Hi - I'm going to try to post some pics on here. Hmmmm how to do this... I'll try cut and paste, I guess.

Nope. Look below, dummy (me)

Oh-darn, only three attachments allowed. Well, you get the general idea.

James

Holee-cow, those pics are huge - how to do that right??

Also, they are shown in backwards order (what I wrote doesn't quite make sense)

J

Get an account set up at photobucket.com or use the gallery section on this website. Upload your pictures to one or the other and then link to those pictures rather than "attaching". Both places will allow you to resize your pictures as you upload...

Are some of those ball joint mounts broken?

I think the problem is that your camera is set to do image resolutions at 72 dpi...you can change that to 200 or so, the images display size will get smaller while the number of pixels remains the same.

On to the car...that's a lot of undercoat you got going on there. Don't forget to put the other bolts in the lower ball joint and I'd swap the front springs around so that the progressive coils are to the top of the tower not to the bottom. There is no right way to install them, but from a maintenance standpoint, with the coils set up this way, they will bind and rub together (as they should) in areas that are bound to get wet. Set up the other way, the coils that will touch are kept dry and therefore will look better longer.

I wouldn't have done the suspension parts and differential with the undercoat, but that's what the factory did - so what the heck.

Hi, negative on the broken ball joint mounts, but thanks for asking, and believe me, I'll have another look - the bottom one had only two bolts in it maybe that is what you saw (remember, I went hunting for grade 8 bolts).

About all the undercoat, at least I only did the bottoms of all the suspension and diff. (I thought I saw pictures of your latest effort with undercoat on the trailing-arms?) Regardless, I put undercoating where I saw rust before it was all taken-off. I saw an old Volvo I owned once (a '69 two-door, red) and in spite of my best efforts at the time, it was pretty rotted-out. Plus, these cars are great in the winter - I might just drive it all year-round now.

If you find those pictures are a little-much, I posted them again on the gallery, under James, and I'll try my best to make 'em smaller next time.

Hey, I didn't mean to offend - it's not that kind of forum, we do talk frankly but are all friends.

Craig

The apparent theory on the coils is that you always want to reduce unsprung weight. Since the shorter coils will always be the first to bind and become dead weight, it's best to keep them on the top of the spring so you're not adding weight to the lower A arm...

No offense taken, Craig. (the coils are supposed to bind?? Doesn't that defeat the purpose?)

That's two votes for switching, and two more things to scratch my head about too .

In case you are wondering, they came from John Parker, and his instructions were to put them as they are.

Jimbo

We'll put it a different way... They are the first to bind, creating a solid mass and adding to the unsprung weight...

Hi Dale,

My brain is screaming for a diagram . What is "unsprung weight?" Don't spend too much time explainen', I can look it up on the internet somewhere, I'm sure.

J

Sprung weight: body, engine, interior, driver
Unsprung weight: wheels, tires, brakes, the outer half of the control arms, a portion of the springs, etc.

Basically: does it move with the wheels or with the body? The body is supposed to stay pretty stable, while the wheels have to get out of the way of bumps quickly and easily. Any weight that has to move with the wheels represents inertia that must be overcome, otherwise the bump might be gone before the wheel can react to it (dented rims, wheel hop, etc).

I like it!

So, basically, what is above the springs is heavy and should not move, and what is below the springs should have as little mass as possible, so the spring can sproing. Now we're talkin' Glad I asked the question.

So, for progressive springs, the softest part of the springs should be on the bottom, right? For the movement to be absorbed by the springs, the bottom of the spring has to move first, so it should be the quickest.

HAHAHAHAHAH, there's ANOTHER part I have to take-off and put back on again!! That would be.... undoing the upper ball-joints?

James

Dammit Jim...you think too much...

Flip 'em over...done...

Hi Dale - better than not thinking at all!

But seriously Dale, you gotta realize I am in waay deeper on this car than I have in the past. Never changed a shock before. I'm no whiz, but I like these Volvos, I like learning, and I like getting s%$# right! Luckily, I have had the time and money to do it. Kinda like getting another degree, really, the time and energy that I've devoted to it, but instead of a piece of paper, I get a whole car!

Oh yeah, and I've always found I liked Volvo people, you're no exception.

Jim