Thanks for the feedback guys! We're feeling a mix of ecstasy at not being locked down mixed with a bit of guilt about seeing all our friends and family in Sydney stuck at home.
We've started our journey, and I'll update the thread as we progress (and things happen with the car):
Cairns to Townsville via Kuranda (436km on 44.74litres of 92 RON)
After a sunrise trip to say goodbye to friends in Kuranda, we left Cairns late morning, and travelled south. There's a lot of upgrade works on the Bruce Highway, which seems to be a long-overdue improvement, with passing places being added along the length of the road.
It did mean a lot of random speed limit changes 100> 40> 80> 60> 100 causing traffic to bunch up, and some chaotic overtakes. I've now got a chip in the windscreen from a Kenworth Semi attempting a land speed record overtaking on the double whites as we exited a set of roadworks, but we happily did not get a puncture, unlike several others we saw on the side of the road.
Incidentally, I'm still wondering why folk drive along the single carriageway at 80km/h then accelerate to 110km/h as soon as they hit the overtaking zone. Gertrude's happy cruising speed is 85-95km/h, so I've been following the old European method of easing off the throttle and indicating left as I arrive at the overtaking zone, and letting everything go past as quickly and easily as possible.
How is Gerty travelling?
I noticed that Gertrude's temp gauge never goes above 1/4, and drops to 1/8 at a constant 90km/h cruise, so suspect the thermostat might be a bit sticky. Or possibly not there at all.
The vacuum leaks are also pretty bad - she idles at about 1000 - 1100 rpm when warm, and the brake servo is lacklustre at best. A trip to a well-known auto parts store was incredibly frustrating (top tip: Don't ever tell them a part is for an old Volvo, or quote a Volvo part number) as I tried to get a replacement brake booster check valve. Luckily, the team at http://suncoasteuro.com.au/ were able to help, and have stuck one in the post with some vacuum hose, so hoping to get that issue resolved before the weekend....
< a generic part not available for old Volvos.
I also desperately need to get the overdrive working to reduce the noise, vibration, and fuel consumption that comes with sitting at 3.5k revs in 3rd gear.... Google research tells me this is most likely to be the solenoid, but I'd be grateful for any suggestions / tips to diagnose.... ;-)