(just realised I missed out something from the last post, as part of the parts forraging, I ebayed a white 89 480T around easter 06. This genius piece of engineering wasn't charging properly, which really really sucks on cars with an electric fuel pump. Hence sitting on the M5 with no lights, no speedo, no powerz, and my housemate who had passed his test 6 weeks earlier learning to tow... back to the original owner!!!)
After I bought the first 480, I ran out of pennies for a bit, and didn't get the donor engine until Oct 2006, about 6 days after me and Nick came back from the India drive. You can tell I'd got keen again at this point!!!
This 480 didn't break, or run out of sparks like the last one (running out of sparks, in the dark, with an electric fuel pump. Novel. ) Aside from the fact it thought that it would be a higher class car with an in car swimming pool, it ran perfectly, boosted well, and was generally nice. Got it for a song, as the guy who owned it couldn't get insured on it and needed it gone.
When it was at home, it was seen to be super rotton, which certainly made me feel less guilty about stripping it. Xmas 06/New year 07 involved stripping the 480, saving as much as I could out of it to help install the engine, and or selling at a later date to try and recoup some costs. Only things I've sold so far are the alloys, as I seem to have way to many sets of wheels. Those went for half the price of the car, so not going bad so far
Engine was a pain in the backside to get out, some genius decided that driving the front wheels was a clever idea, which means there was about 1/2 an inch to the wheel arch liners each side, and the thing wouldn't come out the top of the engine bay. I couldn't lift the car over the engine, so I just got a junior hacksaw, and cut the front of the car off
Five minutes... I know it was rusty... but Volvo safety?! Car sent to the scrappy, and all stuff to keep into the garage and the shell of Kar, and back to Uni for a bit...
Easter hols, knackered 1.4 still in Kar, so after the 7 days it took me to strip all the ancilleries and get the engine out with the restricted space of the 480, I really wasn't looking forward to getting this one out. No worrys though, 2 hours had the ancilleries off, and the engine floating in mid air. Then bit of a clean up of the engine bay, and time to start fiddling with the engine a bit as it's out. Nothing major, but swapping over brackets and stuff, and spent a couple of days cleaning up the engine and the bay. Back to Uni...
(Intermediate pictures to break up the vast quantity of text!)
Summer. Some how, I only spent 5 days on the island over the summer, and that was spent helping Dad changing the Facia's on the bungalow. Still, did manage to get the old steering rack out, and offered up the new one, but realised I was missing the lock nuts for the track rod ends. So, take track rod end, and go to find nuts. M14... humph... ah well, put the track rod end into an "important place" to remember where it is over xmas. Back to Uni...
Now, Xmas 07/New Year 08. Remember I've put track rod end in a safe place. Waiting for Volvo to get clutch cover plate from Sweden, and as Volvo now seem to have shut the IoW dealer. Ah well. Hunt track rod end, can't find it, so hey, might as well stick the rack in with a new rubber steering damper (any non PAS 300 with vague steering will have this rubber damper perished... meaning the steering wheel can move about before the rack turns... a design that British Leyland would have been proud of). Fit one track rod end, and as the other is still in a safe place, buy another. So, rack on, still no cover plate. Ring Volvo, oh, it's been sat in Southampton since Xmas Eve. Thanks for letting me know... Then realise I'd forgotten to order a sump gasket, which has to come from stores in the UK, but it's now Friday the 28th, and no one is back in the dealers until Weds the 2nd, but it will be on the Ferry for Thursday. It was indeed, ferry arrived at 12:00, and I fit the 300 sump to the turbo block.
This leads to Friday, the 4th Jan 2008... and the most bad things going wrong in one day since I tried to get the turbo engine out of the 480 (ok, it wasn't really that bad, but I'd planned to put the engine in today, and come back to Soton). Start the day, get all the stuff out the garage, and put engine onto crane, so that I could fit flywheel, clutch etc that can't be done as the engine is bolted onto the stand by the bellhousing bolts. First things first, go to the flywheel storage department. 480's had several different flywheels, the Turbos having 2 themselves. So, just to be safe, I had both, having been assured that the triggering patterns are different for the ECU. Luckily, I could remember that the one I left in the box was the one I *didn't* yet need, but should be bigger and take the larger clutch at a later date. On top of the flywheels was the missing track rod end. Yah, 12 hours after I bought the replacement.
So, take both flywheels, and look at triggering differences. Non, both missing a tooth in the same position on the crank. Both the same diameter... both the same by the looks. Sure way to find out, put on the clutch pressure plate, which I know is for an early 480T (I've just spent a hundred quid on it... I knew what it was ment for!!). Sure thing, only fits one as the dowelings are 5mm different, no other difference though, could have got away with running a larger clutch from the start... Tried a 340 pressure plate, that also fits to the early style flywheel, and I have loads of those, so could have saved a ton and a 10 day wait on the 480 pressure plate. Only hope that the 480 one is heavier, it should be able to handle twice the torque, so I'm guessing has an uprated spring, and the R5 guys use them as fast road clutches.
Right, flywheel on, move onto the clutch. Never done one myself before, always seems too much hassle. I'd got 6 nice new bolts from Volvo, but the flywheel I'd fitted had 5 tapped holes and a dowel, so... erm, might as well give it a go. Used my nice new shiney alignment tool, and offered up the 340 friction plate, with the 480 pressure plate, all held together by a flipping expensive piece of plastic that Hellfrauds had managed to sell me. Cool. Ok, erm, right. Now, this thing seems to have a beastly spring, feeling that this 480 pressure plate is worth the money now
Only thing is, this also means I can't get the thing on far enough to get the bolts in. Fine, Rubber mallet, gently tap (smack hell out of) it onto the location dowels, and this other random dowel. Cool, right, now lets try... nope, stupid bolts don't want to bite. Ok, pull off the clutch assembly, look at this random dowel in the flywheel, it seems that the top of it is domed inwards... and seems to have a thread on the outside... ahhhh, the person I bought it from has drilled the head off a clutch bolt! Stilsons...
Now, lets try again. At this point, a local gent rings (a mate of mine from the Uni motor club who lives on the island), says he's nearby, and he's popping in. Cool. Start fitting the assembly again, and "The Hat's Emergancy Volvo Electronics" van pulls up. A boat electrician by trade, Gordon has made me a couple of earth straps for 300's since they havn't been availible, as well as a positive lead when mine got a nadgers close to the manifold once...
Again, neither me or Gordon can fit these bolts enough to hold the clutch, and Gordon has the genius plan of checking the nice shiney new bolts that Volvo gave me to hold on the clutch with the stud I pulled out. Completely different, M8 stud and 6 M7 bolts. Yay. Quick trip to the other side of the island (which turned out to be a long trip, as an accident in Newport has closed what is basically the only road junction the island has).
Get home, yay! Bolts fit, and are the nice high tensile versions they should be. Clutch on, release bearing change goes smoothly, and bellhousing offered up. Steal the one bolt Gordon bought from the bolt shop (infact, thats not true, Gordon bought all the bolts, and part of lunch as I realised I had no cash...) and use it to fix the bellhousing on, cool. So, engine in time! Go to lift engine in... and... crane has lost oil again! Can't get engine above the bumper, let alone top of the wings. Shout at crane. Shout at engine. Shout at Volvo. Realise, after playing the "what could I have bought with the money I've spent on this damn car" game, I could have bought lots of fun things, therefore, Shout at me. (Auto trader and car and classics both had cheap skylines/mitsi's and fun old things that day, I wasn't a happy Chris)
So, it's still Friday the 4th of Jan, and the engine still isn't in, 2 years after the original B14 died. From now on, the 4th of Jan shall be known as "Chris really doesn't like this day at all"
Cheers buddy!)
Basically I don't think I can get a downpipe down between the turbo and bulkhead, but theres loads of room underneath that manifold (and because of the way Dai has done it, I shouldn't boil my brake fluid either)