Recently drove my '89 240 wagon across the country to Portland, OR, where I now reside. My dad used to answer all of my car questions (you may have known him as ldray) but he passed away suddenly 9 months ago. I've been trying to keep up with maintenance, consulting my repair manual, but I have a pileup of questions:

1. The vinyl material in the driver door that has do to with water protection is damaged, and I need to replace it. Can I do this myself? Where do I get that material? I don't know what to call it. My speaker fell out of the door on that side about a year ago, and recently the vinyl is somehow bunching up and sticking out the hole where the speaker used to be.

2. My odometer stopped working on the drive across the country. This is the third odometer the car has had. My dad had a TON of parts which are now in my mom's garage, and I'm begging her to leave them so I can pick through as needed. Last time I was home, I found three odometers, but I have no way of knowing if they work. Secondly, my dad accidentally got me sedan tires, so I need a sedan odometer. How do I know if it's a sedan or wagon odometer? I'm pretty sure I could replace it myself, but I didn't know how much I should mess around with taking them apart, etc.. my dad showed me how they break, so I know how to see if it's functional....

3. I've often thought about getting the car painted. It's gray, so the many severe scratches on the hood and roof don't show up very much.. but I'm wondering if I should be preventative about rust. The only rust I have now is under the back windshield wiper, which I have sanded down and spray painted over once before, though it needs to be done again. The car's from NY, so I'm used to rust problems there. Being in such a rainy place, I worried about rust, but I don't really know if it's the water, or the salt on the streets in NY that causes problems.

4. Finally, I need to find a trustworthy Volvo mechanic out here in Portland, OR. My dad would be in heaven out here with at LEAST one old Volvo on every block...so I'm sure there are plenty of mechanics, but can anyone recommend someone to me?

THANK YOU thank you for reading. I apologize for the lengthy post, it's long overdue. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I feel strongly that I need to keep the car running for as long as I possibly can, and I'm committed to take excellent care of it...especially with my dad's history of work he did on the car.

Thanks in advance,
Jessica

'89 240 wagon