Muse's 1998 Volvo V70

[Muse]

Well, with the Blitzen needing a full overhaul, I have been hunting for a backup vehicle. I picked up an '04 Jeep Grand Cherokee that ended up needing vastly more work than I expected, and had to be abandoned. (It's a great vehicle, apart from the bent front axle, but I don't want a Jeep bad enough to fix that.)
So, the hunt was back on, and the next vehicle in my sights turns out to have been in my back yard for 2 years. I talked to the mechanic I rent from, and he offered up this 1998 Volvo V70 base model for $600. (Oh, no, not another cheap Euro car, haven't I learned my lesson?)
It got had a new head gasket, water pump, timing belt, and heater core installed before the previous owner was given a new(er) Prius for free and handed the title over to my mechanic. It then sat around for about 2 years, getting run for a few minutes here and there, when it needed to be moved around the yard. But i put a jump pack on it and it fired up instantly, zero hesitation. Sounds real good (if a little too quiet, that inline 5 needs to sing louder,) and makes no weird noises. Idles well, even after you take the jump pack off, but it dies if you give it throttle without the pack on. If it's still plugged in though, it revs real responsively.
It's got no sunroof, and no roof rails, for a nice, clean look, which I appreciate.

So, I'm gonna be back in a wagon again, this time with a funky 5-cylinder under the hood. Manual, cloth seats... but it still has butt warmers. Hell yeah. Plans for the time being are:
-Replace driver's side seat belt (Done)
-Get it running right (probably just a battery.)
-Deep, deep, deeeeeeep clean all the rodent life from it.
-New wiper blades.
-Give it a good, satisfying powerwash.
-Hippie sticker removal.
-Find some less stale front tires (they're not entirely cooked, but they're getting there.)
-Add some yellow Hella 500 fogs and white Hella 500 driving lights, both of which I already own.
-'06-'07 STi lip spoiler (Looks real, real good.)
-V70R rear wing (Stupid expensive, but so very nice looking.)
-Paint the wheels bronze
-Some kind of stereo upgrade shenanigans, probably.
-Replace the ceneter muffler with a glasspack/resonator.
-Install the free "DTM-Style" Exhaust tip I was given for free.
-Manual swap, some day, maybe, if it stays around long enough. Apparently, this is one of the last Volvos that this is relatively easy to manual swap.

also, unlike every Subaru I've owned... IT'S GREEN!
This is important to a very small section of my brain.
4036
4037

[Muse]

So, I threw the battery on the charger over the weekend, then load tested it, and it reads out as if it were a new battery. My mechanic (who I'm buying it from,) looked at it a little confused then said, "Oh, that's right, we put a new battery in a few years ago." So that's a load off my mind, and wallet. Car has been moved from the back field and up next to the house, gotten a deep vacuum, and will be getting registered as soon as I can. Registration runs out on the Blitzen at the end of the month, and I plan on parking it up for a little bit while I save up to get stuff fixed on it. Expect updates on the Volvo more often than the Blitzen for a while.

Also, I'm taking suggestions for vanity plates, Connecticut has 7 places to play with. I was thinking MOOSWGN as a starting point.

[Muse]

The Volvo is on the road! Got it registered this morning, and took a small shakedown run. The seats are absurdly soft, and the suspension is a bit floaty. Might need new shocks, but it doesn't feel uncontrolled. May just be softer than I'm used to.

Turn signals though... Sometimes they work, sometimes they don't. Gotta figure out where the flasher relay is.

But what this means is that the Blitzen can finally get the break she deserves.

[Muse]

4046
4045
Got her cleaned up and partially de-stickered out back.
The turn signal issue is weirder than I initially expected. if they're not working, neither are the headlights. If I wiggle the key, though? The lights come on and the turn signal works fine. So, it's something in the steering column.

Pulls fairly alright, with a hint of what that inline 5 could sound like, but not nearly enough decibels to really sound right. Gonna need to uncork it a bit. Intake and exhaust.

[Muse]

4047
Well, this was fun.

Stopped at a local restaurant for dinner, a few blocks from home, and as I'm backing into the parking spot, this happens. Guess the upper bolt on the lower strut mount tab decided to give up.
Detective work: https://opposite-lock.com/assets/uploads/files/1713318983258-aba16e28-55bc-4bf9-acd9-9042b4f20b45-image.png

Anyways, no one was hurt, the fender didn't get crunched, dinner was good, and there was a guy with a tow truck there who got the car home for the cost of his dinner. Overall, this potentially horrible situation went about as smooth as it could've. Gonna replace both front brake lines, all four lower strut bolts, and get the parking brake fixed in the back, while I'm at it.

I genuinely can't feel too bad about this, no one got hurt and it's a car that cost me $600 in 2024. I'm still ahead of the game.

[Muse]

The Volvo is back together, for the cost of a pair of new strut bolts and a brake line.

Actually two, because the passenger side line was awful, so we just did both of them.

Struts are holding together, but probably should be replaced in the next 6 months or so. I plan on tossing some H&R 1" lowering springs at it when I do.

[Muse]

4051
Still going strong for now. Next order of business will be new tires, as these are flat-spotted and lightly cracking.

[Muse]

I recently picked up a set of replacement corner lights for the V70, and decided to install them on my break. The driver's side was "fine," but the new one was nicer, so it got the swap. ("new" on left, old on right.)
4053

But the passenger side was held in with bailing wire and some kind of tar-like substance...
4054
4055

Well, the new one is not only not cracked and drilled, but it has all the tabs. And...
4056

It no longer lines up with the fender in a significant way. Clearly this car took a minor shunt at some point and now I'm gonna have to see if I can't adjust the fender some. Door-to-fender gap isn't super tight, so I'm not sure how much adjustment I have to play with.

[Muse]

Not much new to report with the V70, aside from it still chugging along. But I've got more pictures, so why not share them?
4165
4166
4167
4168
4169