What I did today thread...

[silestanix]

Today this happened...

[stuart bowes]

what happened there?

[ilmiont]

1. Oil and filter change.

2. Started replacing handbrake equipment, including cables. I'm regretting it a bit. It's the first time I've touched the handbrake mechanism myself and I'm finding it fiddly. Getting the cables through the interior is a right faff; maybe the wire I used isn't strong enough, but the cable seems to keep getting trapped between the tunnel and the carpet. I haven't finished the side I've started, and the other hasn't begun. I broke both of the clips that the rear seats mount to during removal. I'm hoping for a better day tomorrow.

[Joe Harding]

yes, handbrake cable replacement is a pain. But I've done it twice and it's not impossible. But before you start, check your handbrake shoes have enough lining - otherwise you're wasting your time.

[stuart bowes]

take the rear door bottom trims off, free up the carpet, wedge something underneath it in the middle to give the cables room to move

from 7:30
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FTLZuz70nEk

i just used long pieces of string, and tied the far end to the steering wheel in case of accidental pull through

[ilmiont]

Yep, thanks - I've watched that probably five times now, but it's not working out in practice (not that they ever do).

With mine being a facelift S60, the console layout is slightly different. The tunnel carpet really doesn't want to lift much. I think with a fresh start tomorrow it'll be alright though.

I am a richer man now, having found 2p under the carpet in the offside footwell. And, very bizarrely, beneath the seats was a £2.75 receipt from WHSmith for two magazines, dated April 4th 1990. That receipt would have been over 14 years old on the day the car was registered. How strange.

[Nick6262]

Mirror glass decided 1 hour from home that it would start flopping about. Only had a tiny patch of glue left holding it in in one corner. Quick stop for a very classy repair and another thing to add to the todo list.

[TLPower]

@Stuart Bowes, I think silestanix is showing us his new wheels and his car hasn't done it's customary bid for freedom into a shop window.

A truly a glorious and memorable day all round.

[stuart bowes]

Haha well that's a good thing then I thought it was something to do with the dents in the front wing

2 magazines for 2.75 jesus that really is a bygone age as well as a puzzling mystery

[ilmiont]

Got the offside handbrake mechanism back together. Fitting the shoes and springs took a while but got there.

Next, probably dismantling to fit the old shoes, as the disc simply won’t fit. Cable detached from the balancer in the car, completely slack, and the shoes are resting against the stops properly. I don’t see any way to contract them further. Disc won’t go on.

[davebb]

Got the offside handbrake mechanism back together. Fitting the shoes and springs took a while but got there.

Next, probably dismantling to fit the old shoes, as the disc simply won’t fit. Cable detached from the balancer in the car, completely slack, and the shoes are resting against the stops properly. I don’t see any way to contract them further. Disc won’t go on.

Hi have you got a H bar fitted ore the toothed adjuster on the other side of tjhe shoes,
Dave

[ilmiont]

Hi have you got a H bar fitted ore the toothed adjuster on the other side of tjhe shoes,
Dave

It is the standard H-bar. All equipment is Volvo. I put the old shoes back on and everything looks the same, but the disc now fits, so definitely seems the new ones are just slightly too thick to take the disc. I tried sanding the lip on the disc but I’ve only got sandpaper and it’s not doing enough quickly enough. I need the car back together today.

With the old shoes back on, there’s a minor scrape noise on each rotation, which was there before and I think that’s probably a high spot that’s acceptable.

[ilmiont]

Finished up with the handbrake and put everything back together again at last. I'm not happy - something is wrong on the offside. I'm getting a loud clunk most times the handbrake is released.

https://youtube.com/shorts/baPlun-ClV8

Apart from that, everything seems alright. I took the disc off again and noticed the top return spring (annoying ones with the hook) seems to be weaker than the bottom one - the barrel of the spring coil can be pointed in different directions more easily. It's definitely hooked in to the backplate - I checked that using a torch from the side - but it's probably been bent as it was the first one I put in. I don't have another set of springs available yet and the old ones are in much worse condition. Annoyingly, the noise doesn't occur with the disc off, so I can't see exactly what's happening.

Really regretting starting this now! Oh well, I've learned some things, one of them being this kind of work is perhaps a bit beyond my current skills and situation. Back to oil changes and regular servicing for me for the time being, I think. The car is driving again, but I'm a bit concerned that the clunk is going to be the harbinger of something more ominous if not sorted soon.

[ilmiont]

1. Jacked the car up again. The rear offside wheel is still getting warmer than the others - not a massive amount, but enough that I think it's a problem. I'm feeling my lack of experience again - with hindsight today's job is where I should have started, before tackling the handbrake last week. That's been squealing while driving at times, so I was convinced it was the culprit, but in retrospect I became unduly fixated on it. Out with the verniers today: after a little over 12k miles, the nearside pads have about 10.2mm left, and the offside ones have 9.5mm. I think I've had this wrong all along :/

2. Fitted new cabin multi-filter. What could possibly go wrong here? Well much to my surprise, I found the smaller of the two slots occupied, with an aftermarket pollen filter. Not the larger Volvo-brand multi-filter that the local indie invoiced me for two years ago. Cue double-checking in VIDA: yep, my car should definitely have the larger filter that I've bought. So for the past two years, I've had the wrong filter installed. Not just me who makes mistakes then.

3. Replaced both rear side marker bulbs which have been out for months. The little ones at the bottom of the cluster which light up red, and which I think only facelift cars have. Now I have a full complement of bulbs again.

[newtonuk]

2. Fitted new cabin multi-filter. What could possibly go wrong here? Well much to my surprise, I found the smaller of the two slots occupied, with an aftermarket pollen filter. Not the larger Volvo-brand multi-filter that the local indie invoiced me for two years ago. Cue double-checking in VIDA: yep, my car should definitely have the larger filter that I've bought. So for the past two years, I've had the wrong filter installed. Not just me who makes mistakes then.

I'm hoping that you can fit either and it doesn't make a difference because I've just fit the non-charcoal/carbon one in mine after taking the carbon one out.