The BoneWagon

[RollingThunder]

Not sure I've got a thread on my project car, so here it is!

I bought the Bonewagon from a VOC member as a project - its a 1998 V70R AWD auto in black. As advertised -

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And as delivered!

http://www.duckfieldengineering.com/forums/volvo/bonewagon%20delivery.jpg

Its got less than 110k miles up confirmed by previous MoTs, but no service history. HPI clear and is pretty tidy overall. The MoT had expired and it had a few issues, namely a lazy bonnet release, a high pitch buggered bearing sound from the cambelt end of the engine, handbrake parts removed from rear axle, propshaft removed, timing belt due, PCV blocked and chuffing like a steam engine, and generally in need of a service and much TLC. The price wanted kept tumbling as he really wanted it shifting, so I paid not much more than scrap value in the end.

It starts easily despite being parked up for many months, and apart from the noisy bearing, runs very smoothly. I originally bought it as a possible breaker - for parts for my V70 FWD of identical age, but I soon fell in love with it (prefer the black to the nautic blue of the V70 FWD) so the plan was revised somewhat - save Bonewagon and transfer the LPG system over to it, then sell HotRod which has 176k up now (and rising rapidly - its so good to drive!).

The project was on hold until very recently as we're fitting a new kitchen, so all efforts and time is being spent on that, howver due to a delay in getting the cabinets I have a weekend free - so have placed a rather large order with FRF, which arrived yesterday, the day after being placed (top service from FRF as usual!)

http://www.duckfieldengineering.com/forums/volvo/goodies.jpg

In the box we have a timing belt kit including the tensioner and water pump, handbrake shoes springs and fitting kit, PCV kit, thermostat, radiator hose clips, transmission line o-rings and retainer clips (2 sets - one for Bonewagon and one for HotRod), full set of filters - oil, air ,fuel, pollen plus sump drain plug gaskets, throttle body gasket, spark plugs, accelerator cable plus various other gaskets and seals! Not cheap even with our discount code!!! I've also ordered some Goodridge braided brake hoses and Police spec front brake pads. Oh, and some Silkolene bearing grease to strip down and service the propshaft. It was removed by the PO as he thought the gearbox had gone in usual AWD style, but he later found that it was the handbrake mechanism that had disintegrated and was causing the grating noises! A quick examination of one side revealed that the dust shield was rubbing against the brake disc, so that may be a very easy fix!

So this weekend I'll be doing the tranny flush on both cars and hopefully will also be able to remove the fake ally dash trim which I think looks bloody awful.

http://www.duckfieldengineering.com/forums/volvo/allydash3.jpg

Luckily, I think I'll be able to swap it for a redwood trim set as another V70 owner thinks the redwood is tacky lol. If I get the time I'll do the PCV service - I want to clean the alloy bits before replacing them, so it'll take longer than the usual half day to do.

I've managed to get an AWD dual exit exhaust from a VPC member which is due next week - that'll make the rear end look better, can't beat a twin exit exhaust :) I've also spoken to a friend who owns a local bodyshop, so Bonewagon will have the bumpers and bonnet repainted, along with attention paid to the various minor scratches commensurate with its age.

I'll get some pics up once I get the various jobs done.

[expolicev70t5]

Looks nice in pics, I think black cars look good

[martybelfastt5]

love them in black look so good when clean that will make a great wagon!

[RollingThunder]

Not sure what to do about the wheels - do I keep the Comets on, or swap the Satellites over from my other V70 before I sell it ??? As much as I like the Satellites, those Comets are growing on me I have to admit!

Got the Jetex exhaust yesterday, courtesy of Rudeboy - thanks mate, it looks great :D

[RollingThunder]

I decided to write a quick to-do list for the BoneWagon... do you ever wish you hadn't done something?!!! lol


replace and adjust bonnet release cable - got parts
replace timing belt, idlers and tensioner - got parts
replace waterpump - got parts
investigate cam-end bearing noise (PAS pump, aircon pump, aux belt tensioner?)
replace radiator
check coolant hoses, replace hose clamps with mikalor
replace coolant
replace thermostat - got parts
replace PCV system - got parts
clean idle control valve
clean throttle body
replace vacuum hoses with fuel injection hose
replace engine & gearbox mounts
flush ATF, replace cooler line clips & o-rings - got parts
replace spark plugs, HT leads, distributor cap, rotor arm - got parts
replace pollen filter - done
replace air filter - done
replace engine oil & oil filter - got parts
replace turbo boost hoses?
fit RIP kit?
replace differential and viscous coupling oil
refurbish wheels
replace tyres - got parts
rebuild handbrake - rear drum mechanisms and handbrake shoes to be replaced - got parts
skim all brake discs
replace front brake pads with Police spec ones - got parts
replace brake hoses with braided ones - got parts
replace brake fluid
recharge aircon system
replace all wiper blades
replace and adjust accelerator cable - got parts
replace radio with SC-901 and Dolby processor - got parts
fit external DAB receiver and antenna - got antenna
replace aluminium trim with Birch wood effect panels
replace headlights & indicators with 'crystal' C70 ones - got parts
replace exhaust with dual exit jetex - got parts
replace battery with oversize one?
replace propshaft centre bearing - got parts
overhaul propshaft UJs - got parts
refit propshaft
check AWD system
check springs & dampers (and bushes etc)
fit iPD antiroll bars
replace foglamps with good and tint lenses yellow - got parts
get MoT !
to bodyshop for partial respray
tint rear windows
clean interior, de-bobble alacantra material, treat leather, clean carpets, clean headlining
fit LPG system

sell HotRod to pay for it !

[Tomcat]

Think that list is bigger than mine was, lol. Look forward to updates, I do love a black car.

[artfulflounder]

Should get all that done in a weekend.lol

[RollingThunder]

Should get all that done in a weekend.lol

If I had an uninterrupted 'long weekend' then maybe (I wish!!!), but as I can only grab an hour or so every couple of weekends its going to take a few months.

I've just sent one of my other projects off to a local garage to finish as I just don't have the time - its a Discovery Tdi (one of the last 500 made) which we are touring in come August/September... luckily its a mates rates job, as its going to take him four days solid work to get it ready for the MoT! (Discovery = rust lol)

Back to the BoneWagon, the colour theme is now down to black/red, black/orange and black/white... with black/white the current favourite. Still no further on the decision about which wheels to keep though - they both need a refurb so no advantage either way costwise.

[RollingThunder]

I bought a load cover and genuine dog guard for the BoneWagon and managed to get some time to fit them on Saturday. When I was fitting the dog guard I noticed that the rear passenger footwell was... bulging shall we say :( So I took a peek underneath. Sometimes its better not to know about something...

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It looks like the car has come off a ramp, or has been jacked up in the wrong place. Its really made a mess of the floorpan. I don't think the subframe has been affected, but the strengtheners have def been toasted. This could explain why the car has done bugger all mileage over the last few years and has been passed on as a project a few times. Needless to say, this wasn't mentioned when I bought it! So I'll have to have a word with my friend who owns a bodyshop to see if its repairable, and how much it'll cost. To say I'm a bit miffed is putting it very very politely! If its going to write off the car then I'll seek legal advice obviously. In the meantime BoneWagon's future is in the balance :(

[Harvey]

That's not good news to find that :shockedbi

[RollingThunder]

I was absolutely fuming when I saw the extent of the damage. I'm sure it can be sorted, I've seen far worse damage being successfully repaired, its all a question of cost. My £500 project car has already had around £1k spent on it in parts - not fitted yet, but all ready to go on (see previous posts), so if I was to get another V70 AWD I could use them on that car, but I've really fallen for this old bus, which is when it gets very very dangerous to the health of my bank account ... :( My plans for it have pretty much been formed, its just time and money, so that was a major setback (to both most likely!).

I think the budget for the performance upgrades will have to be spent on that floorpan repair, and it might even eat up the paintwork budget too. First priority must be to get it safe, roadworthy and reliable, so it might be a bit of a dog for a year until I can afford to get the 'desirables' sorted out. I'm going to try and speak to the bodyshop later to see what the damage is going to be (sic). It might be that I do a lot of the dog work myself to help keep the bill down a bit - things like stripping the interior that can take hours, and maybe doing the rough panel beating too. It'll have to go on the alignment rig to check that the subframe mountings haven't been nudged of course. Poo poo poo poo poo :(

[RollingThunder]

Well some good news already! I emailed some pictures of the damage to two MoT testers that I know, and they've both got back to me just now and said they wouldn't fail the car on the basis of that damage alone - its not structural, and is not affecting the subframe mounts or seatbelt anchorages. They reckon that strip is not a structural reinforcement part as its too thin, its more likely to be a stiffener to prevent resonance and to give the footwells a more rigid feel :)

So, the BoneWagon will be saved after all! It means I can get all the mechanical bits sorted out in readiness for the MoT (PCV renewal and handbrake for example), then I can get it tested and drive it for a bit to see if there are any other major issues before taking it to the bodyshop for the dent and paintwork to be sorted - eventually!

Its like a cloud has lifted - feeling a huge sense of relief now! :D

[V70 Graham]

Glad to hear your good news.

[stribo]

Sounds like a lucky escape, but shows the importance of checking under a car when buying it as well.

[RollingThunder]

Indeed, usually I'm extremely thorough and pedantic, just that this time everything has been chaotic for several months, and I bought it off a VOC member who I trusted :( Still seriously miffed about it, but at least it isn't a show stopper.

[expolicev70t5]

That's good news, as I was looking forward to seeing further posts after seeing all the bits you had assembled for the project.

[RollingThunder]

Thanks, yes its going to be quite a recommissioning project!

I found the source of the engine noise too - its the aircon pump. It only makes a noise every now and then, and it made an appearance when I fired it up on Saturday. Its a bolt on fix so I'm ok with that - I knew it'd be something like that, just a shame its not the PAS pump which would be much easier to replace (no need to discharge the AC system first).

The other good news is that I've been released from kitchen fitting duties this coming weekend :) The missus is out with some workmates, so I'm allowed to 'play with the Volvo' :D Should be able to get started with some of the jobs at long last!

[RollingThunder]

Well I spent a bit of cash that I hadn't planned on spending quite so soon. Bought an 18T turbo from Claymore yesterday :shhh: Got to smuggle that one into the garage somehow... ;)

Hopefully the RIP and 960TB will mitigate any increase in lag - its not a huge upgrade really, but should help me reach 300bhp which is my notional target. With the associated increase in torque and AWD it'll be quite a sprightly drive :)

[RollingThunder]

Managed to get a few hours working on the BoneWagon yesterday - replaced the accelerator cable, replaced the across-the-front bonnet release cable, lubed the sunroof, replaced some broken bits of engine plastic (ECU cooler trunking etc), and tested the SC-901 radio that I'd bought a few weeks ago - all good :)

25586

As you can see the cable adjuster was broken and there was a lot of slack on the drum.

I was going to do an oil change on both cars, but I remembered that my ramps had been nicked the last time the garage had been done over :( I popped out to Halfords and didn't like the weedy ones they were selling, so I made one of my own - a bit ghetto style but a damn sight more sturdy and stronger than the Halfords ones -

25587

Materials - 2x scaffold planks, 1x 4x4 fence post, 1x gate hinge and some 65mm screws. I reckon my 3 ton Landy would be safe on that :)

[RollingThunder]

We had a week's holiday down in Devon last week, and despite the broadband being appalling, I managed to fall upon a few bargains :D

Firstly, a couple of iPD tools - a camshaft locking tool and the serpentine belt tool and tensioner adjuster... all for £47 inc shipping from the US and import duty !

The next item was a complete shock. I've been checking ebay several times a day since I bought the blue V70R back in February and this is the first time I've seen them for sale anywhere, literally worldwide... what are they? Birch wood trims!

25783

I had even considered buying a car with them in and then selling the car after swapping the trims, but these came up for sale at... well have a guess. £100? £200? They are very rare remember... How about £30 :D:D:D The only downside is that it includes a manual console not an auto one so I might have a problem finding one of those. Also no matching steering wheel or auto gear lever. But I'm still happy with what I bought, especially at that price!

I've already agreed with another member to swap my faux alloy trim for his redwood trim, so I'll do a trial fitting of both to see which I prefer.

I had to rob the radiator draincock off the Bonewagon a week ago, as I snapped the one on HotRod when I was emptying the coolant (doing a water pump change). As I need a new radiator on BoneWagon its no great shakes, just need to get a new radiator sooner rather than later now lol...

[stribo]

As far as I'm aware, the centre console is the same for the auto and manual.

[RollingThunder]

Thanks stribo, I was wondering about that as the cutout looked very very similar to my auto one. Great news if that is right! :D

[abdul]

Any link on the ipd tool

[RollingThunder]

Any link on the ipd tool

camshaft tool - http://www.ipdusa.com/products/5127/109573-camshaft-locking-tool

tensioner tool - http://www.ipdusa.com/products/5830/105058-serpentine-belt-tool

Should make my next cambelt change a doddle...

[Tomcat]

Need to change my cam belt sooner rather than later, may invest in these myself, good call bud..

[RollingThunder]

As far as I'm aware, the centre console is the same for the auto and manual.

Yep, you're right - it fits both auto and manual :) Console and glovebox trim now light birch :) Just need to get the radio surround out one evening and that'll be one job ticked off!

Ordered a new radiator yesterday, a Hella one for £95 delivered. I'd been quoted £130 for a Nissens one at MotorWorld (and that was trade price, the hella one was £170 trade). Once I have that, I can start stripping the front end off - as well as swapping out the radiator, I'll be flushing the intercooler out, flushing the ATF, cleaning the intake manifold and porting it for the 3in 960 TB, then doing the PCV service - that'll be a fun weekend!!! I'll need another full day to renew the cambelt etc, and give it a full service - oil & filter, fuel filter, plugs, leads etc etc

This weekend I'm replacing the PAS pump on HotRod as thats developed a nasty groan over the last few months - I thought it was a tensioner pulley, but after swapping it out from the Bonewagon, the noise remains... and the PAS pump does sound a bit noisy when turned by hand, so hopefully this will be the cure - those iPD tools are coming in very handy!

[evo230]

Its going to be a great car once you've finished. Love the homemade ramps!

[abdul]

Keep up the good work

[RollingThunder]

Progress on the Birch interior -

Before

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After

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And the overall view - still got that radio surround to do :( And that gear lever is crying out for the correct Birch trim - does anyone have one for sale??? And a Birch steering wheel ???

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The console is surprisingly flimsy - that trim piece holds it all together, it isn't just stuck on top. Now wonder so many get broken.

Going to be working on HotRod today but if I get done in time I'll return to the BoneWagon to crack on with things...

[RollingThunder]

Woohoo! After several hours grafting, contorting, swearing, bleeding, cursing and the ocassional drinking of tea, its done. BoneWagon now has a Birch interior :)

25883

Still some bits n bobs to finish up, but the worst of it is done. I'd love to meet whoever designed the radio surround - all those hidden, recessed screws... I promise you he'd be on crutches for a few weeks :cussing:

All the same, I'm very happy with the new look! Just need the gear selector and steering wheel to match!!!

[RollingThunder]

I spent a few hours replacing the PAS pump on HotRod, a couple more hours washing both HotRod and the BoneWagon, mowed the lawns etc etc and found that I had another free hour :) So I had a go at de-bobbling the alacantra upholstery in the BoneWagon. It was really quite a mess, so bad that I'd asked the guys at the Practical Classics show if they knew of a fix short of reupholstering the seats.

25919

They suggested using the small debobbling tools used on jumpers, so I bought a JML one for £3.50 off ebay... to no effect lol. I read on the web that you could shave it off with a razor.... Nope. Still a mess. Then I read a few articles on Porsche, Mustang and Lancia owners forums, where owners had sanded their seats. Somewhat dubiously, I tried a small area... and was gobsmacked - it worked. No more than 5 minutes using 800 grit paper produced this -

25920

Amazing eh?!!! I just need to clean and treat the leather and they'll be like new. It was very easy to do, the bobbles came off instantly and caused no damage to the underlying material - you just have to be gentle. If the upholstery is worn to the extent that the stitching is fraying, then you shouldn't do this, but otherwise its a fantastic transformation as I think you'll agree :)

[jamesy12345]

Woohoo! After several hours grafting, contorting, swearing, bleeding, cursing and the ocassional drinking of tea, its done. BoneWagon now has a Birch interior :)

25883

Still some bits n bobs to finish up, but the worst of it is done. I'd love to meet whoever designed the radio surround - all those hidden, recessed screws... I promise you he'd be on crutches for a few weeks :cussing:

All the same, I'm very happy with the new look! Just need the gear selector and steering wheel to match!!!

very nice, best interior to have...:pimp2:

http://i1322.photobucket.com/albums/u565/jamesy12345/interior2_zps5622977e.jpg

[RollingThunder]

Ooooo nice wheel! :)

The last 'big' item arrived today -

25957

One Hella radiator from adrad.co.uk Great service from them and a great price - under £100 inc delivery! Which means I'll be able to do the radiator, PCV service and timing belt all in one go... That'll be a weekend to remember lol

[RollingThunder]

I had a free hour one evening earlier in the week and decided to fix something that had bugged me since fitting the birch trim - the glovebox lid handle mechanism had a crack in it, so 2 times out of 3 it would jam :( I bought another glovebox lid off TC and swapped the mechanism over (just 4x T10 torx screws after the trim piece is removed). Now the glovebox opens and closes beautifully!

On the downside, I was admiring the new birch trim one morning while waiting for the wife (I give her a lift to work each morning), when she remarked that she didn't like it

:jaw: :buttkick:

Thats not good as I adore it! It ain't coming out, so I'm trying to convince her its like her bamboo worktops - she loves those ;)

[craigoodwood]

25587

Materials - 2x scaffold planks, 1x 4x4 fence post, 1x gate hinge and some 65mm screws. I reckon my 3 ton Landy would be safe on that :)

ive seen that eyed ear somewhere before... :B_thumb:

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww155/craig-abby/2014-04-24124030_zpse65716c2.jpg (http://s715.photobucket.com/user/craig-abby/media/2014-04-24124030_zpse65716c2.jpg.html)

[RollingThunder]

Looks a bit... precarious ! :D

I got the idea from this -

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I was looking at various home made ramps (searched google) and found this thread - http://forums.bimmerforums.com/forum/showthread.php?1842095-Homemade-Car-Ramps-Few-good-size-pics!

[RollingThunder]

The missus is away this weekend so I cracked on with some maintenenace on the Volvos - did an oil change on HotRod and found some loose bolts while I was under there so did them up, and then started the PCV service on the BoneWagon. I'd forgottn what a PITA that is lol, and judging by the crud in the pipes and orifices, the previous owners agree - I doubt its been done before...

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I'll be cleaning the throttle body too. Its not too bad but looks like it could do with a clean.

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The only issue yesterday was a snapped bolt - luckily it was the dipstick bracket retaining bolt which snapped in the manifold so should be pretty straightforward to remove with a stud extractor. The weather forecast is wet n windy today so I doubt I'll get much more done - the bonnet was coming down on my back yesterday and there was no wind forecast then! It was gusty though.

Once the PCV service is finished I think I'll pull the radiator - there is loads of room around the front of the engine with the manifold off, so I should be able to just lift it out rather than try to raise the front of the car 2ft and drop it... sounds much easier and safer this way!

[Ric@rdo]

Looking great!!

[munster732]

Thought you were popping over for the 3in throttle body yesterday Sam?
Looks like you were a bit busy tho lol

[RollingThunder]

Thought you were popping over for the 3in throttle body yesterday Sam?
Looks like you were a bit busy tho lol

Bugger I was, sorry! :( You have a PM

[T5frankie]

Woohoo! After several hours grafting, contorting, swearing, bleeding, cursing and the ocassional drinking of tea, its done. BoneWagon now has a Birch interior :)

25883

Still some bits n bobs to finish up, but the worst of it is done. I'd love to meet whoever designed the radio surround - all those hidden, recessed screws... I promise you he'd be on crutches for a few weeks :cussing:

All the same, I'm very happy with the new look! Just need the gear selector and steering wheel to match!!!

it won't be complete unless you have the rear fag lighter surround too lol, my nautic has the full 5 piece set

[RollingThunder]

You mean like this?

26093

:troutslap

hehehe

[T5frankie]

You mean like this?

26093

:troutslap

hehehe

lol yes, good luck finding the wheel

[RollingThunder]

Yep, they're a bit rare. I've been checking ebay US, Sweden, Germany, France pretty regularly and have yet to see one :(

On the plus side, I've now got a 3in throttle body, courtesy of Munster. I'm intrigued to see how much of a difference there is with this fitted! I reckon I'm about 6-8 weeks off getting the MoT (based on my free time :( ) but I'm getting quite excited!

[Tomcat]

Cars looking really good Sam, look forward to more updates..

[RollingThunder]

Just bought a dashtop with the rare centre speaker. Another item I've been after for months...

26291

Don't think I'll be able to sneak that past the wife.

[craigoodwood]

i see Saj at volvomanias card there, that bloke has got everythin and is a bloody good lad too ;)

[RollingThunder]

i see Saj at volvomanias card there, that bloke has got everythin and is a bloody good lad too ;)

I've never used this place before, so its good to hear he's a decent bloke. Thanks for that :)

[abdul]

i see Saj at volvomanias card there, that bloke has got everythin and is a bloody good lad too ;)

Have u got a contact for this bloke need a few parts

[craigoodwood]

Have u got a contact for this bloke need a few parts

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww155/craig-abby/2014-08-15111730_zpsbe81d31a.jpg (http://s715.photobucket.com/user/craig-abby/media/2014-08-15111730_zpsbe81d31a.jpg.html)
http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww155/craig-abby/2014-08-15111800_zps8f238d2f.jpg (http://s715.photobucket.com/user/craig-abby/media/2014-08-15111800_zps8f238d2f.jpg.html)

[Jamest5r]

http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww155/craig-abby/2014-08-15111730_zpsbe81d31a.jpg (http://s715.photobucket.com/user/craig-abby/media/2014-08-15111730_zpsbe81d31a.jpg.html)
http://i715.photobucket.com/albums/ww155/craig-abby/2014-08-15111800_zps8f238d2f.jpg (http://s715.photobucket.com/user/craig-abby/media/2014-08-15111800_zps8f238d2f.jpg.html)

Wow nads old place haven't been there in a while didn't think it was still open used to spend half my life in there lol

[abdul]

thanks

[Tomcat]

Wow nads old place haven't been there in a while didn't think it was still open used to spend half my life in there lol

Is Nads still running it?.. Top bloke he is, I had dealings with him a looong time ago.

[RollingThunder]

Took my 18T turbo for AET to look at while we were at the Squires Cafe meet. The prognosis wasn't good - I'd bought a bit of a pup sadly. So mucho pennies later, its been rebuilt with a new shaft, a lot of machining, lots of new shiny bits including a 360 degree thrust bearing...

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Thats better :) It'll be a while before it gets fitted onto BoneWagon, but at least its ready to go. The kitchen project has meant that BoneWagon has had to wait, so I still have to finish the PCV service, machine the manifold for the 3in throttle body, fit the new cambelt kit, fit the new radiator etc etc...

[jamesy12345]

I've got a 18T that's a bit rough....if you don't mind could you tell me/pm me how much that refurb cost (appreciate it might need more or less work on mine), just for an idea what to expect

[RollingThunder]

Hi James, a basic overhaul if the turbo has no issues is £300 + VAT. My turbo needed a new shaft, the housing needed machining due to the shaft wear allowing the exhaust turbine to contact the housing, the intake turbine needed machining due to the turbo being used without an air filter so it was pitted and abraded, as was the inside of the housing on that side. It also needed work to the actuator, as the rod had sheared internally. So all that remedial work plus a 360 thrust bearing for £350 + VAT wasn't bad.

Its not cheap, in fact I'm sure you could find someone to do the work for 2/3rds the cost, but I've had dealings with AET since 1990ish - as a QA auditor, so I know that they only produce top quality work - they re-manufacture the turbos for Mercedes Benz & VAG branded exchange units for example, and produce race turbos for some well known teams (can't name names due to non disclosure agreements). So basically if you want a genuinely as good as new unit, they're the people you want to see.

[Ettienne]

You can buy a new 16t for less, with 3inch exhaust housing, if it's of interest I'll see if I can find a link

[RollingThunder]

Got hold of a V70XC front bumper now, wondering whether to get new grilles for it or to just get some used ones... Once painted black, it should look like this - already got the C70 grille on HotRod...

26785

(I know he hasn't put his grilles in fully lol)

So project BoneWagon crawls along, the light is at the end of the tunnel, but its a long long tunnel :ashamed:

[AcidicDavey]

Keep up with the updates Sam, be interested to see what a weekend of piece does to the car :D.

If you ever get to change your gear knob thing I'll have your leather one, they're plastic in the standard cars :sick:

[RollingThunder]

No worries Dave.

Also bought some rocking horse doo-dah yesterday. A birch steering wheel ! :) So its just the auto lever left to find and the interior will be sorted. Damn its looking good !!! :D

Finishing my cuppa and then I've got a belt to sort out on the Discovery (need it for next weekend) and then I'll finish the PCV service and do the cambelt and whatever else I can fit in before dusk!

[RollingThunder]

A bit of a mixed day today really. The Disco belt was a piece of cake so I was able to crack on with finishing the PCV service. Finished that at last and replaced the vacuum hoses, cleaned the throttle body and IAC. Started up the beast and after a bit of churning (no fuel in fuel rail of course) she fired up. Relief! I'd started the job a couple of weeks ago and was afraid I'd forget something :D Anyway, onto the next job, the cambelt. Bugger me sideways if I couldn't find the damn wheel locking bolt key. Checked everywhere for it, even stripped the floor out of the boot, so that stopped that job dead. Plan B, oil change. For that I need to warm the engine up, which meant refilling the coolant. Could I find the new radiator drain plug? Again, searched high and low for the bugger - I eventually found it, exactly where I'd looked initially! So, fitted that - carefully - and went to get the coolant. As I got it out of the garage I remembered - these engines don't like OAT coolant, only the older silicate type. Poo. By this time everywhere was closed so I called it a day and gave it a good wash. Hopefully I'll be able to carry on tomorrow!

[jamesy12345]

A bit of a mixed day today really. The Disco belt was a piece of cake so I was able to crack on with finishing the PCV service. Finished that at last and replaced the vacuum hoses, cleaned the throttle body and IAC. Started up the beast and after a bit of churning (no fuel in fuel rail of course) she fired up. Relief! I'd started the job a couple of weeks ago and was afraid I'd forget something :D Anyway, onto the next job, the cambelt. Bugger me sideways if I couldn't find the damn wheel locking bolt key. Checked everywhere for it, even stripped the floor out of the boot, so that stopped that job dead. Plan B, oil change. For that I need to warm the engine up, which meant refilling the coolant. Could I find the new radiator drain plug? Again, searched high and low for the bugger - I eventually found it, exactly where I'd looked initially! So, fitted that - carefully - and went to get the coolant. As I got it out of the garage I remembered - these engines don't like OAT coolant, only the older silicate type. Poo. By this time everywhere was closed so I called it a day and gave it a good wash. Hopefully I'll be able to carry on tomorrow!

Drain plug is on the nearside of the radiator, through a hole in the tray....be gentle with it!! Good idea to get a spare from the scrappy

[RollingThunder]

lol, thanks James :) I sheared the one on HotRod when I changed the coolant a few months ago - so I nabbed one off BoneWagon to get HotRod back on the road and ordered a replacement, Its the replacement that I'd misplaced. Wasted so much time looking for that bugger and eventually found it in the box of new Volvo bits - which is the first place I went to originally! In my defence, it had got stuck inside another part... Still happy with the work completed yesterday, its one major job ticked off.

More annoying is the lack of the wheel bolt key. That could be a major issue if it isn't a Volvo part. How the hell do you get them off if you haven't got the key???

Off to the motor factors shortly to get some silicate coolant as I'm out of that. Got loads of OATs, but since I sold the Disco I don't need that stuff anymore - all the cars I currently have use the oldskool Silicate stuff now.. But on the other hand I've got about 30 litres of synthetic 5W40 :)

[AshDVS]

Looks like the project is coming along really well!

The V70XC grille is a huge improvement over the normal one. Getting rid of some chrome is always a good thing.
Not sure about the V70XC front bar. In my opinion, it's a bit 'clumsy' looking and doesnt suit the lines of the car. But, that's just personal preference type stuff.
It might suit a black car really well, with all of the normal grey bits colour coded, etc.

More importantly, it looks like you're blazing through the to do list and thanks for the sanding tip for the seats. I'll give it a go.

[AcidicDavey]

If it helps Sam the 2 sets of locking wheel nuts I had were exactly the same! I wouldn't be surprised if just one set were used for the whole range of these cars...

[RollingThunder]

Had a good day on Sunday - Filled the cooling system with tap water first and ran it for 10 minutes with that in it, then drained it all off - nice clear water came out, so no old coolant left in the system. Put 40% coolant in, all went fine, no leaks. Then put some engine flush in the oil and ran the car for another 10 minutes. During this time the sticking tappet was released (no more tap-tap-tap-tap!) and drained that off, changed the filter (put a genuine Volvo one on) and refilled with F.u.c.h.s. 5W40 fully synthetic.

This was one of the big gambles I'd taken - when I bought the car it was described as having a screechy noise at startup at the belt end of the engine but only until the engine warmed up, and it wasn't any pump, tensioner or idler. I've only come across this once before where it wasn't a bearing/belt, and luckily for me, I think this is a second time...

What am I on about? The oil filter*. When I saw it had a crappy Unipart filter on the car my hopes were lifted - what happens in these cheaper oil filters is that the non return valve fails. When the oil is thick it causes the valve to shriek until the oil thins and the valve settles down. Hence me fitting a decent filter seems to have resolved the issue. It may still be oil pump gasket related, but the noise seems to have disappeared for now - fingers crossed!!! I'll have to try it again tonight with the engine and oil fully cold again... All the same I'll run this oil for 1000 miles and then flush and renew it again just to be safe. That'll finish off my supply of F.u.c.h.s. sadly. I thought I had another 20L container but I must have used it :(

* I'd previouslu used a stethyscope to confirm the noise was coming from the oil filter - but that may have been just relaying the noise, it may still be internal...

Did a quick very basic pre-MoT check which looks promising - all lights, wipers, horn, working, seatbelts all good, screen ok, etc etc Got the code reader on it - no faults recorded, no lights illuminated on the dash. Just need to swap the exhaust over and get some decent tyres to pass the MoT. Plus I'll need to drag the brakes on the way there to clear off the rusty scale that has built up on the discs - they're in good condition, no lips, so they won't need replacement. I'll fit the braided lines and renew the brake fluid all the same. I reckon the calipers will need a descale and grease too as the car hasn't been driven for quite a while. Once the rust has been scrubbed off I'll fit the new Police spec pads - no point contaminating them with the rust, I'll happily sacrifice the old pads for that.

Still no luck in finding that locking key, so I may have to resort to hacking them off - they don't look like Volvo locking bolts to be honest. Dave, thanks for the tip - that was my first thought too :) Unfortunately they are quite different and i reckon BoneWagon has some cheap aftermarket ones :(

So annoyingly, its all at a standstill now, as I can't get the wheels off, so can't do the cambelt or rear brakes! Time to ponder the options - I might have to call out the AA, I'm sure they have calls for lost wheel keys all the time...?

[jamesy12345]

intersting about the screeching noise, i have that now on mine. Thougt it was the AC compressor but i think it does have a cheap filter on it

if you take the car into any tyre place they should be able to get the locking nuts off. Why not post a pic with some dimensions, someone may have a key

[stribo]

A 12 sided 19mm socket beaten over the locking wheel nut should get them off, it worked on my C70.

[RollingThunder]

Well thats the tyres sorted - bought 4x Uniroyal RainSport 2s from http://www.tyreleader.co.uk/car-tyres/uniroyal/rain-sport-2/215-45-zr17-87w-46390 . £77 each and free 48hr delivery :)

I was hugely impressed by the RS2s on my 850R, so much so that I bought RainSport 3s for HotRod, but I'm less impressed with those, so after some hunting I found the RS2s. I was thinking about some Continental Sport Contact 5s, but as the RS2s are cheaper and a known entity I plumped for those in the end. Anyone want 4x chinese ditch detectors? :D

I've also found a number of locking bolt removal tools, so I'll measure up the bolt heads and get one of those at the weekend. Oh yes, I love it when it starts coming together :)

[jamesy12345]

A 12 sided 19mm socket beaten over the locking wheel nut should get them off, it worked on my C70.

misspent youth also?

[stribo]

misspent youth also?

No, :P it's a tip I picked up off of MRP, he had the misspent youth.;)

[RollingThunder]

Well I'm delighted - and relieved - to be able to report that the noise was indeed caused by that cheapo oil filter. I started the car from car tonight and not a peep, just a beautiful T5 rock steady idle. No noisy tappets, no squeaks, nada. Wow, that was a gamble that paid off :D I was half expected an engine strip down to be required...

The news on the locking wheel bolt isn't so good though. Judging by the description of these virtually identical bolts, they have a hardened rotating outer shell to resist being removed by force :(

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Just as well I found that out as I nearly bought a Laser tool - which wouldn't have worked. I need to think about this a bit more... I might have to try that 19mm socket Stribo!

[stribo]

Ah, mine didn't have the rotating outer shell, so not sure if it'll work, worth a try though. Strangely the S60R does have the rotating shell, but haven't tried removing them by force. MRP is the man to ask, it seems he's been very naughty in the past. ;)

[craigoodwood]

you could weld a 19mm nut onto the locking bolt, itll make a mess of your alloy but it'll get them off ;)

[oblark]

I`ve used a 7/8 AF socket to get my locking wheel nuts off.

[RollingThunder]

Thanks for the tips everyone... I now have to bow my head in shame. I found the key... It was in a 'safe' place lol. Very embarassing, but at least I can crack on now...

:sorry:

[RollingThunder]

Just spoke with my trusty spannerman - he's going to fit the 18T for me :) Having seen how tight it is at the back of the engine (its an AWD remember) I've bottled it. Trying to do that on a driveway is a step too far - too masochistic even for me lol. He's going to put the Jetex exhaust on while he's under there, so thats 2 jobs I haven't got to worry about :)

[RollingThunder]

Look what was delivered this afternoon :)

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Oh yes, I love those tyres. Won't be long boney, it won't be long.. :D

[RollingThunder]

Got the Birch steering wheel this weekend :) Its a beaut. I'll post some pics once I've fitted it. Wow its going to be stunning :D

[RollingThunder]

I went to pull the wheels off the BoneWagon last night so that I can take them to the powdercoaters this weekend. Luckily, my neighbour has an old 2.0l 850 that has been laid up for a couple of years so I was able to borrow the wheels off that while mine are off the car - there was no way I'd stick it on bricks lol. Around here thats a green light to strip a car to the shell!

If you're a quick thinker, you'll already have realised that the 850 had 15in wheels, while my V70R has 17s - as soon as I tried to swap the front wheel over I realised the flaw in the plan... no way were 15s going to clear my calipers!... sigh. So that plan was abandoned. However, overnight I've remembered that I have two 17in spares (one in each V70R), so I'll put the spacesaver wheels on the front and a pair of 15s on the back. I don't think the rear brakes are any larger on the V's so that should work...

While I was out there, I have to admit to sitting in the car holding (ex)Frankie's Birch steering wheel. Its a beaut and is going to finish off the woody upgrade perfectly. Just got to find some time to fit it! Pics will follow in due course :D And I also fired her up from cold once again, and thankfully that noise is still absent, so I'm 99% happy that it was only the oil filter that was fubar'd. I'm considering dropping the sump to give it a clean out too - I'll feel happier if I know there is no sludgy crap sitting in the sump waiting to be released at an inopportune moment...

[V70 Graham]

I have to admit to sitting in the car holding Frankie's Birch.....

:worthless

[RollingThunder]

lol

I'd take a selfie but I'd look a tit. OK more of a tit than usual. Oh, you meant the wheel!!! :D

[RollingThunder]

OK... this is the marmite test lol. I've seen a test sample of this colour down at the powdercoaters - do you think it'd be a step too far on a set of Comets??? On a black V70 ?

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I did say it'd be controversial !!! :D

[stephenevans99]

Very similar to what Ian had last year:

http://i24.photobucket.com/albums/c2/stephenevans99/Volvo%20Tuning/Meets/Evo%20Triangle%202013/DSC04779.jpg (http://s24.photobucket.com/user/stephenevans99/media/Volvo%20Tuning/Meets/Evo%20Triangle%202013/DSC04779.jpg.html)

[T5frankie]

OK... this is the marmite test lol. I've seen a test sample of this colour down at the powdercoaters - do you think it'd be a step too far on a set of Comets??? On a black V70 ?

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I did say it'd be controversial !!! :D


do what you want mate, you could of course follow every other boring git on here and go silver/grey, i like the colour and any colour goes with black

[RollingThunder]

Well thats the cambelt changed, getting through the jobs slowly but surely! :)

Tried to swap the Comets so that I could get them refurbed, but the 15in 850 alloys don't fit - at all. The fronts catch on the 302s and the rears don't even fit the hubs - I thought they were the same, but it looks like thats not the case :( I need to find 2 spacesaver spares - I've got two, so another two would allow me to get all the wheels off in one go. I don't think the powder coat people would be too happy if I asked them to do them in two batches of 2!

[RollingThunder]

Well, looks like the non fitting loaner wheels is no longer a problem - I think I've bought a set of Propuses! :)

[M-R-P]

OK... this is the marmite test lol. I've seen a test sample of this colour down at the powdercoaters - do you think it'd be a step too far on a set of Comets??? On a black V70 ?

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I did say it'd be controversial !!! :D

On a black car?

I think you're onto a winner there. :D

[RollingThunder]

Well its confirmed - I've bought a set of Propus 17in split rims from Claymore :) Can't believe how things turned out - I was seriously miffed when the loaner alloys didn't fit and I had to put the Comets back on. If they had fitted, the Comets would be down the powdercoaters now and I'd have missed out on the Propuses - which I've admired since seeing them on AcidicDave's car.

I'm now faced with another dilemma :D Not sure whether to go with the safe but attractive grey on silver look -

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Or try the black copper on the middles instead... which may look awesome, or may look minging - and it ain't going to be cheap. Decisions decisions...

[M-R-P]

Black gold rims, gloss black middle ;)

Yum!

[AcidicDavey]

Good choice of wheels :) Sam, given any thought to what colour you're going for?

Check this out, good look? (http://auctions.volvospeed.com/uplimg/img_100768_229a93b0fb1393a4f17795827cf4bc07.jpg)

You have to have a polished lip. Easy to do yourself. Take the centres out to get powdercoated and polish your lips ;)

[RollingThunder]

Well the decision about the wheel colour just got more urgent - a nice little man just dropped off 4x Propuses :) Thanks Claymore, didn't think to ask if they were 7s or 7.5s - they're 7.5s, lurvely!

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Got to decide PDQ now as I want to get them painted and fitted :)

BTW, Dave - its all your fault. I hadn't seen a Propus on a V70 until I saw yours...

[V70 Graham]

Nice looking wheels.

[RollingThunder]

Check this out, good look?

TBH, its too Scooby like Dave. Thats why I was edging towards the black copper effect. Been considering white again too lol. Got a headache now :(

[RollingThunder]

OK, its now a choice between white and gunmetal centres, with a chrome/polished rim -

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The candy colours were going to cost too much sadly (over £600...)

[AcidicDavey]

BTW, Dave - its all your fault. I hadn't seen a Propus on a V70 until I saw yours...

You're welcome :D

Personally I'd go with some sort of shade of grey, it's what I was going to paint mine if I could be bothered with the faff of dismantling them.

[RollingThunder]

Spent an hour or so removing all the bolts last night. To be honest it wasn't too bad - I was ready for a couple to snap but they all came out ok luckily. I was being very very cautious mind you - making sure the bit was fully seated, and putting plenty of weight onto the bit - in fact I was putting as much weight onto it as I was exerting pull on the rachet. The tool you need is an 8mm hex spline bit, not a torx, and don't think about using a 6 pointed spline bit. I tried that on the first bolt and it jumped right out out the bolt. Luckily it didnt chew up the head, but after that one attempt I decided to get the proper tool. I bought a Laser branded bit - it was a lovely snug fit and I had no problems using it, so if anyone else goes down this route, I'd recommend you get one of these. Cheap too - I paid £8 for a set of 5 various sized bits :)

So now I have 76 bolts that I need to strip the paint off. I'm not sure whether to trust the powder coaters to stick them in the acid bath when they do the wheels, or whether I should try using nitromors or similar. I don't want to lose any as they are BBS stamped so are probably the original bolts and the heads and threads are mint.

Doing some work on the Discovery today (full interior swap, including the dash) so I'll have time to think about it.

On the downside, there are rumours that my bodyshop guy may be going bust soon, so my cheap bumpers & tailgate respray may disappear - he was going to paint those, plus get a pro detailler in to do a full paint resto on the rest of the car and engine detailing for £300. I reckon the 'going' price must be nigh on treble that, so the detailing may have to wait for a while :( Its not too bad to be honest, I was just looking forward to the car being 'as new' as soon as I got it on the road. I was never a particularly patient person lol.

[RollingThunder]

Had some great news about my tracker yesterday. I bought a SkyTag tracker when they first came out, so its about 3-4 years old now. It died about 6 months ago, and as it was so far out of warranty I took it apart to see if I could fix it, but nothing was obvious so it ended up in a drawer for a while. Fast forward to two weeks ago when I was at a Landrover show and came upon one of their stands - I mentioned that my old tracker had died and that I'd taken it apart etc and how much would a new one be - for a long standing customer? I was told to send it back to them and they'd have a look and if they couldn't repair it they'd replace it FOC. So I sent it back expecting a polite note saying it was out of warranty, but no, they're sending me a brand new unit! Now that is customer service, I'm well impressed :)

I've also ordered another dashcam for the Bonewagon. I currently have a DOD LS300W ( http://dashboardcamerareviews.com/dod-ls300w/ ) facing forwards and an 801 minicam ( http://dashboardcamerareviews.com/mini-0801-ambarella/ ) facing rearwards in the HotRod. I'm going to put the existing 801 into the rear of BoneWagon, and the new 801 (with GPS) in the front. The DOD unit is a bit bulky in comparison (but gives superb video) so thats going into the Disco. The 801s will be permanently wired in so that they come on whenever the ignition is on. None of these cameras are insurance approved, but they record excellent video and have been reliable - unlike the 'approved', expensive, Blackvue that I had a few years ago that ran very hot, didn't record particularly good video, and eventually packed up altogether.

Finally, I've had assurance from the powdercoaters that they'll strip the bolts and promise not to lose any :D

[RollingThunder]

Finally got down to the powdercoaters this morning to drop the wheels off. Price confirmed as £60\ea and they'll strip the bolts for free :)

As for the colour.... well you'll have to wait and see lol. I spent hours going through House of Kolor colour samples but couldn't justify the price in the end, so I can say that they won't be in Root Beer, Candy Apple Red or Brandy Wine - all colours that I seriously considered! It is a custom colour though, 'our home brew special' as they called it.

Pics will follow... in 2-3 weeks !

[RollingThunder]

Firstly, apologies, I haven't updated this in a while :snail:

The wheels took 2 weeks to do in the end, then I couldn't get the tyres fitted for another week, so it was almost a month after dropping them off that I finally had them on the car. I have to say I'm very happy with them :)

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So I gave the car another once over and booked it in for its MoT, and to have a few other jobs done. Sadly I'm just not getting the time to do any of the bigger jobs, so I decided to stop fighting it and just ask my spannerman to sort it. So he is fitting the radiator, investigating the rear hub noise (looks like a bearing), and is then moTing it for me.

That was the plan anyway. An hour or so after dropping it off for the test I had a call - it had failed. On the steering rack :( Apparently it had a major leak and had all but emptied the reservoir during my 5 minute drive to the garage! I asked him to get a price for a recon exchange unit, but he couldn't get one - the AWD racks are like rocking horse poo poo aparently. So I called our forum friendly dealers to price up a new one... and nearly had a cardiac. Bloody hell, they're £650 plus a £300 deposit! So I set to, and a couple of days later I found someone who had an AWD recon rack in stock. Fairly local too, and with a 2 year warranty so I'v ordered that and it'll be fitted next week.

Other than that, I noticed a vibration during the drive, so it'll likely need an engine mount too. And the propshaft is still off - my spannerman thought he could get it overhauled for £150 at a local place that does HGV and marine propshafts, but they can't do the Volvo props due to the design of the centre bearing. So its only Bailey Morris that can do them - for £350 :(

So the bill for commissioning Bonewagon is likely to be close on £1k. Thats a serious bummer lol. I was always going to sell HotRod to pay for an LPG conversion on Bonewagon, but the money from that will now be put to clearing off this bill!

On the plus side, Bonewagon drove fantastically well. Unbelievably eager to pick up and go - I wouldn't be surprised if it already has a 3in throttle body on it, its very very sprightly, far more so than HotRod and thats no slouch. It hasn't been remapped either as the anti tamper bolt on the bracket over the ECU box is present and looks original...???

So next week it'll be MoT'd, taxed, insured and will become the daily driver :) I'll post some decent pics of the car once I can get it to somewhere more scenic than our driveway lol

[RollingThunder]

Spent several hours taking the 'good' bits off HotRod ready to be fitted onto the Bonewagon - the crystal lamps, eggcrate grille etc Hotrod looks strange now - it hasn't looked like that since the week I bought it. I'd forgotten how good the original headlamp units were - the chrome is still pretty much all there and nice n bright, and having had a drive last night, they are still pretty effective. The indicators are worse than I remembered though - some mould inside some of the joins and the lenses have lots of crazing. I'm not sure if its worth buying replacements as I'll not get a great deal for her, so thats just wasting money??? I'll see if I can get some new ones from ECP/GSF at a sale price lol. Still got some smaller bits n bobs to swap over - the wide spray washer jets and little things like that that I've bought over the last few months.

Looking forward to next weekend when Bonewagon should be fit for the road. I'm sure the shock of having to pay for petrol (v LPG) will take the shine off a bit, but its a lovely looker - even on that first journey out to the garage (via the petrol station) I had someone nearly walk into the newspaper stand on the petrol forecourt due to gawping at it lol.

[martybelfastt5]

great updates just caught right up with this!

[RollingThunder]

Thanks Marty :) This one is a bit of a roller coaster! Projects usually bumble along over a couple of years and eventually spawn something, but this one has been a real mix of highs and lows. Its almost been scrapped by the previous owner, nearly scrapped by me twice, but its nearly there now. Its way beyond being an economic repair, and is well into the obsessive enthusiast budget realm lol. Still get a shedload to spend on it, but I'm an optimist - it'll be worth it in the end... well' it'd bloody better be!!! :D

[RollingThunder]

At long last, the BoneWagon lives! Lots of bits n bobs still to do, but you can see why she was too good to scrap -

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The paintwork needs attention in places - it looks better in the pics than in real life lol. The bumpers both need a respray and there are a few minor marks and scratches that I want to get sorted, but she's a hoot to drive and that exhaust sounds sooooo good :D

Filled her up on the way to this location (Mexborough Castle near Doncaster) - it cost me £75. Gulp, I'm used to £26 for a tank of LPG. Still cheaper than running the Discovery though, so all good! She hasn't been polished or waxed yet btw - thats just after an AutoGlym shampoo. She'll be a stunner when the paintwork is done and detailed.

[martybelfastt5]

that is looking smart!

[Hound]

Very handsome indeed. Two-tone Tritons look cool too. I am envious of those crystal lights and the grille!

[AcidicDavey]

Looking really good Sam, black is a great colour and the late C70 front is a great addition as always!

Just sort your centre caps out :P

[RollingThunder]

Thanks everyone :) Not too shabby for a 16 year old scrapper lol. Dave, yep I need new caps asap. I was going to use the ones that are on the blue car but I'm going to get some new ones cos the blue car will look a bit strange otherwise.

Had a bit of a blast tonight, and I can vouch that the Jetex dual exit exhaust is... very very nice. Quiet when cruising but when you hit the loud pedal, its, well loud lol. And very T5 tuneful, in fact it sounds like an angry V8 which suits me fine. Found a couple of rattles that need tracking down, but otherwise not a bad first day out in the old girl. She needed to like up to the rosy memories of my old 850R and so far she surpasses it. Which is a great relief after all the time & effort!

[Ric@rdo]

Great topic. These projects are inspiring :)

[Jamest5r]

That's turned out very nice :)

[kmb]

Love the rear view, still amazing how fresh that angle is today! Very nice.

[Tomcat]

Holy crap Sam that's gorgeous!!! Cant believe the shine on that paintwork is before polish..

[abdul]

Loovely

[RollingThunder]

I'll have to take a video to record the noise made by that exhaust :) I've never heard a T5 engine sound like this before :D

TC - yes she scrubs up really well. The pics don't show all the imperfections on the rear bumper to be honest - its suffering from the same damage as AcidicDavey's arse end :) The protective plastic has been pulled off and its pulled some paint off with it. The PO has then tried to cover it up with an aerosol? Its horrible and scabby anyway and will be stripped back to plastic and professionally resprayed. I have the other trim to go around the second tailpipe which will be painted and fitted at the same time. Still pondering over painting and fitting the XC front bumper too - I've got it now afterall ! The mudflaps will be painted at the same time, so they won't look pale grey anymore lol.

Its going back to the garage this week to have an engine mount changed, and I'll be sending off the prop to be overhauled. Hopefully we won't have any serious snow before I get it back and fitted!

[AcidicDavey]

I have to say, having the same exhaust, mine sounds crap :P

Yes, the car sounds great but it is all engine noise! The exhaust is almost silent.
I will admit though I only drove the car about 3 miles with the original exhaust on it lol

...I think I might have some spare stickerbombing for your bumper ;)

[RollingThunder]

I'm hoping that the new engine mount doesn't remove all of that cacophony (it really is a full blown symphony on acid when you kick it lol). I daren't boot it too much in case I rip the engine off the mounts, but it sounds like a rally spec Scooby inside - very raw, loud, and roaringly guttural :D But when cruising its almost silent - it just chug-chug-chugs away sounding like a civilised 5 cylinder car.

Re that kind offer Dave, I'll have to get back to you ;)

EDIT - having had a 30 mile commute this morning, I've just realised my ears are ringing lol. It must be louder than I thought :D

[RollingThunder]

Sadly, the Valkyries have been vanquished. The roaring, snorting barnstormer has been neutered. It was the engine mount causing the cacophony after all - the new mount has all but taken it all away, so BoneWagon is now a quiet cruiser once again. No more BTCC impersonation :( No more ringing ears lol.

On the upside, my mechanic also fitted my birch steering wheel (thanks again Frankie!). Its the finishing touch and makes the cabin look lurvely - if you like light birch :)

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[t5 pete]

That looks awesome personally I preffere the light birch over any other of the options on the v70

[RollingThunder]

Just got home to find these -

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Thats better! Genuine Volvo ones too, so they'll go on later tonight after I've had my tea :)

Decided to see how the BoneWagon handles now that the suspension has been tracked and the engine is properly secured... Lets say its a pass, and worthy of the R badge ;)

[T5frankie]

Sadly, the Valkyries have been vanquished. The roaring, snorting barnstormer has been neutered. It was the engine mount causing the cacophony after all - the new mount has all but taken it all away, so BoneWagon is now a quiet cruiser once again. No more BTCC impersonation :( No more ringing ears lol.

On the upside, my mechanic also fitted my birch steering wheel (thanks again Frankie!). Its the finishing touch and makes the cabin look lurvely - if you like light birch :)

27661

those wheels do look and feel nice

[abdul]

Love the birch steering wheel its exactly what I am lookin for . For my saffy

[abdul]

Anyone ever selling birch interior trim plsgiveme a shout

[RollingThunder]

Anyone ever selling birch interior trim plsgiveme a shout

You'll be lucky mate, I've never seen one for sale. Frankie dropped me a PM when he decided to get rid of his, but other than that I've never seen or heard about one being for sale - even searching ebay US/Germany/Sweden etc etc.

I'm having a similarly difficult time getting hold of the last piece - the auto selector lever.

[T5frankie]

You'll be lucky mate, I've never seen one for sale. Frankie dropped me a PM when he decided to get rid of his, but other than that I've never seen or heard about one being for sale - even searching ebay US/Germany/Sweden etc etc.

I'm having a similarly difficult time getting hold of the last piece - the auto selector lever.
That's the second one I've sold LOL

[RollingThunder]

Which accounts for the worldwide shortage - you've got the global stock in your lockup :D

You haven't got an auto gear selector lever in light birch have you???? :)

[T5frankie]

No sorry

[abdul]

Enjoy

[Boomy]

Indeed, usually I'm extremely thorough and pedantic, just that this time everything has been chaotic for several months, and I bought it off a VOC member who I trusted :( Still seriously miffed about it, but at least it isn't a show stopper.

As the seller, I see I'm even getting a slating on this forum, too.At least you haven't called me a dimwit on here yet given that you told everyone my welding skills and mechanical skills were "a couple of points below dimwit" on the VOC.That's some accusation given that I don't even know you and you would have no knowledge at all of my mechanical and welding experience.

Everyone is free to pop over to the VOC and have a read up.I won't have my name dragged through the mud and listen to suggestions of "legal action" over a car which I sold for the price I was offered for the seats and bumper.

I will post all our PM's if needs be.

I asked on the VOC how much to charge for the car, still sold it to you for less, answered all your Q's, offered to pay for a vehicle check, explained about every single issue I was aware of via well over a dozen PM's and in the original advert (the last owner told me of none of the issues and I paid a lot more for it) and I then dropped the price further for you so should she not be worthy of saving, you could break her and wouldn't have lost out.

You were delighted with the price, delighted with me and delighted once the car arrived.It was a perfectly working car with some faults and I listed all I knew.You could have still driven this car anywhere (it took me to hospital and back for weeks not long before I sold it), so let's not pretend that all the thousands you have decided to throw at it have been the difference between the life and death of this vehicle.

I listed items that many wouldn't have bothered to list as faults and I had no idea about the dent underneath.As mentioned on the VOC, maybe your car collector did it by driving over the bricks behind the wheels on my angled drive? They were in almost the exact same place when I came home (after leaving the keys etc outside for you to make collection easier).I also told you that I hate to mess people around and waste peoples time, so, as you were a Volvo fanatic and there was a chance in your care that this car would be brought back to its former glory, I refused other offers and let you have it for the price of a bumper and seats.

I then find out I am being called names, may face legal action and have gone from someone you couldn't thank enough via PM, to someone you are fuming at and no longer trust.

I'm a 1300+, 100% perfect feedback, ebay kind of guy who was told "you will never make a car dealer as you are too honest" when a Mitsubishi dealer came to collect my 4x4.Not once, not ever, in all my 44 years on this planet has someone had cause to moan about anything I have sold - untill now.

What a truly sad state of affairs.

[RollingThunder]

Your only contribution to the forum is this?


What a truly sad state of affairs.

Well thats something we finally agree on :saythat:

Sorry fellas, this guy has been having a bit of a bicker over on VOC and is now following me over here. No doubt he's frantically trying to track me down on all the other forums too. Good luck with that one - I'm on various Volvo forums, LandRover forums, motorbike forums, general mechanics forums, current affairs forums, local forums... I wonder if he speaks Welsh? :D

I'd also warmly welcome you all over to my 'other' build thread on VOC - its pretty much the same as this one, but as I didn't cut/paste all the content there may be minor differences. I think many of you are also VOC members - sorry if you aren't, you'll need to log in as its under the Showroom area.

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=215992 The rant starts at entry 50.

I'm not going to be pasting explanations or indeed replies to this chap all over the place as frankly I've got better things to do. All I'll say is that everything I've described has been accurate and I have not been libelous at any point*, so forum admins, no need to worry ;) As you all know I'm a bit of a picture whore and have many many photos taken during the work to back up what has been said :)

On the upside, thats one less Christmas card to send out :)

* Did I mention I studied Business Law at uni?

[Boomy]

I think the last post on the VOC says it all.But as you won't answer my questions there, let me just post here to make sure others know what you are like.

Rather than talk to me (another Volvo fan and forum user) you sought legal action over a scrap value car and due to a couple of assumptions!!!
Rather than talk to me (as we had been doing for weeks in a friendly manner) you called me names and declared me untrustworthy.
Rather than speak to me in a decent manner over this, you post things like you have above, yet again showing your true colours.

I love the way you started your latest posting (the one where you have suggested slagging me off on various other forums) with "Sorry fellas".It's as though you are trying to win people over and get some form of virtual family on-side.I doubt anyone is interested in you or I, but they should know what to expect if they sell something to you in the future, so the updates and ignored questions remain on the VOC if anyone cares.

[RollingThunder]

Finally had time to repair the tailgate trim panel yesterday using one of the PFV kits. Only took 10-15 mins to repair the trim and refit it and it was well worth doing. Its lovely not having that rattling and chirping all the time :) Also changed the rear wiper arm as the tensioning spring was a bit weak - there was very little pressure on the wiper blade, so it was very hit and miss as to whether flicking the wiper on would make any difference lol. I was going to fit a new OEM arm but then I remembered what I'd done with my old 850R - fitted a Clio MkIII arm instead. £10 v £35... So with a new arm fitted using the rear wiper actually does some good!

Staying on the wiper theme, the passenger side front washer failed a few days ago when it was a bit frosty. Turns out the non return valve under the washer jet had split, so using the washer resulted in most of the fluid being sprayed around the engine bay. Swapped it with a spare one and thats that sorted.

Got the overhauled propshaft back yesterday too, so I need to get that fitted soon. Can't wait to see what the AWD system brings to the car (apart from fragility, painful bills, etc etc lol).

[abdul]

Where did u get the clio wiper arm from

[AcidicDavey]

Loads on eBay, this is the cheapest in this country. (http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Rear-Car-Wiper-Blade-Arm-CITRA-630-fit-Renault-CLIO-MK2-II-2-/141396833468?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&fits=Car+Make%3ARenault%7CModel%3AClio&hash=item20ebe874bc)

[RollingThunder]

As Dave says, loads on ebay. I paid about £10 for mine including the wiper blade and postage which I thought was great. Not branded, but well made and it does the job :)

I'll get a pic when I clean the car next. The only thing to note is that the Clio arm is an inch or so shorter than a V70/850 arm, so you lose about an inch off the swept arc. No biggie though.

[abdul]

Thanks for the link

[RollingThunder]

Finally got a pic of the 2003 spec Clio wiper on the back!

27977

[RollingThunder]

Had the odd hour or so this weekend, so removed the trip computer INFO switch and cleaned up the contacts etc as described here http://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=22188 Really easy 10 min job that one, just don't lose that spring for the reset button. At last the trip computer reads something other than DISC - previously I had to push the knob in for it to display any useful info.

Then I replaced a couple of the dash switch illumination bulbs as described here http://www.atthetipwebs.com/technologyinstructions/volvo_light_switch_bulbs.htm The bulbs came from Maplins and are part number BT43 (12v 60mA) at £1.29 each http://www.maplin.co.uk/p/12v-wire-terminal-type-bt43w . A bit pricey but I wanted to see if they were the correct part more than anything. The glass is a bit taller than the bulbs fitted at the factory, but the Maplins ones fitted ok. I'll be able to compare the brightness v OEM tomorrow night. Its another easy job - in fact I reckon it took longer getting the switches out of the dash than it took to swap out the bulbs!

I also replaced the fuel filler flap bracket/spring last weekend. A masterclass in how NOT to do it :slap: The metal flap is secured by two torx screws into the bracket, so I removed those first, then realised that the flap actually fits around the bracket you can't remove the flap from the bracket while its mounted on the body. To remove the bracket from the car you need to punch through the plastic centre pins, which are then lost. The new part comes with new plastics clips complete with the pins. So to mount the new bracket, you simply offer up the part to the body, align the plastic clips and pop the centre pins into place. Viola, the new bracket is now attached and quite secure. Which is exactly what I did... Remember I said you can't remove the flap from the bracket while the bracket is on the car? Obviously the reverse applies - you cannot attach the flap with the bracket on the car either. Doh!!! So I had to punch through those pins once again, remove the bracket, fit the flap, then refit the bracket to the car. As I couldn't find the pins I used a couple of small screws to secure the bracket - no problem as they bite into the plastic expansion clips rather than into the bodywork. I couldn't believe I'd done that, especially after making a mental note of the assembly order! In my defence, it was bitterly cold and raining and I had a break half time for a nice warm cuppa - and promptly forgot to fit the flap onto the bracket first :)

I've now booked the car into the garage to have the propshaft refitted, and to have some uprated front brakes fitted - I've bought some Black Diamond slotted discs and some Ferodo DS2500 pads. I was going to fit some Plod spec pads but as many of you rate the DS2500s highly I thought I'd give them a go. Should be a potent combination hopefully. I'm sure you're wondering why I'm asking my spannerman to do this for me - quite simply, with the old blue V70R and the Disco on the driveway I'm forced to work out on the street, and I really really don't fancy having the car up on axle stands with me underneath it when there are so many dickheads tearing up and down the street. It can be a bit of a rat run at times and although its a 20 zone, you're lucky if they're only doing 30!

And finally, after meeting Pete a few weeks ago, I've bought some Wurth plastic dye to bring the mudflaps back to life. When I saw Pete's 850 I was amazed at how 'new' the plastic trim looked - he said he used the Wurth stuff, so I'm going to give it a go when it warms up a bit (you can't use it below 7 degrees according to the instructions). If that tunrs out ok I'll have a look at the engine bay plastics and see if they can be titillated a bit :)

Other than that the cars been running fine. We had a weekend down in South Wales last week and so travelled around 700 miles in the three days. Sadly it wasn't a trip we wanted to make as it was to a funeral of a beloved family member so it was very sombre and emotional. I'd decided not to put the new number plates on the car, as they're emblazoned with 'The BoneWagon' lol. She'd have laughed at the irony, but I thought better of it. Economy wise, its pretty stable at 24.5mpg over a typical week. The weekend jaunt returned 28.9 over the trip which is slightly less than I was hoping for but still not bad. So despite the original troubles, she's slowly turning into a pretty decent car. Still lots to sort out, including that rear bumper that is a real eyesore to me, but we're getting there.

[RollingThunder]

A quick update on the bulbs - they're a perfect match for OEM :) So what you need is a 3mm 12v 60mA 'wired in' bulb. I've just bought a job lot from China so will be offering them for sale at a bargain price in due course ;)

[AcidicDavey]

What bulbs did you order from China Sam? Do you have a link?
I ask because I bought a pack of 50 and they looked great to begin with but dimmed and burnt out in a matter of weeks :(

[RollingThunder]

Poop! Thanks for that lol. Linky - http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/111023874688

Hope they last longer than a few weeks!

[abdul]

Hows the bonewagon

[abdul]

Sadly, the Valkyries have been vanquished. The roaring, snorting barnstormer has been neutered. It was the engine mount causing the cacophony after all - the new mount has all but taken it all away, so BoneWagon is now a quiet cruiser once again. No more BTCC impersonation :( No more ringing ears lol.

On the upside, my mechanic also fitted my birch steering wheel (thanks again Frankie!). Its the finishing touch and makes the cabin look lurvely - if you like light birch :)

27661
Love the birch interior

[abdul]

God willing getting a full set off birch interior pieces

[abdul]

Anyone know whats happened with this car

[RollingThunder]

Still menacing the M1 :B_thumb:

Not done a great deal to it since really, simply because I've been short of time - and dosh (I've had a £4k pay cut - thanks for that). I've installed a Blaupunkt DAB radio oh and fitted some Black Diamond discs on the front, but apart from that its been uneventful. The BD discs are superb by the way, I can highly recommend them, just be warned that they're fractionally wider than OEM so new pads are nigh on impossible to fit :confused: Anyway, apart from that they are superb.

The only real blemish of note is an oil leak at the front of the engine, under the intake manifold. I've had it since day one, and its bugged me daily, but I just haven't had the time to pull the front off the engine to take a look, so I've spent a fortune in oil lol. Still haven't painted the back bumper or fitted the XC70 front bumper - but they'll wait til the spring now. Oh yes, the rear roller cover did the hari kari on me a few months ago - the springs snapped so it wouldn't tension or retract. Luckily my neighbour was scrapping his old 850 estate at about the same time and he gave me his roller cover which fits fine. Its not identical in shape or colour, but its near enough.

Re the birch interior, yes I'm still loving every minute of it. The birch dash & black paintwork make a stunning combination IMHO. Am I sad for looking at it every day and thinking 'wow'? :D

I've sort of lost the love for the wheels though. I still prefer the old Satellites and with hindsight I should have kept my old ones and had them refurbished, but I've spent too much on the BBS ones to change them again now.

So yes, the Bonewagon is very much alive and well. Thanks for remembering it!

[abdul]

Managex to get a full set birch interior just the auto selector is a bit darker

[abdul]

Was there a light and dark birch interior

[abdul]

Managed to get hold off a full set it seems to be much lighter compared to the pictures of rolling thunders

[RollingThunder]

Might just be the lighting in the pics?

[abdul]

Its probably the lightning in the pictures just yours seems to be very yellow compared to mine

[RollingThunder]

Out of curiosity I checked it in the daylight - they're not yellowy at all, def a pale IKEA type wood lol