I decided to tackle a big job this past weekend. The full interior color change. I didn’t complete everything but I did get most of it done. The dash, carpet, front seats, the trim from the rear seats forward, rear seat bottoms, and the center console. I still need to do some of the rear trim, the rear seat backs, three door panels and the rear carpet. The door panels need to be re-glued before the install. I took my time on this because I wanted to do it right one time. I cleaned everything before the install. I also repaired the heating system so I’m not stuck on defrost. It turns out that my problem was a Lego piece inside the heat duct jamming one of the flaps but I went ahead and replaced the actuator to be sure.

Before:

After:

I tried to drive the car on Tuesday morning (23rd) and the alternator died. I barely made it home.  So much for installing the alternator that had the Bosch replacement sticker on it. I replaced the alternator with the rebuilt unit from the silver car and I’m now back on the road. I also swapped out the cluster with the R gauge cluster so the mileage is reflected correctly.

I have two codes that I have not been able to get rid of.

Efi-444 accelerometer signal

Efi-422 atmospheric pressure sensor signal.

I tried swapping out the accelerometer from my parts car but the code stayed on. I’m not sure it the problem is the sensors or the wiring. I need to figure out how to test the sensors.

I discovered a gas leak under the car near the rear passenger door when I filled the car completely. The leak was a combination of the pressure hose o-rings and a loose fuel tank lock ring. I was able to get the leak fixed.

I also swapped the throttle cable / kickdown sensor from the parts car. I didn’t realize how bad the cable was until I pulled it and and it came apart in pieces.

I have two codes coming up. EFI-444 and EFI-422. Accelerometer and Atmospheric Pressure Sensor. I’m going to go ahead and pull both from the parts car and swap them in. At least they are both easy to do.

I swapped out the front strut assemblies so I now eliminated the bad suspension squeak. I did discover that I will need to get new front sway bar links. I also swapped the transmission TSS which got rid of the fault code. I do still need to swap out the throttle cable and kickdown switch. I replaced the HID Lights and any other dead bulbs.

What’s left to do mechanically:

• Vented rear brakes including SS lines
• change oil in rear
• change the spark plugs
• change out the exhaust clamp between the downpipe and the rear
• Fuel filter
• Torque rod mount
• Replace transmission seals between trans and angle gear
• replace sway bar end links

The car is running and driving. I actually drove it to work today.

Overall the car is doing great. I need to still swap the front strut assembly over from the saffron car, The front passenger side strut is making a ton of squeaking noises. The dash has a flashing arrow but the transmission is shifting fine, I need to run the scanner over lunch. Overall I can’t complain because the car has no leaks, temps are good, no check engine lights, etc. I was a lifesaver having two cars because I was

What I ended up swapping:
– 2.3 HPT motor (complete)
-Angle gear with collar sleeve (looks new)
-Both front axles (rebuilt)
-Driveshaft (rebuilt)
-302 mm front brakes (rotors, calipers, caliper brackets, hardware, and SS lines came from the saffron car; new pads came from the pewter car)
-ABS controller and front sensors (cleaned)
-Fuel pump relay
-K&N air filter
-Front passenger side hub assembly
-motor mounts
-I also replaced all the fluids in the motor, transmission, and angle gear.

What’s left to do mechanically:
-Vented rear brakes including SS lines
-change oil in rear
-swap the front strut assemblies
-change the spark plugs
-replace the HID headlight bulbs (ordered)
-change out the exhaust clamp between the downpipe and the rear
-Fuel filter
-Torque rod mount

I moved the cars so I can get started on the swap.

I started to pull stuff off the saffron car. It was a real pain to pull the radiator because it was smashed between the frame rails. I has to pry metal back to remove it.

I also did some more investigating of the saffron. It has a k&n air filter and SS brake lines.

The front sway bar is about 22mm so it’s stock. The rear sway bar is about 23mm vs my awd being about 20mm. Ipd lists their bars at 25mm front and 23mm rear.

I have waiting for the project:

-Castrol 0w40 European formula synthetic motor oil

-coolant

-oil filter

-lower radiator hose

-intake gasket

-exhaust gaskets

-transmission fluid (The fluid in the silver car is dirty and needs changed but not burnt.)

Most likely need:

-spark plugs

-cap and rotor

-75w90 synthetic gear oil for angle gear and rear.

Right now I’m just trying to get the car on the road reliably. I don’t have the time or the money to do a bunch of extras as much as I would like to do everything at once.

Future mods:
-Vast Tune with Coil On Plug conversion http://vasttuning.com/
-iPD Reverse Intercooler Piping (RIP) Kit https://www.ipdusa.com/products/4673/113685-reverse-intercooler-piping-rip-kit-for-1995-1998-p80-850-c70-s70-v70-turbo-models
-Volvo NA throttle body with 960 plate and ported intake (turbo TB is 2.75″ vs NA at 3″)
-custom 3″ downpipe with magnaflow cat
-custom duel exit exhaust
-V70R front bumper and bumper grilles

It’s a sad sight to see a wrecked Saffron but I get some really good parts. The car was purchased by the previous owner as a project with a blown motor. He installed a motor out of a wrecked 1998 V70R at 152k miles and went completely through it. Timing belt, drive belt, PCV, cam seals, main seals, oil pan seal, rebuild turbo, intake seal, exhaust seal, etc. The car now has 180k miles. He also was in the process of changing the interior from beige to black, all he had left was the head liner and the dash. Other than the headliner, I would give the interior a 9 out of 10. He also did a bunch of upgrades, 302mm front brakes, vented rear discs, IPD sway bars (not verified yet), and LED lights in the interior including gauges. I’m sure there is more I haven’t found yet. The previous owner is the owner of an independent Volvo shop in Denver.

He let his son drive the car, he pulled out into traffic at a red light, and was hit.

I picked up some good finds at the pull and pay over the weekend.
Exhaust manifold and heat shield out of an ’04 S60R. It is a much better flowing exhaust manifold than what was stock. Apparently it will help with spool up. I only payed $25 for it and they sell for $150-200 on ebay.

I also picked up an SC-901 radio with a center channel speaker and Dolby processor. Also in the picture are side marker lights with wiring out of a ’99. I like the look of side markers instead of cheap plastic Volvo emblems that came on the US ’98s.

Driver’s side fog light was also purchased. It has clear vinyl that will need to go and it will need to be polished. The set of fog lights I purchased previously had a crack in the driver’s side light.

I got an NA throttle body to put on the car as well.The turbo TB is 55mm and NA TB is 65mm. The TB bolts right up but will require me to port the intake. I will need to modify the plate, replace with a 960 plate, or custom make one because the NA TB has a plastic wedge that will need to go.

I messed with the car on Friday. I installed the replacement tail lights and the roof rails. I didn’t want them to get broken sitting around my garage.

I also got the car running so I could move it and my pickup around. I pulled the plugs and gave them a quick clean. Two things were confirmed, the PCV system is clogged and the car is burning coolant. One thing that makes me happy is the motor is firing on all cylinders. I’m also happy that the car went into drive and reverse without a problem but I didn’t take the car above 5mph.

Things observed:
-There was quite a bit of oil under the spark plug cover including 3 of the plug holes filled with oil.
-Plugs were very oil fouled.
-PVC system very clogged, oil was spraying out the oil cap.
-Coolant cloud out exhaust.
-Coolant on ground when system pressurized, I didn’t have a chance to investigate. I’m sure it is related to the reason the head gasket blew.
-Turbo is spooling and boosting.
-Coolant was low and oil is chocolate milk. I already knew this.
-Car tries to stall at idle.
-Car has check engine light (obviously).
-ABS/ Trac lights are on.

One weird thing that I’ve never seen before is the hazard switch is jammed and making a horrible noise. At first I thought is was the tape deck because it sounded a little like that but louder. I’m going to try and pull it and see if I can clean it, if not I’ll pull one from the junk yard.

I have not checked the codes yet, I still need to get a cable for my laptop. Once I get that done, I’ll post the list of codes.

I cleaned the new (to me) carpets as well as the rear seat backs and the liftgate. I completed the carpet and seat install.

I install all the relays, etc associated with the fog lights. The passenger side under dash map pocket is also installed. I’m going to start working my way through the used parts I acquired including the roof rails, front fender, headlights, taillights and grille.

Replacement carpet installed.

Seats installed.

I’m considering trying to vinyl wrap the dash trim. I figure if I really don’t like the look, I could always pick up a set of wood dash trim. All the wood trim in the junk yard has been trashed and I’m not really sure that I’m ambitious enough to pull the entire dash in the junk yard either.

The two vinyls that I’m considering are either 3M Di-NOC Carbon Fiber or Ebony.
http://www.topvinylfilms.com/wood-grain … rap-vinyl/
http://www.topvinylfilms.com/carbon-fib … rap-vinyl/