Change of plans. The car will no longer be covered in black cow spots for a cross-country drive, but will instead make it's way up to San Francisco where it will be going to a friend of mine for use as his one and only car. I told him to change the timing belt, water pump, rollers, change the oil, a...

Thanks for the tips! I'll see what cheap diagnostics I can do to inform my decision.

A nice thing about this car is that I have a stack of records back to the original owner in '94, and with the odo still turning, I'm confident in the mileage.

This is an opportunity to improve your lighting above what was available in the US from the factory. I wouldn't trust anything but OEM E-code housings and a good set of bulbs (Hella, Philips, Osram, Narva, Flösser):

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... hp?t=13150

Great writeup, but there is a significant increase in glare for other drivers, which is what always happens when you replace halogen bulbs with drop-in HID and LED bulbs. E-code halogen housings are still the only way to do it right without retrofitting a projector.

I would not recommend doing this.

There is a cheaper and arguably more effective solution:



Chuck Norris hangs out in parking lots.

I don't know much about what options are available for these cars (as I've only been an owner for a few days), but I've read a bit about the Koni's and Bilstein's. It's worth noting that, if the harshness you're experiencing is due to hitting the bump stops, changing the dampers might not help as mu...

The timing belt is due (done at 70k miles, car has 141k), but I think I'm gonna risk it. I paid $1,200 for the car, and I was quoted $550 to do the belts and rollers ($700 with a water pump) from Nino's . Even if I only do the belt, I believe labor is 2-3 hours at a minimum of $100/hr around here. I...

Howdy. I'm in Los Angeles for the winter, so I figured I'd pick me up some wheels to roll around in and take me back to NYC once it thaws. So, I picked up this weathered whale. The photos are hiding cosmetic flaws, but so far it's got it where it counts, and there is just about zero rust. The plan i...