The plan is to get it as close to stage 0 as I can and try to leave it there. It will be my daily driver work car (anyone wanna buy a Versa?).
Still thinking about the wheels. They're in pretty nice shape which is almost too bad as the winter tires on them are like new. Keeping them for winter curbing would be too bad but I have plenty of other wheels I can run on it for the summer. The better idea would be to use the Pegs I have as winter wheels because they're pretty beat up but I don't have 17" winter tires and don't quite see the wisdom of buying a set of 17" winter tires when I've got a perfectly good set of 16" winters already mounted on wheels.
It's got Intrax lowering springs and Tokiko Sport struts on the front. It is really quite stiff; very unlike the 960. The rear springs were replaced with stock springs as the PO complained she couldn't put anything in the trunk without it rubbing or bottoming out. The Tokikos may still be on the rear. Matt and I are still translating what she said into what she meant. She
said they replaced the rear shocks but I believe she really meant the rear springs were replaced meaning the shocks may still be there. If not, I've got a choice of Bilstein HD or Tokiko Sports for the rear...if I decide to do anything. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?
It has front and rear IPD sway bars and some custom exhaust I found a bill for $500
for in the stack of receipts I have. Unfortunately it's not 3" and the downpipe is still stock. Sounds pretty nice though.
The interior is quite presentable. A few cracks in the dash but that's pretty normal. Stock stereo with a 10-disc cd changer in the trunk...that doesn't seem to work. The cartridge won't eject. Haven't looked at it so it might be something as simple as a power wire.
The body kit is genuine Volvo accessory as is the spoiler. The spoiler and mirrors need paint pretty badly. I think the bumpers and lower valence can be buffed up.
The bad?
It needs transmission work. The tailshaft bushing is...well...not really there. It sprayed tranny fluid out all the way home. Not totally dumping it but the back of the trunk lid had a fine mist and Matt said he was getting some on the windshield of the Versa now and then. Dripped a nice little puddle on the street before I moved it into the driveway too. Likely just run-off from the tunnel. It had a couple of pretty nasty 1-2 shifts when we first left but once we got to Calgary it was shifting 1-2 just fine. Not sure what that was about but she did mention her husband had just filled the tranny with fluid so it's possible things were a little dry to begin with. There's an M47 at PnP right now so that might be the ultimate answer.
The engine has a strange noise. Sounds like a bad waterpump but it seems to be coming from further back. It's also got a bit of a knock. Hard to tell if it's piston slap or bearing knock but it's coming from somewhere lower than the head. You can't hear either noise from inside the car and it purred like a kitten all the way home. Guess I'll drive the bag off of it for a few days and see if any noises change.
There is something goofy happening with the turbo. Doesn't seem to build a lot of boost and when you romp on it, it belches out black smoke like a diesel. I suppose it could be carboned up but you'd think a run from Edmonton to Calgary would clean that up a bit. I've got some Sea Foam so will give it a treatment and see what happens. The gas gauge is still above half so it didn't burn a ton of gas in 300 km...
So...do you still have that engine Athal? Might be the logical choice rather than prolong the agony of wondering when this one is going to give up...
