The good:
-I have a whole parts car! My 280k 850 was feeling seriously low on power and high on hail damage, so it will donate what the v70 needs and then be laid to rest.
-The v70 comes with a new clutch, timing belt, and used motor - apparently from a 95 850t with 210k. Story goes that the previous owner purchased the car, towed it to the mechanic, got sick of waiting on the mechanic and bought a BMW and moved out of state. Sketchy story but it adds up - bolts appear turned in the right places and a call to the mechanic from his google listing confirmed the work. Still, swapping a 210k motor into a 210k car seems silly. fingers crossed
The bad:
-This thing must have gone through the worlds largest oven. Seems like every ounce of glue that could have come undone has. The interior probably needs a new interior.
-I'm getting some vibrations through the steering wheel under WOT and an occasional miss. I haven't driven the car enough to determine how often it's misfiring or if it's the same cylinder acting up. I expect that plugs, wires, and msd ignition should clear this up - the car seems to pull strong. Unsure if this is causing the vibrations or if I have some worn suspension components
First to tackle is the god awful dash noise. I'm hoping to find a dash with unbroken mounts at the pick n pull to swap in. It seems like doing the evap core while the dash is out is the recommended route. I'm not super psyched on spending money on parts that I don't know for sure are broken but right now my a/c compressor isn't even kicking on.
-How much more work is it really to do the evap core with the dash out? A/C is totally foreign to me
-What do we think the odds are that the mechanic let out all freon during the motor swap? All fluids are itemized on the receipt but I don't see any r134. Buying a gauge is probably a reasonable next step, but I don't want to spend money on a 1 time use tool.
-What else is worth replacing while I'm at it
-For those who have replaced the evap core, did you charge the system yourself afterwards or have a shop pull a vacuum first then refill? I'm totally out of my element here.
If you made it this far, thanks for reading. Real photos to come soon
The donor

Bonus - no garage


