2000 V70R - Now it begins -Rear AWD sub-frame replacement

[scot850]

Been a while as house repairs have gotten in the way of car repairs. I really won't get back to the car for another couple of weeks as I have a trip to the old country for a week next week. I'll catch up with family and collect some obsolete parts I had shipped from Sweden to my brother in Scotland. If you are looking for obsolete parts it is worth checking 'junk.se' website.

http://translate.google.ca/translate?hl ... rev=search

They have stuff for several Euro brands including Volvo. Although I have Vida 2014A, I saw an original copy of a Volvo P80 parts manual and treated myself to it for Father's day! Cost about $80US + shipping. They have other older Volvo models too.

Still had no luck finding the Vent pipe from the fuel tank (9445494) or the parking brake cable retainer 'C' clip. With the latter I do have some usable salvaged parts.

I'm getting close to breaking out a worktop sand-blast cabinet to try it out on some of the smaller parts. I was going to do the rear springs which are slightly rusty and the 4 muffler mount brackets and a few other parts, but having found powder coating all the parts (11 in all), is $80 US for refurbishing useable parts v's $550-600 US for new replacements that is a no-brainer, and the coating will be way more durable than paint.

Is it possible to by chassis black epoxy paint anywhere in NA? It has been used in Europe for many years but so far I've not found a source here yet. Stuff it way more durable than say Tremclad for example.

I had planned to powder coat the IPD rear anti-sway bar as the powder coating it flaking off. Trouble was I couldn't remove the inner mount bushes and IPD don't sell replacements. Again the issue there is they want to sell you a front + rear kit. In the US that is not too bad a price, but shipping to Canada adds over $100 US to bill. As I plan to dump the front bar as well as after many attempts I can't get it to stop groaning (dealer couldn't either). Spoke to IPD but found them disappointing and Volvo like (never heard that problem before, perhaps it is all the salt on the roads). Anti-sway bars have covered about 35,000 miles in about 5 years (and I've had to fit new front bushes). As my 98 XC was still on the originals at 165,000 miles, can't say I am impressed. Another disappointing product from IPD. I may have to stump up the ridiculous $430 CDN for a rear anti-sway bar and $220 for the front (both heavily discounted). Cost with shipping from the US is high and makes the price the same as I can get here.

Costs are mounting quickly, and had the dealer foreman and head mechanic look at the rear suspension bushes in the replacement sub-frame, 2 rear stays and the lower control arms and trailing arms. In all there are about 10 of them to be replaced. Dealer has offered to do those for me on the side along with the rear diff seals, so that should help as I don't have a press (I have a buddy that has one though).
I've heard replacing the bushes can be a challenge and even can cause the frames to crack, so I'd rather leave it to the pro's!

I have nearly identified all the parts I want to replace, but need to a final once over before placing the order in the hopes most of the parts may be here by the time I get back.

I have given the local dealer an opportunity to quote as they have become very competitive with the fall of the CDN $ ( $1 CDN = $0.80 US). Once you also factor in the shipping they have been cheaper on some major parts. The exception are the fuel pumps which they are $200 more than Tasca even with shipping taken into account. Weird!

On my return, I plan to start on the cleaning up of any rust on the rear frame and underside, and by then the powder coated parts should also be ready (I hope).

The good (?) news is the boss says I have to keep it after all this additional expenditure. I'm still not convinced, but can't argue the math.

Neil.

[scot850]

Well, now it is a waiting game. I have checked, and re-checked my parts required list, and all the parts I am aware of, are ordered.

1) Fuel pipes - Ordered from local dealer as they gave me a smoking deal (maybe a bad expression when talking of fuel!!).
2) All other parts (bolts, bushes, fuel pumps, evap. parts and clamps) are now ordered from Tasca in ?US as the overall saving was over $500 over local dealer including shipping costs.
3) Parts for powder coating should hopefully be ready next week on my return from my trip to the old country (where I'll collect the parts shipped from Sweden).

On my return, it will be a case of blitzing the cleaning/painting needed and waiting for parts to arrive for re-assembly.

You will notice the change in vehicle status on the 'R' !

Neil.

[scot850]

Actually, profile is now updated correctly on car status!

Neil.

[abscate]

She probably figured out if you sold it, you would just go buy the 2004R Manual

[div4scpro]

Im sure it's in your thread somewhere, but did you make a list of which bushings you went with stock and which you went aftermarket? If it's in the thread can you tell me where or is there a list that you found at another thread or forum that you used? Any guidance greatly appreciated.

[scot850]

I did do a list yet of what bushes I am using. Suffice to say, that for now (with a lot of difficulty and delay) going with Volvo OE parts only. I have not found an aftermarket supplier for any of the rear sub-frame bushes. I have just had a full 'set' of the rear bushes pulled so I can look at the possibilities of having the bushes made using 'poly' material.

Biggest issue with this is cost. So far only one company has replied and they are talking of $300 US/bush for a mold and there are I think 7-8 different bushes. Some of them I may not consider as they tend to show less wear (like the 3 for the top control arm at rear). The ones that have shown the most wear are the inner front lower control arm bush (the same bush is used on the outer end of the lower control arm and also wears), there are 2 clam-shell type bushes in each the lower control arm that are for the rear end of the stay bar, they wear but not too badly, and the front mount for the stay bar where it mounts in front of the rear jacking point (on the AWD cars).

If you need part numbers I can list those for you. Just to note that I have had to order 2 of the bushes from Skandix.de, as they are not listed at GCV (Classic Volvo parts in Sweden).

Neil.

[scot850]

Been a while since I updated on the progress. I have not been spending much time on it as I have had other issues to deal with that are higher priority. I do try to spend the odd hour most days prepping stuff.

It is hard to motivate as I am still waiting for parts that are on back order that I ordered 2 months ago! I know that 4/5 of the parts are available at GCP in Sweden (a company Volvo sold much of their older car parts to and then buy back if a customer needs them). Their website is in the process of being updated to show cars up to 2000, even though it currently says only up to 1990!

I have been spending time at PnP pulling 2 rear sub-frames to get parts that are obsolete for spares or to replace my cars current items if they are better and keep the old ones for spares. Getting pretty good at pulling the axles and rear sub-frames! The most frustrating part is the number of parts that are already obsolete from Volvo on these cars. Twin muffler system, emission vent pipe, hold down clamp for the carbon canister, rear calipers (there is not a kit to replace the rear rotors/calipers and caliper mounts), the little 'C' clip that holds the parking brake cable in place on AWD cars!

For the last item I have ordered a pair of 1995-1964 Chevy parking brake clips to see if they will fit or can be made to fit. Ideally, if I can find who makes them maybe I could get some made! Same with rear control arm bushes and stay bushes that are hard to find for AWD P80 cars. One company has offered to make them, for $300/mold for each of the bushes (there are 8 different ones!) and a minimum of 100 ordered parts!

I have been trying a special solution I got at Princess Auto (like Harbor Freight) in Canada, that you can drop rusty stuff into and it only eats the rust. I have uses my rotary wire brush on my bench grinder to take some of the heavier stuff off to speed the process up, but the bolts do come out clean. You wash them off in water, then re-dunk them quickly and let air dry. They then are supposed to be protected. I am next going to try some black oxide solution from Caswell Canada. This you can dunk your nuts and bolts into and it gives them a black coating like original (they claim). You then dunk the in a clear solution to seal them to prevent rusting. I have now cleaned 3 rear sub-frames worth of bolts and nuts and clips, and stores them in zip-lock bags labelled so that I can remember what is what. Once they are all done, then I'll tackle the black oxide kit and report back.

Next I have to tackle the larger parts and clean and paint them ready to re-install. I plan to take the rear sub-frame to a sand-blasting facility and blast the parts clean with very fine sand to give a finish I can then clear-coat to prevent re-corrosion in the future. I may not clear coat all of the sub-frame as it is only the 2 contact areas that seem to cause an issue.

I have also taken a crap load of parts to have them powder coated. The 2nd batch should be back in a couple of weeks and includes 3 carbon canister trays which I'll keep as they are of limited availability and the originals rust very quickly here in Calgary. I have an original finished one on order, but will probably keep it spare.

Finally, I pulled a whole dash-board from a car at PnP as I'm sure my car has broken tabs holding it to the firewall. This one appears perfect with no cracks! Best of all I got it and 2 good under trays for $40 CDN (about $30 US). That is a project for another day. In fact PnP has become a bit of an obsession recently and I visit maybe every other week if any new Volvos come in to one of the 2 local yards. There is someone else locally the seems to take great pride in destroying as much as they can if I don't get there quickly. Having said that, I'm not sure that I need 4-5 heater fans or Amplifiers, or cabin temp sensors, headlight switches (I've fitted with new bulbs), and many more parts. But there are many that will do as good spares and I can be more discerning now on what I pull and keep, but space will become an issue soon!

This week I have to start on some of the larger parts (I've had the rear diff re-sealed) getting them cleaned and painted ready for installation. With a bit of luck that could start in the next month! Here's hoping!

Neil.

[m1nus]

seeing your tank down really helps me out, i just replaced the drive side pump, and then had to bend my own hard line for the fuel feed from the filter because you cant get the lines any more. i had to fish it through the car with the sub frame on, and the tank loose because i started to take the bolts from the sub frame out and they started to sheer so i stopped since this is my only car right now..

would it be possible to show how the wires are routed for the passenger side fuel ejection pump? my fuel gauge dosent work and since i just replaced the drives side i think the passenger side is the issue but i cant drop the tank so i want to splice new wires and try to salvage what i have but i need to know where they go!

[scot850]

Sure can help with that. Most of the routing can be seen with the pipe routing notes I posted, but the 98 may be a little different to 99-00.

RH Fuel pump pipes and wiring (1)

The first picture above, shows the pipes and wire harness from the passenger side (RH side) fuel pump.

RH Fuel pump pipes and wiring (2)

This may be a little clearer.

RH Fuel pump pipes and wiring (3)

The wire harness appears in the bottom left of this picture in BLACK and runs up under the pipe for the fuel pressure regulator that is mounted to a black plastic block. It then runs up under the pipes to the right of the carbon filter housing (as seen in the picture, but actually the LH side of the carbon filter frame). The frame for a 98 is a little different to the later cars so this is where it may be a little different. The wire then is cable tied to the wires for the other pressure regulator mounted under the carbon canister mounting frame.

RH Fuel pump pipes and wiring (4)

You can see where all the wires collect here and then run across the back of the carbon filter along the RH side of the filter and then up into the back of the car.

RH Fuel pump pipes and wiring (5)

This may make it a little clearer.

RH Fuel pump pipes and wiring (6)

This is where the wires all gather beside the roll over valve then go up into the car.

Hope this helps.

Neil.

[div4scpro]

some differences with regards to the charcoal canister, but so much is similar this will be a great help.
thanks