volvoshredder, sorry I was going to get onto you again about those seats until I spotted these in PnP. They are in really nice shape with just typical wear; no rips or tears. They just need a good clean! The passenger seat has suffered from use of a larger occupant, though (front of the seat points inwards)! The bases on both are very good and they are pretty comfortable. You should try and keep that brown interior whole; if your ever forced to get rid of it though, give me a shout.

The tailgate prop stick was only used because we had the hinges removed trying to fix the wiring! The rear wiper works a treat, now!

I was out of town today so nothing was done with the Wagon, but a few things I forgot to mention is it also needs the drivers side control arm bushings and the alternator / steering belts need replaced and adjusted.

Glad to report it started fine this morning, but it wasn't really that cold!!

Will do. Glad to hear you found some good seats.

Finally on the road as of last night!

Rear wiper doesn't appear to work anymore and there's still a bit of messing to do with the locking mechanism. Has anyone got a locking barrel with a key for an early Wagon?

I've only rolled ~150 KMs but it's such a big difference compared to the 242. It's so quiet and smooth, idles just nice and gear changes are a breeze. There's also a good bit more power than my old automatic 245 back home; that auto box really sucks the life out of them.

Off course there's a few issues... drivers side control arm bushings need done as it veers quite badly to the left, and steering to the left is incredibly light, not so good on the highway! And there's a lot of rattling / clonking coming from the back end, and it's not the tailgate! Apparently the shocks were new before I got it, so I'm thinking bushings, but hopefully not bad strut mounts.

After I started driving it last night (within 15 KMs) the clutch slipped twice in second gear... Only time will tell I guess... I'd also like to change the power steering and alternator belts, sooner rather than later.

I've mainly be cruising and driving it easy, but it's soo nice to have a bit of peace and quiet and overdrive. I need to sort out some decent sound though, as the speakers are terrible. Bloody cassette player doesn't work; what the hell is with old Volvo cassette players? Someone keeps getting to them in the junkyard before I do, also.

Here's a couple of pictures I took today;



There was a 740 Turbo at PnP today with a rubber lip spoiler on the trunk; problem was, the trunk was jammed shut. So, we headed over first thing, crowbar and all, and prised the truck open, to be greeted with four good 15" Dracos with center caps. I think I'll take those! So, come spring, a slap of paint, some nice new rubber and I'll have myself a sweet set of wheels. A few people aren't smitten by the color brown, though...

Hopefully on Monday I'll get the Winter Coronas from the 242 fitted.