From: Kasey Allen Carpenter kcarpent@gte.net
To: ggoodspe@startext.net
Subject: My Work Cut Out For Me...
Date: Tue, 11 Mar 1997
Well, I ordered my ipd catalog the other day.... And I tightened the gearbox cover that holds the shifter in place, that is, after my wife was stranded in an intersection when she shifted into second and the whole shifter arm was in her hand and not in the transmission! She was beside herself, but it was easily remedied.
Drove it to work for the first time yesterday -- boy is it squirrelly on the freeway at high speeds! Guess the front end could use some adjustments and tightening.
There is no boot cover over the shifter and I am getting an inordinately high amount of exhaust fumes in the cabin. There is an exhaust leak where the header and pipe meet, i.e., no gasket. But I am wondering if the repair of the gasket and the installation of a boot will end this.
In the next couple of days I will get a manual from Steve's and take the 1800S down to my local AutoZone for a free alternator check. (For the time being, the budget route will be the route taken!)
So, again thanks for your info, and I don't think (at this point in time) that I am in need of any transmission parts. I will get that bushing, and definitely some motor/tranny mounts. When I release the clutch after shifting, I notice the shifter and gearbox lurch almost a full inch, perhaps more, something that only spells trouble down the road....
Ah, next purchase, four jackstands and a hydraulic jack! Will bleed the brakes after that, and send the rear drums out to be turned. One is severely out of round. Should I go with the York compressor or the kit for Japanese compressors? Not really worried about factory specs since this car is far from that point.
Anyway, keep in touch and thanks again for your help.
Kasey Carpenter
Kasey-
My wife hates driving my car so much, she has taken the wheel only three or four times in thirteen years. When I first got the car, it had a loose aftermarket shift knob that soon got stripped out. It was useless to try to shift into reverse with it, and it rattled like crazy, so I finally threw it away. C would not drive the car without a shift knob, because she didn't have the strength in her hand to put it in reverse without the knob. So I bought a new one, actually a nice, round, black machine knob. Worked fine, but had a little problem with unscrewing itself. No problem for me. I'd just make sure to twist it clockwise a little whenever it got loose. "Look, honey," I said, "I put a knob on it -- you can drive it now." So of course the first time she drove it after that, the knob unscrewed itself and came off in the middle of a major intersection. Now she pretty much sticks to her Honda.
Exhaust fumes are unpleasant. I noticed that last spring when I had to drive around with the Volvo's rear end caved in for a couple of months. Somebody backed into it in a parking lot, and it took a while to get it straightened out. The fumes were entering through the trunk. If you have a stock exhaust system, the gaskets are still available from Volvo. The original exhaust manifold was a simple cast iron thing with three arms feeding a single headpipe. Early manifold-to-headpipe gasket number is 403546. Later models used a dual headpipe. The later gasket number is 671822. Early intake and exhaust manifolds were separate, while the later ones were joined together. I believe they are all interchangeable as long as you use the exhaust and intake from the same year.
The shift boot is available from Volvo for about $15. Part number 657889. If your interior is not original, you might try a Pep Boys boot.
If you're on a budget, stick with stock parts. They last longer than aftermarket parts, and they always fit. (The exception is IPD. Their "stock" parts are always as good as Volvo's, sometimes better. Prices are comparable.) You can pick up a York air conditioner compressor from a junkyard pretty cheap and use your existing brackets if you have them, but to install a Nippondenso, you'd have to buy new brackets and maybe a different belt. If you can afford to putz around for hours or days trying to make unstock stuff work, I say more power to you. Some of the aftermarket kits are better than others, and sometimes it really is more practical or desirable to customize, but stock is always easier. -Glenn.