1997 Volvo 940 HPT - The Millennium Volcon

The next stage in finding the water leak was to look under the scuttle.

Here is what you see when the panel is removed.....



The plastic panel to the left of the pic has been moved out of the way. Water goes into the scuttle panel and drains out the side around the heater fan inlet which has a "funnel" on it to divert the water around it. If any water comes through the windscreen rubber seal with the scuttle (or elsewhere maybe) then the plastic panel stops the water going directly into this heater fan:



The problem was that the seal the plastic panel had with the bottom of the windscreen surround had failed along 50% of its length. So I am hoping that now I have resealed with windscreen sealer (horrible stuff, wish I hadn't got it on my fingers!) the water ingress will have stopped.

here is a wider shot of the area under the scuttle:



So hopefully that is sorted - was a bit awkward getting the scuttle on and off but did it in the end. I then realised when it was all together again that I had forgotten to stick down the metal mesh bit you can see in the pics so it will all have to come off again - doh!

Front end looks a lot better now with clear indicators (we're on 940 celebrations of the same year) with Osram night breaker bulbs and all new other bulbs - old ones were a bit dim and these new ones are way brighter and the front end looks a lot better now.



Still need to get the new number plates on - can't stand Euro ones myself.

Lovley car you have there sir! Allways loved these. What are your plans for it?

Definitely paint it...

Very cool that grill

Instrument panel bulbs. Two of these had blown and from taking apart the glovebox and cigarette lighter I found 2 more of a similar design.

The problem with these bulbs is that they are a special Volvo one which cost £10 each. You can swap the connectors for 740 items but when was the last time you saw a 740 in a breakers yard?

I had seen someone who got some standard LEDS and soldered them in with a resistor to step down the voltage. I thought that was a bit fiddly so I had a search and found some 12v LEDS from Maplin which could solder straight in.

This is one of them. I pulled the original bulb out and tried to fit the LED in but the holes for the wires weren't big enough. Using my dremel I made the holes bigger - doesn't look pretty but it worked.



After soldering a LED in (this is a different one to above):



It was a bit messy so I used the sanding disc on the dremel to smooth everything over. I hadn't done any soldering since school (loved it) so was chuffed when all the bulbs worked first time.



You can see in the pic above the connector which acts as a "light tunnel" to light up 2 switches with one bulb.

Switch panel now lit up!





Next job was the steering wheel. It was rather polished and shiny and a bit sketchy to use as it was so slippery. Read a few online guides and started off. Got some cheap tea towels which I soaked in hot water and Meguairs all purpose cleaner.



I then wrapped these around the steering wheel to draw the dirt out and open up the leather grain.



Also gave it a scrub after the towels had been on a few minutes.



Steering wheel did look like this before





I gave the wheel a thorough rubbing with the tea towels - A decent amount of dirt did come out as can be seen on the cloths.



Afterwards - not much more grippy but better. Looks miles better now though.





Next job was the airbox. I have read you can open it up underneath by drilling holes to let more air in. I had also read that there is a cold air inlet that comes in from the drivers wing which you can connect up through a blocked hole in the airbox.

Removed the top of the airbox and the filter and saw this



The lump is supposedly where you can plumb the new better fresh air inlet into. I thought I would have to buy some hose and cobble something together but when I removed the air box I found this on the side of it:



Why on earth was this blocked up inside the air box? (Incidentally the current air inlet was a small one in the front which I haven't pictures but gets its air from inside the engine bay)

Even more so when you look at the inner wing and see this:



Already plumbed up to extract air from the inner wing area (I checked and there is a vent into it).

So I did this



Bolted it all back together and yay! Makes a slight whooshing noise but not loud, hopefully this helps the engine breath a bit better. I have read that cone filters don't really do anything with these engines and this solution is as good if not better.

While the air box was out I saw this bit of rust. I think it's just surface rust but I have no experience of dealing with rust. What's the best option? Use a wire brush to get rid of it then treat with Kurust and a spray of some stone chip?

I'm watching this as I'm very tempted to get one of these myself n yours looks great

Thanks. It's not perfect, there's a few minor dings and a couple of very small rust spots under the paint - tailgate and back of wheelarch but it's only very minor.

This car had £10k spent on it in the 5 years before I had it so it's a great base to start from. I'd say wait for a cherished one, they are around, and get a later one as the engines and gear boxes are the best.

Busy days over the weekend!

First of all I managed to get all the carpet off the door card inserts. That was not fun.



I then covered them in 3mm scrim foam using permanent carpet adhesive.



This is the leather I bought to do the job.



Half way through...



I didn't have time to stick the leather on but I tried the colour in the car and...... oh dear. It's looks awful. There's a brown tinge to the leather which really looks out of place against the plain grey and black. I'm going to have to reconsider what I'm going to cover the panels with.

Next job - Stage 0 tune up. I've already put in a new air filter and here I put in a new dizzy cap, rotor arm, dizzy seals and ignition leads. I think the leads are the original ones so due for replacing. The dizzy cap had a bit of oil in it but not too bad. The rotor arm was past it though.

Fitting wasn't the complete nightmare I expected it to be. You HAVE to have a ratchet 8mm spanner though, I honestly don't think you could do the job without one.

Old and new.



Cleaning up.



Back of the engine.



All the parts used were genuine Volvo parts or the best I could buy if they aren't. I also put the new leads on - the ones I took off were Volvo marked Bourgicord ones.

A quick drive and I thought it felt a lot smoother, not done the plugs yet as the NGK ones I ordered haven't arrived yet. The Volvo ones I bought I have been advised aren't that great so I'm keeping those as spares.

I then took it down to the hand car wash, then renewed the black plastic bits with linseed oil and tyre shined it up and I think it looks pretty good!







The pictures are very flattering though. The paint has loads of scratches and dings and poorly touched up bits and swirls like you wouldn't believe!! There's a couple of bits of rust which I plan to sort out, needs a machine polish and some attention to the scratches and dents to make it perfect.

Last job was to replace the ARB bushings. That was done, as all my jobs are, on the side of the road this time in the dark!

Anyway removing the old ones revealed how cack they were.



The knocking has gone from the front end, and with the camber mod which I have done makes the car sound and handle miles better and I haven't even fitted the new shocks and springs yet.

Next jobs are the oil change and plugs.