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1973 142 - The Stepchild of a Stepchild!

sksmith

Active member
Joined
Nov 14, 2007
Location
Back in St. Louis, MO
I haven't posted much in here, but here goes.
Bought this 73 142, which I call a stepchild of a stepchild, about 2 years ago, after I moved to the PNW from Charleston, SC. The 73 is, of course, the beginning of the end of the 140 series, as Volvo started the transition to the 240 series. My first Volvo was a 73 145, so I always had a soft spot for these. It's unpopular, but I like the dash with the round fresh air vents better than the older dash with the ribbon speedometer. But, my company is moving me (again), back to St. Louis, and the wife says the Volvo can't come :grrr:.
So, I have been cleaning her all day to get ready to list in the for sale section, and thought I share some pics and list what I've done since I bought her.
Cleaned fuel injectors
New hoses front to fuel pump
New FPR
Good used MAP sensor
New air temp sensor &engine temp sensor (these fixed the nagging run for 10 minutes then die problem!)
New fuel filter
New Bosch D-Jet relays
New Bosch voltage regulator
New Valeo alternator (bought from Paul Curran from this site)
Rewired the charging system
New Bosch blue coil
New Bosch plugs, wires, points, condenser, & cap
New speedometer & clutch cables
New clutch fork boot
New water pump & thermostat
New engine & transmission mounts
New blower motor (total PITA!)
Cleaned up hacked dash wiring, replaced all dash & console lighting (still not bright by today's standards)
Added an optional tachometer, as well as Volvo Turbo oil pressure & volt gauges
Wheelskin leather steering wheel cover
Installed a new Sony head unit with CD, IPhone / USB port, & Sirius radio ready (the Sirius antenna is run to the rear package shelf)
Installed new Blaupunkt 2-way door speakers & 3-way rear speakers to replace the junk that was in there. Doors speaker wires run the rubber conduit to protect them.
Installed a Rockville powered subwoofer (from Amazon.com)
New headlight relay & repaired headlight wiring
New Hella H4 headlights
New turn signal lenses & replace all bulbs
Replaced rear lenses with good used & replaced all bulbs
IPD front sway bar with poly bushings
Replaced transmission gear oil
Replaced rearend gear oil & new gasket
Replace oil & filter
Found a front passenger fender (in Dallas, OR!) in the same color and replaced the dented one
Things I have that I haven't gotten to yet, and won't have time before I need to move:
Rust free replacement passengers side door
IPD rear sway bar & poly bushings
Front & rear KYB Gas-A-Just shocks
VP Autoparts sports springs (lowers the car approx. 1")
VP Autoparts patch panels for the rear quarters - the rust is just starting
New door window seals & clips
Bought a driver door vent window handle from Redwood Chair
Bought a good used wiper motor from this site (can't remember from whom, but the wipers work, this one is just newer and cleaner)
Rear main seal with neoprene seal
Bought several items from Rock Auto that were being discontinued:
Front & rear brake pads - existing are still good
Front & rear brake hardware kits
All new brake hoses
Front & rear rotors
Tie rods
Heater control valve
Picked up some 5-1/2" wide 164 / 1800 steel wheels to replace the 5" originals. (Thanks for clarifying, Ken!)
I also had the raveled front seatbelts rebuilt but haven't installed them. They retracted while trying to put them in and I haven't figured out how to get them un-retracted! They even reattached the original Volvo tags with manufacturing date.
There's probably more in the garage that I can't even remember, that will be waiting for the new owner :-D.
It runs pretty good and has good oil pressure. It's the original B20F with an M40, so it's noisy. The seats are in fair condition for its age, no rips in the cloth fabric, but there are a couple of tears in the vinyl fronts & backs. The rear seatback has come unsewn at the package shelf. I could not get the back out, as much as I tried. It is in there! All of the seats are faded. I bought some SEM fabric paint / dye, but never tried it. It's amazing the fade, when you lower the rear armrest.
There's some rust starting around the windshield trim, at the base of the drivers door pillar, and in front of the rear wheels. It's bubbling, not rusted thru. Also had the neighbor's boat shelter blow into it during some high winds, which cracked the windshield and rear view mirror, and dented the drivers side rain gutter.
It has it's scratches, dings, etc., but the rocker panels and undercarriage are clean, and rust-free.
Hopefully the photo album shows up, so here goes! These are the cell phone pics, I'll upload some nicer pics later.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/125899066@N04/albums/72157645776077938
 
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Ship the car to someone in St. Louis then tell the wife you found one on CL.
 
Since it didn't sell back in May, I had it moved to St. Louis. I've had a little time to work on it this weekend, so I decided to put in the new lowering springs that I bought from VP a couple of years ago. While I have it apart, I'm also replacing the front calipers since one looked like it was leaking a little, install new tie rod ends and the steering rod ends. I'm having trouble getting the steering rod ends out of the steering rod though, so I'm going to run it by a friend's shop tomorrow to see if they can break them loose. I also want to get the brake backing plates sandblasted so I can repaint them before reinstalling everything. The fronts springs and shocks are in, no problems getting the lower ball joint broken loose, thankfully.
 
Cleaning & painting the front suspension. Found many new parts on clearance from Rockauto back when I bought the car, so those are cleaned & painted as well. Also parts from Mattias at VP Auto in Charleston, SC.
Now I need to get the pitman arm off of the steering box so I can reseal it. Broke one puller already. Doesn't surprise me, it was a cheaper Harbor Freight puller.
Found a product that is supposed to freshen up existing undercoating that I'm going to try out. It called Chemical Guys Bare Bones Undercarriage Spray. My undercoating is in great shape, just dirty. I'm going to clean it with some warm water & Dawn, go over it with some paint thinner, then try it out after it arrives.
Pics of clean parts!!

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Let me know what that does to your steering feel! I am tempted to do the same things since mine is a little vague and I'm sure all those parts are worn on my 72.
 
Let me know what that does to your steering feel! I am tempted to do the same things since mine is a little vague and I'm sure all those parts are worn on my 72.

I probably won't have it on the road for a while, but will let you know. Hopefully I'll get the drivers side inner fender cleaned and waxed tonight. I work slow.....:cool:
 
Table vice, propane torch, pitman arm puller, WD-40, apply a good amount of pressure on the puller, and get a good heavy hammer to break the taper hold.
 
My new puller arrived yesterday, grabbed the propane torch and my impact, and popped the arm off with no issues.
Disassembled the steering box last night, and cleaned it inside and out, then painted the case with Alumi Blast. Pressed in the bearing races, installed the bearings, installed the new seals, and reassembled it today.

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Also masked the steering shaft, sanded it to bare metal, primed it with self-etching primer. Painted it with Underhood black, but don't have a photo it painted.

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Then I cleaned the metal rear brake lines and clear coated them with some clear enamel.

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I took the crossmember to a nearby transmission shop & they stuck it in the cleaning tank for a couple of days. It came out spotless. A couple of pics of it repainted.

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Since there's already a thread with something about "scope creep", I can't call mine that. But, as a project manager, my job is to limit or stop scope creep. Unfortunately, I can't help myself when it comes to my cars.
What started as some parts replacement has become what will probably be a full restoration.
Here are some "before" pictures of the filthy engine bay and "after" cleaning with Purple Power. Tomorrow it will get a good wash with Dawn & hot water to remove any remaining grease. Disregard the nasty engine, that will be taken care of after my wife gets back to work (hopefully soon :grrr:).

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I also had my 5-1/2" wide steelies sandblasted today. I'll get them cleaned and painted in the next couple of days.

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I removed the battery tray to address the rust on the inner fender, which is the surface rust that you see in the picture. That has since be sanded down to clean metal. But, the little shelf where the battery tray was spot welded was a little too far gone, so I cut it out. I have a piece tacked in place, but haven't finished welding it in yet. I'm not getting a good weld bead, so I'm going to clean it up a little better. But the temp is dropping fast, down into the teens later tonight, so I'll take a little break until it gets a little warmer.

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