It started with me rescuing a '99 V70 that was headed to the scrap yard. 161k miles. Desert Wind paint. It had apparently been sitting for 4 years after being overheated and warping the head. The owner then proceeded to lose the head, as well as everything that had been removed to get the head off.
" $100 and it's yours. I'll even flatbed it to your house for $25." ( the family owns an equipment rental yard ). Now I had already called the local junkyard to find out what they would pay for it ( $225 ), so I bit the hook.
Got it home and started looking it over to determine if I should keep it, or send it off to Volvo Valhalla. Body not too bad, but the interior has seen better days. Top roof trim mostly gone, and both bumpers have taken some hits. But overall not too bad. I can't see scraping it.
Now my son decides that he wants to get into this as well, so we decide to take this on as a project together. That will help a lot just in time alone.
We decided on a " value engineered " rebuild for now, meaning as many junkyard parts as possible to just get it on the road. I found a cylinder head as well as most of the other missing engine parts online from a junkyard in Oregon. It even came with a IPD oil filler cap, which I had never seen ( and for $75 new, I can see why ). And then a '98 V70 showed up at my local yard. That car has so far provided a perfect set of roof trim strips, its near perfect interior, and almost new Sachs struts.
Of course we are now doing a few more things such as dropping the sump to replace o-rings etc. So considering job creep, I don't see this being wrapped up before summer, but we will see. In the end it should be a decent daily driver, which we can always say
" Bought it for a $100 ! "
