Diary of a 17 y/o with an 850

shihabafi · Post by **shihabafi** » 01 Apr 2020, 17:09

On a more genuine note, I hope everyone is fairing alright with the coronavirus running rampant.

Besides everything going on with school, this cutout has been a massive pain - albeit worth it, I hope.

First the clamps didn't work, so I had to weld it. Then I welded it at a wrong angle (remember kids, measure twice, weld once), so I had to hammer it in (now my rear passengers find a surprise bump!). Then, the exhaust wouldn't clamp nicely the socket or whatever after the catalytic converter, so I globbed JB Weld on there until it stayed quiet. I still might need a bit more JB Weld, not sure just yet.

Moving on, I've been meaning to get a parts car. But I don't know where I can find one. Any suggestions guys?

Post by **ZionXIX** » 01 Apr 2020, 20:21

Craigslist, FB marketplace, auction sites, etc...... I got super lucky to find an almost identical twin to my wagon. It was only 15 min from my house. Nice guy, he had several volvos. I paid a little extra despite it being non running since my likelihood of finding another is slim to none.

Post by **abscate** » 02 Apr 2020, 06:54

Does the cutout let you bypass the muffler for highway, then cut back in when you pass the cops?

Idris - great car name - but you don't look Welsh...

(we stole that name from Islam in about 1400 I think)

shihabafi · Post by **shihabafi** » 13 May 2020, 22:08

ZionXIX wrote: ↑01 Apr 2020, 20:21 Craigslist, FB marketplace, auction sites, etc...... I got super lucky to find an almost identical twin to my wagon. It was only 15 min from my house. Nice guy, he had several volvos. I paid a little extra despite it being non running since my likelihood of finding another is slim to none.

I've been looking and looking and looking but NOTHING!!!! Here is my requirement list:

- same color exterior/interior
- manual transmission (gonna do a swap one of these days)
- preferably wagon (my rear hatch is dented)
- preferably third row (I need)
- or if it's an R or T5 or T5r, I'll do a full swap

but I found nothing. Even went to Sweden's Craigslist. Nothing.

abscate wrote: ↑02 Apr 2020, 06:54 Does the cutout let you bypass the muffler for highway, then cut back in when you pass the cops?

Well, there's a switch so I can turn it on/off at will! Plus, it really doesn't sound all that good on the highway when you're at a steady RPM. Only when you're going up and down the speedometer!!

shihabafi · Post by **shihabafi** » 17 Sep 2020, 16:32

Hey everyone.

It's been half a year since I last posted on here. Since we've all been stuck mostly at home, not much has been happening to the car. I got a job detailing cars, but most of my money is going into investments for now - not much ROI on car upgrades. :/ But, with all that being said, here's a list of everything that's changed:

- hit 277k miles (planning on hitting a million with it though!)
- replaced rear driver's side brake pads & disc AGAIN (second time in like 3 years. normal?)
- just replaced the side panel's upholstery; well, my mom helped me as well. We used navy blue leather-vinyl. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. Pics below!
- the cutout exhaust valve messed up a few months ago, making the car obnoxiously loud once more. Spoke to JEGS a month ago and they offered an exchange, which I just installed. Safe to say that I've learned my lesson about dailying a loud car.
- ordered tint for the car. none on windshield, 35% on front sides, and 5% elsewhere. Yeah... I think it'll look good. Might also smoke tint the headlights for a really clean dark look. Anyways it's on its way here as we speak.
- bought vacuum hoses, as per advice of my friend nearly 2 years ago. haven't really installed them yet though...

RickHaleParker wrote: ↑11 Mar 2019, 19:07 The vacuum hoses are almost 1/4 century old. A lot of small leaks would add up. You might want to get some spools of hoses and do a vacuum system rebuild.

Next on the list:
- Spoke to a mechanic who said he'd install the head gasket, 4 lifters, water pump, serpentine and timing belt that I bought a while back but haven't gotten around to installing... a little too intimidating for me...
- Thinking of getting sound-deadning pads and putting it up inside the doors and whatnot.
- Thinking of getting better speakers all around - I only have the front two right now...
- Thinking of getting it tuned by someone who knows what they're doing. I think it would be nice if the valve opened up when I popped it into "Sport" mode and back off in "Econ." It would also be nice if it didn't throw a check engine light every time as well.

That's all for now. What do you guys think I should add to my to-do list?

In the meantime, here's the new door panel thingy we did. I love it. Also, if enough people are interested, I wouldn't mind making a few for y'all and selling them! Thoughts?

Diary of a 17 y/o with an 850

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