After putting up with the rough idle as long as I could, I finally decided to change the intake manifold gasket on the 97 960. Who would have thought that somebody (apparently a graduate engineer) would have designed a manifold mounting strategy with a bolt directly under the @#^&#@@ thing in a place where my hands would not fit? And how about the second bolt from the rear under the manifold? I finally gave up on the bottom bolt and removed all of the flange bolts to allow the thing to be pulled back about an inch and a half from the head so the old gasket could be removed and the new one slid back in. Fortunately I had no leaks and the car runs smooth, but it is sad to own a basically great ride that should have evolved to a level higher than my 86 245(my favorite), but certainly misses that mark in the engine compartment.


I am now thinking that, if my new novel sells well, I might pull the in-line six and put in a Ford V-6 and automatic from a Mustang. The car would certainly benefit from picking up over a hundred horsepower a couple of thousand rpms below the peak power curve of the Volvo six.

Regards,

Was it Ford or Chevy that put a V8 in a small engine bay so that the rear 2 spark plugs could not be removed without moving the engine forward?

Engineers design for factory assembly and space efficiency, not for DIYs. Think of the VW/Audi for the last 10-15 years, where you have to take off the front bumper and radiator to change the thermostat. Dealers love that, they get to charge an extra hour of labor before any work is started, and, it keeps us away from the engine bay.

Klaus
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My name is Klaus and I am a V ♂ lv ♂ holic

you have that right.. Add inconvenience and Owners wont touch it AND we can kill them on labor.

The VW's are still playing that card harder then most. Timing belt on a passat...entire front of body come off to get at it.
Nightmare. I think it's an $1800 dealer belt change.
Ease of maintenance is key to me . I have never had any car at a dealer. I wont buy a nightmare..
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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me http://home.lyse.net/brox/TonyPage4.html http://cleanflametrap.com/tony/

Chevy Monza
Not sure why they had to shoe horn it. When I put the Small block in my Vega (Same exact engine bay) I made it fit right.
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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me http://home.lyse.net/brox/TonyPage4.html http://cleanflametrap.com/tony/

Careful man, it almost sounded like you designed the Vega...

I know wghat you are saying but I tell you what...That car got a bad wrap because of the ALL Aluminum engine.

My dad bought that car new in '72 and I bought it from him with 80K miles. I put on another 80K on that "garbage" engine before doing the V8 swap. 116K miles on engines in that day was a lot..for that engine it was amazing.

Honestly, I wish I kept that car. Small little thing with a drop down rear seat for carrying things.. The V8 gave it the occasional thrill... good car.
I had the Kammback (little station wagon version)
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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me http://home.lyse.net/brox/TonyPage4.html http://cleanflametrap.com/tony/

What did you do about the rear axle? I had a Vega station wagon that had a problem with the axle tubes twisting in the housing. That made the car "dog track" down the highway. The fix was using a 36" pipe wrench to twist them back and then they were welded to the banjo housing. I traded that for an almost new 1973 240Z Datsun that was one of fifty transition cars to the 260Z. Talk about a piece of crap! (although it did run well after a few modifications.)

Regards,

the 240Z 260Z's Nice looking but those Datsuns were rust buckets.

I ran the Stock axles for a long time. Even as a kid I respected the limitations of Parts that I would have to spend money to replace. Rolling starts instead of romping on it from a standstill bought me a lot of time.
A few years down the road (I owned the the car 8 trouble free years after I did the conversion). I got a Nova rear axle and had it shortened. My friends dad was WAY into drag racing so he got me a deal on the work. The ydid the shortening and then I had to do the Perch/coil spring work after I got it back.
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'75 Jeep CJ5 345Hp ChevyPwrd, two motorcycles, '85 Pickup: The '89 Volvo is the newest vehicle I own. it wasn't Volvos safety , it was Longevity that sold me http://home.lyse.net/brox/TonyPage4.html http://cleanflametrap.com/tony/

Ahh,the good old days!

Something about 'safety' and crush space, IIRC.

Regardless, I find the Volvo engine easy to work on up to 2005 or so. At least I don't have to disassemble the car to get to plugs, oil filter, and other routine items.
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My name is Klaus and I am a V ♂ lv ♂ holic

I would put the 240/740=60/940 series as the easiest to work on. I actually like the routine of keeping the 245 up, but for ease of maintenance the best that I have worked on so far has been a Honda. I just helped with a timing belt change for a quad cam KIA and was surprised at how well those cars are engineered, although difficult to work on. My next new car will be a Toyota, the 97 960 will probably get sold, and the 86 245 will just gradually fade into oblivion as the salt air destroys the body.

What I really would like to have is a 1948 GMC pickup with the original 235 six. Now there is a truck with personality!

Regards,