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

[scot850]

Well, blown through the time-line again. Would have made it except for senility. I thought I had 2 cans of rust killer primer left, but discovered at 8pm at night I had just the one. Oops! Planned to pick one up yesterday but got sidetracked to Princess Auto (Harbor Freight equivalent). I needed a bigger fuel can to store the old fuel when I finally get around to swapping out the fuel pumps. Fuel has been in the for around 8 months so out it will need to come.

Also, every time I think I have no more to dis-assemble, I find something else to take off. This time it was the rear fender liners. Although I had painted up to them, I noticed when looking up from below there was signs of surface rust appearing around the 3 plastic retainer nuts on the inner fender. Seemed daft not to remove them as I have the bumper and mud flaps already off. Yet again the PO's have amazed me in that they have broken something else that I didn't think was possible. The RH rear fender liner was split most of the way around where it meets the arch.

With that in mind and knowing we are due for rain starting today and for the next 3 days, I thought it prudent to head off to PnP to see if the V70XC I raided last week was still there as I had already removed the rear bumper. With rain on and off, I got there before the rain got steady. It is amazing that although PnP is still in Calgary, it is nearly 30km (20 miles) from my house and it was still dry down there. Once it gets wet the ground turns to soupy mud. Quickly had the fender liner removed. Had a rummage around the various other Volvos there (as you do) but nothing else was needed except 2 auto gear shift knobs that were un-broken.

There is a 2nd PnP about 5 miles from the first so I headed off there just as the rain got heavier. When I got there the rain wasn't as bad, so I headed in. I was there to check on a 01 P2 V70 Turbo. When I was at the dealer the other day, they seemed to think the missing turbo heat shield is the same part as is fitted to P2's. So I pulled it and brought it home.

As my car has never had the shield since I got it I had no idea how it fitted. Having the complete 2 sections of the heat shield showed the section vertical down the back of the block was the same, and holey smoke, the 3 bolt holes for the turbo shield also lined up with the 2 missing bolts to the back of the block. But there is a 3rd bolt and the hole was nowhere near the 'stud' on the top of the turbo intake. Out of curiosity, I brought out my bendy mirror on a stick, and torch, and there, hidden on the outlet side of the turbo was a bolt hole that matched up with the 3rd bolt.

Still no idea what the spare stud is for. I will post that separately and see if anyone can enlighten me.

I have ordered what the dealer believes is the 'correct' turbo heat shield which is not obsolete if it turns out to fit. If it is the same as the PnP part, then I will have a part number and the part is NOT obsolete as I was first brought to understand. The PnP part is mint and cost all of $10 for both parts and the mounting hardware. New part? In Canada from the dealer is $90 CDN (about $70 US). From Tasca the part is about $45 US plus shipping.

I had to visit 2 stores to get more paint so ran out of time today to complete the priming. That will now be done tomorrow and later in the afternoon, I will put on stone chip preventer in the areas that need it so it can cure overnight. Tuesday - 2-3 coats of color and 2-3 coats of clear. Then all has been painted so re-assembly here we come!

I did also blast the rear cover of the drear diff housing with my small hand held unit and pancake compressor. Took ages, but the rear cover is much cleaner and is ready for some clear coat. I have 2 coats of gray to do to the body of the diff casting first, and then 2 coats of clear and then that is ready for going back into the rear sub-frame.

Once I have written a note about the heat shield I will post a link to this thread.

Neil.

[scot850]

Link to the pictures of heat-shield is:

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=71386

Neil.

[scot850]

Can cars be possessed? I'm convinced this one just wants to be set on fire. It is the biggest PITA car I have ever owned. Having spent days cleaning the underside from the rear passenger foot wells to the rear tailgate lip, removing (and subsequently wearing and looking like a coal-miner) old flakey undercoat, cleaning and finally wiping down with pre-paint cleaner, I have painted over half of the cars underside. It is not all pretty, but most will not be seen, and I am not after concours titles here, but hopefully longevity.

Having, treated any rust with rust killer, then 2-3 coats of killer primer, 2 coats of anti-chip coating, 2 coats of color and 2 of clear, I went back under the car to make sure I had covered everything that needed it, only to find an area on the bottom side of the RH frame rail has bubbled up over an area of about 4" in length. This never showed up on any of the previous coats, but only on the final. The paints are all compatible, and it only is in this one spot. I cleared it by scraping the paint back to metal, rubbing with emery paper to key the surface of the steel, and sprayed it again with a coat of the killer primer. Only then to find the dam paint fish-eying again. So, cleaned it all off again, through the can of primer into the bin, and re-coated with a brush and same brand paintable primer/killer. This time all is well and I have given it a second coat of primer which should be dry by morning, and then go through the build up again to finish this patch.

The rear diff is also finished and all of it has been clear coated with HD clear coat. Tomorrow I will clear some floor space and put the diff back in the 'new' rear sub-frame and lock it down with the top plate. That will then allow me to hang the fuel tank and then make a start on re-building the fuel system and emissions.

One issue I have is that there is a 2 piece tin can/aluminum plate heat shield that attached to the front edge of the spare wheel carrier under the floor. Each one of the 2 shields have 3 mounting points and 3 further that overlap (so 9 mounting points in total). Problem is that 6/9 of the holes have rotted out to a hole bigger than the small captive nuts that hold them on. Even 1 of the thin nuts is rusted through!
Any suggestions on how to re-mount? I have some large washers that should cover the holes for now, but looking at Vida I can't find any of the underside heat-shields or their mounting hardware listed.

Any ideas what I can use to stop the materials reacting further? I thought that if I can find some thing fiber washers or stainless and sandwich the heat shields to prevent further deterioration. I'm also considering using some adhesive to take the strain of the mounting points. Thoughts?

Anyone have any idea what they are called and ideally part #'s for the 2 parts and the mounting nuts?

I am now so looking forward to start re-assembly, and hope to get the rear fender liners back in tomorrow and possibly the heat shields I've mentioned. Then it will feel like progress at last!

Neil.

[scot850]

Spent the whole day just cleaning stuff. The 2 aluminum heat shields for the rear mufflers are in poor shape. Add to that at some point someone went mad and sprayed over a large portion of them with under coat. Kind of defeats the purpose of shiny heat shields?!

Had to use a scraper and acetone to get the majority of the crap off. They will never be pretty, but they are still useable. I have decided to glue large washers over the mounting holes in the shields and I'm hoping that the glue will act as a insulator between the dissimilar metals to prevent further deterioration. I have also got rubber washers and thinking of maybe using them, but the limitation will be the length of the mounting studs.

I have found the part numbers of the shields as they are stamped on them, and when they were clean I could see them. If any one needs to know they are:

1) #9152654 - Lower portion
2) #9152655 - Upper portion

Not sure what the metal nut part number is as Vida doesn't clearly show it. I think it is # 977276

The 2 heat shields are approx. $55-60 each from Tasca. For me that is nearly $200 Cdn with shipping. I'll try the dealer and see what they have to say. Meantime, I will glue the washers on tomorrow and use what I have for now.

I also cleaned and scrubbed the 2 rear fender liners. I have a used replacement for the LH one as I discovered it was split along the outer lip. Having cleaned them both, I naturally find the RH one is cracked and looks like the wheel has at some point been able to contact it an rub it badly. This will also be a part for the next PnP adventure. This is shared with 850s and V/S 70's so hopefully one will be found. It is hard to believe that previous owners have managed to break or damage nearly all the innere and outer plastic panels in some way. I have never seen such careless ownership in a car, except the 79 245 I had that had had 10 careless previous owners. Even that though did not have the level of plastic panel damage!

Again, these are now ready to re-install. I left till tomorrow as naturally I discovered some paint chips around the wheel arch that need to be touched in, so did this while going through the re-painting of the floor section that had reacted yesterday. All seems good now.

Have arranged to borrow the fuel pump tools for the weekend so I'll tackle the emissions/fuel system re-build then. Before that I will have to spend the next couple of days prepping the rear sub-frame to allow the fuel tank to be re-mounted and the emissions canister mounting plate to be installed.

Wow! Re-assembly is actually becoming a possibility!

I have also lined up a recently retired neighbor to help me with the re-install of the unit once re-built. Poor guy is bored and is glad to help!

Neil.

Neil.

[Baptiste1106]

which bushing tool did you use to press out old collapsed bushings? I purchased my 00 VR from canada and all my rear bushings are dry rotted, brake dust shields in pieces from rust, rear brake line fitting broke inside rear brake hose today attempting to replace for SS hoses . In your opinion is it worth dropping to replace bushings, sand down and paint rustoleum, remove rear diff because i already removed driveshaft and front angle gear?

[Baptiste1106]

This is my rear subframe bushing parts list copied from " Hardcore R " from v70r.com. What's a good bushing press tool ? I mean its not like ima lift the subframe onto the press machine

[scot850]

Well, progress came to a grinding halt this week. My right hand and the cooling fan blade on my neighbors old Caddy became too acquainted requiring 4 stitches on the outside of my small finger. This prevents my big hands getting into any gloves, so doctor told me to lay off working on the car (and doing dishes!!). They also told me I don't need to self mutilate to get a tetanus injection every 10 years, so I plan to follow that advice!

So looking at what I could do meant looking at the parts I have received from Volvo and also looking for sources of 1" x 3/16" pop rivets, and trying to find anyone in Calgary that sells anything other than crap hose clamps. Apparently they all only sell and carry crap. I have looked at IPD as they carry ABA clamps, but only 2/3 sizes I need. Amazon has a Chinese 'copy' called ADA which is stainless steel supposedly. I have e-mailed the US distributor for ABA to see who else distributes and hopefully someone in Canada to get better shipping cost.

Either way I can't go much further without the 3 clamps sizes I need to finish re-building the fuel tank and emissions system. The clamps that Volvo supplied are a joke compared to the originals and will be returned. They are only 9mm wide v's 12mm of originals, and have flat sides not slightly bevelled at the outer edges, so they don't cut into the old rubber pipes I am having to re-use due to them being obsolete.

Today as I now only need a light bandage, I was able to get a rubber glove on, so tackled a long procrastinated job of trying a black oxide kit for all the bolts. I had already cleaned about 3 cars worth of rear end bolts and nuts, (easily over-fills a box 20"x12"x8") using a rotary bench mounted wire brush, and de-rusting chemicals. So now I have used the black oxide kit and sealer. Took about 6 hours today to do them all, but they are now done. At some point in the future I will tackle another pile of rear-end nuts and bolts that have appeared on my workbench again and store those away. How well the black oxide kit works will only come with time. A little disappointed the bolts don't seem to have the 'oily' feel Caswell claim. Most have gone matt black colour. I have contacted them to find out if there are changes I need to do or if this is normal.

With the bolts now ready for use, I can make a start re-assembly of the rear sub-frame, and then drop the fuel tank and emissions tray back onto the sub-frame and then complete the emissions by which time I have hopefully found a source for the hose clamps.

So some progress, but not where I hoped to be. Still have to wait another 3-5 days to get stitches out and can get back to work.

Also received a package from Chapman Motors on Vancouver Island on the West Coast, with 2 rear rotor dust shields (used). These are another obsolete part for this car, so at least I have a spare set should they be needed in the future. I am now hoping the IPD rear anti-sway bar will be returned from powder coating this week, so I will take another pile of spare parts down for coating, including the rear dust covers. All these will be stored away for the future.

Heard from baptiste this week interesting info that some of the rear bushes are the same as on 240's and others, and these are available as poly-bushes, but he didn't say who supplies them, but from his info above it looks like it may be FCPeuro. One of the bushes fits the front mounting for the stay bars that mount in front of the AWD jacking point, and the other end at the rear lower control arm is also available from the front suspension of 740/940 range. Too late for me now, but I may look into this for the future as I have spare mounts and rear lower control arms. Interesting.....!

The wealth of knowledge and adaptability of members on here is a constant source of amazement to me.

Will update again when there is more progress.

Neil.

[scot850]

Still not much progress to report this week.

Was limited what I was allowed to do until stitches were removed mid-week. I did still look into trying to find the torque settings and install procedure for the rear upper control arms, but still can't find any information. Looked into 3 versions of Vida, and even visited the dealer and looked at the original hard copy repair books. Firstly it brought home to me how little information there is available on AWD v's FWD cars, but still no information I needed. Volvo Sweden have taken to ignoring my requests for information, and I have not heard back from the dealer service manager if he can get the information out of Volvo.

I have re-installed the upper control arms and torqued to 50Nm which is the max. recommended value for a grade 8.8 M10 bolt (pending confirmation). I set the height of the control arm to 130mm from the top of the sub-frame above it to the lowest point on the top control arm between the forks of the control arm. I used a block of wood cut as a shim. and clamped the block between the frame and the control arm and then torqued to 50Nm. When the block was removed the control arm was still at the 130mm height. This height was based on the height of the control arms on my spare sub-frame I recently pulled. Problem is the front upper control arm is held into the front bush by a nut and bolt. The nut is countersunk into the sub-frame and once the fuel tank is installed it can't be accessed. Your choices are set up in advance, or install the sub-frame, and wheels and drop the car down without the fuel tank in place and torque the control arm bushes. I think my way is better, but I will be in a better position to say this if I can ever get the actual information.

I did have some luck on sourcing the 2 larger of the fuel pipe clamps I need from AWAB in 12mm widths. When I finally got an answer from them, I tracked sown a local auto/marine store that could order the sizes I needed in stainless steel. They charged like Volvo, but at least for a stainless part and not a mild steel version.

For the small clamp, I may have to rely on a Chinese knock off of a ABA clamp, but that won't get here for another 3-4 weeks. I had put feelers out, and my brother in Sweden thinks he may have found what I need there from ABA. I'll hopefully have that confirmed in a couple of days and if they can be sent by mid-week maybe they will be here end of following week.

Final issue was my own stupidity. I thought I had checked the fuel tank bands for condition, but when I checked them closer yesterday, I realised I had not checked the upper faces and found rust blisters under the original powder coating. I am going to check if a batch of spare parts I have in for coating have been started. If they have not and I get them there tomorrow I may be lucky and get them back in a couple of weeks also.

In the mean time, I will get on with more prep work. I have cleared the back of the car, so can pull the RH parking brake cable and replace. I had planned to re-build the lower control arm and suspension into the sub-frame once it was installed to make it easier to handle and maneuver while aligning it, but if it will save time in the long run, I may be forced to do the install sooner to keep progress going.

One thing I will not be short of will be nuts and bolts. I spent another day cleaning the rust off all the spares from the cars I have pulled sub-frame from. Must have about enough for 3-4 re-builds. I will continue to run them through my prep process when time allows just to keep the work bench top clear.

I also have been back through the parts I have ordered to identify what I have. Sad part is I can now identify most bolts and nuts and where they are used at the rear of the car, just by looking at them!!

Looks like this m ay take even longer than I had hoped. Just need to make sure I have not shot myself in the foot again, and make sure I have answers to all the install processes and torque values I need to complete the job.

Neil.

[scot850]

Well, some progress as I have now the torque values for the inner upper rear control arms (see my post on that):

https://www.matthewsvolvosite.com/forums ... =1&t=72194

Also made progress on the hose smallest hose clamp size I was looking for. After getting disappointing news from my brother in Sweden, that the clamp widths are all 9-10mm as predicted, he made a very good point and that was, what was the actual size of the pipe I was trying to clamp at the point where the depression was for the old clamps. I was so busy trying to replace like for like, I never thought to do a basic check!! On checking with the old digital caliper, it came up a little over 18mm diameter. So at his suggestion I used one of the larger 15-24mm stainless clamps I had bought for the other end and blow ne down, it works fine! There is still plenty of the adjustment left, and actually this hose size is right in the middle of the adjustment on this clamp size. As I have several of these I am now good to go!

Having said that, of course I took the 2 fuel tank straps to powder coating before getting this information so I am still stuck until the batch of stuff at the powder coaters is ready in a couple of weeks (hopefully!). I did look briefly at the coast of new straps thing maybe that would be quicker and thought maybe $40 CDN (about $30 US each). Nope, they are $200 US each. Owch!!

Having thought about what I can do while waiting, I have surprised myself there is plenty to be done, that can be done now rather than later in the re-build, like cleaning and painting the bumper stiffener and looking at how to stop direct contact with the steel bumper mounts (I'm thinking 3M clear anti-chip plastic adhesive, or I have a spray version also).

I can now also get on with the fuel/emission system rebuild also, replace the RH parking brake cable (LH was done last year). So loads to do.

Neil.

[scot850]

Been a few weeks of little progress due to waiting for a delayed powder coating batch with the 2 fuel tanks straps I need to move on. Finally have them, but used some of the time to work on jobs I had planned to do during re-assembly. Got the IPD rear anti-sway bar bushes in (much easier than expected), discovered the foam gaskets I had been supplied for the rear brake dust shields to hub seal, were not correctly supplied. Needless to say the parts may be obsolete or on back order. Everything for these cars is going that way. Major pain!! Worst case I will see if I can find some foam window seal and make my own up.

Did make a start today to re-attach the fuel tank to the sub-frame. Had a challenging time, even with photos, trying to put every fuel and emissions pipe and cable back they way they came out. Seeing as I took this all apart months ago, glad I had some reference pictures. Still was a major PITA figuring which part had to go in first and what ran where. Hopefully tomorrow it will mostly be complete and ready to go back into place under the back of the car.

Plan to reconnect the fuel tank lines, and all the wiring to test all is good before final fitting up measurements and tightening are done.

Fuel tank going back together

Carbon canister mounting plate back in

I'll update again when the sub-frame is back in the car.

Neil.