- Joined
- Feb 14, 2007
- Messages
- 17,989
- Location
- SWMO
- Car(s)
- Mustang SVO - Frontier Pro-4X - BRZ - D21 Hardbody
First, let's give a little back story on how I ended up with this car. My brother has a friend who's parents, sister/brother-in-law and brother live in pair of houses in a town about 2 hours from me. They are not easy on vehicles, but instead of getting rid of what they kill, they just let them pile up around the houses. Apparently one of their neighbors has taken exception to this, plus, the cars are starting to encroach on the alley way behind the houses. So the city told them, get rid of anything that doesn't have a current tag/insurance.
Last week my brother got a 1996 Jeep Cherokee that was known to overheat from them and I went to check out this 1972 Volvo 164E. My concern was, well it's a 50 year old car, rust. Surprisingly, a quick look over it where it sat in some weeds behind a garage, found a little bubbling in front and behind of the rear wheels. Really, that's it. There's also a fair bit bondo, well, everywhere. Seems whoever painted it, whenever that was, liked filler. I'm sure that'll be fine...
Why was it a parked? Well, he said he bought it as a project car from a friend and it ran and drove when he got it. It then one day, just... didn't. He pulled home and tried to get it running again, but never did. His diagnosis was "too much fuel pressure" and pointed to a fuel pressure gauge in the engine bay. So it sat, but unfortunately they let the kids play in it, so some things are broke, missing or disconnected. But worst of all, they removed and scattered the fuses to the four winds.
Anyway, photos from when I picked it up yesterday.
After we got home last night, I just gave the car a once over and it seemed like I had my hands full.
Today, even before I got home, my son was texting me about when were going to start working on it. As soon I got home, we started by cleaning it out and taking an inventory of the parts in the car. After that, I grabbed a hot battery, threw one fuse I found in the fuse block. Grabbed the "key" (see above photo), gave the ignition a twist and it cranked. I did not expect it to start and it didn't, but I was surprised that it did anything. It was at this point my son said he saw that the distributor cap was loose. I checked it out and sure enough, not even clipped on. Fixed that, gave it another try with the cap back in place and still nothing. I went to get a can of brake clean, squirted some in the throttle body (yes it's fuel injected), gave the ignition another twist and it sputtered to life on the brake clean. Tried a few more times and it would start, but not continue running. So onto checking the fuel system.
This is when I noticed that the fuel pressure gauge read 60 psi. About twice what the car is supposed to make, but even with that, I would think it would start. Digging further into it I find that the gauge is junk and the fuel pump doesn't even come on. It's starting to get dark at this point, and I'm pretty sure without all the fuses in I'm wasting time. So I'll order some up and revisit trying to start it on it's own when they come in.
Should be a fun project. What the end game is, I am unsure. I'd like to get it running and driving reliably, then tackle the damage to the left rear and rust. Then it might get paint. Need to find some parts as well, to make it look decent even without the paintwork being all that great. Overall, I just want to drive it, fix it as I go and have some fun with it.
Last week my brother got a 1996 Jeep Cherokee that was known to overheat from them and I went to check out this 1972 Volvo 164E. My concern was, well it's a 50 year old car, rust. Surprisingly, a quick look over it where it sat in some weeds behind a garage, found a little bubbling in front and behind of the rear wheels. Really, that's it. There's also a fair bit bondo, well, everywhere. Seems whoever painted it, whenever that was, liked filler. I'm sure that'll be fine...
Why was it a parked? Well, he said he bought it as a project car from a friend and it ran and drove when he got it. It then one day, just... didn't. He pulled home and tried to get it running again, but never did. His diagnosis was "too much fuel pressure" and pointed to a fuel pressure gauge in the engine bay. So it sat, but unfortunately they let the kids play in it, so some things are broke, missing or disconnected. But worst of all, they removed and scattered the fuses to the four winds.
Anyway, photos from when I picked it up yesterday.
After we got home last night, I just gave the car a once over and it seemed like I had my hands full.
Today, even before I got home, my son was texting me about when were going to start working on it. As soon I got home, we started by cleaning it out and taking an inventory of the parts in the car. After that, I grabbed a hot battery, threw one fuse I found in the fuse block. Grabbed the "key" (see above photo), gave the ignition a twist and it cranked. I did not expect it to start and it didn't, but I was surprised that it did anything. It was at this point my son said he saw that the distributor cap was loose. I checked it out and sure enough, not even clipped on. Fixed that, gave it another try with the cap back in place and still nothing. I went to get a can of brake clean, squirted some in the throttle body (yes it's fuel injected), gave the ignition another twist and it sputtered to life on the brake clean. Tried a few more times and it would start, but not continue running. So onto checking the fuel system.
This is when I noticed that the fuel pressure gauge read 60 psi. About twice what the car is supposed to make, but even with that, I would think it would start. Digging further into it I find that the gauge is junk and the fuel pump doesn't even come on. It's starting to get dark at this point, and I'm pretty sure without all the fuses in I'm wasting time. So I'll order some up and revisit trying to start it on it's own when they come in.
Should be a fun project. What the end game is, I am unsure. I'd like to get it running and driving reliably, then tackle the damage to the left rear and rust. Then it might get paint. Need to find some parts as well, to make it look decent even without the paintwork being all that great. Overall, I just want to drive it, fix it as I go and have some fun with it.
