Hey all,
I'm the new custodian of what Marc started way back.
I've had the car nearly a year now. I ran a D5 for a while and loved the torque and 5 cylinder sound, but wanted to go back to petrol. In a perfect world I'd have an AWD, but finding an AWD T5 in good nick with a manual is near impossible so this was a great base for my first project car with a lot of useful stuff already done to it. I paid too much for it, but they're getting rare now.
Whilst lost in the wilderness after Marc, it lost it's B14 setup somewhere along the way and also acquired a hell of a lot of corrosion to the components underside, I'm guessing from living North of the border with lots of wintry salty roads, grit and snow. She hadn't fared well I'm afraid.
So far there's been lots of reconditioning going on, to get the underside back to good health. Reconditioned subframes, wishbones, arms, driveshafts, linkages etc. It's just had a brand new B14 kit all round, properly setup, which transformed the handling from bouncing and wallowy to taut and controlled.
I've replaced the massive PB brakes with the 320mm set up from the Focus ST and gone with Ferodo DS2500 pads - big weight saving and more than enough for fast road use if a little squeaky.
Poweflex bushes all round and also in the engine bay. Next on the job list will be the torque mount and completing re-bushing the engine.
This project is all about the theatre and ridiculousness of turning a Volvo wagon into something snorty, so there's a few more jobs still on the to-do list. LSD, waste-gate BoV, open gate gear shift, starter buttons, re-trims and seat-swaps.
I'll keep you posted!