I said i'll be back!

[Laird Scooby]

Whatever "normal" is Paul - thanks!

[rwdkev]

Originally Posted by Laird Scooby

......armed with my disc cutter and a few tools..... remove the front box, cut the flanges off the front pipes and box and fit these :





These cured 99% of the blow from the flanges that were so corroded they didn't have a flat mating face between the pair of them! The other 1% i'll get rid of when i move the rest of the system forward again but more of that in a bit.

It turns out there was still a bad blow from one front pipe where the brackets that hold it to the gearbox are were welded on. The brackets are still holding miraculously but it's wrenched a hole in the front pipe

Now a few Jubilee clips, GunGum and a dog-food tin will come to the rescue of the front pipe! I mentioned bringing the exhaust forward again

That's exactly what I would have done....

[Laird Scooby]

Thanks - just for fun the M6 flange nuts i ordered are too small for the manifold studs. Some deeper digging revealed they are in fact M7 x 1.0, a strange thread favoured by the French, Italians and Germans! As such i've ordered some Vespa cylinder head nuts and washers so hopefully they should be here soon and if i get a good moment i'll have another go.

In other news, the two mirrors i bought on ebay have landed today, the plan is to transfer the good bits to the shell on the car, time will tell if that's viable.
Once i've got the exhaust quiet and the mirror shiny again then it will be going in for MoT soonest, before any more myopic numpties whack this mirror or ATS wreck the exhaust again!

[ian2000t]

Haven't tried LED H4 bulbs, but I would be interested to see the beam output. I've seen HID H4 bulbs that fit in the standard housings and the beam output is awful and just glares, so I avoid those completely.

The best thing I have done to my bus is retro-fitting proper HID projectors into the standard headlamps. Not a cheap option (about £250 shipped from The Retrofit Source in the US), but they flood the road with light, up to the cut off which is a very sharp line. With the fluted glass lens this is softened a bit, but I've not had anyone flash me, so the glare is very minimal if at all.

Attached a few pics of them fitted. Not got any pics of the beam, but the output is actually better than my managers Jag XF with factory HID system.

[Laird Scooby]

I fitted the M7 nut/washer and got the manifold tight, also found the manifold to downpipe flange nuts were slightly loose both sides so tightened those as well.

Rebuilt the mirror by unscrewing the broken mirror motor, fitting the motor from the replacement and then the glass from the replacement as well :


Replacement mirror motor plugged onto wiring and ready to fit


Fitted, mirror glass connected, ready to clip on


Job done!

Now it's pretty much ready for its test!

In a moment of rash madness (delirium caused by the blood poisoning from the infection causing the rash! ) this morning i phoned up and booked the Volvo in for its annual inspection.

Emptied out all but a handful of tools that i could use to tweak any of the exhaust repairs if they had "settled" then set off across the Fens to the MoT station. Just over an hour later i had two bits of paper in my paws :





Apart from a verbal advise that there is a very slight blow from one of the service joints i fitted (i've found if the nuts aren't tightened perfectly evenly they don't quite go gas-tight) it was a clean-sheet pass. The emissions confirm how well it's running too!

All in all a happy bunny now! Still things to do when i feel better (another ATF part-change for a start) and fit the headlamp wipers and blades amongst other things but it's good to go for winter now.

[nwisco740]

never understood wiper blades on headlights

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by nwisco740

never understood wiper blades on headlights

Round my neck of the woods, they're a necessity, not a luxury or even just a gadget.

Take today for example. I went to my local Volvo dealer to confuse them by buying a couple of S/V40 expansion tank brackets. On the way back i got stuck behind a beet lorry. That's beet as in sugar beet which turns the mud in the fields very sticky and very black. This gets picked up by the wheels of the beet lorries and thrown up onto passing or worse still, following cars.
Ignoring for a moment the huge clods of earth covering the roof, bonnet and windscreen and focus on the headlamps. They are also covered - i can't stop to clean them because there is nowhere to stop so what do i do?

[Laird Scooby]

Originally Posted by ian2000t

Haven't tried LED H4 bulbs, but I would be interested to see the beam output. I've seen HID H4 bulbs that fit in the standard housings and the beam output is awful and just glares, so I avoid those completely.

The best thing I have done to my bus is retro-fitting proper HID projectors into the standard headlamps. Not a cheap option (about £250 shipped from The Retrofit Source in the US), but they flood the road with light, up to the cut off which is a very sharp line. With the fluted glass lens this is softened a bit, but I've not had anyone flash me, so the glare is very minimal if at all.

Attached a few pics of them fitted. Not got any pics of the beam, but the output is actually better than my managers Jag XF with factory HID system.

Here's an idea of what the beam pattern is like :



Bear in mind where i've parked i'm actually facing downhill and where the garages are is higher with an uphill bit in between. On the open road, they have an excellent range and also being LED, they pick out animal eyes very easily - rats, rabbits, cats, dogs, foxes, hedgehogs etc so they are more easily avoided. Also because they are so close to natural daylight (6000K colour temperature) it's more restful on the eyes driving at night as despite the fact they're much brighter than standard halogen headlamp bulbs, there is less unnatural glare. I have to say that on my 827 coupé i have LED bulbs in the main lights (dipped and full beam originally H4) and a 35W HID bulb in the driving lights. The LED bulbs give a better range than the HID bulbs although the HIDs are better than the halogens i replaced.

On a slightly different subject but still LED related, i took a photo of the dash/instruments/stereo with the green LEDs :

[AndysR]

I do like the idea of these LED headlights.

Great news on the MOT and pleased to hear that the exhaust is holding out well. I'm in the final stages of sorting my exhaust and hope to have a stainless downpipes back system made around this time next month

[Laird Scooby]

The LED headlamp bulbs are well worth it Andy, i wouldn't be without them now.

There was a very tiny blow on one of the service sleeves on the exhaust when i got to the test and it was mentioned verbally but in fairness something isn't quite lined up somewhere as the exhaust is vibrating against the car from time to time. Mostly it's quiet and it only seems to vibrate in D when idling.
Got an idea what the matter is and when i feel up to it i'll crawl under with some spanners, a block of wood and a scissor jack and give things a tweak.

Just amassing the bits to sort the headlamp wash/wipe now, becoming a necessity now it's beet season round here! That said the LED bulbs aren't as hot as halogen bulbs so the filth doesn't bake onto the glass instantly which is a bonus.

Other than that and a set of new tyres some time in the not too distant future, it's a case of use it and enjoy it now, at least until the spring when i have a few things planned. One is to renew the headlining material, it's currently black (and sagging in places!) so makes the car feel very confined. Thinking of going for "Cool Grey" to lift things a bit.
Also planning on adjusting the tappets, they're not bad or wildly out but i think the engine would be that bit quieter once they're done.

I'm sure by then i'll have found other things to do besides routine servicing but hopefully nothing too major!