@Lee: Yes, I ran hoses straight from the block and coolant pipe through the gutted coupler, to the heater core. But it was on a non-turbo; to avoid hose kinking I cut the hoses long enough to make small loops in the engine bay. I don't know if there is room for that in the turbo engine bay. I just ...

I have a 98 with manual AC and a 99 with the temperature auto setting. They both cool perfectly well, and I don't really notice much difference between the two systems in actual use. I'm sure the auto system maintains temperature at a more stable level, but it isn't as if you have died and gone to h...

Abscate or anyone else, does anyone have a VIN sequence showing whether your car has the hydraulic or mechanical tensioner without having to do any disassembly to check?

Every Bosal muffler I've ever bought has had rust on the welds right out of the box. I took a wire brush to it this morning, and it was all just surface rust. The welds always burn through the galvanization or aluminization. I think Bosal makes two grades of mild steel and one SS system. A light br...

I truly hope so. If you have room they are not too terrible to install on a FWD car. At to the storage stash in the hope that some day you will use it. I have a huge pile of stuff just like that!! Treating it makes sense before storing it as it will hopefully slow down any storage rust creep. Neil....

Sveedy wrote: ↑

Fri Jul 31, 2020 6:35 pm

I would check out Eastwood. com. I've used quite a few of their products and have not been disappointed.

They make a lot of good products. I used to go to their primary store for materials and specialized tools when I was dealing with rotting MGs.

What you are seeing on the outside may be what is coming through from the inside. Neil. I don't think so, Neil. I blew really hard into one end, and it had really good tone. ;-) Actually, I think it is okay. One of the advantages of buying used parts somewhere other than Calgary. Things actually do...

I just picked up a full cat-back exhaust system for my 1998 V70 for free. It's a Bosal system made out of aluminized steel. Looks to be not much used and has been stored in someone's attic for about five years. So, it is pretty clean, but there is rust in the usual areas where the welds are and som ...

I put a $25 an hour value on my Wrenching time to guide my process of balancing my parts money against my time. If I have a $50 cheaper part and a 2 hour job, that’s a wash and I’ll buy Volvo. Not sure what the math is here. Are you saying that a "good" part won't have to be replaced a second time?...

Otherwise I don't actually have a good answer to the OP though - but interested to hear! Some of these things are real head scratchers to me, especially since the OEM Volvo part that lasted 20 years on my car was probably not sourced from the same factory that the current Volvo OEM part came from. ...