XVTer's 1998 V70 XC Build

[XVTer]

Thanks again for the replies. I've been reading up on a lot of the posts here as well as a couple other forums and I'm excited to get working on it. My plan was to start working on it Sunday but I couldn't wait to get started. There were a few large paint chips on the front of the hood that bothered me. I had considered getting a new hood or one of those bras. I don't really like the look of the bras and I couldn't locate a decently-priced hood on car-part.com that wouldn't require paint. I decided I'd break out the bedliner and lay down a couple coats.

You can sorta see the chips in this picture. They're starting to rust, too.


Taped off the front section of the hood and sanded it down:



My cell phone died here so I couldn't get any more pictures, but the bedliner doesn't look all that bad. It's definitely not pretty, but it's a cheap fix and it'll keep the rust from spreading.

[TipTopTommyT]

The service light can be reset...

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/2008/1 ... -c70-xc70/

I'm not sure if you'd fall into the pit of V70-1998 or the easy street of the XC70?

But the XC70 technique (copy and pasted) is:

1. Press and hold odometer reset button
2. Turn ignition switch to Run
3. After SRL flashes, release odometer reset button
4. Confirm by turning your Volvo off, then on again

Tried it, can't get Service Light to flash. There are three key positions on the V70 XC AWD Turbo. I tried 'em all. The first postion does not generate the light (or any light) at all...the second position displays all the indicator lights and the third position turns the crank.

I'm sure the procedure meant "tripometer"....can you imagine an odometer reset button?....that would make life interesting for used car buyers.

Anyway, there must be some other step I'm missing.

[jblackburn]

You can't reset the service light on a 1998 without a special tool.

[TipTopTommyT]

Do you think a non-Volvo mechanic would have this special tool...and would they typically charge?
Thanks.

[vjaneczko]

Keep in mind that the Service light is only used to remind you to head to the dealer so they can give you (the) Service. It'll go out after driving a few minutes. Recently, I noticed that my bulb had burnt out but I have no idea when it happened. I wouldn't spend any time dealing with it unless you happen to have the dashboard open and you can pull the bulb.

[XVTer]

Well, it's been a while since I've updated this post. The V70 hasn't seen much use due to my travel schedule for work, not to mention all of my free time last year was put toward my wedding and now my wife and I are expecing our first child.

Here's a quick run-down on the work that has been done since my last update:
- Sanded down/bedlined the rocker panels - I was a little worried I would find rust under the plastic rocker guards, but it wasn't all that bad. This DIY bedliner should keep any rust that was starting at bay.



- Stuffed on some 215/75-15 Studded Winterforce tires; they required some slight trimming and still rub a little bit at full turn in the front; but overall, not too bad.



- Flushed the Coolant System
- Drained/Filled the Transmission Fluid at the last two oil changes
- Welded on a new rear muffler (Cheap Raptor Super-Turbo Muffler was like $20 from Summit Racing)
- Bedlined the Hood - finally have a picture



Finally, here's where I am now.

- I got around to doing the brake rotors; I had two warped front rotors (I think I caused them due to over-torquing the front tires) Decided to go with PowerStop drilled/slotted rotors front/back.
- New Calipers at all four corners - Painted with POR-15 but still need to be top-coated.
- New Brake Pads
- New Parking Brake Cables / Shoes / Hardware



Also replaced the side-view mirror glass - $10 from the auto recycler. It was a simple replacement and just required popping out the old one, removing the defroster wiring and installing the unbroken one.






Parts still waiting install:
- Spark Plugs
- Plug Wires
- PCV System Rebuild Kit
- Phoenolic Intake Spacer (figured I might as well since I am going to have the intake apart)
- Summer Tires
- New-to-me Rear Self-Leveling Shocks. Mine had the green stripe on them from the factory but, as you can see from the photos above, I have one that is totally blown and the other is on it's way out so I have some significant rear-end sag. These ones have the orange (brown?) stripe and came from a 1998 V70XC with the 3rd seat - there's some surface rust, but they held up the rear of the car pretty well so at least they're going to be better than the one's I've got. The price was nice as well compared to new self-leveling shocks - These only ran me $75 each.

[PDLarson]

Can you comment on the parking brake cable replacement. I need to replace both of mine all the way from the handle to the rotors. I have a parts list and have had the center console removed for other reasons but this job worries me, mainly because I have never had those rotors off and have no idea what will fall off out of there and where it goes. Well, I am exadgerating but just a little. I know there are writeups about the job with some pictures of where everything goes but it still scares me. I wonder if you could just comment a little bit about how the job went and if there were any "gotcha's?"

The car looks good and congratulations on the new wife and baby on the way.

[XVTer]

Thanks!

Well, I hate to say it, but the parking brake cables were a huge PITA! It took me a few hours to battle through them.

I will try to explain the steps I took for now. I can try to snap some pictures this weekend to better explain what I did. I would recommend doing one cable at a time so that you can use the second for reference if needed.
Step 1: Remove the center console
Step 2: Remove Rear Seats
Step 3: Remove the plastic trim pieces by the two rear doors (requires a T-25 Torx driver IIRC)
Step 4: Lift up Rear Carpet to gain access to the cables which run under the insulation
Step 5: Loosen Parking brake lever
Step 6: Unhook parking brake cable ends from parking brake handle
Step 7: Unfasten plastic clips which hold parking brake cables to rear floor pans (Flat screwdriver works)
Step 8: Remove rubber grommet where cables exit rear floor to outside of vehicle
Step 9: Pull cables out of the car from underneath
Step 10: Remove cable clip at body mount (at back of rear door) - My cables were really bad and had expanded some so it required me to cut them at this point in order to remove them in two pieces. I used a cut-off wheel on my 4" grinder.
Step 11: Remove nut fastening cable to rear control arm (Requires a 10MM wrench)
Step 12: Remove clip at rear brakes which holds end of parking brake cable (mine were really rusted and required a bit of manipulation so I will try to post up picturess of what it looks like now)

Installation is the reverse of the removal. I couldn't get the new cables through the hole at the body mount where the stock ones were installed, so I ran them beside it. I will try to take a picture of what it looks like.

As for the rear brakes - I got new parking brake shoes and new springs from the Volvo dealer. I think I have a picture somewhere of what it looks like and I will try to post it up sometime this week.

These are the parking brake cables I got from IPD:



Here is an exploded view of the components from the volvo parts webstore

[XVTer]

Here are a few more pictures of the rear brakes. I had to use the torches to get the rusted, siezed, and broken parking brake cables out of the rear spindles. The clips were also non-existant so I got new ones as well. Inside my rear brakes, everything was rusted apart. I ended up getting new springs but reusing the other hardware as the dealer wanted around $100 for new claws, adjusters, and expanders. I simply cleaned up my hardware, straightened it out and resued it. Here are a few more pictures of the rear brakes.














At some point in the near future, I will be disassembling them again to sand and paint the rear suspension components. The amount of surface rust which is there bothers me. Now that the weather is getting better I should have more time to work on it.

[instarx]

Nice project. I'll be interested to see how it goes over summer.