98 XC: making a trailer

Post by **CIK7** » 21 Nov 2020, 06:38

I never thought I'd be back on the p80 forums with my 98 XC retired and me driving the best luxury car possible, until you get to a RR. If any of y'all are in p80 Volvo groups on Facebook, you may have seen a pic or two of Volvo trailers. Well...I have been considering the pros and cons of restoring my 98 XC and have found that I would rather part it out to make a load of money and transform it into a trailer. I'll be cutting off the engine bay, disconnecting most wiring, and rewiring the essential electronics to a new fuse box. For kicks and giggles I'll be leaving in the driver seat on occasion. Everything including under-dash parts, exhaust, gas tank, etc will be coming off. I'm making it as light as possible. I'll be updating this post with any and all prep progress. Then when I'm finished (will be quite some time) I will make a video and post the link here. I have 98 XC parts for sale in Classifieds. Please take a look. I need cash bad.

Post by **kallekula** » 21 Nov 2020, 07:36

Good luck! Please post pictures along the way!

Post by **CIK7** » 09 Dec 2020, 18:36

UPDATE #1
I have chosen to rename my 98 XC from the Cloud to The Storm and my 96 960 to The Cloud. More fitting imo.
I have decided to remove all hardware, minus the fuse box and all the wiring, to lighten the trailer. I will be making a special electrical mod for all electronic controls in the front.
Yesterday, temperature was about 70F. I spent about 30min in the cabin to remove the dashboard and a couple other things, 3 hours in the engine bay. Today was about 70F. I spent about 5-6 hours in the engine bay. This is my progress. Things not visible are an emptied oil pan, half of oil pan bolts are loosened, and you might not be able to tell that all cam cover bolts are removed. I will not be announcing my next steps. That's for my next update, hopefully tomorrow. If you need parts, I'll be updating my parts ad tomorrow. Keep an eye out.

Post by **CIK7** » 18 Dec 2020, 19:56

UPDATE #2
First I got the subframe sat on the ground and everything is disconnected from the car frame to drop it.
Then I lifted the car up. For suspense, I'll tell y'all that I underestimated the weight of the car frame. I made a video about that and the sub/car frame disconnections but need to upload and post later on here. As you can see I forgot to remove the upper torque mount anchor so I have to do that when I get the car moved back that far. The camera doesn't show that the anchor is actually higher than the frame which is directly in front of camera. Tomorrow I hope to have another update!

Post by **scot850** » 19 Dec 2020, 11:26

Oh my goodness. DO NOT use concrete blocks for support! They are not designed for point loads and likely to fracture without warning.

Neil.

Post by **abscate** » 19 Dec 2020, 13:46

Yikes. Missed that completely.

They are manifestly unsafe used like that, as scot850 pointed out

Post by **CIK7** » 25 Dec 2020, 14:01

After a day of extreme humidity (61F felt like 70F), heavy cold winds whipped through here night before last, stirring up leaves. I feel like a lucky guy getting to clean them up. LOL

Post by **scot850** » 25 Dec 2020, 16:03

If you must insist in using concrete blocks as supports, place a piece of wood between the concrete and the car so there is not a point load on the concrete.

Neil.

Post by **CIK7** » 28 Dec 2020, 08:50

scot850 wrote: ↑25 Dec 2020, 16:03 If you must insist in using concrete blocks as supports, place a piece of wood between the concrete and the car so there is not a point load on the concrete.

Neil.

I did have 1 jack stand on both sides of the car...until I needed to support the driver side more so I could inspect the gas tank and decide how I'll get that off. Driver side currently has both jack stands with no blocks and passenger side has 3 blocks holding it up. I think 1 2-hole and 2 solid 4" blocks should hold 500lb just fine.

Post by **CIK7** » 28 Dec 2020, 08:53

UPDATE #3
Yesterday, I took out the middle console, dashboard, complete steering assembly, and cut a lot of wiring out. I also detached the main shifter assembly and removed the hand brake.