Al's 145 barn find

bigal · 2015-05-10T11:29:49+00:00

Update - I've found a 1974 145 and purchased. She's a Barn Find! Details to be revealed later! :-)

bigal

Shafts removed. Problem found!

Front Uni Joint is terrible. Takes some effort to move it around.
Middle joint is not great. Feels dry, not as bad as the front.
Rear joint is smooth and fairly free.
Centre bearing is dry, noisy and unsmooth.
Large centre rubber bushing is cracked.
Centre boot cover split and the spline thingy is very dry.
Front bolts were quite loose (probably due to the vibration).

Time to overhaul it all. I'm sure it will make a huge difference.

Tassie6er

Sounds like it will be worth it, when it is done!

Major Ledfoot

1971_144GL;81112 wroteYou inspired me to put my head under the 142 for the first time in over 12 months

That is the kind of sway bar I want for my 140 toys.

@1971_144GL, what kind of rear bar is it?

If it were orange, it would've been just like the K-Mac bar I had years ago.

1971_144GL

It was orange and I think has a little metallic label with the manufacturer on it, I will check. I also have a very heavy front blue colour front bar to fit, but it seems silly for a car that is fundamentally slow to start with. The rear bar does make road holding better. I had thought of using it as a template to make a couple as the design is simple, but probably not worth the effort given the off the shelf versions.

egads (she/her)

Is the post muffler of that exhaust as crazy as it looks in those photos? That looks to step down in size and have a bunch of 90 degree turns

Major Ledfoot

1971_144GL;81847 wroteIt was orange and I think has a little metallic label with the manufacturer on it, I will check.

Thanks!

I gave K-mac in Sydney a ring, they still make the 20mm rear bars like those, to order, for $220 plus 7 days lead time. YMMV but I much prefer that setup to the WhiteLine / iPD rear bar setup for 140s, which involves drilling holes in the underbody and adding plates under the rear seat. <p>

I also have a very heavy front blue colour front bar to fit, but it seems silly for a car that is fundamentally slow to start with.

The blue bar may an iPD or a Lovells bar. And while these cars may begin life being fundamentally slow, a change of sway bars and some sensible springs / shocks makes them a lot quicker.

Jaz

Coming up good mate! I was going to buy a set of those ramps from Radum years ago but never did, how are they?

bigal

@Jaz The ramps are fantastic. I never rely on them solely for safety when they are raised. They have a solid lock at full height. I will still chuck some car stands underneath or old wheels regardless. They have never failed though. They are a little heavy to move about but you want solid for these things.

Update on the 145 - Waiting on new shaft parts to arrive. Here any day now.

bigal

Decided to stop being lazy and attacked the tail-shaft. All dismantled and now degreasing everything ready for POR15. Check out my Macgyver inspired contraption for removing U-Joints.

Picked up that Brass hammer at a market the other week for $15.

bigal

Started to make some real progress this weekend. Was hoping to have it all back in and going today but just wasn't meant to be.

All the parts degreased, scrubbed, Metal Ready applied and rinsed. Ready for POR15..

POR15 applied twice..

These bits degreased and scrubbed. They were covered in thick old grease and grime. Took a good hour to get them clean..

Then I had some fun getting this new dust cover on. Eventually worked out hot water and some aid from my awesome brass hammer got it over. Had to put it on inside out and flip it back once on.

New bearing on and some other associated bits. Gees it spins nicely now!

Then this happened! FCPEuro - "Guaranteed to fit".

Time to have a coffee and watch some Netflix.

Major Ledfoot

bigal;86897 wrote
Then this happened! FCPEuro - "Guaranteed to fit".

<p>

Ah. Telefunkens and damnation. That part number is for an 1140 flange, commonly fitted to B20A cars.

You need the uni joint for the 1310 flange, OE p/n 231311-2

https://www.fcpeuro.com/products/jaguar-volvo-universal-joint-1220786

Note there are some weird-a$$ combos out there (from the factory!) with one 1140 and one 1310, and this is how you tell the difference.

1140 flange

O <--- 45.4mm ---> O
|
|
36.7mm
|
|
O <--- 45.4mm ---> O

1310 flange

O <--- 51.1mm ---> O
|
|
41.3mm
|
|
O <--- 51.1mm ---> O

bigal

Cheers!

George at http://www.volvo1800-120parts.com.au has me sorted out with the right uni joints and will arrive express post today. Will make a start on those tonight.

I installed 2 new engine mounts yesterday. My engine now sits straight. It was way off before. I'm battling the transmission mount while it's accessible but having no luck budging the bolts on the transmission mount bracket. Luckily this mount looks in quite reasonable condition so it might end up staying there. I'll give it another go tonight.

Pics..

Engine jacked up..

Old mounts removed. One incorrect one and a totally busted one..

New mounts in..

bigal

First u-joint I've ever done. Took a while as I was over complicating it. The next two should be a breeze.

bigal

Went out to the shed to battle some more. Got half a u-joint done, getting in the zone and then got the call from the misus.. "Can you move your car and your daughter wants to see you". Doh! Just can't find much volvo time after work lately.

Major Ledfoot

bigal;87161 wroteFirst u-joint I've ever done. Took a while as I was over complicating it. The next two should be a breeze.

Nice work there.

Those engine mounts, though- wow. 140s don't use offset engine mounts like that. A trick from 30 years ago was to use 6 cylinder TD Cortina engine mounts, when those cars were a lot more common than they are now (and when Ford dealers stocked plenty of them). They were less prone to tearing themselves apart than OE Volvo mounts.

bigal

Are the OE Volvo engine mounts perhaps softer? Are the Cortina ones harder or just a better design? It's funny how all my Volvos are (or were) in need of new engine mounts (145 and XC90). Never had to replace mounts on a car before til these came along.

I'm really really hoping to have the 145 all back together tomorrow. I will be in QLD for work next week and will go insane if I can't get a drive in this weekend. I'm expecting it to feel very nice compared to the state it was in.

Major Ledfoot

bigal;87363 wroteAre the OE Volvo engine mounts perhaps softer? Are the Cortina ones harder or just a better design?

The Volvo engine mounts were designed to break easily in the event of a heavy front end collision, so that the engine slid underneath the transmission tunnel, instead of through the firewall. At least, in theory.

In practice, the standard engine mounts - particularly the RH side one - were prone to failure once horsepower and traction were increased. The Cortina ones were of a similar design, but made of harder rubber in order to handle the bulk of the cast iron 4.1 litre Ford 6. They were also less than half the trade price of the OE items at the time.

bigal

Had a good weekend on the 145 and got it off the ramps in the backyard.

Here's an overview of what has been achieved of late:

Tail Shaft rebuilt with new parts and re-installed.
New engine mounts installed.
New transmission mount installed.
Fixed up some slackness in the auto transmission selector rod.
Rear shocks replaced.

The result:
Lots of clanging and rear end sloppiness gone. A good and very noticeable result. And tightening up the auto transmission selector rod has resulted in the car starting in P instead of only N.

Remaining issues:
Rear end vibration is still there when putting the foot down. I did some troubleshooting in the soaking wet last night and when I put the foot hard on the brakes the rear locks up well before the front does. I cannot spin any of the rear wheels either under power (hard steering turn and full power in the wet). I know I could do this in my previous 145. This now indicates the rear brakes need attention. I was hoping to avoid having to go down this path but just has to be done. Work to commence in a couple of weeks.

Thanks guys for the recent advice and thanks @1971_144GL for the 11/16 engine mount nut on Saturday.

Pics..

bigal

Could this have a limited slip diff? I had to move the 145 off the side of my driveway in the rain and the grassy area was slippery and muddy yet it pushed out of it uphill just fine. When looking at the path it made there were two tracks like it had churned up the grass and mud evenly. I don't recall my old 145 doing any of this.. it used to spin 1 wheel giving it the beans in the wet.

bigal

Just had a thought about my last post ..if my rear brakes are sticking then it's probably not letting 1 wheel take off and spin. So i kind of have traction control hence the two wheel spin path.

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