I took the 1800 in for NH state inspection on Monday, I decided to find a new station after going to the local dealer last year and getting failed for stupid things like windshield washers not working. So this year I went to Lou's Custom Exhaust because I wanted to talk to someone about the SS exhaust system I installed last year after the Inspection failed due to it. First off I pulled up, parked the car and went inside to talk to someone and ask where they wanted it. A guy comes out and gets in the car and backs up to line up with a bay. As he is cranking the wheel to straighten out the car dies and he looks at me with a "whats with your car" look. he cranks for a bit but nothing, so I have him unlatch the hood and I take a look as he cranks. Everything looks fine then I notice the ground wire for the ignition has been disconnected due to getting tangled up in the steering coupling and getting yanked free. I reconnect and slide the tie wrap that has loosened and slipped down the battery cable back away from the coupling so it can't get caught again. It starts right up and we are back in business. The inspection passes in about 5 minutes, they don't even take the tires off, this is my kind of inspection.
I then ask the exhaust mechanic to look at the drooping SS exhaust I put on. He mentions that if the head pipe is 1 or 2 degrees off it will be 6+" off by the time it gets back to the tail pipe. It's not that bad but he says for $70 he will cut and re-weld the pipe tucking everything back up tight. I have him do the work and the difference is about 2" of clearance at the first muffler where I was hitting before over speed bumps or high driveway entries. $30 for the inspection, which is $10 less than the dealer, remember this car has no emissions to deal with. So for $100 I am out of there in less than an hour all fixed up. I will be going back next year as well, after that in 2011 I will only have to go every 2 years as the car will then be 40 years old and a true antique.
Thursday, April 23, 2009
Thursday, April 16, 2009
Anti-Sway Bar End Link Replacement
Anti-Sway bar end links
I had been looking at the cracked and rotted condition of the anti-sway bar end link grommets on the 1800 thinking they needed to be replaced and it looked like an easy job. As luck would have it someone on the Swedish Bricks mailing list was giving a set of urethane grommets away that IPD shipped him by mistake. So I put the front end on the jack stands and started working to remove the long bolts that hold everything together. With the use of some PB Blaster the top nuts came off with little trouble but thats as far as I got. The bolt is sleeved through a spacer that keeps the two ends at the correct distance away from each other. This sleeve was rusted solid to the bolt inside and was not moving. So out came the saws-all and I cut the bolt where the grommets were in hopes of finding replacement bolts [~8 1/2" long] and somehow reusing the tube spacers. This was not to be, even after taking the OA torch to the parts afterward the tube and bolt were fused together.
So now I have to replace both parts, luckily for me someone else on the 1800 list had gone through this pain. The answer was replace everything with a set from Advance Auto Parts, located a couple miles from my house. Here is the link to the company that makes the parts that are sold at AA part # is 9.8121R.
Energy Suspension Parts
All you need to do is get the correct size for your car and they bolt right up.
the finished product installed:
I had been looking at the cracked and rotted condition of the anti-sway bar end link grommets on the 1800 thinking they needed to be replaced and it looked like an easy job. As luck would have it someone on the Swedish Bricks mailing list was giving a set of urethane grommets away that IPD shipped him by mistake. So I put the front end on the jack stands and started working to remove the long bolts that hold everything together. With the use of some PB Blaster the top nuts came off with little trouble but thats as far as I got. The bolt is sleeved through a spacer that keeps the two ends at the correct distance away from each other. This sleeve was rusted solid to the bolt inside and was not moving. So out came the saws-all and I cut the bolt where the grommets were in hopes of finding replacement bolts [~8 1/2" long] and somehow reusing the tube spacers. This was not to be, even after taking the OA torch to the parts afterward the tube and bolt were fused together.
So now I have to replace both parts, luckily for me someone else on the 1800 list had gone through this pain. The answer was replace everything with a set from Advance Auto Parts, located a couple miles from my house. Here is the link to the company that makes the parts that are sold at AA part # is 9.8121R.
Energy Suspension Parts
All you need to do is get the correct size for your car and they bolt right up.
the finished product installed:
Thursday, April 2, 2009
Fix the oil leak and cleanup
Fix the oil leak and cleanup
A large oil leak from the front of the car had caused me to tear into the front main felt seal of the engine. To do this you have to remove the grill, radiator and hoses, as well as a few other things that get in your way. I also pulled the alternator which needed new wiring and some heat shield over the wire to protect it from the exhaust manifold temperatures. Went to the local Volvo dealer to get the seal, of course they did not have it and had to order. One good thing is that when the seal came in they sent two, he told me he did not want to stock the thing so I could keep them both. It's always nice to have a spare, plus I think it is the same seal in the rear.
The leak was easy to find and fix, the front felt seal was pretty much gone, when I went looking it came out in pieces. Lots of cleanup and repainting of parts like the fan, lower radiator hose pipe, and radiator will make a big difference in appearance.
Here is what we have prior to the radiator being reinstalled.
From the front:
and from below:
A large oil leak from the front of the car had caused me to tear into the front main felt seal of the engine. To do this you have to remove the grill, radiator and hoses, as well as a few other things that get in your way. I also pulled the alternator which needed new wiring and some heat shield over the wire to protect it from the exhaust manifold temperatures. Went to the local Volvo dealer to get the seal, of course they did not have it and had to order. One good thing is that when the seal came in they sent two, he told me he did not want to stock the thing so I could keep them both. It's always nice to have a spare, plus I think it is the same seal in the rear.
The leak was easy to find and fix, the front felt seal was pretty much gone, when I went looking it came out in pieces. Lots of cleanup and repainting of parts like the fan, lower radiator hose pipe, and radiator will make a big difference in appearance.
Here is what we have prior to the radiator being reinstalled.
From the front:
and from below:
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