Long Update

So I haven't updated in a while, mainly because of a LOT of life changes that I may or may not get around to posting over on Drunken Ramblings, but regardless I'm here updating now so be happy and stuff.

My last posts were about the 850 and the maroon project car (hereafter referred to as 'moomoo'), and possibly about Beige Betty. Well the 850 is gone, the project car is being torn apart, and Betty is pretty much the same as before, albeit now with an AW71 and a new rear main seal (and leak-free as a result!) My current DD is the Yellow Yeti, which has been referenced before as a Yellow Box. It has some fairly significant upgrades, one of which is a full 3" exhaust made by yours truly. However, at the moment it's got some issues, the biggest of which is the lack of reverse.

The transmission itself works fine - as in, it shifts in and out of gears without catching and going forward is fine. However, put it in reverse and it just sits there and spins. If you're on a FLAT (and I do mean _flat_) area, it'll start to think about going backwards, after a while. So I researched it and it turns out there's a cone clutch in the overdrive, and this is the cuprit in this situation. Oddly enough this same overdrive clutch completely failed in my first Volvo, a 1981 242, which necessitated replacing the transmission as well. So this weekend (well, my weekend, from wednesday to saturday) will be spent pulling the running gear from moomoo and transplanting it into Yeti.

This will include the transmission, flywheel, clutch, throwout bearing, pressure plate, driveline, rear end, and speedometer. Why the rear and and speedometer, you ask? Well because the '83 has a cable-driven speedo, and the '86 does not. I could swap out the tailshaft, but Yeti's rear end has a rumble that I think is bearing related, so I'll just do the whole thing. Plus I want to tap into the signal for the speedo for a HUD project, and having all of that in the car for testing will make it easier to actually do it.

And then there's the flywheel and clutch. When I bought moomoo I had to do the clutch, so it should still be in fairly good condition. We'll see though, and I'm hoping and praying (though research seems to suggest that they'll interchange) that the B230 flywheel will fit the B23, because the B230 flywheel is different and the clutch won't swap without it.

What else? Oh yeah, while I'm in there I'll replace the rear main. And probably pick then engine up a bit and pull the oil pan to replace that gasket as well, because it's leaking badly from *somewhere*, and while the pan is off I should probably drill the boss for a turbo oil return... And do the front seals too, maybe even drop in the B cam from the '86. And do the timing belt. You know, basic stuff. While completely replacing the majority of the drivetrain.

Yep, totally doable in a few days, right?

Summoning the energy

So this weekend I shall attempt my very first whiteblock head removal operation.  The girlfriends' 850 has a burnt valve (I think) and it won't pass emissions due to a cyl 1 misfire.  So I have to remove the head, figure out a way to remove the valves (without the special tool), make sure that the valve seats are okay, and then replace the valve(s) with one(s) from the spare head I have in the garage.  Well, assuming I can get that head off the engine since one of the headbolts rounded off and I can't for the life of me get that damned thing apart.  Wish me luck, people.

In other news, I bled the brakes on Betty after I nearly crashed her into traffic due to a complete brake failure.  It has a very slow leak *somewhere* - anywhere from the distribution block to the rear calipers.  One of the rear calipers was spewing fluid onto the wheel, so I suspect that - but that could have just been a loose bleed screw as well.  Keeping an eye on it though and I'll replace whatever needs replacing when I figure out just exactly where it's coming from.  For now it brakes fine, and I'm glad it didn't bugger up the master cylinder when my foot went all the way to the floor trying to get the damned thing to stop.

While I was futzing with the brakes I replaced a couple of wheel studs on the rear.  Apparently at some point a PO or a wheel shop broke off a stud or two and never bothered replacing them.  I found this out back when I finally started doing work on the car, but after I picked up replacement studs I didn't have a chance to actually fix it until now.  Was a LOT easier than I expected, only had to remove the caliper and pull the rotor to get the new stud into place.  I'd heard of people needing to pull the halfshaft in order to fit studs, but then that could have been longer than stock studs, as these *barely* fit without doing that.

Anyway, wish me luck for tomorrow.  And probably the next day, as this IS my first time with a whiteblock disassembly.  I suppose I should get used to it though, it's the wave of the future!

The Yellow Box

Today I went and picked up a car for a friend.  It's a 1983 Volvo 245, sorta nicknamed 'Yellow Box.'  It had been sitting for a while and both the owners and the place they donated it to basically wanted it to go away, so the price was very right.  It definitely needs a bit of TLC before it'll be a good daily for her, but with my expertise on hand it shouldn't take much before it's ready for prime time.  I was a little worried today when driving it home, it started to have a couple of electrical issues, but about halfway home things cleared up so I'm going to attribute all of the problems it has to simply sitting too long.

Battery was nearly dead after sitting, jumping it with Betty

  I figure a good bath and an engine bay steam cleaning are in order, then I'll get it into the garage to poke around a little more invasively before providing her with a list of parts that need to be acquired before I'll feel comfortable turning over the keys.  She really wants a quirky yet reliable Volvo, and I think this fits the bill.  Apparently she fell in love (or at least a great like) with them back when we were dating, and my '79 - though she deemed it a 'scary' car - was the onus for such feelings.

It definitely needs some tailgate love, the fuse area requires a good cleansing, and I may have to get the rotors turned due to the rusticles that attached themselves to the car after sitting so long.  However the outside of the car is fairly straight, interior is somewhat rough but good in the areas that matter, and it drives pretty nicely.  Hopefully this will be the car that gives her the volvo 'bug', just like my 1981 242 did back in the day.

Time to make the donuts!

Got a bit of work to do on the car, though I'm not sure it'll be today as the weather isn't cooperating.  I have a horrible toe-in issue that is just DECIMATING my front tires.  I thought I'd done a fairly decent ghetto alignment when I fixed my steering rack, but obviously that was not the case.  Car has been very twitchy, especially in the rain, and I've got some really bad wear on the outside shoulders.  So I think I might just head over to the parental units' abode and get that fixed somehow.  Perhaps I should read up on a better methodology on ghetto alignments first, however.

Also have to fix a part of the exhaust - that S pipe is VERY holey and thus is causing me to fail emissions testing.  At least I think that's what causing the failures.  After I replace that I'll run down to DEQ and see if that's what it is.  If not...well lets not go there quite yet because that is where things start to get expensive.  If I had a welder and a chop saw it'd be free but I don't and those two items are NOT free.

Then because of the toe issue I've got to rotate the tires, and/or get some new ones.  Again, not free.  Not to mention DEQ testing will run me about $110.  Cars are expensive!