Yesterday was a good day! The car has been outside for likely the first time in 20 years! Up at 6AM to pack the car with tools, coolant, fuel, parts, etc.
En route to Redditch, Lake's Volvo kindly lent me some space saver spares in case they were needed. Two breakfasts at McDonald's and then on to meet D101 DWP for 1200 after choosing the wrong motorway and getting very lost and adding 40 mins to the journey!
It got better after that and the tyres inflated up to 35psi no problem and the spares weren't needed.
I made sure I had absolutely everything in the back of my car to get it running.... except I forgot my tow rope! Thankfully a nice guy helped me out from a tool/equipment hire company with a big RWD Transit on a neighbouring building site. He had some ratchet straps and we were away! The hand brake was seized on so the van had a bit of a job and some tyre squealing until it finally let go. He went for it and I hung on and tried to steer out the garage.
The previously unseen right hand side has revealed that the driver's door is only on with one hinge (couldn't see or hear any A-pillar rot so maybe the weld is just cracked?), the window was down because the window regulator cable is snapped and there is something going on at the sill where the wing wraps around. It didn't look horrendous and might just be that the wing isn't bolted or the nut it bolts to in the cill is a bit crunchy.
Other than that, it is more solid than many 480s I've seen on the road! (Even the screen top corner I have had on a silver 480 years ago).
I took off each wheel and freed off the rear brakes and felt how free the fronts were. Calipers are probably beyond repair (very rusty) but will look in to seeing if I can refurbish them at home. No wheel turns well but it is possible to push the car around now. New bearing, calipers and discs would probably go a long way in to getting the car back on the road.
I did as Jeff suggested and took the plugs out and put WD40 down the cylinder bores. Now with the right hand wheel off I got the engine turning smoothly after a few back-and-forwards of a socket on the bottom engine pulley.
Battery on, but there's no keys! They have been ordered c/o Volvo delaer for code and Lake's for knowing a locksmith. Thankfully I did have a spare ignition switch so put this on the plug under the steering wheel and operated it with a flat bladed screwdriver.
I couldn't believe it when it all burst to life. Dashboard lights, info centre, interior fan, etc, all worked. Spun the engine over without plugs to see if oil pressure would build... it did. One pop up works, the other will wind manually so I'm optimistic.
Coolant was empty. Topped it up but in the end it started to come out the radiator which must have perished. It is safe for a brief run I think.
Time was running out and I'd achieved the goal of getting it ready and mobile for the truck to collect it. I couldn't resist going a little further.
Fuel pump didn't run but after removing/installing every relay in the engine bay and removing the rear seats to give it a good tap, it did run again. I should have ran the fuel pump and flushed the old fuel out, collecting at the fuel rail in the engine bay. Instead, as the info centre said only one bar of fuel in the tank, I put 20L in the tank and attempted a start before having to go home. This was a bit of a gamble but would have been great for morale to get it running briefly.
After much cranking, with my other car in parallel to keep the voltage up, it did eventually catch and run very badly for a few seconds. This could be repeated but it always died and ran poorly. I think with the fresh fuel bled through this will run no problem. It is basically now flooded with 20 year old fuel and WD40 so I was expecting a miracle really!
So all in all, I'm happy with a hard days work. I drove back to Cambridge for 9PM absolutely shattered and had a good long sleep. It went better than I thought and I'm quite pleased with myself.
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FUTURE
Transport is arranged for Saturday.
Once it is home, job number one is going to town with the Jet Wash and scrubbing the inside. I think I'll also hire a rug doctor to give the upholstery a good going over. It isn't terribly mouldy but I think it is a nice easy win if I can get it smartened up and wife friendly!
Job number two is to give the engine a service (all bits here as I was about to do the E-reg car) and get it running (proper attention to the fuel system with no rushing).
Job number three is to put change the cam belt (it is in the post).
Job number four is to get the brakes (and maybe bearings) sorted.
Job number five is new tyres
Job number six is to run it to MOT station for undoubtedly a fail on the windscreen but to see what else is wrong with it.
I found a little bit of history in the car. Volvo history book takes it to 40000 miles in the mid 90's. Pile of chewed papers (mouse?) next to this book was likely the later stuff up to 93187 miles where it sits now and probably has done since it was last taxed in 1998.
Also found it used to be on a private plate, although I can't remember it right now.
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Questions:
Opinions on attempting to force a start with Easy Start and keep it going until the fresh fuel is dragged through. Or is that cowboy mechanicing?
Opinions on whether I may have blocked the injectors dragging the old fuel through the line?
Anyone had experience of the weld repair for the door. I've heard of this failure but never had it on one of my 480s.
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Parts still required to get started:
Keys!
Radiator (not properly diagnosed yet)
R/H window regulator (will attempt E-crofting repair)
Intake pressure sensor with black body (has blue one from later car so will not run right like this)
Rear wiper arm exterior arm cover
Rear wiper/brake light interior cover (actually need two... broke on both cars!).
:hopping: