All right Kyle... I'll try to keep this as short and sweet as possible... regarding the green 145... I'll start by saying that I *really* think you should buy the damn thing. YOu might lose. It might not be worth the money. It might be a piece of crap. But I think you should buy it; if for no other reason than learning experience.

Get down to basics... Ideal scenario, average scenario, and worse case scenario. We'll start with worse case...

Worse case scenario:

You buy the car. It never runs. Bad knock in the engine or something... can't figure it out, but you tow it home and get lots of good bits including fancy sway bars, a 4 speed with overdrive, lots of electrical parts that'll neatly fit in a box to be saved for a rainy day. Not to mention all the other goodies. You sell the rest of the parts on ebay to make back what you paid. Or you'll lose some money. Don't forget that scrap steel is going for mint these days.

Average scenario:

You buy the car, get it running, and it runs fine. Most things work. A good day fixing little stuff and its a solid driver. And you get the bonus of a 4 speed with overdrive tranny that will make your commute more relaxed, and them fancy sway bars make it more fun. A fine beater that can even be shiny with some elbow grease.

Best case scenario:

You buy the car, and find that some past owner really liked Volvos, and really spent some time and money to make it wonderful. And you get a gold mine of great parts, or you just get a great car with all them great parts already installed.



I'll be the first to recognize that $3-5 hundred is a lot of dough to be spending on a POS old Volvo 140. Back when I was your age (about 14 years ago), I'd have made an offer of about $75. But those days are (mostly) gone. Now them cars fetch a bit more. There was one day that my brother and me bought 3 of 'em in one day. And we didn't have a place to put 'em. But had to get them, and none of them had overdrives.

You probably remember my most recent 145 purchase a year or so ago.. granted, it was a bit cheaper at $50, but I never even saw the car. Bought it sight unseen for parts. After having it towed home (another $50), I discovered the IPD lifters, double valve springs, spiffy Moto Lita steering wheel, limited slip rear. But no overdrive. Body and interior are dreadful though, and won't be getting any better in my ownership. Oh.. and it also has a vacuum advance distributor. That alone made it worthwhile.

Bottom line... you never know what you might get. But if you buy at the right price, you can't go wrong. And you might get very lucky. Or you might just get a good solid driver.

I really think you should buy that car Kyle. Even if it turns out to be a piece of junk that ain't worth its weight in scrap, you need the learning experinece. I just wish I was near so I could give you a hand getting the old girl back on the road... shouldn't take more than half an hour I figger....

Good luck, and keep us posted!

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-Matt '70 145s, '65 1800s, '66 122s wagon, others inc. '53 XK120 FHC

About the car, I'm conferring with Kaci right now about the price, I should let you know in the next day or two about that. I think we're pretty close to a good price. I checked the tires, and the tread does look pretty good. They're all pretty underinflated so bring that pump at least. Also let me know what day you want to come up. Thanks.

This is referring to the $250 amount... They might not go for that. I think there may be some other potential buyers, although he sounded pretty desperate when I left last weekend... So we shall see. Hopefully I don't have to spend more than $300 cause I don't want to...
--
Kyle E.
VP of Membership and Website Administrator
Oregon Volvo Tuners
Portland/Corvallis, OR - 1968 142 - 71b20b SUs, m40, ask me for more info...

Sooo close I can taste it indeed... GT4 was unavailable today here in northern CO. Bummer... gotta wait 'till tomorrow... but I got a copy reserved guaranteed, so I'll take Thursday off and play games.

Oh... sorry. Different subject. On them tires, they can look good, and still be rotton without being able to see that. Just be wary of that, and be prepared for a blowout at any time. And bring a couple spares if you got 'em. And try to do a good check of the front end too... not likely, but it sure would suck to have a lower ball joint pop on the way home. If it steers easily and quietly, it's probably OK.

He'll probably counter with $300 or $350... you can take it or leave it.. I bet if you stand firm and make it clear how much it'll cost (in money and trouble) you to get it home, he'll take the $250. Keep in mind he's checking with 'Kaci' about that price... I'm sure this nice girl wants the car gone... at any price.

Have you made potential arrangements to try to get it this weekend?
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-Matt '70 145s, '65 1800s, '66 122s wagon, others inc. '53 XK120 FHC

I have a friend who is willing to bring me up there. I told him last night that I don't know if he wants to come and play with the car though, but then again, now I'm not really going to be playing with it so much, just get the engine running and go pretty much after a coupla spins around the block if everthing seems alright. Tire wise, the ones on my 142 currently have held up to some pretty abusive driving/sliding and decent cornering forces even though they're old and have many small visible cracks(I know i'm taking a huge risk... Gotta get some new good tires soon here, mounted on some 15x6 10 spoke 760 Turbo alloys...), and I'll bring a couple of them up with us just in case.

I checked the front end a little bit, didn't shake the wheels firmly by hand yet, I was gonna do that, but yeah, and the driveline, I was gonna check the U joints, but that didn't happen either. I mainly checked the idler arm bushing, cause that's what's messed up on my car, and it sucks... I'll be looking at more things =D.
--
Kyle E.
VP of Membership and Website Administrator
Oregon Volvo Tuners
Portland/Corvallis, OR - 1968 142 - 71b20b SUs, m40, ask me for more info...

Thank God you are buying it Kyle.... otherwise I will have to fly to Seattle this week and buy it? I will Man... I am just that crazy. Really... I will! Really... this not just an Idle threat. Ask anyone, I REALLY am that crazy. Just plain bug nuts! Just put me in a rubber room and watch me bounce!

Bdeee, bdeee bdeee, thats all folks!!

cheers

Mike

You're a kick ass guy if I ever knew one... You definitely sound like me with your going round and buying things up when you were younger, but I can't do that cause of my parental limitations kicking in too often, but I can totally picture myself doing the same thing if I only had a job.

The car will be driveable with a change of the fluid in the carbs and that's that most likely. The guy did drive it around for a little bit as it is, but yeah, change of fluids in the carbs, a little quickie tuning of them, an oil and filter change and then a brake fluid flush and I'm pretty sure I'd be able to drive it back then and there. I just need a way to get up there now and have someone help me out with it. And actually, the guy who's selling it said he's ok with helping me get it up and ready to go, but that still leaves me with no way to get up there, and then what happens if it dies on the way down... Should be alright, it is a Volvo after all, and I can bring extra crap of course, I've got a few spares... And can take ignition components off of my car, buy new plugs as well, I already have a fuel filter for it...




Now, do you or anyone else have any advice for my 142?(crankcase breather and brake booster topics)

Thanks Matt!

EDIT
I just emailed this to him:
Yeah, how'd that turn out?(the skiing?) I will be getting the car. I've
decided, my mind has been made up, and it's going to come home with me. $250
is ok right? I just need to find a way to get up there now early enough that
it's going to be daylight while I tune the carbs, play with the timing, bleed
the brake system(can you help with that? have you bled a system before?),
change the oil and filter, the fuel filter, and then check out some of the
other systems and take it for a test drive. I should bring my bike pump too to
put air in the tires... =D And then some new spark plugs and the spark plug
wires from my 142.
Thanks man,
Kyle

--
Kyle E.
VP of Membership and Website Administrator
Oregon Volvo Tuners
Portland/Corvallis, OR - 1968 142 - 71b20b SUs, m40, ask me for more info...

So you got it for $250? Thats great! Like Bob said, if it was driven recently, you probably don't need to drain the gas. Maybe swap the plugs if it has a hard time starting. If the tires are old, don't take it up too fast... keep 'er down around 40 or so. Don't want to hear about any violent tire failures on your trip home, and that can happen.

Good luck and keep us posted for sure. I've got a hunch you're getting a sweetheart of a car.

Only problem that I sorta forgot about though... Gran Turismo 4 comes out today, and I expect that'll eat up some of your time and money :-) I know it will mine...

As for your 142... I still think you are nuts to be driving it without a booster. If I find one kicking around that might work, I'll send it to you. But I don't think I've got any. The breather... I've never done anything with them. But I might a spare breather around if you need one.
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-Matt '70 145s, '65 1800s, '66 122s wagon, others inc. '53 XK120 FHC

I don't want a booster!!! Don't give me one! =D This is a weekend racer :-P It's gonna be a lightweight! I don't need no stinkin booster! And the breather, well, I've got the breather box, it just doesn't have a flame trap in it, and I guess it needs one?

And about GT4... I won't be getting it, my friend is though, but he's up in portland... So I'll be doing that the rest of the weekend(pretty much literally, through the night and such) when I'm not on my way up to Seattle and back. No worries! In the meantime, I'm seeing if I can get my GT3 percentage up to 100% in two weeks. Ending this friday before I leave for portland, as of last night I'm at 57 %. I've got a ways to go... It might take longer than I have time for...

Peace man!
--
Kyle E.
VP of Membership and Website Administrator
Oregon Volvo Tuners
Portland/Corvallis, OR - 1968 142 - 71b20b SUs, m40, ask me for more info...

Matt and I are kind of the same breed, except he doesn't collect as many Volvos as he used to and I'm still addicted.

This is just my .02 from rescuing Volvos from all over the place, and I've driven a good number of them 300-500 miles home. It seems like you are trying to make an awful lot of work for yourself in this other guys driveway. Do the brakes stop the car? If they do, you don't need to flush them for the trip home. Is there oil and a filter on the car? Surely it can go another couple hundred miles before you change it. Do the tires have enough air in them so the rims aren't touching the pavement? That's probably enough air to drive carefully to the nearest gas station to air them up. If the car runs, surely, the current plugs and wires are still doing their job. Bring a fuel filter but don't put it on unless the old one clogs up. Having a boxfull of spares (distruibutor, fuel pump, water pump, belt, gallon of antifreeze, couple quarts of oil) is always a good idea and usually insures that nothing will break on the road.

See where I'm going with this? I've found that old Volvos are remarkably forgiving for being parked for long periods of time. I've never even flushed the gas out the ones I pick up, even when they had been sitting for years. Just fill up with premium and keep your foot out of it till you can burn the old gas out of there and the pinging goes away.

Good luck and let us know how it turns out.



--
Volvo Farmer:

20 Volvos '58-'91

Second the opinions in this post. Don't fix something unless it *has* to be fixed. Little things tend to snowball if you let them. Flushing the brakes might lead to broken bleed valves or a jammed master cylinder. Flushing the tnak might lead to a stripped drain on the tank. Etc. etc. If the problem is bad enough it will demand attention, but just to get the thing home do the bare minimum.
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I'm JohnMc, and I approved this message.

Good points... I'll bring along an extra fuel pump, some different plugs(the ones that were in there were very black and coated with gunkiness), my wires just because they're nothing special and not hard to take off or anything. I don't have a spare distributor anymore, I just sold it last week... So should I take the one off my 142? Or just risk it and drive it back as it is? Leaving the gas in there should be fine too, it did start up and drive on it, so yeah, popping some premium in there should be fine. I really wonder what head is on it and what the compression is though... So I have somewhere to set the timing as a baseline... I'll probably set it at 10 and keep my foot outta it if I hear anything at any time. And for the tires, since most places charge for air now, I'll just bring a bike pump =D.

And the carbs already have gunk in them, well, grit, so how do I go about keeping that from flooding the float bowls while I drive it around? I guess that means the only thing I really need to do is give the tires a look over, then adjust the carbs, clean them out? somehow anyway, to prevent gritting up while driving, set the timing and that's about it...?

Coolio, and yeah, I'd much prefer it breaking while wrenching on it at my own house, rather than a couple hundred miles away.

Thanks for the support guys! I would/will always keep you updated... ;)
--
Kyle E.
VP of Membership and Website Administrator
Oregon Volvo Tuners
Portland/Corvallis, OR - 1968 142 - 71b20b SUs, m40, ask me for more info...

Gunk *in* the carb bowls isn't much of a problem - at least until it fills up the bottom of the bowl to the level where the jet tube attaches (HS6's - right?) They probably designed it that way on purpose. What you need to prevent is *new* grit coming in from the fuel lines - that is the stuff that can get caught in the needle valves on the way into the carbs. You might toss on a fuel filter between the pump and carbs if you are worried about it.

As for the timing keep a 7/16 box end handy. When tweaking the timing on mine I adjust the pinch bolt to where the dist can be turned by hand, but won't move on it's own. Then drive it a little bit, pull over and nudge it one way or another (clockwise to retard, counterclockwise to advance). Basically advance it until one of the following occurs:
1) Kick-back against the starter when cranking
2) light pinging
3) loss of power (some engines just won't ping, but advance them too far and power drops off)
Once you get the timing decent snug the bolt with the wrench.

While driving it back home try to use a *light* foot on the brakes. Plan ahead so you don't have to stop quickly. I'm just saying this because calipers tend to get sticky when they sit around. And once you squeeze them hard they might stick 'on'. You can 'stress test' the brakes later on at home. I'd be leery of a sticking parking brake cable too.
--
I'm JohnMc, and I approved this message.

Yeah, I've got the timing adjustments down pretty well now from my 142. I'll definitely have to take it easy on the brakes, don't wanna risk nothin... And yeah, I'll be tossing in a fuel filter for it as well, it currently has one, but it's old and dirty. I might have to bring another one along as well if the tank's dirty. I'll just make sure I keep the tank above half tank so it doesn't pull in too much residue or whatever is on the bottom of the tank. It still worries me that the float bowls might start over flowing while I'm driving though... I don't want a fire on my hands :-\
--
Kyle E.
VP of Membership and Website Administrator
Oregon Volvo Tuners
Portland/Corvallis, OR - 1968 142 - 71b20b SUs, m40, ask me for more info...

Well, I'll knock on wood when I say this (*raps himself on head*) but I've inadvertently soaked a few Volvo ruinning Volvo engines with fuel and never had a fire ball erupt. CERTAINLY not to say that such a situation isn't a ticking time bomb, just that it isn't a loaded, cocked, hair trigger shotgun either.

Once the cold start line cracked on my 1800E at a light. When I took off I first noticed the wheels spun. Then I looked back and saw a puddle. Then the wave of gas smell hit me. I pulled over and opened the hood and *everything* was just drenched in gasoline. I was about one spark away from Volvo flambe' - but then there aren't that many open sparks under the hood (thank goodness).

Some half-baked ideas on how to clear grit-jammed float valves (i.e. short of taking the lid off the bowl and cleaning it - which isn't too hard if these things don't work).
- While driving - pull the choke open and floor it (4th gear) - the theory being that the extra flow might get the float valce to open slightly and let the grit on through. Full choke and WOT uses a lot of gas - perhaps the little amount the grit is holding it open isn't sufficient and the level drops and the valve opens.
- If that doesn't work, pull over. With the engine running squeeze the rubber fuel line shut with some pliers (making sure not to rip/tear/crack). Leave it shut, starving the carbs for fuel, until the engine stumbles, then release it. Same theory as above - only more so.
--
I'm JohnMc, and I approved this message.