The LHF door lower hinge was making a loud "crack" when the door was opened or closed. As the spring dropped into either of the two detents it would suddenly drop into place and "crack". It turned out there was supposed to be a little clip holding the spring in place. It is a press fit into the plate that faces the body of the car. That clip had somehow come out which must have allowed some movement of the spring:
I couldn't be stuffed trying to refit the clip so I replaced the entire hinge with one from a 940 I stripped a few years ago. It was even the same colour. ?
After a fair bit of stuffing around to get the hinge correctly aligned the cracking sound is gone and the door operates much more smoothly now.
Today I tackled three jobs which, while fairly small, elicited much satisfaction. Firstly the bushes on the alternator were pretty flogged and the alternator was a little cock-eyed as a result so I replaced those: (no prizes for guessing which is old and which is new).
I bought extra bushes to do the A/C compressor but it turned out that it doesn't have any. My 91 940 has 5 bushes mounting the compressor to it's bracket but this one is solidly mounted. I guess Volvo considered them unnecessary? Guess I now have a few spares for the 91.
I broke one of the washer jets when trying to remove it to clean out the little pipes inside them. I managed to pick up 2 genuine Volvo items left and right sides. They were a little pricey at around $15 each but are simple to fit. These new ones have slightly larger jets as there is a greater volume of water squirted out but at a lower pressure.
Finally I replaced the rusty tailpipe:
After unsuccessfully wrestling with it for a while trying to twist it off I used a "Dremel" type tool with a cutting disc to cut a couple of slots along the flared part. It worked well and the old tailpipe came off quite easily. I was pleased to see very limited rust on the outlet pipe from the muffler. The rust that was there cleaned off easily enough with some 240 sandpaper.
I had a little trouble fitting the new tailpipe. It is a Starla one i bought from FCP Euro. I had read a review by someone stating that this pipe doesn't fit the Volvo muffler. I bought it anyway thinking that, if necessary, I would get an exhaust shop to open out the flare a little more. On close inspection the new pipe had a small dent which I thought was probably preventing it from fitting. A few gentle hits with a ball pein hammer to straighten it out and the pipe slid straight on.
That big clamp is a little ugly but, really, who's going to see it? it looks much better from the rear:
Next major project is to get the bodywork done. It's going in on 8th February to have the battery tray corrosion repaired as well as the rust on the LHF door. The little holes in the boot lid where some idiot screwed the rego plate on will be welded up and the boot lid repainted. I will also have the lower coloured section of the rear bumper repainted. Then it's just new shockies all round (which I'm still waiting for) and then it should be ready for roadworthy. Fingers crossed.
