The (sort of...) Jap scrap (sort of...) sensible turnip garage

[Boydie]

What way did you go over? Via england or cork?

 

[svensktoppen]

Went Cairnryan via Yorkshire to Cambridge. Then overnight Harwich to Amsterdam as I knew there's no messing about and nobody checks anything, lol.

Down through Holland and Belgium, wee detour along the Meuse in the Ardennes, stopover about halfway down through France just before Dijon. Then to Provence.

Few days in Signes in Provence for the comp. Which just happens to be at the southern end of the St Baume region of wineries, olive groves, mountains, and spectacular classic rally and hill climb stages. Of which I knew nothing at all until I got there, lol - sometimes things just sort of work out by themselves

Then instead of two days of motorways back I went west to Pau of tdf fame, in the foothills of the Pyrénées.

Then a day off gloriously epic amazing fun across the Pyrénées into Navarre and over to Basque Country. Boat from Santander to Portsmouth and on to Cambridge again.

 

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I'm mighty proud this morning (sorry, been watching too much Firefly recently ), but I actually managed to fix something myself at the weekend!

Got the wee Volvo out on Saturday. New aircon compressor, gear cables sorted (I hope, lol), new oil seals for the turbo oil feeds, and a few other bits and bobs done. All good and then the driver's door wouldn't open from the inside Turned out to be a wee connecting rod which had fallen out. It's supposed to be held in by a wee plastic grommet kind of thing but that was long gone. Apparently this is not uncommon with these cars. And those parts are no longer available, obviously. But a couple of cable ties later and it was all working again. And only lost two tools down the inside of the door

Anyone taking bets on how long this will last?

A pita getting in there, and once I was done I realised the rod was the wrong way round. Couldn't face redoing it all again so I left the wee plastic cover at the back of the lock unclipped at that end and then it all worked just fine. Will do until it falls out again.

Then I managed to get my hands on a brand new manual wood gear knob. They are ultra rare, obviously long out of production, and were only ever used on the T-5R model in 1995. They were never used on any other Volvo. The old one was worn and the lacquer cracked. I did get it tidied up well enough using wax fillers and shellac polish, but then it turned out somebody had one lying in a drawer, brand new in box, and it came up on auction in Sweden!

Nerve wracking to get it in, but it's there and it's lovely and life is good

With the door card out I also replaced the bucket around the interior door handle. It was actually pretty good but had an annoying wee crack on it, and I happened to have a new one in the parts bin.

Old:

New:

Was out and about at the weekend, just enjoying the sun and the countryside. This car is like a black powder shotgun - a slightly slower burn, but oh so very, very satisfying!

Mitsi got a blast through Wales on the last leg back to Belfast. Because, well - just because, lol. She likes Wales!

 

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The little mechanic actually fixed something again, turnip style Jonny still insists he'll make a mechanic of me, lol, eternal optimist so he is

First off, fuel leak on the Hondus, at the connector to the rail. Pulled it all apart and couldn't see anything obviously wrong. Cut off the bit where the jubilee clip had been and reassembled. Seems ok now. Presumably the hose had been pinched or something over the years under that clip.

Then the boost gauge on the 850 stopped working the other day. Yes, they have a boost gauge in the instrument cluster, marked "turbo" - got to love the nineties It takes a feed from the "vacuum tree" on the manifold, under the throttle body, and connects to the "tree" via a rubber elbow. Which was literally falling apart.

The little offender:

Happened to have a bit of garden hose that just happened to be the perfect size. Job done, lol. Anyone taking bets how long it will last

That's the garden hose at the top there, connecting the pipe up to the "vacuum tree".

There are millions of those wee rubber elbows throughout the vacuum system. Add to the list: hunt down and replace them all!

Just another day in old car land, lol.

 

[MarkM]

Garden hose lol I dunno about being a mechanic Nic

 

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I think I'll stay in the day job a little longer

But the boost gauge works again, idling as she should now too. And the Hondus didn't catch fire on a lap of my local test track.

I call that success

Oh, and this happened! Very shiny! Just collected, looks even more amazing now

 

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Back in 1995 the 850 estate was the biggest Volvo you could buy. Pretty much the biggest car you could buy, full stop.

Not any more! Emma is barely any bigger than a modern 3/4-series. I have lost her in car parks between modern hatches and crossovers. No joke!

She's much bigger on the inside though, like a cavern in there, lol. Proper Tardis

Here's her the other day parked between two modern Volvos. How things have changed!

 

[dh1079]

Back in 1995 the 850 estate was the biggest Volvo you could buy. Pretty much the biggest car you could buy, full stop.

Not any more! Emma is barely any bigger than a modern 3/4-series. I have lost her in car parks between modern hatches and crossovers. No joke!

She's much bigger on the inside though, like a cavern in there, lol. Proper Tardis

Here's her the other day parked between two modern Volvos. How things have changed!

View attachment 364264

Looks tiny

 

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She is! It's how low she is that gets me every time next to anything modern. Much bigger than either of those on the inside though, lol.

 

[Boydie]

Speaking of big, was behind a new defender and it was beside a mk4 golf - my word they are huge!

 

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They are! Was the first thing I thought when I saw one in real life for the first time. It was "just" the swb 2-door but it was absolutely massive! Not a clue how you fit one in a Tesco car park. Or an average field for that matter, lol

 

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Back from a few weeks in England in the wee Volvo. She loves it there! From Yorkshire to Dorset, from Suffolk to Wales. Done 2.5k miles and never missed a beat. If anything just went better and better with a bit of use. Industrial strength air con helped too, lol, had 35 degrees for a week there!

A wiper arm fell off as we drove off the ferry in Belfast, lol. But that's ok, thankfully didn't lose it (you would never ever find another rhd one ) and just bolted straight back on again. Used a bit of locktite to try to make sure it stays on!

Also finally built up enough courage to stick new boot badges on. Most nerve wracking thing I've done, lol. One drops about 2mm from one side to the other, which annoyingly is visible if you know... But whatever glue they use, once it touches anything then that's it, it's stuck on. So it will do. Still not a bad effort for a turnip

Gave the engine bay a wipe down too. Not bad at 27 years old! That's literally just a wipe down, no dressing or anything. And got some C4 on possibly the biggest scuttle panel in the world. Don't have a before picture, but it was basically white so I call this a result

Now Mitsi is out to play. Bit different stepping into that from the Volvo Terrorising Donaghadee and Millisle earlier today.

 

[EF Ian]

You do some amount of driving.

Is it the Volvo badge that drops down at the right side?

 

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Life isn't worth living below 8k rpm Or more than 2" off the ground

Wee run up the coast after collecting her this morning. Some readers may have noticed I'm quite fond of this wee car, lol. Getting in is like fitting an old shoe, it's all just so right!

Small update - gear shifter. Got one of these fancy jobs in to replace the old knackered Lotus unit. So much better! Not quite the same quality as the one in the Evo, but then it was quite a bit cheaper too. Or rather "less expensive", cough... none of these things are actually cheap... But totally worth it.

New cables and a full refresh of the linkage at the gearbox end as well will have helped too! Good for another ten years now

 

[TheDaniel]

Awesome mate! Never seen this thread before. The only car I knew you had was the wee lotus. What a line up!

Kakimoto ftw

 

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And it's on

And of course ended up going back via Glenarm because, well, why not It's actually very quiet. Sounds much better on the outside now, just not stupid loud. We may adjust that a wee bit, lol, but I really like it. Looks the part too if I may say so myself, worth every penny just for that

She was made for roads like this! Basically never lift, and brakes are just for adjusting the line through corners, lol. I always thought it was Princess who would kill me but it might just be this What a way to go!

Also got a rear strut brace in. The original one was missing but this will do the job.

 

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And the compulsory...

Before:


After:

 

[TheDaniel]

That is awesome mate. My Kaki is in 3 sections but the back box is a little dented. If I was changing it, that one above would be my number 1 choice. Looks absolutely awesome mate and sounds brilliant!

 

[Blackie]

That’s class!!

 

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Was a good day to pop out for a wee dander in the Mournes. Quiet roads too. There is nothing like a K20 on 8.5k rpm a couple of inches behind your head! And the bum a couple of inches above the road, lol

 

[EF Ian]

There is nothing like a K20 on 8.5k rpm a couple of inches behind your head! And the bum a couple of inches above the road, lol

I can imagine.

 

[chrisdromore]

How quick is the lotus sven? In comparison to say evo.

 

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Well, 225bhp, 750kg, a couple of inches off the road. You do the maths And it's all going on literally behind your head. Can't beat her for sheer drama.

Funny you should compare to the Evo... I think of her as my waterproof Lotus, lol. With a boot!

She's obviously bigger, though quite petite by modern standards still. You'd be surprised just how small she is. Nearly twice the weight, and moves more. But the grip and traction in that thing is just nuts. And it's just as mechanical, just lovely. My highly calibrated bum says close to 300bhp in standard trim. They were all officially 268bhp, some agreement with the Jap government, but... Lol.

The Honda is different again. Bigger, weighs a little more, modern, but 310bhp. And fwd. Again grip and traction is unbelievable (with the right tyres, cough), but it's all happening at the front. Proper diff so no torque steer, just pulls straight to the apex. Always angry, lol. As close as you get to a btcc race car with number plates Or a fwd Evo.

Wee Volvo is obviously a different beast. Still no slouch, lovely for long trips to England, noise and engine literally to die for. She does surprise a lot of modern stuff. And gets a lot of attention too!

All different, couldn't possibly pick one

 

[chrisdromore]

Ah I don’t think I could go back to fwd. Honda sounds great but you can’t steer and put power down without some deviation surely lol

Sounds like the evo has it