I said i'll be back!

[AndysR]

Nice one, any particular recommendations regarding the headlight bulbs at all?

Be interesting to hear how you get on with the tappers, it's something I've been contemplating having done on mine but I'm wondering if the old adage if it's not a problem then don't comes into play. It's silent when cold and depending on engine/road speed there's a slight tinkly noise at say 1,200-1,500 when at slow road speeds. Other than that it's fine and with the bonnet down at idle even when warm it's quiet... do you have a video of how yours sounds currently? Be interesting to see how it sounds, I guess due to their age it's a job that often gets forgotten/missed and seeing as Volvo advised it was done every 24k I'm sure mine will be overdue on that basis..

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by AndysR

Nice one, any particular recommendations regarding the headlight bulbs at all?

Be interesting to hear how you get on with the tappers, it's something I've been contemplating having done on mine but I'm wondering if the old adage if it's not a problem then don't comes into play. It's silent when cold and depending on engine/road speed there's a slight tinkly noise at say 1,200-1,500 when at slow road speeds. Other than that it's fine and with the bonnet down at idle even when warm it's quiet... do you have a video of how yours sounds currently? Be interesting to see how it sounds, I guess due to their age it's a job that often gets forgotten/missed and seeing as Volvo advised it was done every 24k I'm sure mine will be overdue on that basis..

The only LED headlamp bulbs i can truly recommend are these :

http://www.powerfuluk.com/h4-led-400...hite-pair.html

Ignore the bit about the P38, they sell the same bulbs as fitting all cars with H4 headlamps for more money!

I did buy a set of cheaper ones on ebay for £34.99 (reduced at the time from £50) but they weren't quite so "precise" as the ones i've linked to and failed to give a good beam pattern in the Volvo headlamps.
However, when i fitted them in my 827 coupé they gave a perfect beam pattern - work that one out!
I couldn't so as i knew the ones from Powerful worked in the Volvo i got another set for it. This is another good comparison :



The middle car is on these LED headlamp bulbs, the one on the left ebay cheapy "Xenon look" halogen abd the one on the right on Nightbreakers. All three cars have the same type of headlamps in good condition, correctly aligned etc so it's a really good comparison except for the ground being a bit uneven. It's plain to see the most definite beam pattern though!

As for the tappets, from your description i'd say mine were the same as yours but given the fact the spark plugs had been in 10-11 years and about 50k miles, i'd say its easily as long, if not longer since the tappets were even checked, never mind adjusted!

[Laird Scooby]

Been a while since i posted anything because the old beast just keeps plodding on. I did buy and fit a new washer pump and it has improved the output of the washer jets.

On a slightly different subject which i've mentioned a couple of times, tracking! I tried the string line and tape measure method and found the N/S wheel was toeing out considerably - like at least 13mm! I returned that to where i thought it should be, rechecked and lost all tension in the string (actually strimmer line) and just couldn't get it right again.
Knowing it was still out, although it drives much better with less tendency to go where it thinks it will, i bought a Trackace Laser Tracking kit.

Tried it out today :



Bit tricky to read from that angle of dangle but it's showing 1 deg 40 min or 1.666 degrees of toe out. That equates to about 15mm - bear in mind i had already wound the nearside TRE in by about 13mm so total was about 30mm out as it has to go to 2mm toe in or 18 minutes.

That means after originally having the tracking supposedly set correctly, it was a shocking 30mm or thereabouts out - no wonder it was clearly visible by eye! The steering was heavy too, even with the power assistance and is already much lighter!
The handling is also more sure-footed, on xmas eve i went to take a roundabout quickly and found myself heading towards a non-existent exit in the direction i was traveling before i turned the steering wheel - brown trouser moment!

The cynical thought crossed my mind that maybe the tyre place deliberately mistracked it so it would scrub the tyres out so i'd visit them for new ones and another tracking session. If so, they've lost out! Wouldn't trust them with a unicycle now, they'd probably misalign that as well!

I'll do a bit of a review on the Trackace when i've got some more photos and sorted the tracking with it. So far it's been easy enough to use but could do with a "sight-card" or something to help when trying to aim the laser and/or mirror. The laser dot is so small and the mirrors reflection of it is small too with not a very big target area (scale) so it's like trying to shoot a flea off a camels back at 1000 paces with a spud-gun!

More on that when i do the next update/review and i already have plans to adapt the Trackace so it can be used on a different car to adjust the rear tracking referenced directly to the front axle - just needs one additional component - either a mirror at exactly 45 degrees mounted on the laser source or a vertical/horizontal laser line thingummywhatsitflipdoodah - i've gone for the second choice :



http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/1824033010...%3AMEBIDX%3AIT

If it goes according to plan it should work very well - i hope! :wink:

[steve howes]

just read this thread from the begining to the end , very interesting. keep up the good work .

[Laird Scooby]

Thanks very much!

I intend keeping up the good work, with an "al fresco" workshop (and a garage full of bits!) this time of year is a bit slow in terms of progress because of the weather.

A few plans for when the better weather comes are to give it a machine polish, sort out the ding in the tailgate (apparently a low-flying trampoline during Storm Barney! ), fit a better exhaust system (preferably stainless) and probably add an LPG conversion. Oh yeah - and a new set of tyres once i sort the tracking problem! I'll refurb the wheels while i'm at it as well.

[827Roverman]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

Thanks - me too! Really suits the car and looking forward to getting the polisher on it!

Great looking car well done, and when you've finished with the polisher you can do mine ! david.

[Laird Scooby]

Thanks David - you could be waiting a while though! Started machine polishing my Coupé in late July, it's still waiting for the wax!

Vibration from the polisher caused a few problems in my paws thanks to a pre-existing condition so it was a long slow, unfinished process! Hoping to enlist a friends help next time..........

[Laird Scooby]

Todays mission was to remove and inspect the distributor cap and rotor arm as just lately it's been a bit tricky to start, particularly when cold and the idle has been a bit "hit and miss" with a flat spot when accelerating.

I was expecting a bit of dirt and probably some verdigris on the contacts inside the cap and a dirty rotor arm. This was the first view i had of the inside of the cap :





And the rotor arm, not a great pic because it's so close :



Removing the black splashproof cover revealed this :



Oops!



This was about as good as i could get it using a wire brush in my Dremel-type tool but look at that date code!!! That means it is the original so has been on for all of its 217k+ miles and 30 ish years! As you can see i managed to get the carbon brush back in ok and it fired up a lot easier :





For now it will do, i'll have to track down and order a new cap and arm. They're shared with 6 cylinder BMWs and so are somewhat pricey :x last time i checked it was near £80 for the pair! Anyway, it starts easier, idles smoothly even when cold and hopefully the flat spot will be gone!

[Michaeleff]

Change the leads, too, Dave!

Sometime back I posted the pics of the cap and rotor in the 940: I haven't a clue how it actually ran!

See Here:

[AndysR]

Wow! Definitely well worth investing in a replacement...

A word of caution don't buy cheap... they don't fit correctly and will let you down ...