sounded nice, drove well, and got to 207,000 miles with routine servicing.  WD HVE ANOTHER. 

[KruJoe]

that's two Toyotas.

Erm... Four.

[M'coli]

Top shiteing!  RE the siezed caliper pistons - in the past I've found that levering the ring end of a large combination spanner (perhaps with another combo spanner on the open end for extra length) against the piston using the disc (and a suitable sized block, usually a brakepad, between it and the other side of the caliper)has the tendancy to free them up nicely so that you can at least get them out.

 

It might take some juggling to get it right - sometimes it requires 2 ring-ends back to back on the piston to get the packing just right, if you get what I mean.

[Station]

Erm... Four.

 

Is that in Scotland?

[Minimad5]

I plan on taking the caliper off 'when' i'm next off work, then strip it down and rebuild.

I have found som rebuild kits, but not sure the sizes mentioned are the bore size or piston face ?

 

I'll just order two different sizes and send the other back, if i don't cheat an buy ECP rebuilt ones.

[hairnet]

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Volvo-740-760-850-940-960-Rear-Brake-Caliper-Repair-Kit-3818-/271177687081

 

bigg red will sort you out most places seem to do the seals only but theres 3 sizes of piston

 

if theyre not too rusty you might be able to clean and polish them........

[warren t claim]

I bet that this ends up in Scotland within 12 months.

[Mr_Bo11ox]

I wouldn't buy calipers off ECP, that sounds well expensive and a potential massive ballache when they inevitably give you the wrong ones. I would look at what calipers they are, then try to dig out rebuild kits, probably off www.brakeparts.co.uk

[oman5]

I'm sure I read somewhere that the later PRV v6 was ok, less likely to self destruct than earlier versions. Heck if it's lasted this long it can't be that bad.

It's a superb looking machine, I love the 7/9 series volvos, my one is the diesel variety

[Uncle Jimmy]

Should be able to get rebuild kits for pennies- nice little job.

[Uncle Jimmy]

The later Ovlov vershun Of The PRV WAS better. Still not as good as the Peugeot vershun though. The early 2.7 litre Ovlovs were crud.

[Station]

Are these the ones?

 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VOLVO-740-760-940-2-0-2-3-2-4D-2-8-1981-1998-REAR-LEFT-CALIPER-/131425192215?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_3&hash=item1e998d4917

 

I've done a few caliper rebuilds and found it to be v satisfying with all the seals and piston from Big Redd. I've got the correct rebuild tools if you decide to do it.

 

[Minimad5]

Yeah Dave they look very similar, but i may go for the company MR_Bollz suggested.
 

 

I wouldn't buy calipers off ECP, that sounds well expensive and a potential massive ballache when they inevitably give you the wrong ones. I would look at what calipers they are, then try to dig out rebuild kits, probably off www.brakeparts.co.uk

Thanks for the link Mr_Bollox !
I rang them up today and they reckon i should be fine with a 36 / 38 or even the 40mm, as long as i get the right type 'Lumps' or 'No lumps'
I've left the car close to a friends house, but he has no tools. so i may just order the 38mm, as i don't suppose it would make much difference - However i could be wrong, so feel free to tell me otherwise. (Yes i could stop being lazy and go around etc ... but i'm being lazy)

[Minimad5]

Cavcraft is a legend !

Within his stash he has sourced some good rubber, which will promptly be fitted all for £0.

Autoshite hero of the day.

 

Also thanks to Bollz, i have just ordered them calipers with discs, pads and retaining pins.

Can't wait to get driving this everyday !!