The Morbidmobile Blog

[TomSaintJames]

Morning Volvo folks, it's been a little while since i've been on here but the Hearse has been trucking along, we SORN'd it in May, but for less than a month as we've been needing to use it for lugging stuff about! It is a very useful piece fo kit.

The roof is still leaking, we've well and truly lost the overdrive and running after a cold start is still lumpy. The old girl is booked in for an MOT next week and then it is coming off the road for some proper tinkering, and finally, the engine change

At home the OH and I have been moaning about parking for some time, we have just the 1 space out the front of the house but also have half of a brick shed that houses a massive oil tank, the ancient oil boiler is now redundant so the shed and tank can go - this week is demolition week! The Hearse can then have her own spot on the drive next to the Lexus. We'll have to be careful demolishing as the brick sheds are shared (albeit with a central dividing wall), all legalities have been observed and i've hired a 300mm petrol cutting tool to make sure a neat job is done and no woes befall next door's portion of the shed, there is asbestos to dispose of but that is also organised safely and legally.

Skip delivered this morning, at the ready! Please ignore the mossy porch roof, that also needs replacing... Our property is between the crazy paving on the RHS and the pitch of the shed roof on the LHS. It is a good double parking space and long enough so that the hearse doesn't poke out onto the road!


We have been discussing the future of the Hearse for some time and still can't let it go regardless of the running costs and the cost of improving it so it is properly usable, getting this shed down is the first step in the Hearse Improvement Regime. The next step is to make it watertight, the roof leaks through pinprick holes in the metal and the roof bar mounts, so I intent to strip the roof back, repair holes, paint, re-install the roof bars, seal everything and cover in new vinyl (that way the paint job doesn't have to be perfect!).

The next job is the biggy - the engine. If you have read through this blog you've probably picked up on the main woe of this car, it is too slow and too thirsty! The original plan was to simply swap in a Penta AQ151 block, leaving the original head and K-Jet injection system in place, resulting in 2.5L and hopefully a nice power and more importantly, torque increase.

BUT on lengthly discussion with the OH, and now that it looks as though I am going to try and tackle this by myself (yikes!), we have decided to go turbo NOW, rather than a couple of years down the line when we're in a similar position (not enough grunt or economy). So this will involve an LH2.4 conversion with all the turbo kit and should make the car much nicer and easier to drive, especially when LPG converted

My question to the VOC is - do you think we should continue with the Penta 2.5 and acquire the entire kit, or go with a 2.3t and system straight from another car? My cosniderations would be cost, ease of conversion and any engine work required - the Penta is unknown in condition but a 2.3t would be a known entity. Ther eis also the consideration of any power/torque differences between a 2.3 and 2.5 engine, especially as the Penta 2.5 has the higher performance head (whether this one is any good or not!)

I look forward to your thoughts!

[classicswede]

For me the deciding factor would be if the penta engine is centre or end thrust. If it is end thrust then I would rebuild that rather than yet another engine. If it is centre thrust I would find another bottom end to rebuild

[TomSaintJames]

Thanks Cian, that is still something I've not discovered - the engine ID plate is missing from the block so I can't find out by the numbers, I'd hoped it was the more desirable 63mm mains with an end thrust and 13mm rods due to its age, it was sold from a late 80's boat so could be, I understand post-88 were the engines to go for. It'll be obvious upon disassembly though I'm sure.

The driveway project is almost done, we just have to bash out a bit more concrete and dig out the earth underneath to have a usable space - the shed base was 2ft higher than the drive at one end, and the drive is a foot or so higher than the road so there was no way we could leave it with those heights, no standard car could get up there! Perhaps we'll be closer to finished tomorrow on a day off, the skip is gone so we'll have to do rubble bags to the tip I think.

In Hearse news, it failed it's MOT on Thursday. There is a hole in the passenger footwell, perhaps a product of the roof leaking and letting water in over time, as it is coming off the road i'll clean the rust off and put some gunk on it to stop it getting worse. Dismantling the roof bars, removing the vinyl and stripping the roof back was always the first job to do when it was stationary - now with slightly more urgency! Although I must say I noticed much less water ingress after my bodge-it sealant efforts around the roof bar mounts.

I am currently researching LH2.4, so hopefully I have some idea of what it is all about when the swap happens

[TomSaintJames]

Now i'm home and it's light outside, have a look at our progress on the drive project. There are still jobs to do, bashing out the remainder of the concrete pad and levelling that part of the drive, and putting in a little concrete ramp so there isn't such a severe height difference from the drive to the road. The cut bricks need cladding too. Ultimately the whole drive needs digging up and resurfacing, but that is another job for another day (we have lots of those...). There shoudl be plenty of space for two cars here, even though one is a hearse and the other a big fat Lexus





In contrast to when we moved in below, I would dearly like to be rid of the funny little porch, especially now the oil boiler is gone (it took up most of the porch!) but I think that is a project for another day, although the roof does need replacing. Our house is the only one in the road with a tiny front porch, most had big extensions (like next door), moved the bathroom downstairs and had a third bedroom - not ours, I am happy about the bathroom being upstairs
and not too fussed about a 3rd bedroom, we don't need it.

It is a curious looking house, for some unknown reason the bottom LHS window (kitchen window) was moved, so it is out of alignement with the upstairs one - this REALLY bothers me! The windows are shockingly bad and do need replacing, so when we come to it that will have to come back into alignement.

[Laird Scooby]

Looking at the shed base i can't help but think you've missed a trick here Tom and could maybe have saved yourself some work too.

Instead of removing the shed base and making it flush to the rest of the drive (that looks like it slopes as well) i think i would widen the shed base to be able to get the hearse on it then create a concrete ramp down to the road. Quicker, easier, less messy, less labour and you gain a level hardstanding to put a car on for things like oil/filter changes and so on.

[TomSaintJames]

Hi Dave, it has been a while, I hope you and yours are well?

Ideally that is what we'd have done - we discussed it even, but with limited funds and some other factors, like needing to upgrade the water mains feed pipe from the road in the future (this goes under the driveway), for now the cheapest and simplest (if not easiest and least effort!) approach would be to bash out the offending concrete. There is the added complication that the concrete between the extinct shed and the house slopes downwards towards the house. Another oddity, it is a good job this house was cheap and i'm doubly glad we haggled hard.

In time, when we can get the whole drive re-surfaced and the mains pipe upgraded, it will be a nice, level and attractive thing

We are the only house on the row with two car parking spaces now 'smug'

[volvo always]

Your guttering needs a good clean out!

I like the way your kitchen sink waste pipes go to next doors drain!

Strange previous owners messed about with things. At least you have 2 parking spaces now!

James

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by volvo always

Your guttering needs a good clean out!

I like the way your kitchen sink waste pipes go to next doors drain!

James

He's cleaned the gutters out James! Bottom pic is the oldest (no hearse!) and looking further up, you can just see the gutters are now clean.

I thought the same as you at first then checked the pics!

As for the drain, i think the neighbour has painted too far over...............

[TomSaintJames]

Thanks James and Dave, almost 2 spaces is great - shame we have 5 cars to house... 2 of those, a pair of very early Citroen BX's, are stored in the OH's Auntie's farm barn, although it'd be nice of they were closer to home - might get more progress with them.

The gutters, soffits and fascia's were one of the first things we sorted - they were atrocious when we moved in, over 2 years ago now (the hearse was a great moving vehicle!). There seems to be a drain between each house, perhaps for a gutter downpipe, we are thinking of re-routing the sink and dishwasher/washing machine waste to the main waste pipe to tidy things up so it may become obsolete. We can then have another raised bed under the kitchen window to tidy that patch up, there is an odd arrangement of concrete and bare earth behind the hearse, must be driving our VERY clean and tidy neighbours nuts!

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by TomSaintJames

Thanks James and Dave, almost 2 spaces is great - shame we have 5 cars to house... 2 of those, a pair of very early Citroen BX's, are stored in the OH's Auntie's farm barn, although it'd be nice of they were closer to home - might get more progress with them.

The gutters, soffits and fascia's were one of the first things we sorted - they were atrocious when we moved in, over 2 years ago now (the hearse was a great moving vehicle!). There seems to be a drain between each house, perhaps for a gutter downpipe, we are thinking of re-routing the sink and dishwasher/washing machine waste to the main waste pipe to tidy things up so it may become obsolete. We can then have another raised bed under the kitchen window to tidy that patch up, there is an odd arrangement of concrete and bare earth behind the hearse, must be driving our VERY clean and tidy neighbours nuts!

Thing is Tom, your neighbours can see it's a "WIP" - Work In Progress - so i doubt they'll get too uppity about it.
I'm sure once it's all done it will add value to their properties as well as your own.